My husband and I along with our 23 year old daughter and 14 year old son had the best time there at Fairmont Rancho Banderas. We exchanged there through Interval and we have owned and exchanged our vacation timeshare through Marriott for over 14 years. Having traveled all over the world and back, we must say that the people at this hotel are fantastic!!! Our stay was everything we could have asked for and so much more!!!!!! You don't have to worry about overcrowding because the resort is comprised of only a few two or three story buildings, each with an oceanfront view. We rented a car for the approximately 16 mile trip from the airport, which I highly recommend, unless all you want to do is crash! By the way, I think we will totally do that next time, just because it is so remote and off into its own world. Do not miss the Tuesday Mexican Fiesta, which you have to sign up for in advance. Hilarious fun and prizes! You must absolutely visit this resort especially if you like to drive into town to be with the crowds and mix with the locals but you like to come home to relaxing quiet with no crowds. The infinity waterfall pools are awesome, with a slide for the kids or the kid in you, but we found the big waves in the ocean just a little daunting, since we just wanted to wade into the water for a gentle soak and a little snorkeling. The resort is located in Destiladeras, a little town on your way to Punta de Mita, where you can find a gentler beach location if that is important to you.
Unfortunately, the resort is building because of the growth that is now occuring all along the Banderas Bay toward that general location. (I believe north, but the highway 200 is extremely easy. Only one way in and one way out everywhere!)
Puerto Vallarta has crowded all the hotels it could and now you can see the building taking place toward these areas that used to be considered isolated, so book there while you can. The hotel rooms are spacious, and you will just love the huge bathroom showers where you can just sit on the marble bench while the shower gently beats down on you. Daily maid service is supplied. This older resort is scheduled for a furniture renovation, which is good. Minor issues like old couches and lamps with general wear and tear need to be addressed, but in no way did that take away from our enjoyment. Afterall, we were not there to hang out inside the beautifully marbled villa! The lawn care is immaculate, and I have never met a friendlier bunch of people. If anything goes wrong, keep your cool. These are relaxed people who will help you, but leave any demanding American ways back home! You offend the mexican people when you act impatiently, and just watching how laid back they were made me relax more which is precisely the purpose of going on vacation.(Shout out to Benjamin Bratt's twin Edgardo or was it Ernesto? Just go to see how dreamy and helpful he is!) Many will tell you to watch out for the 'shark' pit at the airport but I must say to you that though we were hesitant to fork over money to them for the discounted offers and excursions they peddle, they absolutely delivered on every promise they made. We spent only $460 total for three excursions. One was going out on the Geronimo for a full day of snorkeling and swimming. I was a bit disappointed with the snorkeling because the water was not clear, but nonetheless we had a good time, and the beach where we swam was beautiful. Whereas other boats were crammed to the limit, there were about only 20 of us, each having ample space to lay out and relax. Caution: if you must use a boat's bathroom facilities, bring your own wipes and close the lid before manually 'pumping' out your waste. Back to more pleasant matters, you are fed well in the morning as well as the afternoon when it was all the drinks you could handle along with a good variety of music with a staff ready to cater to your every need, even if it was refreshing your long island iced tea before you even finished it! The crew was funny, nice and just laying out for a day in the sun on that catamaran was enjoyable. (Shout out to Alturo and Adrian). Please bring money for tips. They are worth every peso!
We also booked an atv excursion and we went out from 9 to 3 pm and that was awesome (shout out to blue-eyed Roberto), and we booked an entire boat for fishing. My husband was disappointed in what he caught, so maybe that wasn't the greatest time for him and our son, but the cost was not expensive because we were hiring mexicans as opposed to the more expensive Canadian or American travel agencies located at the resorts. We felt our trip was special in that we because we got to hang out with the local people who thoroughly enjoyed sharing their culture with you and who were very generous in helping us whenever possible - to the extent that after awhile I did not feel it was just for the tips but that it was just their natural way of treating people. That was truly inspiring! And you did not have to worry about your safety, only do not leave anything behind because it will not be there when you go looking for it, just as it is here Stateside.
On our next visit I will pay the higher price in order to have a more accurate comparison of local guides vs the foreign excursions. We totally realize that we pretty much got what we paid for, but what we really enjoyed was the intimacy of being in smaller groups. The one thing I would have done was get more for my money since we drove ourselves to these destinations, saving Pedro even more money. The caveat? We had to sit through a 90 minute Velas Vallarta presentation. No problem. Mike was a nice retired police officer who we enjoyed immensely until we got the good cop bad cop scenario from his boss Sean when we were not interested in buying. My advice. Let them know when you start your watch and begin counting down your 90 minutes of your precious vacation time, and leave when the time is up!!!!!!
We did end up buying a week at Villa Del Palmar Flamingos because of the perks, (shout out to Toni from the Velas Vallarta lobby who smoothed our ruffled feathers) but I will have to give you a review on them next year after we have actually stayed there. If everything is as wonderful as we were lead to believe, then I will advise all current timeshare owners to accept the free gifts ($450 villa dollars to be used at the restaurant and/or spa) and go through the very pleasant 75 minute presentation. I hope you get Shelley and Bob. They are absolutely wonderful. But really all the sales people were fantastic. All the sales people must also be owners which I think is a good sign. Find out how much your current timeshare is worth. You will find the process a little bit like trading in your old car for a more valuable waterfront property with higher trading value. We absolutely were not intending to buy nor had we the finances to really upgrade, but this deal was so sweet my husband did a 180 degree turn around. Like I said, this is still to early to tell, and if anyone reading this has anymore information for me concerning the Villa Del Palmar Flamingos, I would really enjoy hearing from you. We have only just returned to Connecticut Sunday morning and after enjoying an extra day off from work, I have only managed to downloaded the first wave of pictures from the three more still in our cameras, and so these two pics are from when we were swimming close to the resort on one of the beaches in Nayarit (the nearby neighboring state of Jalisco where Puerto Vallarta and the airport is). Enjoy

