We went to Puerto Vallarta a few weeks ago, and are glad we chose Playa del Sol Grand for the hotel. We were bummed that we could only grab something in nuevo vallarta at first, because we heard such great things about what the main city area of Puerto Vallarta has to offer.

but we were extremely dissappointed with PV. we went a few times, but ended up finding and preferring Bucerias, which is just a bit further in the opposite direction of PV outside of Nuevo Vallarta. its exactly what we were looking for...a cute little town, not too crowded with lovely little restaurants right on the beach, feet in the sand and everything (if you so choose).

so we're glad we picked this hotel, after all. We were that much closer to Bucerias. We also had NO CLUE that it was so modernized in that area, so we could go to the grocery store, the huge one called Mega in nuevo vallarta and stock up on lunch stuff, beers, snacks, fruit, etc.

the staff was super friendly and did what they could to change our room once we realized we got that dreaded "construction side" of the hotel. They let us look at several rooms to see if we wanted to switch, but ultimately we kept our original room. it was a lot bigger than the ones further from construction, bigger kitchen, bed, etc.

and although our room was on that side, only our door faced it. so with all that concrete constructed wall between the construction noise and us...we only heard it when we were going in and out of the room...when the door was open.

the bed was great, the pool was the best part, the beach was nice and clean.

we didnt have all inclusive (wouldnt recommend it) but we had a rental car, so we could run all around if we wanted. the breakfast buffett we had only once. not so hot. not what youre used to if you've been to any other large all inclusive resort buffets. not bad food, just limiting.

i was releived the entertainment staff wasnt as aggressive or loud or constant as some we've seen in Cancun or other places.

I have to say that i never know whether we're getting different kinds of service than other American tourists, because my boyfriend's first language is spanish...everyone is always so helpful, so im wondering if any rudeness people complain about on here is due to things being lost in translation??

if you go you must go to Bucerias. Go ahead and check out the Malecon in PV if you like the americans partying at chain restaurants with other americans. we're not into that scene. and hello???? who goes to Mexico to eat at BUBBA GUMPS!!??? line out the door every time we were in the malecon area. C'MON PEOPLE! that's just a perfect example of ugly americans.

nice bathrooms, great water pressure all times. OH, and the kitchenette rooms have everything you might need in the way of plates, knives, silverware, cutting boards, pots, pans (yes, there is a stove!), toaster, blender, wine bottle opener, and even a bit of tupperware.

I booked our trip in December and then happened to look at tripadvisor.com just before our trip. Needless to say, I was full of trepidation. However, being forewarned meant being forearmed. (It probably also lowered my expectations.) Upon checking in, I immediately asked for a room far from the construction, which we got. We were given a room with one bed, but when we asked for one with two beds, we were able to move a day later. The resort itself doesn't compare with its fancier neighbors in looks or activities, but our room was clean and comfortable, and we were relieved that the noisier activities were usually over by 10 p.m., allowing us to get a good night's sleep. Do - I repeat "do" - make sure to avoid the timeshare spiel...annoying and a waste of time. The rep we got assured us he wasn't typical and then proceeded to become quite irate when we chose not to buy. Very unpleasant! Oh yes, the service at Cardinelli's wasn't great (after asking for the check, we had to wait 20 minutes until it was delivered!), but the food was excellent both nights we ate there. Yes, it's true that the hotel is far from Puerto Vallarta, but the bus is cheap (15 pesos to Walmart and then another 6 to downtown PV) and comes pretty regularly.

I just got back from a weekend at the Playa del Sol. We had a wonderful, relaxing, accomodating trip! There is a huge building going up next door but it appears to be that way all over N.V. right now. The construction was a little noisy with our patio door open but with our music playing and the activity at the pool when we were outside, we were able to drown it out.

The hotel was very clean. The staff was very nice and helpful (thanks Moises!). The regular activities director at the pool was very entertaining with bingo, water aerobics, water polo, etc. that young and old alike seemed to enjoy. They played the same music over and over every day but we got over it and found humor in it. Although the hotel was full, we easily found great poolside spots and there appeared to be lots of room down the steps on the beach chairs too. They checked out large beach towels so we didn't need to bring our own. Its far enough away from the big resorts that there are very few vendors.

We went to the Mega down the road and stocked up on breakfast, lunch, and alcohol so we didn't end up spending much on the food/drinks at the hotel (which was average priced and mediocre but acceptable). We enjoyed our own breakfasts on our terrace and brought down snacks and beers to the pool which was totally acceptable (its mexico!)

Its about a $20 ride into P.V. or $10 to Marina Vallarta. We walked to Bucerias along the beach one evening also (about 30 minutes) and took a cheap cab back. There isn't much night life in N.V. but we really weren't looking for any. I would give a higher rating if there wasn't construction. Overall, we had a great time and would go back again!

Please do yourself a favor and don't look twice at this place.
We went to their 90 minute presentation simply because we had never been to this area before and were hit up by their cons in the airport leading you to believe that they were the official transportation providers for this property and encouraged you to attend the presentation for great discounts. 90 minutes was really 3 hours, and the free breakfast they offer you during this 90 minutes is not very pleasant as the 'shark' who is trying to sell you this time share sits down to eat with you while asking you a ton of personal questions. Then you discover that that is not even considered part of the 90 minutes. Our room was the farthest away from the beach and was considered "ocean view" since you could walk to the far right of our balcony, lean over and actually see the ocean from afar. In all fairness though, after complaining, we were offered a one bedroom suite on the oceanside of the hotel but the one catch to that was that the 3 couples who went together would all have to stay in the same room with no change in the price. YEAH, right............that's why I go on vacation.....how about you?
We were promised 15% off our bill when we checked out because we attended the presentation. We checked out at 10:30 at night as our flight was very early next morning. When we realized we had not been given the discount, we spoke to them the next morning and were told we needed a certain 'card' in order to receive the discount. Amazingly, the card could only be given to us by the conceirge who came to work 1 hour later than we had to leave. Called them when we arrived back home, was told it was too late to do anything about it since we had already left the country. So now I have turned it over to the credit card company. I will say that the rooms were well maintained and if you don't mind having 50 cat calls at you everytime you walk out of your room by all the construction workers next to the property than this is the place for you. The time we were there, we spoke to several older couples who had bought into the time shares there and all advised us NOT to do it. That everything is misrepresented by this group. We saw tons of folks who were displeased with their room locations, people were at the front desk until late at night trying to get moved, either because of the construction noise or lack of visual access to the ocean.