We came to Puerto Vallarta for a wedding at an all inclusive in Nuevo Vallarta but decided to spend the rest of our vacation in Old Town. We could not have been more pleased with Casa Dona Susana. The room was clean, the staff was friendly and helpful, and the hotel itself is adorable. You cannot beat the location - it is just a block from the beach so it was nice and quiet, yet close to everything. We walked Everywhere. The best part was the price. The next time we return to Puerto Vallarta we plan to stay at Casa Dona Susana and have already told all our friends!

Casa Dona Susana was a very good hotel for the price, and it's location is fantastic. We arrived in Puerto Vallarta for New Years, which is one of the busiest times of year. The hotel is right in the middle of the Romantic Zone, and there were great street parties during the celebration right in front of the hotel. Fortunately, Dona Susana is down a side street, so it was quieter. As a benefit, the hotel partners with the larger, more family oriented Los Arcos. You can use the beach at the large hotel (we did not because it was still very crowded), or you can use the private rooftop pool at Dona Susana (we did - every day - and it was great!).
The only drawback was the room size. It was comfortable and cleaned very well everyday, but it was very small without any windows opening to the outside (a window opens into the walkway around the central courtyard). Also, we were on the top floor, and we could hear people moving the deck chairs above us in the morning. But who wants to stay in their room very long anyway?

I recently returned from a stay at this hotel. I was drawn in by the cheap rates and the fact that I booked last minute. After I had made the reservation I read some of the reviews on Trip Advisor and had concerns about the smell in the rooms.

When I arrived at the hotel I was placed in room 101. The room had a very strong musty smell. I didnt even want to take my clothes out the suit case. I asked to be moved but the front desk said they didnt have another comparable room. I spent the first night in the room only to be woken up several times by the strong smell.

The next day the front desk did move me to another smaller room. I asked about the difference in my cost since I was moving from a junior suite to a standard room. I was told that because they had filled my reservation as requested and I asked to be moved that I did not get a refund of the $120.00.

The new room also smelled but not as bad as the first. When I got home the smell lingered in everything. I did not even bring the suit cases into the house because the odor was so strong. I also witnessed other guests complaining of the smell and some checking out because of it.

I will say the staff for the most part were very friendly with the exception of not giving me back the difference in the cost of the room. Also since all the doors open to a center courtyard you can hear everyone closing their doors. You can also hear the slamming of the elevator when it closes. Both of these sound like a large slam that echoes through the courtyard. I had to buy ear plugs just to sleep.

My wife and I headed out on a last minute vacation package through Orbitz. One of the options was the Casa Dona Susana. We picked it up and had an overall great time.

Check-in and out was easy. The staff was very good...nice and helpful. The common area was very warm. The rooms were shabby but very functional...rooms were small but a tad run down, the TV was small but fine, the AC was medium loud but not too bad, the shower was bit in poor repair but had really good pressure and temperature. The bed had clean, if a tad stained, linens and it was good and firm. No view to speak of, but we weren't in much. The roof pool was very interesting and kind of a novelty to us...we liked it very much.

What I didn't know was that if you are staying at Casa Dona Susana, you could also use Los Arcos' pool, beach, and bar areas which are all modest but very nice.

It's location can't be easily beat, from my perspective. Close to the beach and just a few minutes walk to the great and cheap food and entertainment of the Malecon. I don't think we'd stay anywhere that wasn't close to the downtown area. So for the price and the location, Casa Dona was great for us. Great restaurants all around and easy access to both cabs and buses.

Beach vendors got REALLY bad at times, but you can generally just ignore them. I'd suggest this place, or Los Arcos, to anyone who wants a decent, cheap place to stay who doesn't need tons of space, such as those who have kids.