Great Property with everything you want to get away. 10 minutes from the Airport, $20 regulated cab fair from PVR. Check in is easy, AI service is great at both beach bars, swim bar, and restaurants. RCI traded, we had high expectations and they were met both times we stayed.

Stayed at Casa Velas last year and the private beach Clubhouse is amazing. Incredible food and views by the pool/beach for sunset dinners. We didn't like being away from the beach at the golf resort since we're not really golfers, but shuttles were there and always no more then 10 minutes to wait. While at Casa, we could stay/dine at the Velas as well and we did frequently. Any choice of restaurant, any day, anytime.

Lots for kids to do here, amazing pool. Chris heads up the pool patrol and has activities daily including volleyball and aerobics. Rooms are clean, stocked, spacious and staff is friendly and attentive. No problems with English. The lobby bar stays open till 2am I believe, and has live music and casino nights. Good times.

Scuba was murky, chilly but all right. It's not the caribbean. Sayulita is an hour north by bus and has much more gorgeous water because the river dumps sediment into the Pacific at Nuevo Vallarta. Great surfing in Sayulita, great pueblo atmosphere and dining. Good day trip, although it's trechorous in the hills, and we got backed up for an hour and a half behind a wreck. Other then that, I recommend the journey highly.

The Malecon in town is a must see, check out some Tequila tours to the distilleries. Good restaurants, but stay away from the "all inclusive" nights at the downtown bars that resort activity advisor's recommend. The foam parties and $30 cover will get you banished to an area of the club where no one hangs out to get your free drinks, and common mixers such as "cranberry" or "tonic" are unavailable. Unless drinking straight, well liquor is your thing, stick with the locals and ask where the staff would go.

Enjoy your trip anytime of the year, but best to avoid mid to late march. You could find yourself in the middle of a high school spring break...

My husband and I went to VV for our 25th wedding anniversary. It was a lovely property - beautiful grounds!! The lush vegetation, beautiful peacocks proudly displaying their feathers, a cute little cat family that romped around everywhere (outside), and huge iguanas that laze along the streams that flow throughout the property (filled with fish) all made for fun viewing. We had a 1 bedroom suite located front and center in the main building, 8 floors up, and the view was magnificent - saw cruise ships coming and going, the pirate excursion taking off with it's loud cannon booms, dolphins swimming by in the bay - I just sat for hours in the early morning taking it all in with my coffee. The layout of this room was front to back - the bedroom immediately on the right when you enter, then bathroom, then kitchen, then living area, then balcony - so our balcony was shorter than others I have seen pictures of - looks like some 1 bedrooms run left to right, so their balcony would be longer with a sliding door coming out of the bedroom - ours did not. The only other thing of note, was we only had a shower, no tub, and the water pressure was next to nil. Other than that, I had zero complaints!!! Great food, non stop service (with a smile) at the pool. Upon check in, You are greeted with rum punches by a server walking around with a trayful of them - was NEVER approached by a time share person there, and never even called on phone in the room to try and set up a meeting. I was almost insulted (well, not really) but I couldn't figure out why they never even tried to corner us!! This was a first out of all my trips to Puerto Vallarta. My stay was too short to utilize all the perks that we could have - 24 hour room service, dinner at Emiliano's at the Casa Velas, but next time I will plan a longer trip and make sure I have the time to enjoy every piece of luxury they offer me!!! (oh, beach was very nice, however upon entering the water, the rocks were really rough on the feet) All in all, we really loved this resort, and had a wonderful getaway! Aside from one somewhat embarrassing moment that will give us a good laugh for the next 25 years of marriage (private joke only a few will ever know!) this vacation went off without so much as a blemish!!!

The hotel was situated along the nicest part of puerto vallarta (Marina area) adjacent to many high end hotels and very close to the airport. We booked transportation shuttles in advance and i am glad that we did this for convienence but we probably overpaid for the service considering the hotel was literally 5 minutes away. I would book a one-way shuttle and then just grab a cab on the return to the airport from the valet service at the hotel. Upon arrival, watch out for time share salespersons...you will be swarmed upon just beyond customs/immigration.

