Marival Residences and World Spa All-Inclusive, Bucerias Centro

What did I like? The service, cleanliness, food, activities, people, everything! Please realize that there is a "Marival Resort" that is NOT the same as the "Marival Residences and World Spa". STAY AT THE RESIDENCES! It's worth every penny. We went within the first year they opened and the word hadn't gotten out yet. We loved it so much that we are returning in October 2011 and I have a feeling it will be much more crowded. The food is incredible! Super fresh seafood and fruit and it is served with a smile. There are only three restaurants that are included in the all inclusive (plus a Japanese Restaurant that we never made it to but heard it was great). The Japanese Restaurant is NOT included in the AI package. We never got bored with the food. Ordered different things every meal and really enjoyed it all. The fresh tuna is to die for! We also didn't get to the wine bar but apparently they have "noshes" on the menu there. The concierge desk as very helpful at arranging our outings. We did the Dolphin Experience, Sea Lion Experience, Canopy / Zip Line tour, and Golf. All were top notch. Be aware that these places rely on you buying their photos and videos and they are very expensive but you are supporting the local economy. Plus, the excursion was basically free so support them if you can. In the Dolphin and Sea Lion ones, you can't bring in your own camera so the only way to get photos is to buy theirs. We bought one CD and shared the expense (and the digital photos when we returned home). That made it worth the money. Great deal if you are in a group. The Zip Line tour is a blast! Super fun guides who spoke great english and were really funny! They totally made the trip for us. The truck ride up the mountain was an experience all on it's own. Very exciting and fun and looks dangerous but we were never nervous. These guys drive that road a couple of times a day and they operated everything safely. This resort is NOT right on the beach but that was never a bother to us. We packed up our beach gear for the day and when we got to our "private section" at the other Marival (on the beach) we were pampered and brought whatever we needed. Food, drinks, and ice were always at our disposal. They even had books, magazines, tanning lotion and of course, great towels. We would sit there all day and eat and drink and read and get in the ocean. Perfect.. You are welcome to use the pools, facilities, and restaurants at the "Marival Resort". We never did. They couldn't hold a candle to the amazing food and service at "The Residences". My hubby golfed. The courses were a bit of a drive away but absolutely lovely, well designed, and challenging. He golfed alone one day (early AM) and said it was one of the best days he ever had golfing. Silence and scenery. There is not much of a nightlife here. We weren't really looking for that because we were so tired each night after the activities and sun. If you want, there is a nightclub at the other Marival. (Kinda lame, from what we heard.) You are a long ways from downtown PV but there is great nightlife downtown. You can take a cab both ways any time of day or night. I think it was about $40 US for four of us each way. Worth it for a night out on the town and not having to worry about driving. At the OTHER Marival (the resort) there is a Mexican show most nights with performers, dancers, singers. It's fun to see once. There is a piano bar, too. There was some fun sing-a-longs going on while we walked through one night. Most of our evenings were spent at the rooftop bar, drinking, eating, chatting with other guests and the staff. A couple of nights some really beautiful, well dressed locals (male and female) were there for parties. Seems like it's kind of a cool place for the wealthier locals to hang out a bit. Well, just be sure you know the difference between the "Residences" and the "Resort" and know that you get what you pay for. Trust me. Pay for this one. Buenos Dias!

Reading previous reviews, I believe they are confused between Marival Residences & World Spa and Marival Resort & Hotel. Marival Residences & World Spa opened in December and had their grand opening last week. It was the day that I left there...darn... The place was amazing. My family enjoyed the pool & hot tub. The spa was great. I especially loved INSU sky lounge and Ommagio. They had great staff. I still remember some name: Omar, Hugo, Alberto, Alexandria, Regi... This place doesn't have a beach in front; however, you can get a ride to Marival Resort, and it takes only 5 minutes max. There's VIP beachclub for guests from the residences. You don't need to make a reservation for the restaurants. They were giving 6 free tours for their guests as well. My family went to city tour, dolphine encounter and Kontiki 2. It's a beautiful place. I am definitely going back.

