We are owners here, and this was our first stay, after getting up at 5 am and changing planes twice, we finally arrived. The very first thing they hit you with upon checkin was a very pleasant fruit drink. The second thing they hit you with is that you pay an additional $3.50 per day for the maid, etc., then they ask for a credit card. OK, you assume they are just going to put your card on file and bill you upon departure with anything you may have added to you room - wrong - they put a $400.00 charge on my card (without telling me), and said it would be adjusted upon departure - OW NO YOU DON'T. We insisted that they reverse the charge - which they did. So then they take us to our room - which is supposed to have a king bed. Well our full size bed was very very hard, and very small. Our room was clean, however when sitting on the toilet the ceiling would leak on your head, and there was a leak coming out of a light above the sink that put about 1/4 or water in my cosmetic case. The kitchen was great except for the tiny fridge. The air conditioning was not functioning very well, room was slightly too warm but not intolerable. Our balcony, on the first floor, was a lovely view of some greenery and their building they bring time share guests into to register. The Maintenance fees they charge you as an owner on a one plus one bi-annual week was initially $256 - at our original presentation. By the time we booked our trip it had gone up to $313.00. We upgraded while we were there to a one plus one annual week, and then as you are finalizing paperwork - they tell you the maintenance fees are $117.00 per year - using the unit or not and the additional fee that you pay at the time of booking brought the total to $456.00. The rooms in the building we were in were outdated, but very clean. We also did not have a remote control for our television upon arrival - they did get us one upon notification that we did not have one. Towels - one day we did not get clean washclothes, other than that good. The kitchen has ample dishes, pots and pans, etc., they do not wash the dishes for you. There was one gentleman that we met at the pool who had his diabetic testing machine stolen from his room. (had to be staff as it was locked, and no evidence of forced entry - I did not hear how they resolved the issue - he was insisting they compensate him) The staff was very friendly, very very helpful. The food at the Italian restaurant was very good - I would not recommend that other restaurant on site. They tell you it is a 10 minute walk to a small town closeby - we walked for 45 minutes and still did not get there (and we don't walk slow). So why did we buy - it guarantees that we will take a vacation every year - you don't spend that much time in your room. They did have activities on site - most were very good. It is a smaller facility and so being lends itself to being somewhat cozy. Because of the smaller, cozier atmosphere, people seemed very friendly with each other. We met some very nice people around the pool. This resort is kinda far removed from everything - the bus line is very good for getting around. Taxi service is somewhat expensive. All in all we had a very nice time. We are concerned as owners that the maintenance fees will continue to climb every year.

So my girlfriend and I spent a week in mid-October at Playa Del Sol Grand and despite a rocky beginning to our trip, we had a nice time.
First of all it was POURING rain every evening until near the end of our trip. The first day was the worst and the entire resort was so flooded that we had to walk in knee deep water to get to our room (which is really lovely in jeans and tennis shoes). So after slogging on extremely slick concrete sidewalks we got to our room which was not fancy but at least clean and dried ourselves off. When we went to get our dinner we found that the resort turns off all the elevators in the rain because it's dangerous (yikes). The problem is that I have a disability and use crutches and the already slick concrete stairs are wet from people slogging in out of the rain. When we complained we were told that although our All-inclusive status did not include room service, they would make an exception for us and bring us our dinner. I was practically trapped in my room! So eventually we switched room to a bottom floor (which I highly recommend for people with disabilities) and went to the restaurant soaking wet.

Fortunately it got better from there. The staff were all very nice. The pool was our favorite place to hang out, especially with the AI wrist band. Surprisingly not very many people had them but when considering all the bottled water and drinks you go through spending several hours by the pool along with your meals, you more than make up for the cost by going this route.

For those interested in a good vacation without all of the focus on Timeshare sales, I do not recommend this locale. Practically every person is pushed into doing their so-called 90 minute presentation which ends up lasting more than three hours. Even those who already owned are pressure to up the anty. Oh and if you don't go with your spouse and you are AI, it is really not worth it because there are almost no "freebie incentives." Some people were offered up to $300 cash and free bottles of tequila and my girlfriend and I didn't realize until it was all over that all we would get was a discounted massage. The discounted day excursions are not really discounted (you can get them for the same price online.)