Once at the hotel, check in was easy. We were approached immediately by a Velas Vallarta timeshare representative, all were female the weekend we were there. We declined the tour and immediately began our vacation. The studios/suites were okay, they were clean, but very small. The beds were just fine, very comfortable and very cozy. Renovations have been made, but definitely on the cheap end because attention to detail was not visible in the modifications.

The beach was nice in the morning and evening, but during the day there are vendors everywhere. We sat at the pool each day and enjoyed the service poolside. Plan to get up early and try to reserve a spot at the pool before 7:30 am or risk not having a spot in the sun.

Now for the all inclusive part. In our opinion, it was not very good. Having stayed at MANY all-inclusives, this was by far on the lower end of the scale. Mixed drinks were not very good, stick with a beer (although they give only small pours). Food was moderate at best at all of the restaurants. The Alejandra was a joke...it was described as the "fine" dining option, but it was really a conference room transformed into a restaurant at night. They had a cheesy keyboard player and a dance floor set up, it was as close to a bad wedding reception as possible. The best meals were at Andrea for breakfast and dinner. Again, get up early to book dinner reservations b/c they fill up FAST, like before 8:00am.

Tips are definitely expected - the service is worth it even if the food is not.

If you dont mind a few inconvienences like having to plan your meals at dawn and having to keep a spot reserved at the pool, then this is okay for a weekend getaway. I probably would recommend a different hotel in the Marina area, or would recommend coming to the Velas on a non-allinclusive basis. Definitely if you are going to be in PV for more than 3-4 days, choose a different hotel in the same area. There are many to choose from.

Enjoy your trip, all in all Puerto Vallarta was the best city we have visited in Mexico. The city is clean, safe, and convienent. We definitely enjoyed the kind and welcoming people in PV. We will definitely return to PV in the future.

We exchanged our timeshare through RCI for a stay at Velas Vallarta this last week (4/6/08 through 4/13/08). What an incredible stay we had! We hated to leave and can't wait to go back. First, April is a great time to come...it is a quiet time after the crowds of Spring Break and Easter, but before the warmer temps of summer. Highs each day were a comfortable 80; lows each night were 60. Second, loved the gardens and grounds. Couldn't have been any better. Third, the balcony with its expansive views of the ocean and the incredible gardens and pools below was the icing on the cake. The hotel is 8 stories high. Be sure to request something on the 5th floor or higher to have the best ocean views. Bed and linens were wonderfully comfortable and luxurious. Our two-year old and four-year old loved the pools with the waterfall, lazy river and were also highly entertained by the iguanas, peacocks and gold fish that all call the resort home. Even saw dolphins twice just right off the shore of the resort. Service poolside was excellent and was also very good at the restaurants. The maids kept our room very clean, but service frequently would be very late in the day. The restocking of the frig and evening turndown service was missed a couple of times during our stay. Food at all restaurants was good to excellent.

The all inclusive was expensive at $150 per day per adult and $45 per day for children, but they do spoil you with extras and good service. Things like the hostess greeting you at dinner with a tray of your choice of champagne, a mimosa or belini. Or being able to order guacamole, chips, salsa and margarita through room service each afternoon for a snack. Or serving complementary cup of fruit poolside each afternoon without you even asking. You still know you probably paid too much, but at least you feel spoiled.

Got two massages from the spa. Therapist, Orphy, was wonderful, and the 80 minute massages were a real value at $73 US each.

One thing I wasn't expecting was the parade of beach vendors where ever you go (at Velas beach and all others we went to). Before you even get settled in your lounge chair, vendors will stop by showing you jewelry, blankets, sarongs, etc. They are all real friendly and you just get real good at smiling and saying "no thank you". They don't hound you and It is a real lazy way to buy some beautiful souveniers of the trip!

Book this resort and come to Puerto Vallarta...you will love it!