We stayed at the Grand Velas from Oct 9 - 18 for our honeymoon. Had a great time. The place is gorgeous, the staff wonderful--many remembered our names--the food great no matter where we ate, pool(s) gorgeous with music playing throughout the day that changed depending on time of day which was perfect and not too loud. Around 3-ish which is when pool bar business picked up and a more party atmosphere settled on the area the music fit the mood every time. Cecilio was our favorite bartender. Ask for a Cecilio special (sort of a pina colada--YUMMMMM--but make sure you have room in your stomach, it's filling). Fun activity staff--good volleyball games both in pool and on beach everyday and water aerobics which was more of a workout for my face as it hurt from laughing so hard.

The French restaurant was our favorite but we enjoyed them all. They all made special honeymoon desserts for us. Room service is great and was always timely. The room was very cool with a great big jacuzzi tub in the bathroom. It was a "little cooler" than it normally is, low 90's, maybe even got down to upper 80's. It's "slow" season for them.

OH--THE SPA! I want to open one just like it back home. It's amazing. Do go early and do the hydratherapy. Sauna, 7 spray shower, hot pool to cold pool, foot massage jacuzzi, cold towels that smell wonderful to put on your face and yummy tea, flavored waters, etc while you relax and wait for your service. When done with your service, lay down on a chaise in the waterfall area with a hot neck pillow in your robe and slippers and drift off. They'll have your bathing suit (that you wear during hydra therapy) dry and warm for you when you are ready to leave. Heaven!

The hotel lobby bar was cool but never really saw a lot of people there which we wondered about b/c it is a nice place. They had little appetizers you could eat and different sampling nights (we enjoyed tequila night). Band played a couple of nights which was very good and they also had karoke nights but we didn't go. Different shows in a little pavilion almost every night but they didn't last too late. Dancing mostly, pretty cool. Saw one first hand, watched another from our balcony.

Went on 3 excursions with the group Vallarta Adventures. I'm sure there are other companies out there for excursions, but this group is wonderful!! Very professional, experienced and wonderful staff with good equipment and always concerned for safety without being overly tense about it. Loved them all. Rythms of the Night...fun boat ride (maybe a little long on the way back but b/c you are tired from the fun and drinks). Cool show and dinner on the beach, all candle lit, even the walkways, gorgeous. Marietta snorkeling--water was clearer than I thought it would be saw some cool stuff and the rock formations on the island were very cool. Finally, and THE BEST--The Outdoor Adventure. Drive up into the mountains was pretty cool, through PV and into the mountains, great drive, a "little bumpy" up at the top, Zip lines (about 7-8 of them), rapelling down a waterfall into the pool below, riding mules (mulas) up the mountain, zip line down another water fall, amazing. I was nervous, I'll admit, but it was my favorite thing. Our guides were awesome, made everyone relaxed and at ease while displaying great skill and care and for everyone in the group. You don't have to be super athletic or anything, just willing to listen and follow instructions with a love of nature and beauty. I wanted to go back and do it again. The Nuevo Vallarta office also has a maternity tank for dolphins with a viewing window (they also have dolphin swims and such with about 8-9 dolphins) and a baby had been born the week before with another dolphin about to give birth any minute. It was amazing to see. We always went and watched them before and after the outtings. The morning excursions served a continental breakfast before departure with fruit, muffins, cereal, juice and coffee--very yummy.

So--had a great time at the Grand Velas, a great time in Mexico and a wonderful honeymoon--the perfect blend of fun activity and relaxation.

First of all, this place is gorgeous! It was perfect for our honeymoon. We stayed for 10 days and it was great!

I'll give you an all around review of everything I can think of! This is long, but I think it is pretty helpful (it contains all of the things I wanted to know about before I went)!

THE GROUNDS
The grounds are very well kept and they are constantly working on maintaining the way that it looks. Everything is so clean. It is really apparant that they care about the way the resort looks.

THE SERVICE
From the minute you walk into the Grand Velas you are pampered. You do not need to go up to the front desk to check in. Instead, they sit you down and bring you cool cloths and a drink for you to have while you wait for them to check you in. Once they check you in, they will come to you (with your bags) and bring you up to your room. They do ask you for your credit card information, but that is only in case you buy something and charge it to your room. I didn't find this as a problem as we did buy some items at the gift shop and charge it to our room. They were extremely polite and very helpful. They offered to show us a tour of the resort, but we declined and asked to just briefly be explained where everything was. We were informed of all the necessities, like where the restuarants were and where to make reservations, where the gym and the spa were, etc.

