Puerto Vallarta............... first impressions

Hola Puerto Vallarta was not a luxury motel. It was, however, a good motel for casual people who did not require the 5 star pampering. We thought the lobby was very interesting... Large with wayy too many couches. There was a large fountain in an alcove by the driveway entrance.. Check in was fast and painless. We really wanted an ocean view and got an 11th floor room. The view was beautiful. Amazing!

The actual room was sort of Mexicana style: One wall golden rod and the others buff. Bed spread was orange and coordinated with a painting on the wall. The air conditioning ran really well. The furniture was simple but not worn or old looking. We had a small balcony with some plants begging for water. ( I watered them and they bloomed but the maids picked the blooms for the towel decorations ...) the room was clean and well maintained and I was delighted with the little towel animals they left on the bed...

The first night the meal was good. buffet with quite few types of meats ... cooked lots of ways... as well as fruits and vegetables. The food wasn't really fancy. They had an impressive dessert bar with at least 6 kinds of pies and cakes as well as puddings and cookies. Beer was brought to the table and jeez... it kept coming... More beer than we wanted.....

The spa hours were quite short. They had a trainer and massage but they closed after 8 PM. Sadly for us, that's where the computer was. It closed early too. In all honesty it would have worked out fine except we were out all day and didn't stay at the motel.

Entertainment one night was karoke singing... yikes.. they didn't have any contest winners staying.... although everyone was enthused and seemingly could not hear how bad they were...(lucky for them!). We had to leave because I got the giggles. Another night the entertainment was next to the pool and it was Latin American Night... they served dinner on the pool deck and had an amazing banquet... the entertainers were professionals and really quite good at the different dances. We really enjoyed it! There were not enough tables and they set one up for us with a smile ... then fussed about making sure we felt comfortable where they set us... how sweet.

The staff was nice and tried to please although the dessert corner (near the bar area) was never open nor were two of the four dinner places. You could catch a snack like a little pizza or finger food at the beach house or go to the open air buffet. The La Petite French restaurant was not open on the four nights we were there and the Villa Linda was only open for breakfast. (which stopped serving at ten:...we missed it two days... ) We did not see the theater open. They had water exercise and kayak trips on the bay included in the price.

The beach is on beautiful Bandaras bay. It was really a nice beach.. there was a massage tent available... we used the area to stand one night to take photos... It really did have a great view out on the little peninsula it was on. We were really happy to see how many Mexican families were there and that is a big plus for us.

We paid $141 per day total. We felt it was worth it with the drinks and meals. We were happy with the staff and the room. All in all we would recommend this motel as long as people know it isn't fancy... but it's nice.