Which resort to pick....stuck

[alberta_bride]

Hello my name is Jaymie and i am from Calgary, alberta. I have decided to get married in puerto vallarta/ nuevo vallarta Mexico and thought i had the resort picked out until i read about it on trip advisor.

 

I wanted to get married at the Riu jalisco as it was suggested by a travel agent and after veiwing the website found it to be beautiful. As i read the comments on trip advisor i fell disappointed. Alot of the comments complained about thefts from the rooms and safes while the doors or windows had not been broken into suggesting that it was the hotel staff stealing. i understand that thefts can happen but it seemed like quite a common thing at this hotel.

 

Upon further searching i have found the Vallarta palace which has great views on trip advisor and also looks beautiful. What impressed me about this hotels site is all the information they provide you about having a wedding with them. Eventhough all the info is provided i am unsure because i have NEVER traveled and have no idea where to begin. I am not doing the civil cermony there, only the spiritual one so i dont require all the documents.

 

Does anyone out there have any suggestions or feedback on the resorts in puerto vallarta/ nuevo vallarta? Is there anything you did that you would have done differently?

[ChristinaP]

Hello fellow Calgary bride and welcome to the forum!

Although I can't make any suggestions to you as I have not been to PV in over ten years about specific resorts, I am sure you will have no problems finding info. on resorts in that area in the PV Mexico section of the forum.

What I can say, is beware of reviews sometimes. There can be a lot negative reviews as people tend to post negative reviews more than positive ones sometimes.

Good luck!

[Chica & Octi]

Hey alberta bride,

 

I'm actually getting married at the Riu Jalisco on Dec. 5 and I just got back from a site visit. The grounds of the resort are absolutely beautiful and I'm very happy with my selection. There are some down sides (the food was not as good as I had hoped, compared to another Riu i stayed at in the Bahamas) but over all I'm happy with my choice.

 

This forum is a great resource and it helped me make my decision. I read all the posts about the resorts that I was interested in and narrowed it down from thier. I think the Wedding reviews are very helpful.

 

I also read the trip advisor reviews but I think you need to take all review's with a grain of salt, what bothers some people may not bother others.

 

Good luck with picking your venue!!!

[lip0213]

Hi and welcome!

 

Making the choice is the hardest part! I contemplated my choice right up to a week before we left! We got married in Nuevo vallarta at Dreams Villamagna. I also stayed a week at the Grand Mayan resort and had friends who stayed at Marival. All the resorts in NV are located on the same street so I passed the Riu quite a few times. It looks really nice from the outside and it looks huge! The Grand Mayan was also huge which is why I really didn't like it. I loved Dreams Villamagna because it was on the smaller side and was all inclusive. The RIU is kind of victorian looking and a lot more elegant looking than the other resorts in the area. I haven't styaed at a Riu resort but have heard that they are nice.

 

So it really depends on what kind of resort you are in to. I didn't like Marival either because it was always so noisy and reminded me of spring break 24/7 but other people loved it there and thought Dreams was too quiet. Either place you pick will be nice. And like a previous poster said, take reviews with a grain of salt. Dreams isn't rated very good on TripAdvisor and I was so nervous because of that, but we all loved it there and would go back in a heartbeat!

 

hth,

-Jen

[Mel&B]

One thing to determine is whether you want to be in Nuevo or Puerto Vallarta. I've staying in both areas. Nuevo is about 20 minute outside of PV. It's a great place to go if you want to stay at the resort and truly enjoy everything that an AI offers. If you want to go out in PV a lot and explore the city, then I'd stay in PV. There are a lot of RIU and Dreams brides on this site, so I'm sure you'll have no trouble finding the info you are looking for. Good luck!

[Andi]

Our wedding group stayed at the Vallarta Palace in April.

We were not married there though but did see a couple of other weddings take place while we were there.

 

Overall the Palace was nice. We had stayed at the Cancun Palace previously and thought because they are sister hotels the Vallarta Palace would be similar. they were to a degree however in my opinion the Cancun palace was a lot nicer. Not that the Vallarta Palace was a bad hotel by any means! it truly was great for our guests.

 

I think it is important to make a list of things you and your FI want in a hotel/wedding location. AI, beach ceremony, adults only, etc. and go from there in picking a place

 

also as Mel said, Nuevo is a lot different than the actual town of PV. both beautiful though in their own ways!

 

if you need help there are a lot of ideas on here!

[alkoch]

I am getting married at the Barcelo in PV, its south of town in the Mismaloya section. I have a time share at the Mayan resorts - I have been to Mayan Palace in NV and my parents have stayed at the Mayan in PV. I defiantly agree with Andi - make a list of what you want and narrow it down from there. Also you can get a TA involved to help you make the decision. Good luck!

[raych07]

I'm in the same boat as you!

We were going to go with the Royal DeCameron but it had a lot of bad reviews too. Since then we have switched to the Marival but I am also having second thoughts. Something to keep in mind though is that it seems like every place has some negative reviews on trip advisor.

Let me know what you decide!

[Mandiland]

I can share with you that both of my travel agents have said that trip Advisor used to be a great tool for the general public as well as travel agents. However, while you can still rely on the pictures (and it is a great resource for that) other hotels in competition with each other go onto Trip Advisor and post false bad reviews to make the resort look bad. I don't trust what the reviews say but it's great for pictures!

[trobin01]

Hey,

 

I too, had this decision recently. I actually selected the Riu Vallarta, which is the sister property to the Riu Jalisco. I also read the trip advisor reviews before booking, which was a bit daunting. But in the end I decided the Riu Vallarta was my best bet because of the value, the reputation and the location. It seemed to me that travel agents, in particular, love the Riu properties, so I figure that has to count for something. They are not going to send you somewhere awful where you and your guests are going to be miserable.

 

If there is a theft at the property right now, I would expect the person would be caught and fired or otherwise moved on by the time you get there! Its just bad for business so the Riu people aren't going to take it lightly.

 

I'd recommend reading the thread about the Riu properties in this forum, it is super helpful and the reviews are generally positive.

 

Good luck with your choice!