I would like to start this review by saying I feel like a "seasoned traveler". We've been on a dozen all-inclusive vacations. We tip everyone every where we go. We'll go on many more vacations only Never again to the Marival. We don't go on vacation to a Third World Country believing everything will be perfect. But there are a few things that are important to us.. Cleanliness, Safety, and the Weather. With that said, the weather was the only good thing that the Marival had to offer the week we were there. Cleanliness: The room smelled like Mold! Everyone we met at the Marival said their room smelled like mold too. Cups, Cups, they Do Not wash them, alittle rinse and that is it... Very Unsanitary!! I watched them pick cutlery up off the floor and put it back on the table. I saw them pick up water glasses off tables more then once and pour the left over water back into the water pitchers. Moral: Staff was not friendly. Safe to say a hugh percentage of people were sick, including my husband and I. Not sure if it was the mold, food poisoning, or perhaps the lack of cleanliness. If you want a chair on the beach, better be up by 6am and put a personal item on the chair to mark your place. However that is not always a guarantee you will have your chair when you return. We witnessed beach brawls everday, over chairs and towels. The pool bar is the first to open at 11am, others open at 12 & 1pm. The bars have 1 bartender each, (who are not in a hurry)so plan to wait a long time for a drink and then a watered down one at that. The Marival advertised boogie boards included in this all-inclusive, however the hotel fails to tell you if you use the boards you will most likely be charged $20 for wear & tear on the board. Or maybe you will be one of the lucky ones and they will charge you $15. Every other person we ran into was charged Something too. I'm still confused.... why were they charging for normal use of a boogie board And why were the fees not the same for everyone?? Safety: While I was sunny on the beach, my husband was playing in the waves when all of a sudden a rope came up out of the water. The rope from the para-sail came up out of the water right in the middle of the beach where women, children and my husband were swimming. The boat took off - the rope tightened, came out of the water only to catch my husband in the chest and arm, flipping him up out of the water and over. Everyone around him drew near to be sure he was ok. When he returned to shore, he reported the incident to the security guard. He never said sorry, all he said was "oh, I will need to make a report, they are not suppose to be in the beach area, we've had a lot of complants about them". He then got on his radio with the hotel manager and said he would be talking to us. To shorten the next 3 days, the security guard was going to make a report and have the hotel manager come talk to us which Never happened. Well guess what?? Time to check out and no one knows the security guard we talked to all week.... no one at the concierce remembers talking to us and our ______ rep. is off to lunch or something. At this point we are told we owe $35 for boogie board... What??? Where the heck did 35 come from?? We were told on day 2 we owed $20, never heard $35 from any one. The issue was not that the security guard and the concierce had both told us those charges were dropped.The issue was now no one knows what were talking about... 30 minutes of screaming and shouting in the front lobby and out comes a lady and says, "Sir - I know you whole situation and you are free to go." WHAT?? " I am the hotel manager and I know your situation and you may go". Where the heck was she the last half hour?? Still never a sorry... not one apology from anyone. Well if you value your life and the lives of your family, wife and children = Dont stay at the Marival, you will not be Safe there. I would NOT recommend this resort to Anyone.

My wife and I have been to 12 all-inclusive resorts all over Mexico,Jamaica and the Dominican.We have had many adventures and enjoy going to a different lacation each year.This is our third time to Puerto Vallarta,and to be honest our last time.Marival does not value you.You are a number to them.They don't realize how much sacrifice skimping and saving it has taken you to save for such a trip.when you finally get there do you not want to be pampered?At Marival you are a bother.To them perhaps just another rich arragont American or in my case Canadian.Go to one of the many other resorts that are available in Purto Vallarta you will be happier.Anyone who says differently spent their week drunk and eyes closed.Marival must be hurting for money as well because they are trying to make money on the rental of boogie boards that are listed on their site as included in your all-inclusive package.I'm not talking about breaking a board I'm refering to normal wear.Marival hasn't figured this in their budget?They have to gouge the traveler?The guy running the hut is fool that should really lay off the dope he really believes the things that come out of his mouth.Two couples on the beach were approached by security and this shady individual from the boogie board hut and were told they owed for a broken board it was an embarrassing scene as the tone was elevated and one of the Tourists was called a liar.It wasn't til the man with him pulled out his poliemans badge that the hotel backed off.This resort is very unprofessional.The para -sail activity was right in the middle of the water/beach activity and at least one guy was seriously injured while we were present.This is the same beach that kids are builing sandcastles and jumping in the waves.If you have children this is not a safe location.The so called entertainment staff is a group of kids that in my opinion is trying to get in any and every girls pants that is there on vacation.Very unprofessional.If you are going on vacation to Mexico don't let this review discourage you just go anywhere else but Marival.You will be happier elsewhere.Marival cares only about your money and not you.