Every day when we went down to the pool bar, we brought about 5 USD with us and tipped the bartenders/waiters. They were extremely grateful. They remembered our names and were very attentive to us. I should also add that they were extremely attentive to the other individuals that were at the pool bar with us (regardless of whether or not you tipped). There were also waiters around the pool area and they were also very attentive and asked the people who were lounging on the chairs if they needed anything (drinks/food). Since we spent most of our time by the pool bar, we ordered food and drinks from there. The food was amazing! Also, they always would give you another drink before you were done with the one you had in front of you! You would be almost done with your drink and they would have another one right there waiting for you!

The waiters at the restaurants were just as good as the waiters at the pool. They were extremely helpful and attentive and explained anything that you needed explained to you. We would tip them about 5 dollars at dinner too. You didn't need to tip, but it was appreciated, and they would remember that you did so.

THE FOOD
I cannot say enough about the food. It was absolutely amazing. Piaf was the french place and I thought that the food there was great! Lucca was the italian place and that was just as great as Piaf. Frida was the mexican place and that was good too. Azul had a variety of cuisines available, and the food there was also very good. Azul was a more casual place than the other 3 restaurants (at Azul you could wear shorts and sandals, but for the other 3 restaurants men had to wear closed toe shoes and long pants). The food at Grand Velas was really great! Also, don't worry about the water, everything is purified. When they pour water for you at the table, they always walk over with the water bottle, open it in front of you and pour it in your glass.

I should also mention that you have to sign a receipt when you are finished with dinner. I'm not sure why you have to do this, but they are not charging you anything as everything is included already. I guess it is because you can add the tip onto the receipt and charge the tip to your room. Whatever the reason, it didn't bother us to sign, it took two seconds and when we didn't have small bills on us and wanted to leave a tip, it provided us with a way to do so.

OUR ROOM
Our room was perfect! It was huge and very spacious. The bathroom was great! I took a bath a couple of times and it was amazing! They supply you with all the necessities, a toothbrush, toothpaste, needle and thread, razor, shaving cream, shampoo and conditioner, soaps, bath salts, etc. all from a well known company (the name escapes me at this time). The balcony was great because we got to watch the sunsets and put our bathing suits out to dry and we got to relax out there after going to the pool all day! All the suites at the Grand Velas overlook the pool and the grounds and the ocean, and from this view you can get amazing pictures of the sunsets!

THE CROWD
While we were there, we met several honeymooners. There were also some families and some other couples on vacation, so it isn't exclusively a honeymoon resort. It was perfect for us since we were on our honeymoon and just wanted to relax. We made a whole bunch of new friends while we were there. There were people from all of the country, St. Louis, Chicago, L.A., and Boston, to name a few!

THE TOWN
There is not much of a town around the resort. The main town, Puerto Vallarta is about a 15 minute cab drive (they charge you 16 USD to go into the town of Puerto Vallarta, and that is per cab, not per person. We went to the town only once to do some shopping and some walking around. It was nice to do that.

THE NIGHTLIFE
There is not much of a nightlife at the resort. They do have karoke a couple of nights a week and that is very funny to watch and listen to! They also do some shows at their ampitheatre and we went to that a couple of times as well. They do the karoke in the Lobby Bar, and if there is no karoke that night, then they have a live band that plays music and you can dance.

ACTIVITIES/WATERSPORTS
They do put together sports for the people at the resort. They have soccer, beach volleyball and water volleyball, etc. They give you an "itinerary" every night (when they do the turndown for you) and you can see what is on schedule and participate in whatever activities you would like to participate in.

Right down on the beach, within walking distance (very close) there is waterskiing and the jetskis available (you have to pay for this because it is not included in the all inclusive). I believe it is 50 USD for the jetski. There are also kayaks available (and I think that you don't have to pay to use those). There is also parasailing right there. They only do one person at a time, they can't put two people up at the same time. I'm not sure how much this costs.

THE SPA
The spa was excellent. We went for a couples massage which was great! It was very relaxing! I also went for a manicure and that was good too! It was a very professional spa. They also had this Hydrotheraphy treatment that came with your stay at the hotel, but we did not get a chance to do that. Another couple who did it said it was very relaxing though.

THE GYM & TENNIS & GOLF
The gym was very nice! We went about 3-4 times. We also played tennis one day too! They had a lot of great equipment and there was always an attendant on duty to help you with anything that you need. They provide you with water and a towel as well. They have the tv's on some of the machines. They have a bunch of free weights as well as regular machines. The tennis court was in great shape and you can borrow the rackets from the resort.

We didn't play golf but there is a lot of golf courses in the surrounding area. I was looking at the El Tigre golf course which is in the Paradise Village complex. You can rent golf clubs, etc. from them, and it is pretty close to the Grand Velas (within 3-5 minutes if driving).

