My husband, 4 year old son & I were at the Holiday Inn for one week/all inclusive. We found our room to be very clean, beds comfortable and we had a great view from the top/9th floor. It wasn't too far to walk to the pool,kids club, beach or restaruant. The pool was great, big enough that it was never crowded. The kids pool was a bit small and with only one small waterslide. Not like the brochure pic. exactly. The first day we put our towels on poolside loungers at 7:30am to reserve them, but after that we didn't bother and we just "went with the flow". We always ended up getting a seat or just hung out at the beach which turned out to be the best place to be anyways. That is why we went there in the first place! The weather was amazing too! The beach was spacious enough to have your own little area and there is extra chairs down there to move wherever you want. The only thing is you wouldn't have an umbrella. Either get one at Wallmart or wear a hat. My son swam at the pool in the morning and we played in the sand at the beach in the afternoon. We ate whenever we felt like it. There was a convenient hamburger shack by the kids pool too. This was perfect for a family. We never got sick or upset stomach's. Although you do get a little tired of the buffet, you can break it up by going to town to eat sometime in-between or eating at the local's barbecue. We actually just hopped on the bus to town on the ocassional evening and enjoyed all there is to see! It only cost us 1.50 and we got off right across from the hotel. Watch out for the crazy traffic! Our room was never noisy and we could even hear the waves! We tipped the maid $1-2. & always had a super clean room with nicely folded fresh towels.We bought our own water at wallmart & used the ice bucket to chill it. After the third day we started refilling our water bottles at the bar (like others were doing) & never got ill. Our drinks were never weak,usually too strong, and we didn't mind that the nightly entertainment wasn't terrific because we usually were too tired to bother or went to town where there is so much to see. The vendors were not bothersome after you said"no thank you" a few times and they got to know you. In fact we thought being close to the local beach was a plus as we enjoyed the shrimp skewrs and talking with the locals daily.We even got a great dolphin carving for only $28.00!! It was much more "real" than being some place like Waikiki! All in all we had the best time and found the Holiday Inn to be perfectly fine for a small family. Nothing luxurious but super clean and cozy. Close to the airport and not to far from town with a perfect beach with perfect sunsets!!

I've been going to this holiday inn for all my life, no joke. The service is good and I love the beach. All the Workers are friendly and helpfull. The rooms are clean and all of them have a view of the ocean. This hotel is also close to Gigante, where i suggest you buy your grocies, and all the shops. If you decide to stay in this hotel i suggest you go to the board walk on sunday evening, there is a festival with performances and food. There are also statues all along the coast. Overall i hope to keep going to this hotel, and i'm looking forward to this years trip. I must admit that doesn't say much for the hotel, but at the hotel there is always something happening. I love the shops and restraunts inside the Hotel. If you go out to the pool, there is always an activity be it water polo, bingo, or yoga. Music is always flowing from the rental hut, and the smell of tequila is always fresh at the bar. On the beach there is vollyball, sand castle competitions, boat rides, food carts, and much more. Thinking of getting married? why not do it at this hotel? It's out on the pier and wouldn't you love to say i do with a beautiful sunset background? A few nights a week there is a fiesta ontop of the restraunts roof. Because this holiday inn is set in the bay, dolphins protect the swimming areas and every day is an adventure. Come stay at Holiday Inn!
-posted by a satisfied customer

My family and I recently stayed at the Holiday Inn PV, we booked an all inclusive holiday through our travel agent and Transat holidays. This was to be a last family vacation for all of us together, as our 2 oldest boys are moving on with thier own lives. All 6 of us flew from Prince George direct to PV on March 15, and were all very excited to be there...that is of course until we arrived at our hotel. At first glance things appeared to be fine, the trees surrounding the hotel as well as the lawns were well groomed, the lobby appeared to be clean and the front desk staff worked through the bus load of vacationers quite quickly, however the minute we walked into our junior suite rooms #1134 and 1135 our excitement quickly faded. The rooms themselves were not quite what we had expected. I have travelled extensively both for business and pleasure but I can honestly say that I have never paid this kind of money for a set of rooms that I would be generous in giving a one star rating to.

The first thing I noticed was the mold growing in several locations throughout our very small, dimly lit bathrooms and what appeared to be a hole below our shower head was a large mold spot that perhaps the maid service had missed over the last 10 years of cleaning.