Pros:
-Location. I really liked being away from Puerto Vallarta but still close enough to go there for a day trip. Also wandering around Bucerious was really nice, but I recommend daytime wandering. Look for Mark's Bar and Grill for a great meal.
-Onsite restaurants. Most of the food wasn't fabulous, although a few meals were really good, but the staff was very welcoming and pleasant.
-Free Wifi. We were able to check email every day from the lobby (but we would have preferred it in our room.)
-Spa. Positively fabulous. Worth every penny.
-Rental car accessibility. It was great to rent a car while we were there, because we were able to see so much more of the area. It was especially nice to return the car right at the resort.
-Price. This was a very affordable option for vacationing in Mexico.
-Family. It was fun to see all the families by the pool. (However I'm still glad we left our kids and husbands at home.)
-Beach accessibility. Very convenient.

Cons:
- Tips. My god I spent a fortune on tips for every single little thing. I realize that is how people make their money, but it made me feel like a money machine. Especially being all-inclusive they still chase you around to sign bills with zero balances if you move from one spot to another for fear that you won't tip them. But that feeling of being a money machine endures far beyond the walls of this resort.
-Beach accessibility. It's great to be on the beach, but annoying to have the vendors bugging you constantly. Some of them were very persistant, they were nice about it, but after two hours and more than 10 interruptions we just went back to the pool.
- No matter how much you love a good deal, we HATED shopping in PV. The vendors are very agressive and many of them in downtown PV sell all the same touristy trinket crap. However, the higher end stores along the waterfront had some great stuff and we loved one or two of the jewelry stores.
- Accessibility in general. Not much in this area is disabled accessible that I saw. I was really only able to use my wheelchair along the waterfront in PV, and I wasn't able to get into ANY of the stores I was interested in.
-Uncomfortable beds/pillows. These are some of the worst beds I've ever slept on. In fact, I didn't sleep much.

In the end our trip was fun, but we had prepared ourselves for mediocre accommodations. The result was that because we had lowered our expectations, we were surprised by the kindness and smiling faces of many of the staff members. Ruth in particular, who greets people at the main restaurant six days a week for breakfast and lunch, was stellar.

Tip: While it is still the rainy season, check out the ATV tours with Trek Adventures and do the jungle tour. This was a blast and well worth the money. LOL Don't forget to bring your tip money though!

Overall this a an average to below average property. It is mostly time share. The grounds are well kept, but the buildings show a lack of maintenance. There were large structural cracks in our building and the exterior paint was not kept up. The rooms were spacious and clean, but our phone never worked despite their maintenance efforts. Both the exterior door and the door to our suite looked as if someone had attempted to pry off the door casement molding to break in and the repair was poorly done. There was only one small elevator for two attached buildings and it was not enough.

We found the food to be very average and ate most of our meals in the room or out. The kitchen facilities in the room were sparse compared to other properties we've stayed at in the area.

The pool chairs and palapas on the beach are inadequate for the number of rooms, so you have the normal problem of trying to reserve a chair. There are palm trees around th pool, but no umbrellas, so it can be hard to find shade.

The recommend the walk down the beach to the nearest town and this was enlightening. The beach was completely covered with trash and plastic bottles most of the way, probably washed down the streams from the nightly rains. Several of the creeks we crossed were carrying raw sewage directly into the ocean, which should give a pause to people who spend a lot of time in the ocean in this area.

The PDS Grand is a nice smaller resort. Pool isn't terribly large for number of rooms. Pool bar is very small and can't accommodate 'happy hour' easily. Our room (7301) was great! not quite high enough to see over the palms, but could see through them nicely to the beach and pool and beautifully manicured grounds/ponds. Food at pool bar was decent. Cardinelli's food was average and VERY slow. We didn't eat at the Palm Terrace except for the free Time Share Upgrade breakfast. Service there, too, was terribly slow. Desk Staff (Francisco), Bellmen (Trinidad), and concierge (Yuli) were great! Excellent service and response to maintenance needs (small bugs in bathroom). Air conditioner was noisy as was ceiling fan, a minor inconvenience. The road into the resort is TRASHED! There's a new resort next door that just opened, I think the constuction traffic was the reason. The 'vendors' are enough to drive you crazy on the beach and at the pool's edge. We got so tire of saying 'No, gracias'. It was unreal. Everything from Timeshares, Silver, Tshirts, to chicklets. We didn't spend much time at the 'resort', but went into Puerto Vallarta or Bucerias via cab. Even in both of those places, 'vendors' are like sharks. They allow them in the restaurants. We took cabs everywhere, got kind of expensive as it was $25 to PTO Vallarta and $15 to Bucerias. Over all the resort is very nice, clean, and well kept. I would visit again, but would wait until more resorts/attractions are built up closer to Nuevo Vallarta.