ROOM SERVICE
The room service was great! We ordered breakfast a couple of times and it was fast (within 20-30 minutes) and very good! They came into your room with the roll-in table and they took the food out of the warmer and put it out on the table for you, which is set with all the utensils and everything that you could need. They take out the food from a heater which is below the roll-in table and they display the food for you and they cover it so that it doesn't get cold, and when you are ready to eat it, you can just remove the cover. They take the heater with them when they go. They set up the chairs so that you sit down and eat. I thought this was a nice touch as well!

You are also able to order a bottle of alcohol to your room each day (no charge). We did that a couple of times and they come up with the tray of ice and glasses and stirrers and the bottle and whatever "mixer" you have asked for. They also do this with the wine as well.

HOUSEKEEPING
They are great about cleaning your room and restocking your snacks and drinks! They also do a turn down service for you at night, where they lay out your robes for you, give you the itinerary for the following day and they pull your covered on your bed down, put the music on for you and shut your curtains. This was a very nice feature!

SHOPPING
There is a hotel boutique that has just about everything that you could need in in. There is also some vendors down on the beach. Also, you could always take a cab into town (Puerto Vallarta) and do some shopping there. There is a flea market in town too.

WEATHER
The weather was amazing. It was sunny every single day that we were there (I was nervous about the weather because the forecast predicted showers every single day). This was not the case at all, it was sunny all day long!

I highly recommend this hotel and I hope this review helps everyone!

I am very fortunate to have stayed at many 5 star hotels and have been to my fair share of upscale Spa’s.

The hotel is legendary on Mexico and Central/South America, but does not get much attention in the USA.

The bottom-line is that the hotel should be a 6 star and with the best beach in Puerto/Nuevo Vallarta.

You must consider the Grand Velas is you really want to be pampered!

I can not even begin to tell you how wonderful it was to arrive at Grand Velas and be treated like royalty from the moment we exited the car. The staff is to be commended because they are the reason this resort is set apart from the rest. We had one minor glich, but they sorted it out by the 3rd day. Let me explain. We booked the Honeymoon Package which comes with an Ambassador Suite. The room itself is quite large, with a nice terrace and a good size bathroom. The second floor terrace is the same size as the room, is on the roof (total privacy) with table and chairs and two longers, oh and it has a 12 person jacuzzi. The sunsets from the jacuzzi are truly spectacular. Once they got the jacuzzi working properly (It didn't work at all the first 2 days and then it was just too hot. It was 95 degrees out and they had it on the hottest setting. Can you say "soup"?) we used it every night so, if you want romance then splurge! It doesn't get any more romantic than that. The only downside is this, the elevators only go to the 8th floor. The Ambassador Suites are all located on the 9th floor and the upper terrace is on the 10th floor. Therefore, if your suite is in the middle of the hotel, and you want it to be for the best view, you have a very long hike to and from your room. I saw a Master Suite while we were there so I can honestly say, save your money, unless its your Honeymoon. The Master Suite is beautiful and definitely more affordable.

The restaurants were all good, but we loved Frida the best. Its not your typical Mexican restaurant, its gourmet. Definitely have the tomato stuffed with lobster! Every restaurant has the beef filet (a.k.a.: Filet Mignon) of some kind and they are all amazing, especially Azul's which is grilled over an open flame. Azul is also great for breakfast, the poached eggs are the best. The sonatas (local birds) are comical the way they sneak food. Keep an eye out for them every day around 5-5:30. They love to come for a splash in the pool. Speaking of the pool. Do yourself a favor and find Lorenzo's station and plant yourself there for the rest of your stay. We met Lorenzo on day one and he took care of us from then on. They have 3 infinity pools that are connected so you can go from one to the other. Lorenzo would find us, no matter which pool we were in, just to bring us fresh drinks that we didn't even ask for. He is wonderful and will make your trip perfect. Please remember, they work really hard and tips are greatly appreciated, and well deserved.

The best thing you should know is that Grand Velas has everything. You never have to leave the resort. The entertainment is a little cheesy, but its great if you just let go and enjoy. Make time for the Mexican show, its the best. As for shopping, just stand at the edge of the pool by the beach and everything will come to you. Just never, ever pay full price. If they say $20, don't pay more than $10. Start to swim away and they'll call you back. Once a week they have Flash, the sea lion come to poolside and do a 30 minute show. If you're lucky you'll get a kiss, my husband did. If you're feeling adventureous, they have other activities too. Just remember to bring a bottle of water with you. The weather is almost perfect all the time there so, it gets really hot! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.