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Buganvilias in Puerto Vallarta

pittle

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Vidanta Grand Luxxe
Buganvilias Sky Suites
Pueblo Bonito Em Bay
We arrived Saturday at 1:00. Our flight was the only one that arrived at that time and we were in row 9, so got off quickly. We do not check bags, so were able to go directly to Immigration where no paperwork was needed. They did need the Customs form verifying that you had no fruits or vegetables and were not bringing a lot of money into the country. Since we did not have to wait at baggage claim, we had only 2 other couples ahead of us. The guy took our paperwork and told me to hit any key on his computer keyboard - not the button for the red or green light! Then he said go. So we did.:) Then we walked across the bridge and had lunch at Tacon de Marlin before taking a taxi to the Buganivilias. We arrived before 2:30 and our room was ready, so we went upstairs and unpacked. My brother and sister-in-law landed at 3:00 and headed our way.

We are in 1880 this week. It is a 2-bedroom unit that has a nice balcony with 2 chaise lounges and 4 chairs with 2 side tables. Our view is the ocean and city from the balcony. We can also see the ocean from the living room sofa as it has a lower window below the sliding one.

They seem to be working diligently on floors 7-24. Yesterday they were painting and there was no patio furniture out, nor plants like there usually are. I asked about 2565 & 2566, our fixed unit that we will be in next week to make sure we would be in it and was told that it was occupied this week, but would be ready for us on Saturday.

Hubs checked the ATM in the lobby and thought the exchange rate was too high, so he cancelled it. He went to Soriana (used to be Mega) and got 8000 pesos from the Citbank ATM at the top of the escalator to your right. I checked today's rate and that would be $412.72 and then checked our bank transaction online and $414.13 was taken out of our bank, so $1.41 USD charge. They have updated the Soriana significantly since last year. They have great pastries again and even hot take-out pizza - great for if you have kiddos. I was totally disappointed in the former Mega last year, so we went to LaComer on Saturday after my brother and his wife arrived. It was crowded. You also need to take a bag for your purchases or buy a recyclable from them. I now have 2 large green bags.

We went to a restaurant for early dinner about 5 yesterday. Cuertos - it is up the street on the south side of the soccer and baseball fields. Almost where that short street ends. The food and service was great. We each had a different fish filet, shared guacamole appetizer, had 2 desserts and everyone had a Corona. The total price including tip was 1400 pesos. $70 USD for 4 people. That will be on our rotation when at the Buganvilias in the future as it is an easy walk.

On our way back from dinner, we stopped at the OXXO across the street and found it is the best place to buy beer - 205 pesos for a 12 pack of Corona Light yesterday and then got a 5% discount, so 12 cans were just under 200 pesos.

We are here until December 3rd, so I will post again once I see how our unit is next week since Building A seemed to have the most issues after the hurricane.
 

bjones9942

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Lindo Mar, Puerto Vallarta; Lake Tahoe Beach & Ski, South Lake Tahoe
Phyllis, you keep a 'when in Puerto Vallarta' wardrobe stored there, don't you! As someone who travels with just a backpack, I enjoy hearing how others travel light.

Great update! I'm waiting for your Acapulco trip report to see what changes there have been since your last visit.
 

pittle

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Phyllis, you keep a 'when in Puerto Vallarta' wardrobe stored there, don't you! As someone who travels with just a backpack, I enjoy hearing how others travel light.

Great update! I'm waiting for your Acapulco trip report to see what changes there have been since your last visit.
Nope! We each have a 21" rolling bag and hubs has a small duffle and I have a Vera Bradley "weekender". This year each bag weighed 20 or 21pounds.

We learned a long time ago we did not need to take a bunch of stuff we were on vacation to have fun. We do not go on vacation to dress up and prefer to go to restaurants where the locals go and eat dinner around 4:00. We wear our "dress up" stuff (shirts with sleeves and long pants or capris for me) on the plane and pack 8 shirts, 4 shorts, 3 or 4 swimsuits each + undies and laundry tabs & color catchers (so clothes do not fade on each other). We do laundry once a week. I wear my good walking sandals on the plane and pack my crocs sandals for the sand.

If we did not take 2 laptops, 2 Kindles, 2 cell phones, an iPad, all the cords/ chargers and extra extension cords and HDMI cables, it would be lighter and might would be able to cut one bag out. :) The electronics weigh a bunch! But, watching KU beat Duke last night was worth carrying the extra laptop and sturdy HDMI cable!

Needless to say, we do not buy souvenirs to bring home!

We are looking forward to Acapulco. For only one week, we may be able to take less! It will be just the 2 of us and we like to hang out under a palapa for most of the day and we sometimes order food from the beach vendors who ride their ATM's back to the restaurant and then deliver it to the palapa.
 

bjones9942

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Nope! We each have a 21" rolling bag and hubs has a small duffle and I have a Vera Bradley "weekender". This year each bag weighed 20 or 21pounds. .....

I'm impressed! I didn't have any beach time in Acapulco this year - I spent most of the time seeing things I hadn't seen before. The Mercado was fun, and the fort was open again after they'd closed it for covid. Museum there still closed though. And I finally had pozole at Los Güeros - I think the verde was my favorite.
 

pittle

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Buganvilias Sky Suites
Pueblo Bonito Em Bay
They are currently remodeling the 18th & 19th floors. The 2 above the tan columns. It looks like there are still 4 floors in the higher levels to do and then 4 more in the lower section that have not been renovated. You can tell by the rails on the balconies.
1668684863874.png
 

pittle

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There are a lot more people here for Thanksgiving week.We have been busy with family this week - some have not been here before so we have been out and about more.

At 7am today, this is how the pool looked. No people in site, but lots of towels! :(

1669296929273.png



Yesterday, at 8:30, it looked liked the photo below and at 10am, there were only about 10 people down there and some spots did not have folks until noon! So much for the "towel policing".
1669297135433.png
 

Loggie

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We will be there in January. Is the Soriana in walking distance to the Buganvilas?
 

pittle

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We will be there in January. Is the Soriana in walking distance to the Buganvilas?
Yes - it is just a few short blocks north. It used to be called the Mega and was owned by a different company and then Soriana bought it. I was not impressed last year, but they have done some updates and it is nice now. As we have discovered with the grocery stores in PV, you need to bring your own bags or buy them. If you have any reusable bags, pack them with your clothes.

If you buy a lot, take a taxi back. It was 65 pesos.
 

KarenLK

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What can you report on earthquake damage in that building? Any insight into the supposed damage?
 

pittle

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In Building D, we visited friends in 1779 and I saw some buckled tiles on the balcony on the pony wall that has the balcony rails. 2 were "peaked" about 1/2 inch. I did not have my phone with me to take a picture. We did not see any damage in 1880 or 1380 of that building.

In Building A, we were in the Imperial Sky Suite on the south side and everything was OK. I did see that 2 tiles were cracked on the balcony by the south corner of the building.

1670165860342.jpeg
 

iameless

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There are a lot more people here for Thanksgiving week.We have been busy with family this week - some have not been here before so we have been out and about more.

At 7am today, this is how the pool looked. No people in site, but lots of towels! :(

View attachment 69034


Yesterday, at 8:30, it looked liked the photo below and at 10am, there were only about 10 people down there and some spots did not have folks until noon! So much for the "towel policing".
View attachment 69035
That always drives me crazy! 7am!? Now I'm an early riser and go out and save seats for my party - but stay and read, have some coffee until other people wake up! 7am is a tad early even for me!
 
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