we had a great deal at the H.I. so we went for it. Wow very impressed the difference from a 3 to 4 star. We stayed at the costa club 2 years in a row and now we have found our new place to go. H. I. was great. nice clean rooms, digital safe . All rooms have patio , all inclusive is the best. Food was good and a la carte was very nice and classy.

The pool is large with swim up bar and also has a stair case for people like me who have trouble with ladders. They put up a rail at the stairs while we were there much better to get in pool.

Waiters and hotel staff all great and in great mood considering there working for pennies so a tip is much appreciated.

Plenty of pool chairs available but to many are saved and not used.

Plenty of english chanels on tv if you have to watch it. Good snack bar great hamburgers .

Look for Juan on beach for tours he sells for a good price and even drove us to the marina for our Las Calatas tour.

Looking forward to going back next year.

try it you'll love it.

Went to Holiday Inn Puerto Vallarta the last week in January 08.
We had the best time probably the best vacation that we have ever been on as a family. The hotel was clean. The rooms were a nice size. The pool was fantastic. Kids loved the Kids club, Kids pool and kids club staff. All the hotel staff were fabulous. They were all had working and very happy people who would help you or give you information when ever asked. Waiters at the bars were great and entertaining. Loved the italian restaurant, definately ask for a Spanish coffee ( the show is awesome). If you want to do tours Fransisco is the guy on the beach to make it happen. He is the real deal( watch out for others on the beach who sell tours). Sophia is the one you want to see for hair braiding. We will definately be back in the future and this is the place to stay!

We had a wonderful time in Puerto Vallarta, staying at the Holiday Inn for a week on the all-inclusive plan. The room was not luxurious and even was a little worn, but it was large, comfortable, clean, and quiet. All the plumbing worked fine. My sister and I had a junior suite with a lovely balcony and gorgeous view.

Housekeepers, waiters, bartenders, front desk - all staff were very friendly and helpful. My mother-in-law had to visit the doctor after a nasty fall. The doctor seemed quite capable tending to her wounds.

Tipping, though not required, was recommended by our travel rep. Each of us left $1 for the maid and 50-100 pesos (50 cents to 1 dollar) for waiters at meals, and 0-100 pesos for drinks - the swim-up bar was particularly difficult to tip at!

The food was very good, much better really than we could have expected. There was lots of variety and choices ... Wednesday seafood night, however, left me eating only salad and dessert as I don't like fish :-( so I might have booked a restaurant if I had known.

We ate at both restaurants and they were very good: food was tasty and attractively presented.

The pool is huge, with several different sections - children's shallow end, swim-up bar, and a couple of deeper areas where people could swim laps if they wanted.

Bottled water is not included in all-inclusive; however, all restaurants and bars have potable water and after buying our first bottle, we had them refilled whenever needed. (bathroom tap water is labeled "purified" but our travel rep said that we should not drink too much of it, though it would be OK for brushing teeth - we used bottled water for that too).

In-room safe and beach towel service included.

It was difficult to get a chair in the shade either by the pool or beach - you weren't supposed to reserve them but of course people did. But we always found something.

Bus to the malecon was 5 pesos (50 cents) and taxi 40 pesos ($4). Taxi returning was $5 since the hotel seems to have a deal with the taxis. Always negotiate the trip price before getting into the cab!

Timeshare people were a little annoying but a smile and "no thanks" sufficed and they seemed to remember us and not pester us after the first day.

We just returned home on the 7th February after thoroughly enjoying our two week stay at the Holiday Inn in P. V. Upon arrival, the staff was more than accommodating as I am particular about what room I stay in. We had paid for a junior suite and we moved twice before we got the perfect room. It was on the 11th floor almost in the centre with a fabulous view of the water and the shoreline. We had two instances, one with the safe and one with the door lock and both times, the maintenance man was there within minutes to repair them for us. I don't know if the air conditioning was working because it was never on for the two weeks. The patio door was open day and night. I do not have A/C at home and I do not use it elsewhere. Our suite was spotless everyday as were the elevators and hallways. There was only one day that the room was not done early. We had absolutely no complaints about the cleanliness of the hotel. Everyone was friendly and worked very hard at their jobs. The mattress was firmer than we are used to but we have found the same thing in other Mexican hotels. The food was far better than we expected it would be. I have a very sensitive stomach and I wasn't bothered by anything that I ate during the two weeks. We liked the convenience of the hotel to the town. We walked to town four or five times in the two weeks and took the local bus back to the hotel. Only once, did we take a taxi to town but it was very reasonable. We found the internet service in the lobby to be a little expensive but on a trip to the cruise ship terminal we found a reasonable little place where we had the use of a computer for $1.00 an hour. The timeshare people were rather annoying but we learned to say, "No, thank you" and carry on. I was rather surprised that they were allowed such prominent space in the airport. All in all it was a great vacation and a joy to wake up to sunshine every day.