Lazy River coming to Vidanta Riveria Maya (2017)

[RussellSun]

Hi RussellSun ,
I think this was a good choice because it improved your personal vacation enjoyment .

Over the 14 days this worked out to less than $50 a day . I realize from reading your posts that quality of the resort & experience are primary to your evaluation .
I am simply breaking it down this way because- even for me that is a daily cost that is affordable . My wife and I may have chosen the $899 option in the end BUT
having options is what makes sense to me .

The good news - is that your hearing primarily from Vidanta owners who like the resort quality and service .

The way I look at it, we will be staying in a AAA 5 Diamond resort for 14 days for $221 per night. The Jungle suite is huge, more like a 2 bedroom because the living room converts to a second bedroom with two sleeper sofas and it has two full bathrooms and a full kitchen and dining room. I do not know the square footage but I think it is at least 1700+ sf. The typical Marriott and Disney 2 bedrooms are 1100-1200 sf and not as fancy. The Jungle Suite is classified as a 1 bedroom but it is bigger than most 2 bedroom timeshares. Yes for me quality, flexibility, and views are important. I care about price but as long as the there is a cost-quality relationship, I will pay extra for what is important to me. BTW, I still have the certificate and we can stay in a Grand Luxxe 1 bedroom for $299 for the week but I will probably give it to my sister and her family. If they can’t travel before it expires, then we will find a way to use it if it fits our schedule. I do like a good deal!

 

[richontug]

But when is the Lazy River coming to Grand Luxxe RM?

Seriously - lots of good information - we have chosen not to pay for upgrade to GL from Mayan Palace but will continue to use SFX and rentals.

 

[Eric B]

I can totally see why many Tuggers would not pay for a Grand Luxxe membership. I did not think we would buy a membership either. However, I quickly learned I do not have the personality for exchanging on a regular basis. I like the idea every now and then but not on a regular basis. I mainly like the exchanges for the low price getaways. I like the “idea” of the SFX Vida Weeks where you can request a search but do not have to give up one of our Grand Luxxe weeks.

I plan well in advance. Even having 11-12 months to making a booking seems too short to me. I wish I could book 18 months in advance. I also like to know exactly what view and room type I will get. This is priceless to me. So for these reasons, it is worth paying for a membership to me. I figure over the long run, the cost per year for a Grand Luxxe membership is not that much if we keep it for 30-40 years, let alone 100 years and put it in the trust and will (with prepaid renewal fees) for the kids and grandkids.

I believe the privilege weeks allow you to book further out than 18 months with SFX; with the diamond level membership there it is listed as unlimited, but of course would have to take into account availability. That might quash it a bit down to being 12 months in reality.

As far as knowing exactly what view and room type you get go, information is power. Certain of the GL room types only exist in certain locations. For example the penthouse 1 BR lofts are only in the top floor of building 5 in NV and the 2 and 3 BR lofts at NV are only in towers 3 and 4, I believe, on the 3rd/4th floor. I had thought the lower floors of those buildings were 2 & 3 BR spa units like the ones above the loft floors, but apparently they are villa units per the OP. By choosing the room type judiciously, you can limit the degrees of freedom the hotel side has as to where you are located. Anyone have a comprehensive listing of where the different room types are located? My belief, based on very limited personal experience and readings here is that for NV it is:

Punta = presidential units
Tower 1 = villa units, probably some plain 2 BR suites that can be locked off
Tower 2 = villa units, probably some plain 2 BR suites that can be locked off
Tower 3 = 2/3 BR lofts at 3rd floor, spas above, villas below
Tower 4 = 2/3 BR lofts at 3rd floor, spas above, villas below
Residence Tower = 4 BR; 4 per floor with individual elevators for each one
Tower 5 = studio lofts floors 1-6 or 7; penthouse 1 BR lofts at the top level.​

 

[mikenk]

I believe the privilege weeks allow you to book further out than 18 months with SFX; with the diamond level membership there it is listed as unlimited, but of course would have to take into account availability. That might quash it a bit down to being 12 months in reality.

As far as knowing exactly what view and room type you get go, information is power. Certain of the GL room types only exist in certain locations. For example the penthouse 1 BR lofts are only in the top floor of building 5 in NV and the 2 and 3 BR lofts at NV are only in towers 3 and 4, I believe, on the 3rd/4th floor. I had thought the lower floors of those buildings were 2 & 3 BR spa units like the ones above the loft floors, but apparently they are villa units per the OP. By choosing the room type judiciously, you can limit the degrees of freedom the hotel side has as to where you are located. Anyone have a comprehensive listing of where the different room types are located? My belief, based on very limited personal experience and readings here is that for NV it is:

Punta = presidential units
Tower 1 = villa units, probably some plain 2 BR suites that can be locked off
Tower 2 = villa units, probably some plain 2 BR suites that can be locked off
Tower 3 = 2/3 BR lofts at 3rd floor, spas above, villas below
Tower 4 = 2/3 BR lofts at 3rd floor, spas above, villas below
Residence Tower = 4 BR; 4 per floor with individual elevators for each one
Tower 5 = studio lofts floors 1-6 or 7; penthouse 1 BR lofts at the top level.​

A little clarification on a few buildings.
Towers 1 & 2 consists of GL suites and GL Villas (the corner units). The Villas are somewhat larger with an additional room and balcony.
Tower 3 is all GL villas and suites except for the 4th floor which are the 2/3 bed lofts.
Tower 4 is GL villa and suites on floors 1-3; loft on 4; and 2 and 3 bedroom spa units above that.

