Vidanta Nuevo Vallarta

[amanven]

Planning ahead for exchanging or renting a 1bdrm at either the Grand Luxxe or Grand Bliss at Vidanta in Nuevo Vallarta for late next year or early 2025 . I have heard that those two resorts are extremely nice but....I have also heard there are a couple of very off putting things at those locations that is giving me reason for hesitation about going there. I have heard that check in at the resort is extremely time consuming with a long wait and that how well your check in goes and the quality of the room you are given is somewhat dependant on whether they can badger you at checkin to agree to a sales presentation and they are very persistent! I have also heard that the sheer size and layout of the resort makes it very difficult to get outside the resort for any off resort activities or shopping and the onsite restaurants can be very expensive.

Has anyone had any of these experiences negative experiences when going to Vidanta in Nuevo Vallarta. Are owners treated differently (ie better) than first time renters or exchangers. I would have absolutely no intention of agreeing to a sales presentation no matter what they offer. I have heard the sales people can get pretty nasty when you give them a firm "no" or are the criticisms I have read about overblown. Do the positives of the resort outweigh the negatives?

 

[T-Dot-Traveller]

Planning ahead for exchanging or renting a 1bdrm at either the Grand Luxxe or Grand Bliss at Vidanta in Nuevo Vallarta for late next year or early 2025 .

Grand Bliss is centre of resort. There is 1 GB building [ view is 50% ocean view / 50% resort view]
Grand Bliss pool is oceanfront.

Grand Luxxe Brand has multiple buildings parallel to the Ameca River
[ views vary / most are kind of diagonal - partial water/partial resort or towards PV ]
You are likely to be further from the beach than the Grand Bliss

.........I have heard that check in at the resort is extremely time consuming with a long wait and that how well your check in goes and the quality of the room you are given is somewhat dependant on whether they can badger you at checkin to agree to a sales presentation and they are very persistent!

Check in works this way :
1) Your free inbound transportation takes you to the location where your luggage is loaded into secure / specific to you luggage carts [locked|
Luggage is brought to your building via underground tunnels.

2) You take a shuttle to the check-in desk for the brand you are booked at. The front desk takes your credit card - passport info etc,The front desk staff work
for the "hotel side" of Vidanta .

3) A "host" then chats with you- offers you a refreshing drink - and assigns your room key bracelet . [This person works for Vida Sales.]
They will be very pleasant...... [ and say things like " when would you like to go on your presentation" / as if it is a day at a spa]
They will tell you about the theme park etc. My suggestion is to be pleasant and don't say things like " We would love to have an oceanview "
After the chit chat -take the unit assigned . Essentially there are no inferior units. The variation is floor & view.

I have also heard that the sheer size and layout of the resort makes it very difficult to get outside the resort for any off resort activities or shopping and the onsite restaurants can be very expensive.

The Vidanta NV resort has room for 5000+ guests. There are 20+ buildings and 40+ food locations [ includes snack/ coffee bars]
Figure on-resort prices being what you pay in Canada. Your room key / bracelet is used for charges . You pay at check out
[ Your net cost will likely be less than an All Inclusive ]
Also -you are paying in pesos & your total can be converted / paid in $ Cad on a Cdn credit card .
This is likely less than the cost of a similar meal billed in $ Usd & converted to Cad at 1.35+.
The on-resort grocery store has a range of prices. Cabs to Wallmart - Mega etc for a weeks worth of groceries are reasonable.

You can walk the beach to get off resort ~ 10 minutes to the Nuevo Vallarta Marina area that has restaurants and an Oxxo convenience store.
To go into Puerto Vallarta - you take a resort shuttle to the resort taxi stand. [ There is no need to rent a car ]

Has anyone had any of these experiences negative experiences when going to Vidanta in Nuevo Vallarta. Are owners treated differently (ie better) than first time renters or exchangers.

Owners are treated the same . I am a Mayan Palace owner [ I cannot use the Grand Luxxe Pools - but why would I want to - they are further from the beach and a (longer) walk from the Mayan Palace building that is next door to the Grand Bliss building.

