This was my 2nd visit to Puerto Vallarta, but my first to Nuevo Vallarta and Playa del Sol Grand. Let me say there was good and bad to this resort but if you know what to expect you can capitalize on the good. I hope my review helps prepare you.

The grounds at this resort are truly beautiful. There was always someone tending to them; clipping hedges, sweeping, checking the pond area where the fish are, etc. You get the idea. The infinity pool and swim up bar are nice, and of course there is a nice stretch of beach that you can walk all the way up to the quaint little town of Bucerias (which we did, its a long-ish but a pleasant walk).

As you already know from the reviews, there is a LARGE hotel construction going on next door, but if you get the right room, you will never know the difference. We had a great room, as far away from the construction as you could get. I was in the 6000 building, and we were never woken by the noise (and it IS noisy). If however you are in the 2000 building your room directly faces the construction. But I suggest you check out your room before you say yes or no regardless. We had friends in the 2000 building and although the entrance door was facing construction, their room was sunken to the back of the building and they said they were not bothered by the noise.

The food at Cardinelli's was excellent! I had the best flank steak I have had in probably 10 years, YUM. Another night there I took a chance and ordered the 4 cheese ravoli, with a blue cheese sauce, and they were outstanding.

The staff here was very nice. Front desk accomodated us even though we checked in 3 hours early, they said our room would be made up and ready in 30 mins. We happened to have really crappy weather while there, so we asked the director of activities and he allowed us to use his cards/chips and a few people we had met at the resort held our own little Texas Hold 'em tournament. The Spa was soooo nice. My friend and I had really awesome Swedish massages, and the decor of the spa is clean, relaxing and elegant.

Ok, now the not so good...
The rooms were nice to the eye, but definetly showed their wear and tear once you started to use it. For instance the wood shutters covering our balcony doors were broken on one side so we could not close it, but so what? The TV remote was broken, but I was not there to watch TV anyway. Our refrigerator leaked and the door would open occassionally, but again are these things enough to ruin your vacation? Nightlife is minimal. The resort does have poker nigh, karoke night etc, but these are done and over by 11pm. If you are looking for a party hotel this is not it. Stay somewhere closer to downtown Puerto Vallarta. The closest town is Bucerias which I suspect has some nightlife but we never saw it. We did have a really good, looong nice relaxing dinner at Mark's Bar & Grill in Bucerias, and the day we walked from the beach we did some shopping at the market which was cool. Lots of trinkets, hats, beads, etc, but vendors are not overly aggressive and will back off if you say no thank you.

All in all, I am glad I went to the Grand, but don't feel the need to go again. I would probably try staying somewhere else. But if you are considering a stay there, know what to expect and you will not be disappointed.

I ended up at this hotel for five nights through a friend's timeshare exchange.

This hotel is decent depending where your room is located. The first four nights we were in a dingy dark room on the ground floor that backed into the construction site and over looked a run-down part of the "gardens."

After noticing a large crack in our sliding glass door the staff insisted for our safety that we relocate for our last night. Our second room was much better: better lighting, updated kitchen and bathroom, cute patio. It's a shame we didn't have that from the get-go.

The staff was very friendly. The food was not great but okay. The drinks were way over priced for what they were. $10 for a sloppy margarita in a plastic cup and happy hour was for only one hour - between 5 and 6 pm. The pool and beach are the best part. There's a nearby super market where we loaded up on groceries for the week.

I've been to PV many times but this was my first time staying in Nuevo. This hotel is good because it's not too far from the marina - about 15 minutes and another 15 to 20 to town. There's a bus that's super easy to catch and it's one transfer to get into old town.

Overall, I think this would be a good hotel if you happen to get a great (cheap) deal on the room. Otherwise there are many, many, many better hotels to chose from in the PV/Nuevo area.

This property is a Timeshare Resort with some full ownership condos. We stayed in one of the timeshare units - plaques on the wall at front desk show supposed 5 Star awards. These units are warn out with crappy furniture, an old out dated kitchen and a great veranda with no furniture. They have multiple F & B outlets, food is at best average and service ranges from great to terrible, real obvious management problems.

Caution - TIMESHARE SHARKS are in a feeding frenzie.

Do yourself a favor and choose one of the other great PV resorts. If you are an owner at this property raise hell, your maintenance fees are being wasted.

it didn't ruin our vacation. The hotel itself is quote nice. It is located right on the beach. Beautiful views poolside by the lovely infinity pool. The room we had was a studio. Definitely provided what we needed. The bed was a queen, which seemed a bit small, but we managed. I asked for a room away from the construction. They put us in the 6307. That's the 6000 bulding, 3rd floor. We faced the pool and beach, but on the 3rd floor the palm trees get in the way. We had a lovely fountain and gardens to look down upon. Across the way, we could see the other side of the hotel. I believe they are buildings 1000, 2000 and 3000. And beyond them, the construction. At 5:00, we would enjoy a beverage on our balcony and watch the guys working construction. (Can you imagine in the states- a construction crew working until 6pm?) They were on site from 7am-6pm each day but Sunday. There were about 100 workers on site. Most of them are using hand tools. There were a few jackhammers at times, but for the most part, it's a lot of manual labor on their part, so the noise was not bad by the pool or in our room. I imagine, if you were in the 1000, 2000, or 3000 building, things would not be as pleasant.

The service everywhere was very good. The locals are very friendly and helpful and are looking to assist in anyway they can. Of course, alot of them are working for tips, but we didn't mind.

The restaurants were very good. We had breakfast every morning in the Palm Terrace. The buffet is about $14 each. The italian restaurant Cardinale's is very good for dinner. And, each day we at lunch at the Shipwreck Grill- the pool bar. Their food was surprisingly good. Oh, and I read somewhere that the drink at the Shipwreck were weak. I don't know what they were drinking, but I can assure you the margaritas are not weak! Beware. We lost an afternoon from those things!

A few nights we went into Bucerias. Our first night, we went to Marks Baqr and Grill. Sat at an outside patio- very nice. Although, in Fodor's they advertise that this place is a good place to watch sports. They no longer have TVs at the bar. My BF was quite disappointed as we were there during March Madness. Another great place was Sandrina's - Very charming. Great gift shop and back patio. Sandrina was there with her pug. Very nice people. (Sandrina let my BF have her remote control to find the basketball games!) Another place we tried was Adaulto's on the Beach. Here we had dinner on the beach- literally, sand under our feet. We met Adaulto- he recommended a wine for us which was very good. Adaulto was a very good host. Very friendly and informative.

Another night, we went in PV for dinner- we went to the "romantic" section which is the southern end. It was a 40 minute cab ride- $24. But, it was worth it. We had dinner at La Palapa. GREAT PLACE. We had the best food here and they have great decor. It's on the beach. There are candles lit everywhere. We watched the sunset. It doesn't get much better.

The weather we had was magnificent. No clouds, no rain. Breezy everyday. At night it gets cooler- down to 60 degrees. I would have brought more long sleeves had I known. The beach is on the Pacific, so it's not clear blue with white sand like Cancun, but it's still very nice. Unlike Cancun, there is a large mix of Mexicans staying at the resorts as well. I liked that part of it.

All in all, we would go back to PV. I'd like to stay closer to town next time. But, if I had to stay at Playa del Sol Grande again- it wouldn't be a bad thing.