Mike

 

[Eric B]

Thanks, Mike! Was hoping for that. Are the villas in tower 1 & 2 2 or 3 BR ones?

RussellSun, there’s another choice you’ll be able to make to get a higher floor with certainty; the penthouse lofts allow booking a 2 BR spa unit, and all of those are in the upper floors of tower 4. I believe building 4A & 4B, which comprise tower 4, have 8 spa units per floor with the 3 BR ones at the corners and the 2 BR ones in the middle. We stayed in a 2 BR river view one last visit and thought the view of the farms across the river, the mountains, and the city of Puerto Vallarta was great. In that building, at least, they delivered coffe on carts to each floor in the morning; think they do that for all the GL ones. We were on the lowest of the spa floors.

 

[mikenk]

Thanks, Mike! Was hoping for that. Are the villas in tower 1 & 2 2 or 3 BR ones?

RussellSun, there’s another choice you’ll be able to make to get a higher floor with certainty; the penthouse lofts allow booking a 2 BR spa unit, and all of those are in the upper floors of tower 4. I believe building 4A & 4B, which comprise tower 4, have 8 spa units per floor with the 3 BR ones at the corners and the 2 BR ones in the middle. We stayed in a 2 BR river view one last visit and thought the view of the farms across the river, the mountains, and the city of Puerto Vallarta was great. In that building, at least, they delivered coffe on carts to each floor in the morning; think they do that for all the GL ones. We were on the lowest of the spa floors.

All the villas are 2 bedrooms with the extra room that can be used as a separate living area or made up as a bedroom - not as good as a third bedroom - but OK. We wanted the villa as the lock-off gives you the extra room which we use occasionally.

As for locations, IMO, the best locations in order in Nuevo are.
1: Mayan Palace
2: Grand Mayan
3: Grand Bliss
4: Punta
5 and on: the GL towers in order with the Residence unit between 4 and 5

Mike

 

[Eric B]

Are you basing the ranking on proximity to the beach, ability to walk out and catch a bus, favorite restaurants, quality of the rooms or a balance of those considerations? Will the Cirque park opening color your ranking (considering possible access point IVO tower 5)? Just curious.

 

[mikenk]

Are you basing the ranking on proximity to the beach, ability to walk out and catch a bus, favorite restaurants, quality of the rooms or a balance of those considerations? Will the Cirque park opening color your ranking (considering possible access point IVO tower 5)? Just curious.

Just a balance of distance to beach / views / restaurants. Catching 2 shuttles to go to Lazy river is not as good as a 3 minute walk. Will have to wait for Cirque to open to see if that changes anything.

Mike

 

[RussellSun]

All the villas are 2 bedrooms with the extra room that can be used as a separate living area or made up as a bedroom - not as good as a third bedroom - but OK. We wanted the villa as the lock-off gives you the extra room which we use occasionally.

As for locations, IMO, the best locations in order in Nuevo are.
1: Mayan Palace
2: Grand Mayan
3: Grand Bliss
4: Punta
5 and on: the GL towers in order with the Residence unit between 4 and 5

Mike

I love the location of Grand Bliss at Nuevo Vallarta. It seems like a nice balance of luxury, location and views. The views at Grand Bliss Nuevo Vallarta are unbeatable. I love the Grand Bliss pool at Nuevo Vallarta. Direct head on views at the beach. All in all, I think the Grand Bliss Nuevo Vallarta may be the best bet for Grand Luxxe owners looking for ocean views because we get priority there for the best rooms.

 

[lauramiddl]

We will be trading into a jungle suite president's week. I've been researching when then lazy river will open and have found only a few hints. Vidanta Facebook post mentions an special announcement will come in December and recent resort reviews include mentions of ongoing construction of pool near the new jungle suites with one commenter saying the lazy river was opening in November (which would be anytime, then).

If anybody learns anything, please share!

 

[Zinjanthropus]

We were there thanksgiving week2017. We stayed at jungle building four and there was still construction in our building. We were the first to stay in our rooms. The layout is large 1bedroom with nice living room and two bathrooms. It’s a beautiful room style and we had two of them . The only complaint -and this is hardly a complaint- was the smallish balconies as compared to “regular” Grand Luxxe rooms. The lazy river will be huge and will make the Jungle buildings not seem so remote.

https://zoom.earth/#20.769752,-86.956218,18z,sat

Take a look at the size of this thing on satellite. The jungle will be a popular area.

To your question;
We asked and the workers said it would be a few more months before it’s finished although it looked very close to finished in our area; but it is a huge river which snakes through the woods so it may take a long time to finish.