As I moved through the suite I quickly realized that the grainy tile under my bare feet was all the sand left from many previous renters, as the floors had quite obviously not been swept in quite some time.

At this point I attempted to console myself by opening our curtains to admire the ocean view, when I reached for the sliding door and tried to pull it back, it moved 2 inches and then would go no further. It was off the track, and judging by all the sand and rust on the metal track it had been this way for quite awhile.

While my husband attempted to fix the sliding door I sat on one of the 2 beds in the room and called the front desk to inquiry about perhaps changing our rooms, as I remained on hold I became aware of my sudden shortness of breath and the feeling that my throat was closing; when the front desk final responded, I requested that someone be sent to address our concerns and quickly hung up as by this point I was on the verge of fainting. As I existed the sleeping area I discovered the reason for my sudden change in health, I had passed a closet that my youngest daughter had opened and as I attempted to close the doors I was shocked to see a puddle of wet mold running down 2 of the three shelves. As I am deathly allergic to mold I ran out of the room and made my way to the front desk. I again request from the staff that we be moved from these rooms.
A very pleasant young girl tried to explain in very broken english that there were no other rooms avaliable for the night and that perhaps in the morning I could look at a room that would be vacanted by its present occupants. She did however send a maid who spent roughly 4 hours of our precious vacation time cleaning and bleaching the mold areas in both rooms.

Early the next moring after a very restless night I again attempted to switch out of these rooms, however was told that only one room was avaliable and that my husband, daughter and I would be placed in a different area than our 3 sons. This to me defeated the idea of a family vacation, we therefore remained in our less than exceptable rooms for the remainder of our stay.

On a more pleasant note, the pool was clean, the ocean view was beautiful matched only by the incredible sunsets.

My husband and I will return to PV for a second trip however will steer clear of the Holiday Inn.

We just returned from 1 week at the Holiday Inn

Background:
I have traveled to several all inclusive resorts in Mexico and the Dominican Republic from 3 star to 5 + stars. This was my boyfriends first trip to an all inclusive.

Hotel room:

I had emailed the resort in advance requesting a room with a king size bed away from the construction. We were very happy with our room - 829. We had two balconies; one overlooking the pool and 1 ocean view! Our room was clean when we arrived and was cleaned each day. I would compare the room to any chain hotel in Canada. There was no mold in our room. The shower head is really low but you only need to duck down slightly. The room is basic but adequate.

Pool:

There is one large pool at the resort with a swim up bar. We spent lots of time in the pool and found it was decently clean. There was sand at the bottom but that cannot be avoided given the proximity to the beach.

My only complaint is about reserving pool chairs. We got up early (7:30) to get our prime spot at the pool. We didn't simply reserve the chairs with a towel, one of us actually sat there starting at 7:30. Many people reserve the chairs with a towel or book and head back to bed. The rule is that after 30 minutes those chairs are fair game. If we hadn't found a place at the pool and saw chair vacant for 30 minutes I would have no problem placing those belongings on the ground behind the chair and claiming the chair for myself. We witnessed one altercation between a person on their balcony (who had reserved the chairs with a towel and gone back to their room) and a person taking their spot. The person taking the spot politely said the chairs had been empty for 30 minutes and therefore were fair game. The person on the balcony argued, but I guess realized it was a lost cause. If you are going to reserve chairs that is your choice, but do not demand to have the chairs back if you are absent for more than 30 minutes!

Food / Drink:

The food and drink was as good as we expected for a 4 star resort in Mexico. It wasn't the best food we've ever had, but it was definately edible. There was a variety of food and the different "theme" nights gave a nice variety. We enjoyed both a la carte restaurants. If you want 5 star food then do not stay at an all inclusive and sample the local cuisine.

Off the resort:

We made several trips off the resort. We made two trips to Wal - Mart for extra sunscreen and air mattresses for the pool. It is a 4 dollar cab ride each way. If you forget anything do not purchase it at the hotel at inflated prices, just take the trip to Wal - Mart. The hotel gift shop sells air mattress for the pool for 25 US. We got ours at Wal Mart for 2.50 US

We did a dune buggy tour booked on-line. It was a great excursion and we would go again! If you are interested in that google "dune buggying puerto vallarta" and book on - line as the tour operators did not off it.

Overall

We enjoyed our time at the Holiday Inn. We arrived with reasonable expectations that were met. The room was basic but sufficient and there was a nice variety to the food.