I would have absolutely no intention of agreeing to a sales presentation no matter what they offer. I have heard the sales people can get pretty nasty when you give them a firm "no" or are the criticisms I have read about overblown. Do the positives of the resort outweigh the negatives?

The Vidanta NV resort is a great place to vacation. Many love it - some feel that it is the nicest prison bubble they have ever been in.

If you wish to visit the PV area and want an alternative - I would review the following non AI resorts.

*Vidanta Mayan Palace Puerto Vallarta Marina location / RCI 6634-smaller footprint ~ 200 unit- 2 buildings /easy to walk to restaurants in the PV Marina
*Raintree Club Regina / RCI 2659- next door to MP-PV -smaller footprint ~200 units -2 buildings / easy walk to restaurants
*Buganvilias /RCI 1972 - in the PV hotel zone ( 1 in 4 rule)
*Park Royal Homestay Los Tules / RCI 3787 & 5121- In the hotel zone ( 1 in 2 rule)
* UVC Villa del Palmer / RCI 2672- in the PV hotel zone
*UVC Villa Flamingos- in Nuevo Vallarta (closer to Buscarias)

Many of these are probably available through Intervals as well

 

[zentraveler]

I have heard the sales people can get pretty nasty when you give them a firm "no" or are the criticisms I have read about overblown.

Nope. They are vicious and you will be there much longer than you were told. And it starts at check-in. It can take a long time (after your flight when all you want to do is get to your room) to say "no" to scheduling one. It seemed to me it took about an hour as they brought in more people to try to get us to sign up. Their sales "presentation" swore me off of them forever. Anywhere.

Do the positives of the resort outweigh the negatives?

Maybe. It is a lovely resort IF you avoid the sales pitch. There is now a hefty fee for exchangers. You can get out of the resort, but they clearly don't make it easy. But there is lots to do and the units are gorgeous. Staff, other than the sales staff, are nice. Food is resort -pricey.

 

[amanven]

Nope. They are vicious and you will be there much longer than you were told. And it starts at check-in. It can take a long time (after your flight when all you want to do is get to your room) to say "no" to scheduling one. It seemed to me it took about an hour as they brought in more people to try to get us to sign up. Their sales "presentation" swore me off of them forever. Anywhere.

Maybe. It is a lovely resort IF you avoid the sales pitch. There is now a hefty fee for exchangers. You can get out of the resort, but they clearly don't make it easy. But there is lots to do and the units are gorgeous. Staff, other than the sales staff, are nice. Food is resort -pricey.

Is the hefty resort fee applied to exchangers only or to all rooms at the resort regardless of how you booked it. (eg Interval getaway or direct rental from another owner)?? I assume the amount of the fee is still dependant on the size of the room you are in.

 

[amanven]

Grand Bliss is centre of resort. There is 1 GB building [ view is 50% ocean view / 50% resort view]
Grand Bliss pool is oceanfront.

Grand Luxxe Brand has multiple buildings parallel to the Ameca River
[ views vary / most are kind of diagonal - partial water/partial resort or towards PV ]
You are likely to be further from the beach than the Grand Bliss



Check in works this way :
1) Your free inbound transportation takes you to the location where your luggage is loaded into secure / specific to you luggage carts [locked|
Luggage is brought to your building via underground tunnels.

2) You take a shuttle to the check-in desk for the brand you are booked at. The front desk takes your credit card - passport info etc,The front desk staff work
for the "hotel side" of Vidanta .

3) A "host" then chats with you- offers you a refreshing drink - and assigns your room key bracelet . [This person works for Vida Sales.]
They will be very pleasant...... [ and say things like " when would you like to go on your presentation" / as if it is a day at a spa]
They will tell you about the theme park etc. My suggestion is to be pleasant and don't say things like " We would love to have an oceanview "
After the chit chat -take the unit assigned . Essentially there are no inferior units. The variation is floor & view.


