I was lucky enough to spend a week at Velas Vallarta in March 2008 - even tho' I have been there several times, this was my favorite trip thus far.

I stayed at Velas as a timeshare owner, through my mom, she gave me a week at her studio. The studio room was plenty big enough for the two of us (boyfriend and I) - this is the first time I stayed in a studio with a balcony, I don't believe there are too many at the resort because all the other studios I have stayed in did not have a balcony. I guess I got lucky this time. The king size bed was heaven, the turn down service was a great touch too. The little kitchenette and eating area is nice size with a pull out sofa bed included. Maid service was outstanding..we would shower before we went out at night and we would use our clean towels and when we would come back in the evening we would have clean towels again....that is what you call "great service".

We did the all inclusive plan for 4 of our 8 days, we enjoyed all our meals and even had room service a couple of times. We felt that the price of the all inclusive was well worth every penny. Our favorite meal was at their sister resort , Casa Velas, besides great food it was so romantic...I think it would be a great place for a honeymoon.

The entire property will take your breath away...it is so beautiful and relaxing - so many wonderful touches throughout the property - loved watching the iguanas and peacocks.

The pools are amazing, especially the swim up bar (drinks were always great)...they have 3 pools all together with a small lazy river joining the two larger pools. The pool closer to the ocean is where all the daytime activities take place. We never had a problem finding a chair, no matter what time of the day we got out there, but we were only looking for 2 chairs at a time, maybe someone with a large party mind have a hard time finding enough chairs next to each other if they didn't get to the pool until noon.

We also enjoyed using the cabanas and beach chairs out on the beach...they have food and bar service out on the beach too. The ocean was enjoyable to swim in.

Every afternoon the servers would come around the pool and beach area with snacks, they would serve them to all the guests, not just the all inclusive guests. Service was outstanding.

We dined off the resort several times - Fajita Republic was our favorite and also enjoyed a nice meal at Barcelona Tapas. Our favorite bar was Cheeky Monkey.

We love Velas and Puerto Vallarta and can't wait to return again, I can't imagine staying anywhere else after having such a wonderful week. Too me, it was like a dream and unfortunately I had to wake up and come home.

We were told when we bought into the timeshare that several of our weeks could be sold almost immediately and we would get back our purchase price and more. It has been over a year we have not seen any type of return and the manager Johnny Noe is very rude and does not do anything to help. We will never go back and we will be selling it off as soon as possible.

Went to Velas Vallarta for the 3rd time April 16-21. We had my wife and I plus 4 kids ages 6-14. Everything went great. Our condo was a 3 bedroom private owner that we booked through www.vrbo.com. The rate for the condo was great and it was on the 3rd floor looking at the pool and ocean. Plenty of room for our gang.

On arrival my wife and I discussed the AI and the cost. After going to lunch somewhere in town and dropping 70 bucks on bad food the AI seemed the way to go. It was pricey for adults but reasonable for the kids. They ate their moneys worth at the ice cream bar and pool bar with banana smoothies. The food was good. Went out 1 night on a date to Casa Velas and it was very nice with an upscale feel. No extra cost with the AI and we paid for our daily fee with 1 meal there!

The staff is what makes the Velas properties first class. Everyone calls you by name no matter where you are on the beach or pool, in the restaurants or room service. They are professional, speak excellent english, let you practice spanish, and don't treat you any different whether you tip or not. We always tip as their wages are poor and we want to take care of the staff b/c they are great. We have seen the same faces year after year, that tells me something.

It was a great 5 days of vacation. We will go back and I would recommend this resort to families or young people. If you want a luxury place with 5 star service and price, go to Grand Velas in Nuevo Vallarta. It is a top class resort and worth the price for a couple. My wife had a 3 hour massage there on this visit and she loved it.

Safe travels, vaya con Dios!

I was in Vallarta for a conference for two days. The Velas was selected for this conference. It is held in Vallarta every year and they rotate hotels. I was thoroughly impressed with this hotel. They did not have my requested room level available, so they upgraded me to a three bed room suite for the same price! The service was excellent. The staff was constantly coming around asking about drinks and food. They even made up trays of little smoothies and appetizers and offered them to everyone. The groups are beautiful! The food was above average. I prefer to eat authentic Mexican food when I am in Mexico, so I was not a huge fan of the Italian, American, etc. food in the restaurants--not that it was bad, I just didn't prefer it. I told my husband that we will definitely go to this hotel again.