I just got back from Marival stayed there from Feb 8th to the 15th. My room was right above the main pol with a great view of the beach. It was clean and very nice. I thought the food was good to great depending on where I wanted to eat. The staff was very helpfull and the whole palce was very clean I would recommend it to anyone. It may not be the best place for young people wanting to party every night but for couples and families I thought it was great. I got the all inclusive for $99.00 per person per night.

I'm usually one who reads negative reviews and says people are way too picky. After this trip, I'm the one writing the bad review! Our first room after checking in was full of black mold in the bathroom. The bedspread had mold, blood, lipstick and paint on the underside. Needless to say, we complained to the Funjet rep and management and got a new room which was cleaner. Coffee pot in room but coffee only provided for one day, then you have to buy it for the rest of your stay in their store[at an all inclusive resort]. Mini bar/frig was empty on arrival. Only 2 of 6 restaurants open. Two only took reservations for dinner and each was only open one night a week. Laundry area dirty with only one dryer working. Cost $6 to do one load of wash. Concerierge and front desk staff very rude. They closed the main pool without notice to "better our stay" and dug up all the bricks and jackhammered the tile ALL day long! Toilet plugged up and had water on the floor. Took forever for a front desk clerk to come inspect that yes there was water on the floor. No one came to mop it up and when we called to ask for housekeeping for a mop the lady was very rude and snapped that it was being taken care of. No one ever came. We cleaned up the water with our clean bath towels. The beach was halfway clean with a nice sandy bottom, no rocks. Family friendly with no nudity. The Casa Bella restaurant/buffet had great food and a good selection with friendly staff along with the Volare lounge. The spa was kind of pricey but well worth it. The only plus's of the resort. Oh, DON'T book with Funjet!! Flights totally messed up. Lost one of our luggage. They were not at the airport to pick us up as they were contracted to and when airport staff called they told them they weren't coming and had the airport staff arrange a taxi for us. The rep was only at the the resort from 9:30am to 5pm and left early quite often. The location on the beach was good, but you were kind of stuck there unless you booked a day trip or paid for a taxi to take you into Puerta Vallarta which will cost you $16-18 US one way. We made the best of the rest of the trip since we went for our anniversary, but will never come back to this area and definately not recommend this resort.

We were skeptical at first after reading some of the reviews, but this turned out to be a terrific place to stay. It was our 8th time in the vallarta area, and this was one of the best times we had. Our 3 and 5 year olds loved it. pools were great, food was pretty good, reservation restaurants were wonderful. Food slections was always different and the kids always had something to choose from. Service was great..tipping always helps. This is Mexico and the ratings differ from what we are use to and the service is different at times, but we expect that. Grat place for families. Tons of activities for all. Beds were hard but the romms were clean and quiet.

everythings free even at 5 in the morning. they also have a real nightclub with a DJ. I stayed a week and meet awsome people and workers. if your thinking just do it.

The food was terrible! On our first day, we tried to make a reservation at any of the restaurants for any of the five nights that we were going to be there. We were told that there were no openings until 9:00 p.m., every night. The service at the outdoor bars was terrible and the service in the hotel lobby was very slow. The room was adequate, but that wouldn't make up for the poor service and food. You couldn't pay us to return to that resort.

Traveled to the Marival the end of January for one week with my wife....we had an awesome time.....staff was very friendly and courteous. Plenty of sun and fun, by the pool, at the beach, at the swim up bars.....always, plenty of choices for food. Would recommend making reservations at a few of the speciality restaurants to break things up a bit. If you can't find good food and a great time here, you aren't looking very hard. Very laid back and quiet, exactly what we wanted. Ask the head bell captain for a personal guide with a suburban, $35 per person all day, where ever you want to go instead of booking tours thru the hotel. We got alot in in 6-7 hours in one day versus two days of 6-7 hours on a bus.