Buenaventura Grand Hotel and Spa Puerto Vallarta

If proximity to the safe and lovely Downtown/Malecon area is your desire this is the place. Daliy walks into town shopping and enjoying the unlimited restaurant possibilities are just steps away. We've just returned from our 6th visit to the Buenaventura Grand and will be returning. Hotel activities are good for both adults and kids. Food quality has constantly improved over last 8 years making the All Inclusive option a real value.

I stayed here for a week with my two teenagers. We spend a lot of time in Mexico but always stay other places--Cuatro Vientos, Los Arcos, Casa dona Susanna--but stayed here just to try someplace different. We found the Buenaventura very nice--clean, good service, overall all a "pristine" tourist experience. The kids club looked fun and all the kids were engaged and closely supervised. We ate on the property three times--one breakfast, one lunch, and one dinner. We found the food clean and well prepared but totally uninspired--your basic sort of buffet/cafeteria stuff although we did have bar-b-que ribs that were tasty. The deserts were ok except for the little tres leches cake---those were very nice!! The free coffee in the lobby in the morning is a nice little touch and the pastries were fresh. But you can walk next door on the beach to El Barracuda and get much better food for half the price, or just wander down the Malecon and eat local specialties--corn with chili, roasted shrimps, mango on a stick--all the good stuff! Or hit any of the neighborhood places for excellent local food. The Buenaventura spa is nice but extremely overpriced--a mani-pedi is $1000 pesos. If you walk one block down the street to the neighborhood spa a mani pedi is $300 pesos; walk on downtown and it's $200 pesos. The Buenaventura is perfect for people who dont speak Spanish and just want to drink, play a few games of pool volleyball, relax by the pool, and basically just chill. It's great for a very sanitized version of Mexico. For people like me, it's way too bougie. It didn't feel any different than if I had been in San Diego or Orlando or any large sunny city hotel with a pool. Personally I don't see the point.

We stayed here for our wedding a few years ago and it was a perfect little hotel. It has now done a nose dive. The activities guy at the pool area now gets all the young adults very very drunk with Tequila volley followed by “bar tending lessons” which he makes a drink for each person and then has them slam the drinks while screaming “Yo, Yo ,Yo” The music is blasted around the pool area is very loud with techno songs like “Suicide girl” One of my favorite things was watching the waiters bring empty wine bottles from the restaurant to the bar where they fill them using a funnel with jug wine. So the bottle you pay for is actually $2 worth of jug wine. The bar in the lobby now gives you a selection of 7 bottles vs the 20 bottles two years ago. The liquor is watered down and the beer is at least 3.2 if not non alcoholic. The service by the pool area was outstanding – very good service from the pool waiters. I would not suggest staying here with a family as there are many drunk young kids courteous of the activities guy.

I can't say enough good things about this hotel. If you want value for money, especially "all-inclusive style", then this is it! Fantastic Location, both on the beach and downtown at the same time!. An endless supply of unbelievably good, well prepared food. Specialty full-service restaurants at no extra charge. Friendy, happy & helpful staff. Only two negatives, and these are very small in the overall experience: Noise from guests, especially inconsiderate ones, really travels along the inside corridors and penetrates into the bedrooms (think this is the inherent nature of the open constuction of the hotel). This is a great value hotel and at the weekends there can be an influx of guests whose noise, children and different cultural behaviour can be unsettling and annoying to the traveller seeking a relaxing and tranquil vacation.

For what we paid, the Buenaventura was an "A-OK deal". To start, the staff, without exception, was excellent. Arrival and check-in were ok. We had booked two room, and only ONE of which was ready at our 300pm arrival. So we decided to settle into the room that was ready and then hit the pool for some rays and the all inclusinve booze! When we returned 3.5 hours later our 2nd room was still in shambles! The facility is definitely old, but the rooms were clean, and comfortable. The beds were comfy and the bedding nice (sheets and comforters) The AC worked wonders and was refreshing after a day in the sweltering heat of PV. The brochure stated that there were three a la carte restaurants - but it was the same facility just having a different menu on different days. The food in the buffet was medium - some days really quite good and other days so so. The hotel has an obvious following of clientelle which makes it pleasant to talk to people that have been coming for years, which we enjoyed, and that helped in the overall friendliness of the facility. Our overall comment would be , that for the price we paid for one week, we got value for our money. The location was perfect as you could walk to the Malecon (15 minutes and enjoy the character of the local streets and buildings along the way). A little further was the Romantic Zone (bars and dance clubs - another 10 minutes) of a $50 pesos cab ride ($5 US dollars). The beach was sandy until you got into the water where it was rocky, but still swimable.

Last year I decided to get married in Mexico but my budget wasn't too high (I was paying by myself). I did some research and this hotel seemed ok and within my budget. To be honest I was quite hesitant on the outcome. It trully overpassed any expectation I had. The service couldn't had been better. Every singleof my guests agreed that the service, food, location (a lot of them went out partying every night to tons of different places just by walking) was excellent. It was my dream wedding and honeymoon. (awesome to have tons of your friends to enjoy it). This year some friends of my invited me to an especial celebration but I was going to have to go by myself. Without hesitation, I booked this hotel again. (since I wanted a central place where I could stay most of the day and feel safe with good food and service). Again, I wasn't disappointed. A lot of the staff remembered me and my husband and called by my name almost since the first day. The room I originally got didn't have a tube, but I was moved to another one as soon as it was available ( there was a wedding and the hotel was full the first day). They even moved my luggage. I just had to change my key. Food again was good as well as drinks. I booked for the different speciality restaurants every night and even when I was alone and not VIP they always treated me as one. I really enjoyed my trips.

Hotel and employees were great!! Food and drinks were great too.

The hotel has daily activities that are fun to participate, such as aquaerobics,vollyball and contests, they also have a extensive music selection that they play through out the day.

I love PV and have no complaints for any of my prior visits or hotel stays. this place was different. the staff was very friendly so no problem there my room however was different. knowing that i would not be spending anytime in the room I went for a less expensive room (122/nite)and it was not good. I asked not to placed close to the street for less noise and of course my room was next to street which was loud music 2 of 3 nites (I can deal with that) but the bathroom was another story there was this horrible small very close to a sewage smell that got worse every day -- also my room never smelled clean after being cleaned. It could have been an isolated incident and perhaps if I had paid more for a room -- I might have had a better experience. But this did not leave a good first impression.

Have been staying at this hotel for over 25 years and have always enjoyed it---especially the employees from the bell captain Peter and Faustino to the wait staff and bartenders. Very kind and customer service oriented.