The Vidanta NV resort has room for 5000+ guests. There are 20+ buildings and 40+ food locations [ includes snack/ coffee bars]
Figure on-resort prices being what you pay in Canada. Your room key / bracelet is used for charges . You pay at check out
[ Your net cost will likely be less than an All Inclusive ]
Also -you are paying in pesos & your total can be converted / paid in $ Cad on a Cdn credit card .
This is likely less than the cost of a similar meal billed in $ Usd & converted to Cad at 1.35+.
The on-resort grocery store has a range of prices. Cabs to Wallmart - Mega etc for a weeks worth of groceries are reasonable.

You can walk the beach to get off resort ~ 10 minutes to the Nuevo Vallarta Marina area that has restaurants and an Oxxo convenience store.
To go into Puerto Vallarta - you take a resort shuttle to the resort taxi stand. [ There is no need to rent a car ]


Owners are treated the same . I am a Mayan Palace owner [ I cannot use the Grand Luxxe Pools - but why would I want to - they are further from the beach and a (longer) walk from the Mayan Palace building that is next door to the Grand Bliss building.

The Vidanta NV resort is a great place to vacation. Many love it - some feel that it is the nicest prison bubble they have ever been in.

If you wish to visit the PV area and want an alternative - I would review the following non AI resorts.

*Vidanta Mayan Palace Puerto Vallarta Marina location / RCI 6634-smaller footprint ~ 200 unit- 2 buildings /easy to walk to restaurants in the PV Marina
*Raintree Club Regina / RCI 2659- next door to MP-PV -smaller footprint ~200 units -2 buildings / easy walk to restaurants
*Buganvilias /RCI 1972 - in the PV hotel zone ( 1 in 4 rule)
*Park Royal Homestay Los Tules / RCI 3787 & 5121- In the hotel zone ( 1 in 2 rule)
* UVC Villa del Palmer / RCI 2672- in the PV hotel zone
*UVC Villa Flamingos- in Nuevo Vallarta (closer to Buscarias)

Many of these are probably available through Intervals as well

This was a very helpful reply and answers my questions quite nicely. Thank you!!! I guess I just have to decide if I would be happy in an extremely nice prison bubble which, I probably could be if there is more to do on site there than hang by the pool and eat at the restaurants.

 

[pittle]

I am a Grand Luxxe owner that just took family to NV last week. They do not want to go back to NV, because they love the freedom they have at our Buganvilias location - nice pools, decent beach, amazing ocean views from my balcony, and can walk to many great inexpensive restaurants within 4-6 blocks. They can snag a taxi just outside. We gals can walk 4 blocks and get massages for $45 USD. I did not even check the prices at Vidanta because in 2014 I was there, even with my 1/2 price that is in my contract, the cost would be $150. They are much more expensive now.

While at Vidanta, I noticed that Corona Light was 90 pesos per can on the menu and at the Oxxo store and Mega it is 90 pesos per 6 pack. Most restaurants in town sell it for 55-60 pesos.

 

[Tacoma]

I am with pittle on not wanting to go back to Vidanta Nuevo Vallarta. If you need luxxe accomodations and just like being at a resort and don't mind higher food and drink prices then you can't beat the accomodations and service at Vidanta. If like me you love to wander around, explore new places and interact with locals then avoid Vidanta. I too own at Buganvilias and although I know my room is much more basic than Vidanta I love it there. For me being in Mexico means exploring and trying new restaurants and cafes. I leave next Saturday for a week at Buganvilias followed by a week at Villa del Palmar Flamingos up in Nuevo Vallarta. This will let me decide if I actually like Nuevo Vallarta at all or if I'mjust happier in the town of Puerto Vallarta. Next December it's 2 weeks in Los Cabos area.

 

[StructureGuy]

I have heard that check in at the resort is extremely time consuming with a long wait and that how well your check in goes.

If you arrive before the 5:00 pm check-in then you will have a long wait. Otherwise, it has never taken us long to check in. Sometimes the advance check in (if you are a Vidanta member) works very well and other times it doesn't work at all.

the quality of the room you are given is somewhat dependent on whether they can badger you at check-in to agree to a sales presentation and they are very persistent!

The rooms are assigned before you arrive and the best rooms are given to those that have spent the most money. You might also get an excellent room if you are a prospective owner and attend the (incredibly long and usually aggressive) sales presentation. A firm "no" and the sales staff generally leave me alone.

