We stayed at Playa del Sol Grand at Nuevo Vallarta via a timeshare exchange. We have a 1 bedroom, which includes a master bedroom with its own jacuzzi tub and tv, and another area (more like a studio) with a bed, living room, kitchen, dining table, small frige, a range top. Each room can be closed thus you have privacy -- 2 private rooms. The room is above average, clean, and has room enough. We traveled with our 7 year old son, 26 year old daughter, and my husband and I. Both areas have A/C, but no washer and dryer. But they do have laundry service. A cleaning lady comes everyday to clean.

There is construction, my husband and I were not bothered (but we got the studio). My daughter got bothered with the noise. My son was oblivious to it. We were not bothered by the noise.

The pool is great, we all enjoyed it. The restaurant where you can swin up is great. They served hamburgers, etc for $7 to $10.00.. I believe there is a $4 drink special, which varies day by day. Shipwreck Kelly is the name and great for fast easy food. This is a great resort just to relax and do nothing. There's not a lot to do in this resort, but if you just want to relax it is great.

Just a few steps is the beach. My daughter went parasailing for $50 for 15 minutes. We rented a kayak for $15 I believe for 2 hours.

There is the Palm ? restaurant, which we ate twice. But for the money, I would eat at the other restaurant - Cardinalli's -- better food for the same price and even cheaper. We ate at Cardinalli's 3x for dinner and were very happy each occasion. Get their special which changes day by day for around $15 to $16 USD.

The crepe near the pool is a must have. We had to supply our own banana one time because we were just craving for a chocolate with banana crepe.

--- Here's advice from the airport.

When you get off the plane, we had to walk several minutes. Not a problem, because we traveled light. Custom was not a problem.

Note, there is a middle area (after baggage claim) where people will stop you asking where you stay. When we said Playa del Sol Grand they lead us to somebody, who profess to be part of the resort and they will transport us to the hotel for $1. each. BEWARE!! They are just trying to sell you timeshare. People are pushy (I hate to be disparaging - but feels like a car salesman). So if you don't want to listen to timeshare aggressive selling -- go straight out and catch a cab. The cabs are fixed price, but I would ask first the cost before boarding. Just go straight out (the price for the cab rides) are at the door.

Regarding timeshare (my husband explicitly told me no timeshare) -- of course, I did not listen and went to a timeshare sales at our place. I felt 90 minutes may not be a bad idea. We did get a $100 gift certificate for the Cardinalli's restaurant and 4 free tickets to a Jungle Trio tour, and 15% off card for everything we spend in our resort. Note, we attended the timeshare at our resort hence it was "worth" it -- to some extent. Warning, very pushy -- more than 2 hours later they won't give up. We did not buy one.

For those thinking of buying a timeshare and want to buy one, just hang in the sales talk. The price goes down the longer you stay. But note, there are many places (newer and better I thinK) so you may want to shop around for the area you want.

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Taxi to Downtown Nuevo Vallarta was around $23USD. Downtown was good (Malecon), unfortunately it was hot when we went. We found a good restaurant near the flea market. In general, for the 4 of us, we average $80 per meal. This is usually not a fancy meal - just standard. That would include 1 alcoholic drink but pretty much food and bottled water or soda.

Bucerias is a town near the resort. You can walk down the beach toward the town. When you see a bright orange building there are steps going to town. There are many flea market stores which you will enjoy. My daughter and I did. However, many of the sellers are pushy, but many of them are easy sellers. We bought a few jewelries and souvenirs. The orange restaurant (beach front) which started with A... (forgot the name) had great food. The walk from the resort to Bucerias is around 20 minutes. It's a good walk because it's breezy and cool walking by the beach.

We went on a Jungle Trio trip. My 7-year old son was very disappointed because he expected to walk or hike in the jungle. Unfortunately, it is tour with stops in areas where you can shop, a Tequila factory, a stop in a restaurant where Predator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) was shot. Find another tour to go to.

We went to VALLARTA ADVENTURE DOLPHIN EXPERIENCE. Note this is different from the one in the park. We met somebody who booked the one in the park (water slide) and she had to walk out because of the swarms of mosquitoes. My daughter and I are usual targets for mosquitoes, so we did not want to go. But we did our research and found this Vallarta Adventure [-]. We signed up for the Dolphin Experience $101 each but you get a 10% discount if you book online. Note, you need 48 hours advanced notice. We were lucky and we were upgraded to the Signature experience which cost $149 each. All in all, it was worth the price. We swam with the dolphins, touched them, they gave us a kiss, and a belly ride. Worth the experience and the money. NOte pictures are expensive, I believe $25 each. 8 pictures in a CD fof $99. We decided to get all the pictures for $249 USD. We were 4 and by just buying 4 pictures it would be a $100.
We all enjoyed it and will do it again.

