My wife and I enjoyed 5 wonderful days/nights at the Westin Regina PV. We were in PV for 9 days, 8 nights, but split our stay between the Westin and the Marriott CasaMagna due to our point allotment.

Let me start by saying that I am loyal Starwood Platinum member and this was my main reason for selecting the Westin PV not to mention getting 5 free nights at one of the upgrated deluxe rooms. However, we couldn't have been more pleased with the choice.

We checked in on a Monday around 1PM and were immediatly shown to our room by the bellman Carlos who couldn't have been more helpful and nice. We were met in our room by a complimentary bottle of wine and fruit plate. Our room was a nice sized King that had a balcony and jacuzzi tub. The bathroom was a very nice size with standup shower and separate tub. Although you can tell the hotels is nearing 20 years old, the rooms were kept up nice and the bed was a soft Westing heavenly bed. The nice sized balcony with beautiful view and jacuzzi is an added benefit that makes you feel at home.

After unpacking, we made headed straight for the pool and to check out the grounds. The sprawling palm tree covered grounds are kept up immaculately. I would say while we were there in early April the hotel was at about 75-80% capacity so we didn't feel crowded at all. We found a lounge chair by the pools and ordered some drinks and a plate of chips and guac. Very good gucamole and reasonably priced.

Our daily experience by the pool probably differed from some because we spent $$$ on food and drinks with the knowledge that our hotel room was free (a very nice situation to have on your honeymoon), but we never felt like the food/drinks on the hotel grounds were over priced. Sandwhiches and Apps for $8-14 and Beers for $4.50 w/ fancy tropical drinks at around $8.00. Pretty standard for a hotel in my book. One thing I would skip is the breakfast buffett. We did that for the first couple of days unitl we realized that over $23 per person for some eggs and sausage was stupid when you are a short walk to the marina and Vicotor's place for less than half that with a better atmosphere to boot.

We also tried the spa one day. I am not a big spa-person but my wife is and she ejoyed a massage while I enjoyed their special Indian Head massage. Her 1 hour massage was around $120, while mine was around $85. It seems overpriced to me, but then again, I don't truly enjoy massages but i would bet it is pretty standard for a resort property . The spa facilities are typcial but nice and well-kept. Good staff too.

On our last night, we decided to have dinner at sunset at Nikki Beach restaurant. We chose a table right next to the beach and had an amazing view of the sunset while enjoying a wonderful seafood dinner and drinks. Our waiter was outstanding and although we paid for the dinner on our room, we tipped in cash which made him double happy (i guess they have to wait for the bill to clear the hotel before they can collect tips).

All in all, I was nervous about the hotel based on some poor reviews that had knocked the Westin PV down to 3.5 starts her on TA, (I see that it is now back to 4 stars) but I couldn't have been more happy with the experience.

If you go to PV and want the big American hotel chain ammentites and familiarity without the big American hotel chain experience, go to the Westin PV. My wife and I decided that while we were there we felt like we were in a Mexican resort that just happened to be a Westin, not a Westin Hotel in Mexico if that makes sense.

My wife and I stayed at the Westin for 3 nights from June 6th-9th (Friday through Sunday). We selected it based on many positive reviews and a very good experience at another Westin.

The pros:

-Beautiful grounds with trees everywhere.
-Very nice rooms with comfortable furniture.
-Great view of the bay, mainly of Puerto Vallarta, not the sunset.
-Lots of pools to choose from.

The cons:

-Bedroom smelled musty so we had to have housekeeping spray a deodorizer. She said this was normal due to the humidity.
-The room looked dated. No big deal for us since everything else was very comfortable and luxurious.
-A little too far from downtown PV for us, which can be good if you want to be away from the hustle and bustle of downtown.
-Don´t buy anything at the resort. The prices are outrageous! A bottle of water was $4.25. A bowl of cereal was $7.00! Chips and cheese were like $11.00! One thing that attracted me to the resort was the photos of the beds on the beach that were shaded. I found out that you have to pay for those! You have to pay for everything once you're there!
-Noisy! Each night there was loud music and people partying late into the night. One of the things that attracted us to the Westin was it seemed like a more upscale and peaceful place to stay. During the day they had dance music blaring by the pool. That was annoying!
-Too big. We´d rather stay somewhere a little smaller next time.
-The beach was very small in comparison the the size of the resort and the water became very deep right away.

In summary:
If the prices went down and they took away the party atmosphere I may go back but with so many other choices in Puerto Vallarta I´d rather give someone else a try for a little less money.

Other suggestions:

We may consider Fiesta Americana and Villa Del Palmar next time. They seem smaller and are closer to town. Or we may just stay at a hotel in town since we didn't like the beach at PV very much.

If you stay at the Westin, make sure you walk to the Marina and eat breakfast at Victor's. The best breakfast! My wife and I eat at restaurants regularly and know our Mexican food really well so we're always looking for something good. Also, if you go to town, the food is better at the restaurants away from the Malecon. The Malecon seems good for people who want to drink and eat average food. We ate at El Arrayan and Agave Grill and it was great! They make everything from scratch and have a very romantic atmosphere. We also ate at Pepe´s Tacos and they have great tacos for about $1.50.

Lot's of restaurants to explore and not enough time to eat at them. We had some of the best food in PV and it could easily rival a big city with all the restaurant options and the uniqueness of each one.

Have fun in PV!

Stayed at the Club Regina in Puerto Vallarta from 5-28 to 6-4. The hotel (including the Westin) would get a 5 star if it was just based on the hotel. This is a beutiful property with everything you need. We are members, so our experience may be different than someone who is not. PV is not our style and wish we would have went somewhere else.

The resort is 10 mins from the airport in the marina area. This was our first time to PV and last. The rooms were great, pools amazing, but the beach is lousy. The water is not very clean and we did not get in. After reading reviews from others about the prices at the resort being outrageous, They must have lowered the prices since. If you think top shelf drinks that cost $4 are high, you need to get out more. Tecate was $2.35. I also read endless commentary on how great the food in the marina was and better priced. Wrong! The food is lousy and expensive. You are constantly harrased by vendors who think if they continue to ask you to go fish you will finally say yes. And it smells like dead fish!

The busses are not very timely, so we took a cab the few times we went out. We went out to the clubs one night, and realized we should have stayed at the hotel and drank. Drinks are $5 each and they play plenty of Madonna.

We unfortunatley did one tour, canopy. If you are very young or old, you will love this. We found this to be a waste of time as it took most of the day to do 45 minute tour. Not very exciting.

PV is just as touristy as any other, we went to Walmart, ate at Subway etc. It would be fine to actually live there.

PV is great for families and people wanting to get away and spend alot of money on doing nothing. We will just stick to Cancun.

Stayed at the Westin for four nights in mid-May 2008 and the weather was great! The hotel is a $5 taxi ride from the airport and a $0.50 bus fare or $9 taxi far from the city. The location was not too close to the city but Marina Vallarta is a 5 minute walk with some great restaurants but not much of anything else. Shop the OXXO (convinient mart) across the street from the hotel or the small family owned place next door for snacks and waters, beer, etc. and bring these back to your room - you'll save a lot.