Arrived at 2 AM. On check-in we were told that we couldn't get a safe, and should come back in the AM. Bag boy takes our luggage to the room, but the room has people sleeping in it. We go back to the desk and are assigned another room. Three weeks earlier, when we had made our reservation, I requested a balcony room with king bed. The room we were checked in to was a main floor with two double beds right outside the kitchen so we got to wake up when staff was prepping breakfast. When we were checked in to this room I called to say it was not acceptable and was told to come back at 9 AM and we'd be given the room we'd requested.
We go back to the desk in the morning and are told that check out isn't until noon so no rooms will be available until then and they can't hold a room of our specifications for us so we will have to wait around until 1 PM. At 1 PM I return to the desk and am again sent to a main floor room. I say this is not what we requested and finally get a balcony room with a king bed and a safe (these are just little locks that fit into an existing safe in the room so I don't know why the desk couldn't give us one the night before). I rate the check in experience as a zero on a scale of 1-5. I shouldn't have had to be pushy just to get what I'd already paid for. Could've been worse. Could've been the flight that didn't get to check in until 3 AM and got sent to the hotel next door!
The room was okay. Nothing fancy (like a hostel with our own bathroom and balcony). The sink facets would turn themselves on at night so we had to keep the bathroom door closed or we would be woken up. The venting is kinda weird and seems to funnel into the hotel next door so the music playied over there would sometimes pipe in to our room. The room was always cleaned, although one of the bedside lights was broken and the fan and A/C were dusty enough to blow dustballs occasionally.
The staff were wonderful and happy. Depending on who the concierge was, we got a mix of really informative right down to telling us the colour of bus to watch for, and the other concierge who repeatedly tried to get us to sign up for dates to time share presentations.
The evening entertainment was great considering the staff who act in it aren't professionals, but are the workers from the activities counters or elsewhere in the resort. There were enough activities and fun things to do at the resort - tequila volleyball, dance lessons, foosball (on a table that must've come from a high-security penitentiary), beading, kayaking, etc.; however it would have been nice to be told about these things upon checkin or maybe a piece of paper left in the room. We had to go to the concierge and ask in order to find out about in-house activities and times offered.
The food was fine. Some of it I liked, some of it I didn't. The translation above the food really lacks and sometimes isn't there at all so I started putting bits of sauces or soups on my plate and trying them while I was still in line. Even if I didn't want 90% of the food up there, the buffet is huge and there was always something I liked. Besides, how much do you eat when it's 28C out?! Staff were mostly good with food handling (hair nets, closing the doors to the restaurant to prevent flies), but then the Mexican buffet outside was right under the roof and there was stuff coming off the roof and landing in the food. Maybe noone other than me noticed? Important: Go early for food. They often ran out, sometimes within an hour, and the subsequent substitutions were never anywhere near as good e.x. breakfast sausages were substituted for grilled chicken, which was already substituted for the original steak.

We went all inclusive with through itravel2000 we went 2 ppl from Airdrie,alberta with medical for 1450.00 for 7 nights, good place to stay. Staff very friendly, although a few of them only speak spanish, it was good. Showers were a little cool sometimes, but alright. Clean rooms, can hear sometimes your drunk neighbours rolling in, but other than that alright. The buffet is ok, entertainment at night was ok, The time shares people are little bit of a nuisance but that is how they make their living.Our trip was good and our stay was good, would go back to Costa Club Punta Arena. Nothing high class, but clean and friendly.

Costa Club Punta Arena
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Jan 29, 2008

I had an excellent stay at this budget hotel, very clean, great food and the best shows that I have ever seen...congratulations!!!
I will be back soon...


Sonia N. Contreras
Los Angeles, CA.

Our stay at the hotel was good. The staff were extremely nice and some, not all speak english but most understand what you say anyways.

We were there only 7 night but have not complaints. Food was good at the Buffet, and the Italian restaurant plus the dining at the pool, all good. We never coated our stomachs for any food and never got ill. We were a group of 5.

Booze served was fine, you could go to the bar or you could have a drink brought to you. The drinks were not watered down, they pour right in front of you. A small tip goes a long ways too.

Rooms were quite clean, no not perfect but this is not a four star hotel. I have heard worse on the 4 star ones.

Please remember that these people work 8 hours a day, 7 days a week with the 8th day off and they make $8/day. Imagining working for $1 an hour. They work hard for their buck. Tipping is greatly appreciated.

The pool was always clean. Rest rooms around the grounds were decent also. Grounds were clean and manicured.

The only negative would be the uncompleted hotel that was built next door. You can see it in many pictures. If you spend time looking at the wildlife in the trees on the property you can ignore the sad building. We new it was there before we went so it wasn't a surprise. I didn't realize it blocked alot of the water view from the rooms, not mine thou. But how much time do you spend in your room. The sand on the beach out front was very nice. I took several hundred pictures that I would share for anyone interested in seeing.

There are many iguanas, cameleons, and birds to watch and take pictures of.

All 5 of us enjoyed our stay... The three great guys down there are Christain - great bartender, Sergio - great manager, good english, Juan - great server, good english, nice guy.

Easy walk into town, about 15 minutes to the Malecon or for .50 cents you can take the bus. We did both.

The majority of the tourists staying there were Canadians and Mexicans.

Shopping, don't buy when you arrive... window shop for the first few days then go back to deal. The price they give you, start at 1/2 that for dealing. If you don't like, go to the next place. The prices vary greatly. As most people know, don't buy any silver without it being marked 925 or 950...If you only see "Made in Mexico" only, it is plated. The majority of the coloured bracelets are plated only and don't let them tell you differently. There are 3 flea markets that we found in town. Shopping is fun!

Enjoy your time in Puerto Vallarta.