Occidental Grand Nuevo Vallarta - All Inclusive

Very bad. Severely overcrowded with local families. It seems to me each room contained 10 to 12 people. The pool was swarmed all day with people and kids. Heavy amounts of visible grease were in pool at night after closing. The dining area was outdoors and was swarmed with blackbirds and seagulls trying to steal your meal. There was bird defecation on the seats and chairs. Their was aggressive, rude staff trying to sell you timeshares In the penthouse daily. They wouldn't take no for an answer. Gourmet meals were only allowed 1/3 of the nights of your stay. Although very good, the portions were very small. I would not recommend this hotel to anyone. Steer clear. Some staff very friendly. DO NOT BOOK RENTAL CARS. I GOT A 10 YEAR OLD BEATER FOR AN ECONOMY CAR. UPGRADED TO A AUTOMATIC, NEWER MODEL, AND ACCIDENTALLY DENTED A BUMPER. I BOUGHT EXTRA INSURANCE THROUGH THE ORDER AND DECLINED AVIS INSURANCE IN MEXICO. AS A RESULT I PAID AND EXTRA $300 FOR THE CAR. HOWEVER, WITHOUT MY SIGNATURE AND THEIR ESTIMATE OF $675 DAMAGES, THEY BILLED MY CARD A TOTAL OF $2175. I WILL HAVE TO FILE FOR CHARGE BACKS TO MY ACCOUNT. THEY DID THIS WITHOUT MY SIGNATURE.

We just arrived home from 10 days at this resort. It was an amazing time. I chose this resort after reading several reviews of hotels in neuvo vallarta. The hotel far exceeded our expectations. The food is awesome, lots of variety, good temps, bars were all premiom liquors, beer was great too, lol. The activity directors, Vincente, Isla, Mario and the others were extremely friendly and made u feel like you are their only guest, very personable and helpful. Raimondo was definately a great help when we first arrived, and all through the stay. Lilia kept our room perfet. Our room fridge was well stoclat all times. The servers are all wonderful. Lots of activities going on all day and night. I highly recommend room 128, ground floor and close to outside. The beach goes on forever and is very clean.I would definately stay here again If you want to do an exciting adventure go with the whale watching/snorkeling.We seen over 20 whales, and we also did the dopphin encouter all close to the hotel. It was very safe to walk around at night and transportation is great with the taxi and the bus service. There were kids at the resort and they were no problem at all, lots oof space for everyone. Lots of water activities as well . Debbie, NF, Ont Canada

The smallest resort we've stayed in and it was only 65% full - super! Rooms are not tropical, but modern hotel-like, dark furniture, very upscale - nice. We were on 6th (top) floor facing the ocean, all rooms facing forward have good views. Nice and quiet. But, no deck. Nice modern bathroom, glass shower, but no bathtub. Nice enough pool, a second shallow one that was excellent for kids. No hot tub! (just one for "first club" members). There were kids, but not very many so they were cute and not irritating. All ages of guests which was very cool - seriously - couples in their early 20's and 80 year old women! Lots of Canadians for some reason. Typical nightly shows (nothing horrific, nothing great). Was supposed to be nightly dancing with a DJ but didn't seem to happen; just music at the bar. Pretty dead for night life but that's ok for us. Two restaurants, the main buffet, a snack bar and 2 bars. French - meh (only went one night). Mexican - pretty decent (ate there twice). Buffet - good for breakfast and lunch, not so hot for dinner (though the last night had lots of Mexican and was not bad), but lots of choice so you can find something. Snack bar - meh but decent fries and good guacamole. The beach bar is fine, typical. The lobby bar is actually nice, hotel-like. Nice beach, could always get a good spot under a grass umbrella thingy. Probably 12 people came by each day trying to sell us something but went right away with a friendly "no thank you." We took the public bus to Puerta Vallarta and went to a craft fair/farmers market - easy, cheap, nice and safe. Had an excellent lunch in a non-touristy restaurant a little off the main drag. Got a massage in the hut on the beach - nice. Still not as good as at home but way better then the "rubbing" we've gotten in PR and the DR. The staff are delightful, very friendly, speak English well, most have a good sense of humor, seem to be pretty happy about their work which is nice. Flexible, want to make you happy. Overall, we had a very nice time. And, while it wasn't perfect and not as fancy as some other places we're stayed - I cannot complain considering how little we paid! About $1,000 per person including airfare and everything else. We would go there again.

