We booked at the Presidente Intercontinental for two days after being in a 3 star all-inclusive resort in Nueva Vallarta, so my review rather compares the experience of the two resorts, especially as the all-inclusive resort was quite inexpensive compared to the Presidente.

First, the Presidente IS beautiful, although it's still made entirely of concrete, as are most buildings in Mexico. Even the bed frame was concrete! But everything at the Presidente is painted bright white, which makes it feel nicer.

The staff was very friendly. However, we had a bad experience with the laundry service. They promise "Get it to us by 9am, and we'll have it back to you that day." Well, by 9pm we didn't have our laundry back, , so I called the front desk. They promised to track it down. After an hour I'd heard nothing so I called again - the man promised to call me back in 15 minutes with an answer. No call. The next morning I called again, as we were checking out at noon. It was delivered to us late morning. I was not happy!

Our room had two queen beds for 3 people. But there were only 2 bath towels. I called down to the desk and they said they would send another towel, but one never came. The next morning I called again and they brought the 3rd towel - but when the maids came to clean, they left us only 2!

The restaurants are VERY expensive. The breakfast buffet, while excellent, was $20 USD. The Italian restaurant was very nice, but the food...well..I asked - in Spanish - for a simple dish of spaghetti for my son. Now, we'd seen some pretty funny spaghetti in PV, so I pointed to another menu item that featured marinara sauce, and explained that I wanted lots of marinara. Well, what arrived was a plate of noodles covered in seafood! (La mer...) I had to laugh. But that was the most expensive plate of spaghetti I've ever paid for at $16! Total bill for 3 people, with 3 glasses of their cheapest wine, was over $100. Ouch.

The hotel gym is very nice - a large room with treadmill, 2 bikes, and a weight machine.

The business center features 4 or 5 computers, but no print capability. Frustrating.

The pool is beautiful, but fairly shallow. It even has a 10" deep section. Read the signs and DON'T DIVE!. Has a swim-up bar and grill. Unfortunately, the grill closes at 5pm. Only dinner choice is the aforementioned Italian place.

So, yes, the Presidente is a nice place, if money is no object and you like the feel of luxury.

It was a great place, but a little far out; the food was great; the beach was small, but a nice quiet location.

My wife and I were married in Puerto Vallarta on March 24th and picked the Presidente for our guests since they offered us such a competitive group rate. We had been to Puerto Vallarta once before, but we were a little nervous considering we had never been to the hotel, it was a little ways out of town, and we had 60 guests to accommodate.

The Presidente did not disappoint. In fact, it far exceeded our expectations and our guests regularly congratulated us on our hotel selection. We had older adults, families with kids, singles, couples -- everybody had a great time at this hotel.

The service was outstanding, all around. The food was excellent--room service, Italian restaurant, meals by the pool, all of it was good. The beach was private and not crowded at all, and we were there during Semana Santa. The surf was pretty rough a few of the days we were there but it actually made for a fun time in the waves. The pool area was relaxing and you could pretty much always find a chair to lay out on. The rooms are HUGE and so are the bathrooms. Really, it was difficult to find flaws with this place.

The location and distance from town was not a problem at all, as this was a concern of ours. It actually turned out to be for the better since we were there during Easter and it gets pretty busy in town. It is about a 15 minute cab ride from downtown, and about a 5-10 minute cab ride to Mismaloya, and there was never any trouble getting a cab. Buses were also very easy to use, stopped right outside the hotel, they came regularly, and are very cheap.

We highly recommend this hotel. It is a little bit on the expensive side, but it is worth it. All of our guests had a awesome time and thought the cost reasonable. We will definitely be going back.

We just got back from a week at El Presidente! We had a beautiful 2 bedroom suite on the 10th floor. The kids loved the hot tub on the deck and watching the whales, dolphins, boats and sun sets each day! We ordered room service every morning and the food was excellent. The staff was very attentive and remembered our prefrences. The house cleaning was excellent too.
The italian restaurant was 5 star! The best pasta we have ever had. Loved the meals by the pool too! Great tacos and guacamole...Staff very nice to our children.
Spa very small; but amazing treatments..
The beach was amazing! Very private, great shells and fun surf. The staff were great about getting our chairs ready everyday. We loved Carlos. We went sailing with him and snorkeling at Los Arcos. We went at 9 am before all the tours... It was beautiful. The water was a little cool and not as clear as the Caribbean. But, we still saw beautiful fish, sting rays and birds too. We rented a car for three days. Had fun at El Eden and the kids liked the canopy tour there (take cash to eat there...). Went to Sayulita for the day and went surfing. Really fun town and best unique shopping. Felt like a surfing california town. Went to Punta Mita too. Downtown PV very busy. Kids enjoyed all the action.
But, loved our area at El Presidente the best. Loved the mountains and beach.
So, sad to be home...but can't wait to return....