The first night we arrived the room smelled pretty bad and it was blazing hot. We complained and switched rooms the next day. The rooms are somewhat run down and the towels and bedding are pretty old.
The staff was not very friendly. We had several experiences with staff being less the helpful and sometimes they were just rude. Of course there were some staff that were great, but they were few and far between.
The food at the resturaunt was terrible, except for the buffet breakfast which was good.
There seemed to be a bit of pollution in the lagoon out front of the hotel so we opted out of swimming at the lagoon.
For the price you can get a better place to stay.

My wife are owners at PDS Grand, but we wanted to stay closer to town so we stayed at Costa Sur. It is odd what PDS considers a 5 star gold crown resort.
The decor is dated, but the room we had (1102) was was ok despite that. The view from the room was amazing, literally amazing. I have stayed in Nuevo and at the Marina many times, but there isn't a place that compares to this. The room had a standard size refrigerator, which was nice, but it had a tendency to transfer odd flavors to items stored in it. There was a toaster, coffee maker, and 2 burners, as well as dishes and utensils. The bathroom had a large stand up shower, but it was riddled with cracked tiles. There was a queen size bed that was too firm and a couch that was a pullout. Pretty standard, but definitely not 5 star. More like Courtyard by Marriott.
We didnt eat at the hotel at all, but the restaurant must have been good as it was always packed. The pools were very small but clean of debris. One of them was heated. From the pool area you have access to the "lagoon" they have right out front. There isnt any sand there, its all rocks, so it hurt when barefoot. But once you got into the water is was the same as if you were on one of the overpriced snorkling tours. The lagoon was teeming with fish including puffers, barracudas, mullets, crabs, clown fish, etc. It was unbelieveable how much fun it was.
There is an internet room with 3 terminals, which was handy. A gym full of brand new high end equipment and a spa are in the same area.
Even though we didnt eat at the restaurant, we did drink by the pool and at the bars. The waiters by the pool were slow and unattentive, and the bartenders were not much better. All the more reason to head into town and eat on the street, just like the locals do.
Puerto Vallarta is a great place. The town is safe, even at night, and there is endless variety. Once the bus drops you off in the Romantic Zone (about a 10 minute ride for $0.55) you could wander in any direction and find delicious food. The Malecon is a short walk along the oceanfront and crossing a bridge over the river Cuale. Most nights there are vendors at the central point as well as street performers. It is a very pleasant town, which never feels like a big city, even though there are probably a million residents.
We had a great week but the hotel was underwhelming. The decor really affected how we saw the hotel. It was really clean though, and that helps you feel better about where you are staying.
Be sure to take the bus heading south to Boca Tomatlan. A cute village, the restaurant Mangos had great food and great service. There are several other restaurants and a taco stand. A great little diversion.

Our entire family stayed at the Playa Del Sol Costa Sur for 8 wonderful days of sunshine & fun! In preperation for our trip, I read all the reviews for this establishment and was actually a little worried about what our stay would entail.

Upon arriving at the hotel we were greeted with a refreshing "Welcome margarita" and not one person came running up to us about time share tours, but later we were asked if we'd like to attend a 90 minute talk. We checked right in and went straight to the room. It looked identical to the photos online, and yes, although the colors are bright...we thought they were fun, festive & added to the ambiance. The entire unit was spotless. However, the beds are quite hard...thank goodness the pillows were soft! We ran to throw open the curtain to our private balcony and the view took our breaths away. Every morning we ate our cereal outside while watching humpback whales & dolphins swimming just beyond the swimming lagoon. Take your binoculars!!

We spent tons of time at the pool area. There's a heated pool, cold pool, restaraunt & bar. Great happy hour drinks from 5-6pm courtesy of Fabrisio the best bartender in PV! The food was delicious, fresh guacamole all the time, the theme night dinners were awesome & the service was excellent! The workers down there really earn their money.

The only thing that annoyed us at the pool was guests getting up early, putting books in the chairs to "reserve" them and then not even using them. I sat on the corner of one chair for a minute to talk to someone I knew and a man came running over in full shirt & pants trying to "protect" his saved chairs. Ugh, but I'm sure that happens everywhere you go.

The pool area was just steps away from the hotel's beach and lagoon swim area. We snorkled and saw skates, an eel, needle fish, blue & yellow angel fish plus what I believed to be bala sharks. It was gorgeous and we felt protected in the lagoon.

It was hard to leave, but we will definetly be back!

This was our 8th visit to Puerto Vallarta. Initially, we were a little hesitant staying so far away from downtown but that was not a problem. We normally take the bus everywhere in PV, however, at Costa Sur we would take the bus into town and a taxi back, usually with groceries and stuff, for about $5. We stayed for 2 weeks.

The staff was very nice and the room was just as expected. The lagoon was awesome and was some of the best snorkeling we've ever done. The decor was average but all usable. Both pools were nice, but the main pool was where the action was and service there was excellent and the staff helped you make the most of happy hour including free popcorn. There was no mention of buying a time share, but there was mention as to if we wanted to sell ours (ours was trade).

Carlos the head bell guy was extremely helpful and even gave us a boogie board to use in Sayulita. Our 6-year old had a great time and met a few friends and Carlos was very nice to him, too.

The weight room was somewhat in disrepair but had enough working machines. I needed an internet connection each day and you can only use their computers, no wi-fi, but I was able to carry my thumb drive back and forth. We only turned on the TV while making meals and we liked the idea few programs were in English.

The beach is nice and it's isolated location kept the hawkers away. The sand is not as nice & soft as farther north, but we expected that. We rented a kayak but didn't arrange any other activities there. It was the rainy season but there was only one storm but it was amazing, like none we had ever seen before. The food and service at the restaurant was good, but once is enough. We go somewhere different each night. The convenience store about a block to the north was better stocked than CS's.