 

[zentraveler]

If you arrive before the 5:00 pm check-in then you will have a long wait. Otherwise, it has never taken us long to check in. Sometimes the advance check in (if you are a Vidanta member) works very well and other times it doesn't work at all.

The rooms are assigned before you arrive and the best rooms are given to those that have spent the most money. You might also get an excellent room if you are a prospective owner and attend the (incredibly long and usually aggressive) sales presentation. A firm "no" and the sales staff generally leave me alone.

Clearly it matters if one is a Vidanta owner. As a multiple time exchanger, the check in process took a long time because no one took no for an answer. They just brought more people to talk us into signing us up for the sales presentation before they would give us your room. Maybe they have changed; it has been a few years.

 

[hurnik]

The hefty fee will depend on WHEN you booked and from whom. Currently, I believe the fee has been drastically reduced by all 3 Exchanges (RCI, II, SFX). I believe the current fee is $150/unit/week. Also, there is no longer the free shuttle via the exchanges any longer (RCI, II, SFX). Again, if you booked prior to the changes (I think these changes I mention are within the last 3 months), then Vidanta will honor whatever stipulation as in place at the time of booking.

 

[easyrider]

Has anyone had any of these experiences negative experiences when going to Vidanta in Nuevo Vallarta.

We exchanged into the Grand Luxxe. Any negative experience is out weighed by all of the good experiences, imo. Check in isn't too bad. It does take a while. It begins in a central area where the staff sorts out where you are going. As you wait for the golf cart, a person approaches you about attending a presentation. Then you take a golf cart to your building and check in. The rooms are exquisite. The resort grounds are vast and beautiful. The service is impeccable.

It is up to you to get up and leave the presentation at 90 minutes. Don't worry about the discounts because the concierge at your building already has the proper notification to apply these discounts at check out. If you stay at the presentation they will keep you there until they have to go home.

Bill

 

[amanven]

I am with pittle on not wanting to go back to Vidanta Nuevo Vallarta. If you need luxxe accomodations and just like being at a resort and don't mind higher food and drink prices then you can't beat the accomodations and service at Vidanta. If like me you love to wander around, explore new places and interact with locals then avoid Vidanta. I too own at Buganvilias and although I know my room is much more basic than Vidanta I love it there. For me being in Mexico means exploring and trying new restaurants and cafes. I leave next Saturday for a week at Buganvilias followed by a week at Villa del Palmar Flamingos up in Nuevo Vallarta. This will let me decide if I actually like Nuevo Vallarta at all or if I'mjust happier in the town of Puerto Vallarta. Next December it's 2 weeks in Los Cabos area.

I would be interested to hear your impressions of PV vs NV and Villa del Palmar after you get back.

 

[Tacoma]

I will let you know when I'm back.

 

[pittle]

I will let you know when I'm back.

Hey - Tacoma, if you have not walked up the street on the south side of the soccer fields to Cueto's you have missed an awesome restaurant with great prices. It is a few blocks past the baseball field on that side of the road. There are a bunch of plants and trees in front of it. Also El Patron is on the north side of the soccer fields a few blocks up on a corner. Walk out the Sheraton entrance and cross at the light on. El Patron closes at 7:00 (No one allowed to order after that.) and is closed on Monday. There are taco stands on the ball field side there too.

I am at the Buganvilias now and we have enjoyed it immensely! We have the Imperial Sky Suite on the town side and have a panoramic view of Bandaray Bay. I leave Saturday after 3 weeks in Puerto Vallarta, but have my Buganvilias reservations for next year for 2 weeks and my brother and sister-in-law want to do a week at MP Marina, so I will make that one as soon as I can.for the week before Thanksgiving. GL NV is off our list.

 

[Tacoma]

Thanks Phyllis.I am always hoping to meet up with you at Buganvillias sometime but we like to avoid the craziness around American thanksgiving. You seem to always be leaving just as we are coming. I will check out the restaurants. I know I tried for El Patron before but didn't make it for some reason. Next year I will be in Los Cabos area. One week at WM in San Jose del Cabo and one week at Vista Encantada Spa and Resort. I have only been to the Cabo region once just after Hurricane Odile in 2014.