 

[lauramiddl]

Just read a Vidanta Facebook post that the lazy river won't open until summer. I was hoping it's be in February.

https://m.facebook.com/comment/repl...2715&gfid=AQAToGqnpuj_Ze07&ref=content_filter

 

[Zinjanthropus]

Link broken. Which Vidanta facebook page is that on?

 

[lauramiddl]

Sorry about the link. Maybe it just works for me?. Link from Facebook Grand Luxxxe page post on 1/5 at 1:30 pm (pst?) Look in comments

 

[Zinjanthropus]

https://www.facebook.com/ultimateva...ioW1eR7xbDlziLiKuIG953RurhK7hrkG9JxyQ&fref=nf
I don't know if this has ben discussed but it looks like they're stopping the construction of the RM Lazy river indefinitely. One rumor -don't know if it's true- was they came across a Mayan Ruin and can't build upon it.


--ETA-- If that link doesn't work, look for;
Vidanta Grand Luxxe - Grand Bliss - Grand Mayan facebook page for May the 3rd.

-- here's that rumor from the same facebook page;

I heard they found Mayan ruins and will have to excavate and incorporate them into the design as they cannot be removed. I was also told by a sales person that they are now building a water park in the middle of the lazy river that will include a wave pool like Nuevo Vallarta along with water slides and other fun things.

 

[melissy123]

Just checking to see if they haven’t restarted work on the Lazy River in RM?

 

[petenjen]

We were there in December and they were back to working on it. Lot's of construction going on. Still had a ways to go, though.

 

[MoPops]

Ha! We were there a year ago about now, and were told it would open last summer. We are going back in Feb, and it looks like it still won’t be open.. They told us last year that it was ready, but the president of vidanta toured it, and said it wasn’t good enough. So they were redoing everything.
We didn’t go to an update last year, and are planning to miss it this year. Two years ago in NV we “upgraded” who knows what we really did, from a GL Loft to a GL 1 BR. Every time I call in they say, oh yes I see you are a loft owner, I say, no I’m a 1 BR owner. Won’t know until we get there next month to see exactly what we have. I do like it there though.

 

[jssquared]

Plans for the Lazy River in RM have greatly expanded. I was at a presentation a month or so ago and saw the renderings. They showed some water slides, lounging areas, a restaurant etc. Said it would be ready by March (which in Vidanta years probably means next Christmas season). Plans do look great though.

 

[T-Dot-Traveller]

Plans for the Lazy River in RM have greatly expanded...... Said it would be ready by March (which in Vidanta years probably means next Christmas season). Plans do look great though.

Only 12 years in the making / or is it 15 years ?

Pittle / Phyllis - has posted when she first heard about it & saw construction . ( 2005 or 2007 - I think ? )

 

[jssquared]

Famous last words but, "this time is different." When we were in RM this Thanksgiving they were almost done with the new Grand Luxxe Jungle lobby. Literally moving in some furniture. It is probably open by now. With all of the jungle units going in far from the beach and removed from pretty much everything else, they kind of need a central pool, lobby and activity area. This is probably that space. Hopefully, will be done soon. The plans at least looked fantastic.

 

[petenjen]

Indeed. We were there for the first week in December. I was amazed at how much work got done on the Jungle lobby while we were there. Encouraging...

 

[Utsie]

The reason I think Vidanta's computer system is poor is because we are excellent sales prospects but they misclassified us as poor sales prospects. The sold us the wrong product. They should have put us in a better room from the start and moved us to Grand Luxxe right from the beginning. The probably could have sold us a more expensive Grand Luxxe on Day 1. If they were more sophisticated in marketing, they would have done this. Instead, they treated us like crap, put a sour taste in my mouth and undersold us what I consider to be a cheap Grand Luxxe package that I do not really like. However, now I do not want to upgrade because I do not want to spend more money with them. They had their one shot and blew it.

I do not think that they do credit checks for all exchanges. They just lump all "newbies" in the same group - "fresh meat". Now that you are an owner, even if you exchange, they will know it.

 

[Utsie]

I am new to TUG but have been reading your blog. We first bought at timeshare level at the Mayan in Cabo in 2016. In 2017 we bought 3 BR Grand Luxxe Chairman level with 2 special addendums. I have to say that we will use it for the first time this year. I have stayed in contact with our salesman. He was so nice the entire time. I admired a decanter, wine and bourbon glass set on his desk and two days later he bought a set for me we still do not know how to navigate using everything we have. I made a negative comment on Twitter about not understanding our contract, and I was connected with a woman who called me and explained everything. At the end of our conversation she gave us our choice of a free week in a 2BR Grand Luxxe whenever we wanted. Our experience has been very positive although I must say I wish we never got ourselves into this. We are seniors and will never get our money out.

 

[pittle]

I dug through old photos and found some pictures of the RM Lazy River from years ago. The first time I saw it was in November 2005. It still is not done. I think they may have torn it out and recreated it like they did the one in PP. It originally was between the two rows of MP buildings. Recently, the ones that have never opened have been converted to GL Jungle units.

This photo is in November 2005 - you can barely see it in the background behind the trees that were damaged from the hurricane. You can see the outline of the MP buildings in the background.

This was in October 2008 that someone posted on the MP Yahoo group. It was full of yucky water.