Puerto Vallarta Travel Guide
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One Hotel Still Cares About the Old People
Hotels have long been catering to your traveling pets, your romantic relationships, your sexual romps, your nerdy museum interests, your shopping libido, your drinking problem and even your fashion week obsession. But what about the old people? And by old people we mean those over the age of 62. And by catering we mean something other than the AARP discount here and there.
Well, at least one hotel is showing respect for our elders--The CasaMagna Marriott Puerto Vallarta Resort & Spa. This place has been package/promotion happy before but we kinda like this one because it says old people can have fun too. We think Bill Marriott musta had a hand in this Marriott Seniors discount.
Anyways, as the promotion says, "those old enough to remember reading the headlines of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton's romance during the filming of The Night of the Iguana" will get a deluxe room for $110 a night, a 15 percent discount at the new Ohtli Spa and a 15 percent discount on food and beverage.
The deal can be booked online or by calling 1-888-Paradise and using the code S9R. However, it does expire on October 31st.
Tags: Bad Rate / Puerto Vallarta Hotels / Barcelo Hotels / → All Tags
Bad Rate:: Paying More to NOT Eat at Barcelo La Jolla de Mismaloya
[Ed. Note: Welcome to our Good Rate/Bad Rate feature where we look at hotel prices in the same city and decide which one most deserves your hard-earned benjamins. Rates quotes here were captured August 21, 2007 and are subject to change. Enjoy.]
The Barcelo La Jolla de Mismaloya near Puerto Vallarta is known for some common themes. The small beach completely disappears some months of the year, service is indifferent at best, and you're more liable to get sick eating here at your hotel than you are eating at the taco stand in a van down the road.
Perhaps the last trait explains the odd pricing policy currently posted on the hotel's website. Go all-inclusive and it's $160 a night for two. If you opt for the European Plan, however, and forsake the bland buffet meals and watered-down drinks in plastic cups, you'll pay $177 a night. In other words, you pay more to avoid their food.
If you want an all-inclusive vacation, there are plenty of better options in the area. If not, we suggest a stay at the Westin in the Marina area--this week's Good Rate--instead.
Related Stories:
· Good Rate:: $107 at the Westin Puerto Vallarta [HotelChatter]
Tags: Good Rate / Hotel Deals / Puerto Vallarta Hotels / Westin Hotels / → All Tags
Good Rate :: $107 at the Westin Puerto Vallarta
[Ed. Note: Welcome to our Good Rate/Bad Rate feature where we look at hotel prices in the same city and decide which one most deserves your hard-earned benjamins. Rates quotes here were captured August 21, 2007 and are subject to change. Enjoy.]
With the east coast of Mexico getting hammered by Dean, you may want to look to the west coast for your off-season beach vacation deal. Wait a week to see how the path of the storm pans out, then book a $107 room at the Westin Resort and Spa Puerto Vallarta. This price is for the "partial sea view" rooms and is the mid-week price, but you can still get this price on the weekend if it's prepaid and full ocean view rooms are $175 midweek.
A Luxury Latin America review notes that the shaded pool complex is a big plus here, along with the above-the-fray beach bar:
The striking beach cabanas make a noticeable fashion statement, but Westin's 300-yard stretch of coastline does not impress overall--except for its hip after-hours atmosphere. Come sunset, you'll find that the beach is where it's at, as guests chill out till dawn at the popular Nikki Beach Club. A fine-looking wait staff serves up grill food and specialty cocktails among a romantic sandscape of tiki torches, billowing fabric and beds piled high with plush pillows.
Rooms are set up for those who don't like surprises, with the usual chain hotel layouts and amenities, but the fact that the Westin is not an all-inclusive translates into better service overall. (See our earlier review).
Here's another bonus if you just got a new passport: "Receive a $100 USD Credit applicable for Room Upgrades, Food & Beverage, or Spa Treatments when you stay with us through September 30, 2007 when you present a new passport with Mexico as your first stamp."
Related Stories:
· Bad Rate:: Paying More NOT to eat at Barcello La Jolla de Mismaloya [HotelChatter]
Tags: Cubicle Dreamin' / Puerto Vallarta Hotel Reviews / Yelapa Hotel Reviews / → All Tags
Cubicle Dreamin': Verana's Beach and Mountain Paradise
Cubicle Dreamin' is a feature in which we ask the hotel mavens to take some time out of their busy work day, surf the Internet, and tell us what hotel they wish they could beam themselves to right that very second--all on the slave driving companies dime, of course. Oh, like these people aren't surfing aimlessly anyway--at least now their purposeless clicking will be cobbled together into useful hotel stories--we hope. Have a destination hotel you are just dying to leave your cube for? Send the story our way.
In this episode, Hotel Maven barabarab fantasizes about a Mexican getaway. Enjoy.
I have a love-hate relationship with must-see lists. I prefer to find places that make me swoon on my own. My latest coup de foudre is Verana, a small upscale rustic hotel in the fishing village of Yelapa south of Puerto Vallarta. Its transporting and gorgeously designed website reveals plenty of accolades in the travel press. I quickly added it to my list.
