Buenaventura Grand Hotel and Spa All-Inclusive, 5 de Diciembre

Although the staff at the pool bar was great, there was a general unfriendly attitude about the people of the front desk and bell hop. We stayed in a "Honeymoon Suite" which was overlooking the pool and cabana bar. A 4 poster bed and a jacuzzi tub were useless to us in the heat, but the real disappointment was Friday night when a Quinceanera party out by the pool kept us awake and uncomfortable with trance/disco music that was turned up so loud our floors and walls were vibrating! It took my husband going down to the desk to get them to turn it down, but moments later the "music" was turned up again. Not one member of the staff apologized to us and when we asked to move rooms they tried to charge us the premium rate for a room with less amenities. It took a firm discussion with Julio, the rooms manager, to have our bill adjusted. We were surprised at the attitude. We had our room booked for 8 nights and 2 other rooms booked for the rest of our family for another 4 nights. I guess spending a lot of money with them didn't count for anything. I wonder how much money they made on the quinceanero party. We will never recommend this place!

Too many drunk kids around the pool. Poor service. Food too expensive. Not worth it!!! Stay nearer downtown or Old Vallarta and Eat at Mama Dolores

FOOD WAS GOOD SERVICE WAS GREAT RESORT WAS CLEAN. Vendors on beach could be pest but looked like they are on all the beach's we will be back

My mom and I came here last week, and our experience was horrible. Check-in took about half an hour: The front desk didn't know what they were doing, then they wanted to rip me off on the exchange rate (and I relented), and then we got to our room and it was TINY and SMELLED. The linens and other appointments were nothing like the pictures: This is really quite a basic hotel with very small windows and below average everything. We checked out the pool, and it was a pretty dirty area. The beach wasn't that great. And then my mom started talking about getting her own room because our one room was really quite small... Instead of "putting up with it" for 3 days, we left. Buenaventura required us to pay for the first night, which is pretty insulting since we came all that way and the hotel didn't match our expectations. We took a $10 taxi up to Garza Blanca and it was incredible - I am overjoyed we switched.

The hotel was great, great service, they waited on us hand and foot, good food, great view, and a good location right in middle of the city. If you like to swim in the sea, I would not recommend any hotel near Puerto Vallarta, the water is murky and usually covered with splotches of brown foam for a few hours or the whole day.

If your shopping around, this is worth the read! We've been to PV 3 times and this is by far the WORST hotel we've stayed at. We stayed all inclusive. The average age is 65 and you need to be up at the dawn with them to reserve your beach or pool lounge chair with a flashlight and towels from your room. No joke. HOTEL CONDITION: The hotel is old and is charming, but there is a lack of pool care and if you don't pay for an ocean-view, you will be facing the busy and noisy street. The hotel is falling apart, it is a 2 star at best for hotel condition. They fumigated the first 3 nights we were there. Wear your flip-flops in the shower as it likes to plug. HOTEL STAFF: We were not welcomed with anything special, our kids & party were on another floor and wing, even with many emails securing a room beside us before we went. The day staff is great, stay away from the night staff. AND we had to ask for bottled water everyday. Our pool waiter Eduardo was awesome!! HOTEL AMENITIES: The hotel does exchange money, but does not cash traveller's cheques. The hotel is very popular with locals and they get served first. There is no where to sit at night near the pool bar, only 20 concrete stools and the pool lounge chairs. No tables or chairs for friends to gather and have a few drinks. 2 nights they took all of the lounge chairs away @ 8pm to clean the pool deck at 3am! Dont get dooped into going to the other Buenaventura opening in Nuevo, it IS time-share. They will offer you a free ride and promise beaches, but we heard otherwise. Beach towels are rented and if they're not brought back they are $35US each. The hotel doubles in capacity on the weekends and we saw many guests sleeping in the lobby. NIGHTLY ENTERTAINMENT:The nightly entertainment consisted of only an hour of whatever is planned that day. Casino night was one table of 8; Hawaiian Night?? was 20 folding chairs to watch the show; karaoke??; and Bingo??!! DAILY ENTERTAINMENT: Same as above. One hour of volleyball, aerobics, scuba & cooking class. DINING: They advertise 5 restaurants. Go out to eat. #1 Buffet that does breakfast, lunch and dinner. (breakfast is good) #2 Beach Restaurant - serves lunch and a walk up buffet for a few hours (6 item), evenings are reservation only (made only early the morning of) It was ok. #3 Is one table of 4, reservation only and costs extra. #4 Is a beef restaurant, same as above. #5 is not a restaurant, its Sushi Wednesday nights at the buffet. Not good. Room Service is left over food, served cold. Not good. Between breakfast, lunch and dinner they shut down the restaurants for an hour or two to set up for the next meal. There is nothing to eat, not even an all-day snack bar like most resorts. We were told..."go to your room and order room service". The food was very disappointing. There is very little fresh food or vegetables to eat, mostly fatty, mystery stews, deep fried bacon and a lot of gravies. Very disappointing when you go to Mexico to eat Mexican and experience the flavors and they serve you meatloaf and mashed potatoes!!! No joke. We recommend Victor's Tacuba at the marina, Bubba Gump Shrimp or Cheeky Monkey on the Malecon, River Cafe near the market and Coexist Cafe near the big church by the Malecon. This hotel is made for someone who will sleep there ONLY. We would never recommend this hotel and if you do decide to stay, don't pay more than $800 CDN for a week of all-inclusive or $600/week for European, including your flight. Stay at the Marival in Nuevo, much nicer, clean rooms and the food is incredible! Wish we knew before we went.

Responsive staff. Clean,basic food,good pools, walk to town,or just cross the road to restaurants and small shops. WE stayed allinclusive this time.We recomend this hotel for familys.

There was nine of us that went in Feb.2006. The food was great. the pool was warm, and the staff was friendly. The only problem was the rooms. Two of the rooms were on the street side. The noise was so loud you could'nt sleep. They got switched in a couple of day's. There were a lot of guests complaining about the same thing. We went all inclusive and they used very cheap booze in there drinks. Ever heard of a name brand of Tequila named TUNA?

I thought the staff here was wonderful....the bell hop, cleaning staff, restaurant servers. I loved the open air dining, and being able to walk right up to the beach, and the ocean view from my room. Mexico was even more beautiful than I imagined, and I can't wait to go back!

good value for the dollar. Staff were friendly and helpful. Besides the pool...no amenities. Location is perfect to walk downtown. Tv changer was exchanged three times, never did work. No clocks in rooms