We booked this trip solely based on the great reviews. We had looked at other hotels to spend our honeymoon and this seemed higher rated than others. Wow - we were wrong! Let me start by saying we paid over $300 extra for the Grand Romance Package and complimentary Honeymoon Package. Here's what we should have received: Honeymoon – The complimentary honeymoon amenities include a special check-in, congratulatory flower arrangement in room upon arrival, continental breakfast in room, special recognition announcement, 10% couples massage discount and turn down service nightly. Grand Romance – Include complimentary bottle of champagne, chocolate covered strawberries, 1 hour massage per couple, continental breakfast in bed (book with guest services at main lobby), romantic dinner, turndown service, 10% massage discount and special amenity for romance occasion. We checked like any normal person (no special check-in like it states) and then they showed up to our room. Right off the elevator on the 6th floor. Really? For a honeymoon couple. We bit our tongue and thought they must be nicer rooms. I think they were smaller than anything off to either side. I must mention the bell boys were great – arriving and leaving! Once left in our room no congratulatory flower arrangement, no champagne or strawberries and definitely no mention of the package we purchased after check-in. For two days we tried to track down the concierge about our Grand Romance Package and what was included and what we needed to do to receive what we paid for. We had asked the Front Desk and they kept telling us they couldn’t help us – the concierge would. They never bothered telling us she was off for 2 days. Finally we went upstairs to the Royal Club concierge and she sent us down the champagne and strawberries. She told us she doesn’t really handle this stuff and we’d still need to talk to the concierge. Once we talked to the concierge she scheduled our 25 min. “mini” massages – not an hour like we had paid for, told us that our room would be stocked everyday (it wasn’t), arranged breakfast in bed (cold coffee), turndown service (never mentioned/never happened, but we paid for it), special amenity for romance occasion (again – paid for in the romance package, but never received) and dinner up in the Royal Club. Dinner at the Royal Club was ok. Server was great, but the concierges told him we were coming the day before yet our reservation clearly stated Sunday. No communication between staff members at all. We were put in the private room where there’s a lamp unplugged in the corner with no shade on it. Looked like we were sitting in a storage room. Again our server was great. Back to our room by the elevator…they do entertainment inside the hotel until at least 10pm. The night they did karaoke (well past 10pm) you could barely hear the TV on the 6th floor. We were trying to have an early night as we had an excursion the next day at 6am. You could not sleep. Was so loud!! So much for a romantic honeymoon when people downstairs who can’t sing are singing. Was extremely disappointed with the hotel. Staff members obviously don’t communicate very well and don’t bother paying extra for any packages. You get what everyone else did who paid less than you. Maybe if I didn’t have such high expectations or it wasn’t our honeymoon it would’ve been a nice place to vacation. Just don’t go with expectations.

this was the first time at this resort.. the food was very good, but the rooms needed some updating. staff on the ball all the time..

We had such a great time. The staff in particular was awesome. we enjoyed the nightly shows and activities. superb location. We are definitely going again next year with the entire family!!!

The hotel is in Nuevo Vallarta. It is a ways from town. We paid $23.00 each way to Puerto Vallarta. This area is very nice. It has grown quite a bit. It now has an indoor mall, starbucks, Baskin Robbins, subway, dominos pizza, boutiques, and other retail stores. If you go with a family it's very convienent. It was across the street from our resort which was Occidental Grand Nuevo Vallarta. We wanted to go somewhere all inclusive and no so expensive. Well, we got what we paid for. Although, the employees were all very kind and helpful, the resort definitely still needs some work (supposedly the remodeled). There is only one pool, one beach bar, no swimup pool bar, and one buffet. If you want any other food you have to make a reservation for Mexican night or Italian night. These spots fill up quickly. Even though the resort did get a makeover, it is a small resort with minimal amenities. When we got there and went to put our clothers away in the closet we got quite a surprise. One side of the closet had the room safe and a place to hang your close and the other side of the closet when you slid the door open was the bathroom shower. Quite hysterical. One more thing, the food and drinks were terrible. We are experience travelers and travel two or three times a year. We will not be going back.

What we liked: We stayed five days and found the staff and service to be excellent. Our room was lovely. Special thanks to Erik at the buffet and Arnulfo at Los Olivos restaurant for great service, and also to the bartender in the lobby bar.. There are other staff I would like to mention but can't remember their names. Thought the food was very good at the buffet and at the specialty restaurants. We didn't have children with us but it looked like they had a great children's program for kids between 4 and 12/ Things we didn't like--#1 would be jeaniethe pressure to attend a presentation for their Vacation Club; we were told it would take no more than 90 minutes because they "respect our time" and it went much longer and was very high-pressure, we were promised vouchers for tours of Puerto Vallarta for attending the presentation but at the end we were transferred to another sales representative who tried to talk us into attending another sales presentation at another hotel instead of getting tour vouchers. Save yourself time and aggravation and don't go to the presentation no matter what they promise you. There is only one pool and it got crowded, you have to get up early to save a lounge chair or you will have nowhere to sit. One of our biggest disappointments was how dirty the ocean water was--one morning we walked down the beach to the south and found that the channel a few hundred yards away was being dredged and the sediment all being dumped into the bay not far from our hotel, no wonder it was dirty. Hate to think what else was in that water. We're not sorry we went as overall had a very good time but would probably look at other hotels if going back to Puerto Vallarta. As far as whether or not I'd recommend it to a friend, I would say it is a great place to have a relaxing vacation as long as you stay away from the sales people.

its a time share so you get offers and they want to sell you one. it was nice and had been remodeled.

The Hotel was awesome , tropical and wellgroomed. The staff was so friendly and attentive. So relaxing and peacefull. Everything was just perfect, couldn't ask for anything better. Perfect Vacation!!! Didn't want to come home.