My husband and I just returned from one week at Rancho Banderas and we loved it! We had a room overlooking the ocean which was wonderful. We were a group of 5 so our room was a 2 bedroom with a hideabed.
I had read online that they give you one towel at check in. This is true but it's a beach towel which you can exchange for a new one at any time. The room itself came with plenty of towels and housekeeping came every day to tidy our room. Loved the beautiful towel creations they would leave us every day.
We did stop at Mega on the way in for food supplies. All the signs are in Spanish and English and if you couldn't find something, the staff would help you find it (beware of the timeshare salesman when entering).The kitchen facilities were pretty basic in our room but we didn't cook very much because we had practically every dinner at the resort restaurant. We found the food at the restaurant to be exceptional and the service was amazing. (I highly recommend the Coconut Prawns ... delicioso!) We were sad when we would found that our regular waiter Josue was having a day off surfing because he very much added to our experience. We did venture down the beach to Restaurant Destiladeras but found that the prices were basically the same as at the resort restaurant and the food was okay. And the bathroom ... avoid it if at all possible.
The Fiesta Night was a bit cheesy but it was worth doing it once to see all the wonderful dancers. I don't know if RB read the reviews of the lack of activities but they really were on top of their game when we were there. I did the pottery painting twice. Not to worry if you're not a painter (my concern because I'm not that artistically inclined) because you paint within the lines and then give your creation to Edgar and he makes it look like a beautfiul piece of art ... hence why I did it twice.
I had come to RB with a list of things that I wanted to do and I only did one. I spent most of my time under a palapa getting sun and swimming in the ocean. The experience was made complete by constantly having cocktails delivered to our palapa by Mario. Relaxo is right! I did eventually leave RB to go snorkeling with Rudy up in Punta de Mita. Great guide!
We loved RB so much we're already thinking about our next trip back but this time for 2 weeks!

What a wonderful vacation experience! The resort is amazing! We rented a car, and had no trouble getting around.

What I loved: Activities for all the kids/ family, very well-stocked mini market, friendly and helpful staff, DAILY maid service (!!!), 2-for-1 drinks, gorgeous beach, beautiful pool, fantastic view from bar/ restaurant.

What could be improved: Loud music played poolside daily during water aerobics, "Rifas, rifas, rifas" called loudly on the loudspeaker almost daily.

We brought our 4 kids. Our baby is a year old, and I found everything I needed for him in the market. A crib was provided for us. He enjoyed going in the pool- the lower pool is warmer than the upper one. Our 10-year old loved the waterslides. The teens liked volleyball (beach and water).

We had a 2-bedroom condo. Perfect- had everything we needed. The sofa bed was off-kilter at first, but when we brought it to the attention of the staff, it was replaced.

I hope to be back in the future!

Exchanged through Interval International. This resort is beautiful. Lush gardens and gorgeous views. The staff was very friendly and helpful.

Our party consisted of my husband, my aunt, my child (1.5 yrs) and myself. This resort is more for adults who would like to relax and not so much for families with younger children.

The pool was extremely cold and my child refused to get in. The waves were too rough. There are many stairs, which made it very dangerous for little ones. A high chair was provided when requested.

The restaurant wasn't so great and a bit pricey. Dinner for 3 adults was close to $100 if you did not particpate in their nightly events.

Heads up: there is a restaurant at walking distance from the resort. If you decide to take a walk on the sand in the early morning hours or late evening hours, the dogs from that property will chase after you! My 68 year old aunt, who does not swim, was chased into the ocean by the large dogs during her early morning walk (around 5am). Obviously, the dogs were not scared by the water and my aunt ended up swimming in the ocean with the dogs until the security guard called them out!!! Very scary....

We complained at the main office after my aunt mellowed out. Management said they couldn't do anything about it since it's another property. Although not the fault of the resort, they have been aware of this situation, as the management said that there have been complaints (two that same morning), and there are no warning signs posted.

We opted by leaving the resort during the day and going to the nearby "local" beach. As it's common in "local" Mexican beaches, we entered one of the many beach front restaurants where we ate lunch, dinner, snacked throughout the day (including buckets of beer and tequila shots); while my child swam in the tranquil waters with the other children. The total for the food consumption was less than $40 for all the meals and beverages for 3 adults and the food was fabulous!!!!!