BookIt.com Verified Traveler Kevin McCann from Cranbrook, Bc

"If you're not comfortable with saying 'No Gracias' to the abundant Time Share Representatives 'Land Sharks' then this place isn't for you. But then, Land Sharks are prevalent in Puerto Vallarta so you're going to have to face them everywhere you go. This resort is a time share resort so there is a full complement of sales staff whose only job is to get you to purchase. They are stationed at the Villa Del Palmar lobby, the towel hut and the Villa Del Mar lobby. We even saw four separate booths on our exploration of Puerto Vallarta.

The Villa Del Mar Resort and Spa by Villa Group shares resources with the Villa Del Palmar Beach Resort and Spa and is truly only a set of four buildings of suites that surround the quiet pool. These buildings are the farthest buildings on the property from the beach with one building actually fronting the street. Truly the only downside to this is that you will not find a room at the Villa Del Mar that has a view of the beach.

When we arrive the hotel did not have our reservation however, when given a copy of our reservation, the front desk staff found us a room that matched our booking. The room was very spacious, a bedroom with a king size bed, on suite, main bathroom, common space with a pull out couch, tv, kitchen table for four, stove top, fridge, sink and a deck with patio table and four more chairs. We were suitably impressed.

The resort winds down at 11 PM, with a posted quiet time between 11PM and 11 AM. As such many of the staff are done by 11 PM. Unfortunately for us, the building with their lockers was right across an alley outside our bedroom window and while I'm quite sure they were only speaking in a normal conversational volume and opening and closing their lockers normally the acoustics of the alley and the stairwell that our suites main doorway was off of amplified the noise making it difficult for us to get to sleep and waking us up early again the next day. Once again the front desk staff came to our rescue. No alternate one bedroom suites were available that day but they did offer to move us to a studio right away or to a one bedroom suite in two days. We decided to wait it out and we're glad we did. The next two nights and mornings were much quieter and we got the royal treatment from our cleaning lady who in addition to keeping our suite immaculate, well stocked with towels also treated us to some wonderful towel animals.

On the afternoon of our third day we moved into our suite, as with initial check in the room wasn't ready for us upon our arrival. The upside to this was that we got to meet our new cleaning lady. As we'd seen the previous occupant of our new suite singing drunkenly on his deck the previous night we were more than happy to simply sit on the deck while she finished cleaning. The cleaning staffs at this resort take their job seriously; She even had the fridge pulled out to sweep underneath/behind it. Our new suite was a bit smaller however, we preferred the layout. A large main bathroom was along the outer entrance wall insulating our bedroom from outside noise. The bedroom was more than big enough for the king size bed. There was a shuttered window (no glass) in the wall between the bedroom and the common area which gave the room an airy feel. Once again the common space was spacious with room for the pull out couch, table with four chairs, the stove, fridge and sink and a deck with a patio table and four chairs. The remainder of our stay was wonderfully quiet and the cleaning lady treated us to a wonderful assortment of towel animals in addition to keeping our room spotless and in fresh towels.

The resort has three restaurants %u2013 a seafood restaurant, an Italian restaurant and the sports bar -- and with the exception of the breakfast buffet and the buffets for the various night time events all meals are al a carte. Meals at all three restaurants were good but our personal favourite and go to place on the resort was the "El Patron... sports bar. Overall the food was good, as with any restaurant some dishes were much better than others. Our biggest criticism would be a lack of consistency, the same dish ordered on two separate occasions would close in preparation but not the same, and in addition items on the menu did not always come with sides listed on the menu. However, the staff is more than willing to bring you items from the menu prepared however you'd like and with whatever substitutions you'd like. Even offering alternate preparation to accommodate food allergies/intolerances. Food at the Villa Del Palmar is not cheap. If you're not staying on the all inclusive a breakfast buffet for two and two bottles of water will run you 509.01 Pesos ($40.00). While that might not sound like much you can eat like a king in Centro or Zona Romantica for much, much less. If you're at all unsure of eating off resort check out the Vallarta Eats Tour, not only will you experience some great food they will teach you what to look for in a street car or restaurant to ensure you'll have a good meal at a good price.

The shows, despite their low production value, are entertaining and the "Animation Team... (entertainment staff) goes above and beyond to ensure guests of the resort are enjoying their stay. The sand at the beach is as good as any along the Hotel Zone but space on the beach is limited as the result of a volley ball court which dominates the space. In addition we found the beach area to be extremely noisy and as such retreated to the quiet pool in Villa Del Mar complex most afternoons.

The staff at this resort are fantastic and make up for any short comings while I'm quite certain I'm missing someone I'd like to toss out a special thank you to all the staff who all went above and beyond to ensure we were made welcome and always had something to eat or drink.
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