Tags: Valentine's Day Hotels / Hotel Packages / Puerto Vallarta Hotel Reviews / → All Tags
Valentine's Day Hotel Packages: CasaMagna Puerto Vallarta
Here is another Valentine's Day hotel package to consider should you be headed to Mexico (don't forget your passport). A cheap stay can be had at the CasaMagna Marriott Puerto Vallarta Resort & Spa for just $189 a night. While the package components are pretty standard---breakfast for two daily, champagne and a welcome gift--the add-on "romantic touch" is the hotels' Tantalizing Turndown Menu.
It includes:
* Luis Perdier sparkling wine and chocolate dipped strawberries (upgraded with Moet Chandon Champagne) * Two towel swans on the bed * Rose petal heart on the bed with kissing doves * Aromatic bath salt and flower petal presentation in the bathroom; citrus essence with Tila tea for relaxation. The tea made from these dried flowers is said to having calming effects (helps you relax) * Chocolate lovers pastry tray served with Kahlua
Just beware as this is the same hotel promoting a family whale-watching trip at the same time. And in the end, do you really need a towel swan to show your lover how much you love him or her?
We will be bringing you more Valentine's Day Hotel packages next week but for now you can click here for more.
[Photo: Wadey]
Tags: Puerto Vallarta Hotels / Destination Hotels / Honeymoon Hotels / Romantic Hotels / → All Tags
Tequila Hallucinations Are A Myth, Humpback Whales Vacation In Mexico
Wanna little insight into HotelChatter? Here is the breakdown of our daily inbox: 25% great tips and reviews, 50% press releases, 25% evil spam. As far as the press releases go, most of them are run-of-the-mill, from PR folks that obviously have never even read HotelChatter. Thus, catching our attention with a press release is like trying to kill a DDT immune mosquito with DDT. How do you do it? Top shelf tequila and winter whale watching visits at a kick ass hotel on the Bay of Banderas near Puerto Vallarta. No, no, not to bribe us, to bribe potential guests, of course.
Apparently, in January and February, Verana Hotel co-owner and designer Veronique Lievre and her staff will follow you around their 8 room luxury hotel with Don Eduardo Anejo drinks as you watch humpback whales do what they do, hike around the lush 5 acre grounds, chill in the sun, and soak in "moonlit" hot tubs.
Sounds nice, right? So what are the drawbacks. Well, don't go if you have a weak heart. No, not because seeing a tequila induced humpback whale hallucination will give you a gripper, the hotel is atop Yelpa, which can only be reached by boat, and from the dock you have to hike 20 minutes up-hill through the jungle (there is a path, it isn't Man vs Wild or anything), and then, depending on your room location you will have an additional hike once you reach the hotel grounds. The hike sounds invigorating, and it is a big part of what you do on Yelpa (you can hike along the river, to sandy beaches, and to town) but those with bad tickers might not find that to be the case.
One more thing. The photos above are from actual guests, not from posed press photos, and guess what? In our opinion the guest photos are actually better than the press photos. Gotta love a place that can hold up during the candid digital camera test.
[Photos: Randy King]
Related Stories:
· Verana [TripAdvisor]
Tags: Puerto Vallarta Hotel Reviews / Marriott Hotels / Family Friendly Hotels / → All Tags
Whale-Watching, Family-Style
Last week, Hotel Maven Tim Leffel did a bang-up job reporting on the hotel scene in Puerto Vallarta. Today, we have news that another hotel in PV is worth checking out, but this one involves the whole fam.
This winter, the CasaMagna Marriott Puerto Vallarta Resort and Spa is inviting families to take part in a unique educational experience through its "Secretos del Mar" marine-life program. Every year, January through April many humpback whales come to Banderas Bay to give birth. Marriott guests are encouraged watch these stunning creatures in their own surroundings.
Of course, the hotel has put together an ESCAPE! Family Package which starts at $189 per night and includes, breakfast for two adults and two children 12 and under; complimentary pizza and in room movie one night, and nightly milk and cookies turndown service.
Not included appears to be any whale-watching tours so you'll have to fend for yourself there. Now, if only they offered an Escape Your Family type of package....
Related Stories:
· CasaMagna Marriott Puerto Vallarta reviews [TripAdvisor]
· Puerto Vallarta Hotel Reviews [HotelChatter]
Tags: Killer View / Puerto Vallarta Hotel Reviews / YouTube / → All Tags
Another Killer View: Villa Premiere in Puerto Vallarta
[Ed. Note: We have another special treat today. Hotel Maven Tim Leffel has a killer view video taken from his weeklong trip in Puerto Vallarta. Enjoy.]
There's nothing worse that getting to your room at a beach resort and finding that it's a half mile from the shore and the view out your window isn't any better than you have at home. There's no fear of that happening at Villa Premiere Hotel and Spa in Puerto Vallarta. Every room has a killer view of the bay and the sunset video here was taken from room 2111 on the second floor. Higher floors have it even better.