 

[cd5]

Is the hefty resort fee applied to exchangers only or to all rooms at the resort regardless of how you booked it. (eg Interval getaway or direct rental from another owner)?? I assume the amount of the fee is still dependant on the size of the room you are in.

If you get it through SFX Resorts, the fee is currently $150 per week for 2024 (I called to ask last week) regardless of the room size

 

[cd5]

Something else I found out today.
With SFX reservations and possibly others:
The 1 in 3 years applies to yourself - or your guest (each individual who is using the reservation) .
My daughter went last year and I have a friend who wanted to go this year. As long as the guest themselves haven't gone in 3 years, it's ok, they get it approved and your guest can go. I could go next year myself if I wanted to even though my daughter and friend have gone with my deposits in the last 2 years. Note that the shuttle TO the resort is no longer offered.

 

[beachtsharer27]

I have exchanged into Grand Luxxe and Grand Bliss in NV & RM over 6 times in the past decade. I personally have loved my experience there and have not had any really negative experiences.
In my experience, check in is long only because of the size of the resort and the transportation required to get from the drop off area. Growing up, my parents did have multiple timeshares so I am very familiar with all of the various selling tactics sales will use to get to you attend a presentation, so I did always go into it with my eyes wide open. During check in, I normally will respond to the sales people that we most likely won't have time for a presentation and that I have to finalize all of our plans for the week before we could possibly even know what day could work. With that, they always let us go pretty easily- of course they call the room almost every day, but we just ignore it.
The only semi-negative experience I have had is when we were Grand Bliss (our very first year going) and did not realize we could not use the Grand Luxxe pools. They let us finish our drinks at the pool but then security made sure we left the Grand Luxxe pool. They were polite during the whole exchange but was rather embarrassing.
Overall, if it wasn't for the new 1 in 3 rule, my girlfriends and I would go every year! It is expensive compared to eating out and about in Mexico, but ultimately cheaper than an all inclusive. I always go to Walmart to get stuff for breakfast and that helps lower costs as well.

 

[Tacoma]

I was asked to comment on my 2 weeks. The first at Buganvilias in the tower section in a one bedroom and the second week at Villa del Palmar Flamingoes on the northernmost part of Nuevo Vallarta. The one bedroom has been very nicely upgraded since our last visit 2 years ago. They have redone the rooms to get rid of the Flintstone furniture as Phylis called it. There were just 2 of us this time so very comfortable as we slept in the king sized bed in the bedroom. They put in a large tub (likely jetted I didn't check) which to us is a waste but I did like that the balcony now is not cut off between the bedroom and the kitchen/living area. I remember having to pass chairs over a wall last visit so the 3 of us could sit together. I will never tire of the view of the entire bay at night from my balcony. Several nights they had weddings or convention activities set up on the green space. We enjoyed watching people having fun and listening to the music.

We had problems with the buses this year. There was an Our Lady of Guadelupe celebration which shut down the road just a couple of blocks east of the malecon. Buses didn't seem to go into the romantic zone because of this. We had to walk both directions or take a cab. The cab was only 100 pesos but because of the inconvenience we spent a lot of time north east of the resort in the area called Versalles. FOund a few snowbird locations owned by Canadians with cheap beer and pub food just like at home. Our favorite was the Tipsy Squirrel. We also managed to take a local bus to the butterfly farm. Again took a while to figure out but we made it there. Everyone else paid for a cab. The passion of the owner during the tour made it well worth the admission price. It is not large but there are many different butterflies.

We almost always left the resort to eat but did have a snack at nine ninety and lunch at the pool one day. Both were good and affordable even by our standards. Spent a lot of time at the pool and on our balcony at night. Absolutely love the location. We noticed the walk home form the Malcon had better lighting than in the past in the one sketchy area just before you get back to Buganvilias. When we checked out there was about a 120 peso charge that I didn't understand. I asked was it for taxes and the person said yes. After the mandatory tip fee at Flamingoes I wondered if that was what it was. Maybe Phyllis can shed light on the fee.