There is a MEGA store ($7 cabride) which is a big grocery to buy milk, bottled water, etc. They also sell beach stuff like pails, buckets, etc. Don't buy the pastries, there, however, wasn't great.

There is another place in the PARADISE VILLAGE mall ($9 cab ride) and there is a store called Sunset in the mall. Smaller grocery store, but you'll find many of the things you need. The pastry section was great and the pastries were actually good. I'd shop here rather than MEGA.

Also, if you buy coffee for the room's coffee maker -- make sure you buy the FINE GROUND -- they call it Americana. We made the mistake of buying coffee with a medium ground at Mega - fiasco with the coffee maker. Bought another coffee with the americano ground -- no problem.

Note, the resort have a small convenience store which sells a lot of the things you'll need, however. Of course, with a small premium.

So far we're leaving tomorrow, nobody has been sick. But the mosquitoes in Puerto Vallarta are vicious to me and my daughter. Bring a lot of insect repellant!!!

Have to agree with ..."not as expected". We saw these folks at the resort, we were there the same week. The rooms left something to be desired. They seem to be worn-out in furnishings and accomodations. We were in bldg. 2000 and had a perfect view of the construction. We couldn't stay in the room during the day. There were hundreds of construction workers and you couldn't keep your blinds open. The room had a great ocean view but you couldn't enjoy it because of the construction. We were there with a large group and couldn't get our rooms changed. I too had read all the reviews. The pool area/beach is great. They keep everything clean and the staff is very friendly. I enjoyed shopping from the pool with the vendors that would walk by on the beach. If you enjoy a nightlife during your vacation, this is not the resort for you. You have to take a cab to PV for any real nightlife. The food at the resort is okay. The burgers at the Shipwreck by the pool were good. The Palm Terrace restaurant we didn't enjoy, espeically not the steaks. The Italian restaurant was not as good as another reviewer wrote. I'm Italian and it left a lot to be desired. We went to PV and had some fabulous meals at Trios, Vitea and La Palapa. La Palapa is the most romantic restaurant I have ever been too. Amazingly relaxing and highend service and food.
The Mega store is good but beware of buying anything not packaged...I observed people putting there bare hands on food.
Also, the timeshare people in the Mega get you to go to the Grand Mayan..avoid it...they are very high pressure and they take your entire day, not to mention that they are extremely rude to you at the Grand Mayan.
If we go back to PV we will probably try another more high end resort.

We arrived on a late flight and received the last room available; I believe it was room 6106 & 6107. This particular room was absolutely horrible! It had a very bad basement smell and was missing half of the items that were supposed to be there. I complained to the front desk and they immediately moved us into a new room the next day once they had others come available. The 2 bedroom, room was very adequate for my party of 6, the only issue was that the pull out couch was very bad and we ended up pulling the mattress off the bed and laying it onto of all the cushions on the floor. Like others had recommended we went to the Mega which is very close to the resort and bought food. However the all inclusive package is very well worth the money spent. At $65 dollars a day it includes all resturantes and most drinks. (Top shelf liquor is not covered). The breakfast buffet was awesome and the loch menu at the pool bar is very good. If you plan to drink while you are there you will definitely save money by going all-inclusive. Drinks at the pool are $8.50 for mixed and $4 for a beer.
The pool area and the grounds outside the resort are beautiful and I could not ask for anything more. There are daily activities like volleyball, water polo, and other things that keep you busy, but mostly just enjoyed standing in the pool with cocktail enjoying the view!
As far as other tings to do I was very disappointed the only nice restaurant's are at the other resorts and ALL require dress pants and a collared shirt. There is a small little restaurant called Fajita Republic which had the best amazing authentic Mexican food! We did a canopy tour which was amazing and a snorkeling tour which was a horrible waste of time and money. The water was not clear and you have to wear life jackets the entire time. It is more like a 30 minute swim call in deep water. They then drop you off at a beach or you can go to a water fall. Everyone that I had talked to who went to the water fall said it was great and now I wish that we would have done it.
To summarize our trip I would recommend this resort to others, the grounds were beautiful, beach was nice and the service was good. I would not recommend that you rent a car, as we did, because there is simply no place worth going. The canopy tour is a must as well as opting for the all-inclusive package.

This was one of the best resorts we have enjoyed in the Puerto Vallarta Coastal area, this is our fith year down there and our first at Playa Del Sol. Beautiful settings, rooms and a relaxing internet center too. Our children loved the swimming lagoon and so did we, plenty of visibility and fun. We found the restaurants to be great and the evening bar as well. Nice thing is the close proximity to the ocean from the bar, casual drink and a stroll, peaceful and serene. I would suggest anyone who has been down there to stay here.