Villa Premiere is not some isolated resort you get stuck at either. It's near downtown, within walking distance of the malecon. There are a lot of extra touches here, some literal. When you check in you get a cool towel, a cool glass of champage, and a complimentary 5-minute chair massage. Nice. The honeymoon suites here are worth the upgrade--they have a Jacuzzi on the balcony, with this view to look out at while you soak and smooch. (See their home page for a picture.) Throw in nice robes, and a pillow menu, and good restaurants that don't serve buffets--even if you're on the all-inclusive plan--and this boutique hotel is a big step up from the vacation factories so prevalent in the area.
Tags: Anti-View / Puerto Vallarta Hotel Reviews / Mexico Hotels / → All Tags
Room with an Anti-View: Razor Wire and a Water Tank at Plaza Pelicanos Beach Resort
You know the scene. You open the door to your brand new hotel room, run over to the window, open the blinds and bam, you are hit with the anti-view. Maybe you are looking down a dirty alley, witnessing a drug deal, staring at an air shaft in the face, or seeing a brick wall. Whatever you are viewing it is not extremely pleasurable. Help out your fellow hotel mavens by uploading your anti-views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number with the not-so-easy-on-the-eyes view.
Imagine booking a trip to a beach resort and ending up with a room that faces razor wire, a water tank, and a chain link fence topped with barbed wire. All of it facing a swampy stream that's a mosquito colony's dream. That's the view from a whole wing of even-numbered rooms ending in 26 to 40 at Hotel Plaza Pelicanos in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The shot here is from room 326--it's probably even worse from the two floors below it.
This is a strange hotel that's split into two sections. One faces the water and has some good views. The other section is across the street and is centered around a courtyard, with rooms facing either the pool or something ugly.
Most of the guests arrive after booking a bargain vacation package through a travel agent and those who went for the cheapest class of room are definitely in for a nasty surprise. More proof that upgrading to a better room class is often money well spent.
The beach here has been eroded badly anyway and the pool complex is nothing exciting, so this is one of the bottom choices all around. One hint that something is amiss here anyway: the Espanol button on the Web site's home page leads to lots more info. The English button doesn't work at all.
Tags: YouTube / Puerto Vallarta Hotel Reviews / Hotel Suites / → All Tags
Video Proof of the Bright Side of Mexico
As we promised earlier today, we have video footage of Hotel Maven Tim Leffel's experience at the heavenly Hacienda San Angel.Here he takes on us a tour of the hotel's Celestial Suite with its killer views, private terrace, hot tub and personal bar. We hate to admit it, but this video has single-handedly changed our feelings about Mexico.
Related Stories:
· Heaven in Puerto Vallarta: Hacienda San Angel [HotelChatter]
Tags: Puerto Vallarta Hotel Reviews / Mexico Hotels / Hotel Pools / Hotel Amenities / → All Tags
Heaven in Puerto Vallarta: Hacienda San Angel
[Ed. Note: Hotel Maven Tim Leffel has headed down to Mexico to check out the hotel scene in Puerto Vallarta. We will be bringing his reports all week long. Enjoy.]
There are hotels. Then there are well-done hotels so special that they leave even the most jaded travelers slack-jawed and speechless. Hacienda San Angel, in the old city section of Puerto Vallarta, is the latter. Ask a guest who is staying there what he or she thinks of the place and the answer usually starts with, "I've stayed in a lot of hotels but...."
This is a boutique hotel in the true sense of the word, every nook and cranny doted over like a unscale store window display. With only ten rooms spread across several buildings that used to be houses (including one bought by actor Richard Burton), this is an inn that reflects the owner's relentless devotion to good design and aesthetics. This is a place where the details are not just attended to. They are fretted over, mapped out, redesigned, and painfully settled upon--with trepidation.
More on this Hotel Heaven after the jump.
Tags: Puerto Vallarta Hotel Reviews / Mexico Hotels / Hotel Pools / Hotel Bars / → All Tags
Westin Puerto Vallarta: Chillin' Like a Sea Turtle
[Ed. Note: Hotel Maven Tim Leffel has headed down to Mexico to check out the hotel scene in Puerto Vallarta. We will be bringing his reports all week long. Enjoy.]
Puerto Vallarta is a happening place, but parts of it are definitely a West Coast version of Cancun. There are plenty of spots on Banderas Bay where one hotel looks just like another and the main difference is what's on the buffet table for lunch.
The Westin Resort & Spa, in the Marina area, is a significant notch above most of the other hotels in Puerto Vallarta proper. For one thing, it occupies a huge amount of land. Part of this is taken up with a timeshare operation (you'll know you've wandered off to their side when you hear the Village People, the Bee Gees, and Journey blasting from the sound system.).
Still, it's an impressive complex with four endless pools, a long beach, fancy cabanas, and nice wooden poolside lounge chairs-a rarity in these parts. There are even some nice tile lounges built into the pool so you can catch some rays while staying cool.
Speaking of staying cool, there is another rare quality here: shade. The architect didn't plow down all the palm trees to build the swimming pools. Instead the pools meander around the palm trees. So while the beach offers plenty of sunburn potential, much of the pool area is shady enough that you can forget about sunscreen. Not that we recommend that of course.
More on the Westin Puerto Vallarta after the jump.
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