This was our first time at Villa del palmar Flamingoes on the north edge of Nuevo Vallarta. We had a lovely 2 bedroom for the 2 of us. It had a washer dryer in the unit but only one laundry tab and they never left another one even though it was obvious we had done laundry. We could have asked but we had laundry strips with us so just used those for the extra loads. I have stayed at Vidanta before and hated feeling trapped at the resort so I was nervous about staying here. There is a walking path into Bucerias directly in front of the resort. The first part is a lovely wide brick path which turns into a gravel road which then hits the ROyal Decameron Resort and finally the edge of Bucerias. I would say it's a 30-45 minute walk into Bucerias depending on how far you are going and how hot it is. You could of course also walk the beach but that would take longer.

We walked into Bucerias every night between 5 and sunset. The path is not lit so it is not recommended to travel on at night. Cabs cost 140 pesos from Bucerias back to the resort. We more than saved that by buying dinner off of the resort. We checked the lunch prices at the pool and only ever ordered one happy hour 2 for 1 margarita which ended up being 190 pesos with the mandatory 15% tip. For comparison it was about 120 pesos at Buganvilias. As Canadians that makes it over $15. There's no way I'm paying $30 for 2 margaritas. Meals were way over our comfort range and about 30-40 % higher than at Buganvilias. We did get talked into attending the sales presentation mainly for the free drink tickets and cab fare to and from Sayulita. Breakfast was good but the hour and a half promised ended up around 2.5 hours with all of the steps they make you go through. They kept telling me that the 1000 point package only had $505 maintenance fees and we could exchange in II at an elite level for no exchange fees and to resorts that I know you can never get. For example they had the Hilton Grand Vacations club whistler which is an old intrawest/embarc resort where 95% of the points are owned by members so there is almost no availabilty for non members. I also didn't believe the exchanges would be free. Price was around $31000 US but when she went to offer us a better price on returned points (or something like that) I said we were not interested at all. Final closer said it I was to offer this to you for $6000 would you buy and I said no because I did not believe them. Back in the room I discovered 1000 points get you a lockoff in summer season. We were staying in a 2 bedroom during winter season on a trade.

Conclusion is we loved both resorts because of the availabilty to walk into town for dinner and drinks. In fact we will try and get another trade into the Flamingoes in 2 years when we stay at Buganvilias again. They are scheduled to tear down the Villa del Palmar in PV and rebuild on the same site. That may make it more difficult to get into the Flamingoes while the other is being rebuilt. We will see. VDP Flamingoes has a mandatory tip charge based on room size. It is $5 for a lock off, $6 for a one bedroom and $8 for a two bedroom. ROom service was once a day at Buganvilias and twice a day at Flamingoes. Both resorts had awesome views, friendly staff and great pools. Flamingoes had a pleasant swimmable beach which Buganvilias does not have. There were generally enough beach loungers but as always the best chairs get reserved early. The quality of the loungers was better at Flamingoes and our deck was much larger with a table and chairs and 2 loungers. The combination of city and small town was a nice juxtaposition. Both myself and my husband were happy spending the first week in PV and the second in the quieter location.

 

[echino]

I have an opportunity to book a 4-bedroom at Grand Luxxe Nuevo Vallarta for a week in July for $1,500 all-in. I know it's a good deal, but I am worried about a few things. Any advice on those?

1. First time in that part of Mexico. Weather in July. We want to go swimming and hiking. Will the rain prevent it? Or is it still doable?

2. We want to rent a car. I rented cars in Mexico before so aware about insurance ripoff. Other than that, any other issues like with parking at the resort?

3. We don't want to eat at the resort restaurants. Will we be able to easily cook in the unit or sometimes go outside of the property to local cheap eats?

4. How are resort amenities like pools and lazy river, is it free or additional charge?

Thanks for any advice!

 

[klpenny]

I have an opportunity to book a 4-bedroom at Grand Luxxe Nuevo Vallarta for a week in July for $1,500 all-in. I know it's a good deal, but I am worried about a few things. Any advice on those?

1. First time in that part of Mexico. Weather in July. We want to go swimming and hiking. Will the rain prevent it? Or is it still doable?

2. We want to rent a car. I rented cars in Mexico before so aware about insurance ripoff. Other than that, any other issues like with parking at the resort?

3. We don't want to eat at the resort restaurants. Will we be able to easily cook in the unit or sometimes go outside of the property to local cheap eats?

4. How are resort amenities like pools and lazy river, is it free or additional charge?

Thanks for any advice!

Hi! I can answer a few questions. It is very hot in July. I was there once in July very humid all day and night and often uncomfortable. Also very buggy that time of year. I was much more comfortable at the end of April when I went the next time. We did not have much rain in July. Pools and lazy river are no additional charge. We did not rent a car so I can't attest to that. There are only a few places in walking distance up the beach to eat out at off premises, otherwise you need to take a cab, which is easy to do. I seem to think we had no oven in our two bedroom unit but cooktop only. I could be wrong.

 

[zentraveler]

I have an opportunity to book a 4-bedroom at Grand Luxxe Nuevo Vallarta for a week in July for $1,500 all-in. I know it's a good deal, but I am worried about a few things. Any advice on those?

1. First time in that part of Mexico. Weather in July. We want to go swimming and hiking. Will the rain prevent it? Or is it still doable?

2. We want to rent a car. I rented cars in Mexico before so aware about insurance ripoff. Other than that, any other issues like with parking at the resort?

3. We don't want to eat at the resort restaurants. Will we be able to easily cook in the unit or sometimes go outside of the property to local cheap eats?

4. How are resort amenities like pools and lazy river, is it free or additional charge?

Thanks for any advice!

Some of this is available info further up on the thread. Eating off the resort will take some time. Either a walk down the beach or a cab into town (and a walk or shuttle to get to the cab stand and back - they don't make it easy not to eat there). But certainly doable.

There is a grocery on the resort, certainly useful to have, but for the volume of people in a 4 bdrm you will probably want to do a bigger (cheaper) shop. Others can comment on the specifics of larger unit cooking facilities but I think they are decent; they certainly were for the 1-2 bdrm ones.

 

[rpennisi]

I have an opportunity to book a 4-bedroom at Grand Luxxe Nuevo Vallarta for a week in July for $1,500 all-in. I know it's a good deal, but I am worried about a few things. Any advice on those?

1. First time in that part of Mexico. Weather in July. We want to go swimming and hiking. Will the rain prevent it? Or is it still doable?

2. We want to rent a car. I rented cars in Mexico before so aware about insurance ripoff. Other than that, any other issues like with parking at the resort?

3. We don't want to eat at the resort restaurants. Will we be able to easily cook in the unit or sometimes go outside of the property to local cheap eats?

4. How are resort amenities like pools and lazy river, is it free or additional charge?

Thanks for any advice!

Sounds like a great price for a 4 bedroom GL. The unit will be wonderful. You will have access to lazy river (but it's at the Grand Mayan which is a hike), pools, spas, etc. A farther hike would be beyond the Grand Mayan and down the beach to go to off site restaurants. A rental car would be best to do eating off site.

However, when we went in July is was hot and sweaty. Rain was not a problem. Hiking would be tough in that weather, but great for staying at their large variety of pools and indoor restaurants. Parking a rental car has become more complex as all the parking is done at a central area, and getting to it would be a good "hike". Used to be nice when they would bring your rental car to your lobby. Of course there are shuttles, but waiting for them in the heat could be time consuming and off-putting. Stocking up at Walmart or similar early in the week would be the best way to beat the high price of food sold onsite.

 

[echino]

Booked! It's under current Thirdhome promo, free membership via Hyatt. For a week in a 4-bedroom Grand Luxxe Nuevo Vallarta, $995 exchange fee, no keys, and Vidanta resort fee waived. Will see what's all the hype is about!

 

[easyrider]

Do the positives of the resort outweigh the negatives?

Yes. The Luxxe is, and probably even the Bliss are, very opulent with the highest levels of service at this huge resort property. We had a two bed Luxxe. Nicest unit I have ever been in. There are two check in phases. The first is to get you to your building. The second is to get your room at the building. Between these phases will be a guy trying to get you to attend a presentation. You can politely say no and no and no, lol.

Bill