When I first got to the hotel, I was not blown away. It looks okay from the outside, but it doesn't look like a luxury hotel, that's for sure. Inside the resort it's fairly nice. To make this review easier I'll just seperate everything into categories.

Rooms >>> We stayed in the brand new timeshare building. It was beautiful! Nice, big rooms, nice bathrooms, everything was clean. I did, however, hear some not-so-good stories from people who were staying in the older buildings.. talk of bugs and such, and having to be changed rooms.

Service >>> From what I remember, it was pretty good. I had no problems! I got all my drinks pretty quickly, too.

Food >>> The site says 2 a la carte but I only remember seeing 1.. and I didn't go. I did eat at the buffet everyday and I liked it. My boyfriend and my brother, however, didn't really love it, and they ate hamburgers and fries from the pool food bar (which they really liked) most of the time.

Beach >>> Ugh, the worst part. When I went in the summer the water was warm, dirty, but warm. During this trip the only time I spent in the water was testing the temperature.. Which was very very cold. The beach was extremely rocky, the water extremely dirty looking. Not pleasant.

Pools >>> These were pretty nice. This is where I spent most of my time. They are not humongous but neither is the resort.

Nightlife >>> Pretty good. Every night there was a different club you could go to with the hotel. I enjoyed them. You're pretty much right in town so everything is easy and quick to get to

Tours >>> I did the catamaran (highlight of my trip) and I went ATVing (very fun!!)


I just want to finish by saying that I think it's all how you look at things.. Keep your expectations lower, keep an open mind, and you'll have a blast. Just being with friends and family with great weather kept me happy enough. Overall I would rate this resort a solid 3 star, not quite a 4 like it claims. If the beach was nice I would probably rate it a bit higher. I would'nt go back, but only because I've been there twice and my top vacation priority is now the beach. My advice: if you want to go to Mexico for a nice all inclusive, spend the extra few hundred and go to Cancun. Puerto Vallarta's beach is not nice. It's very gross. However, if you are on a very tight budget, and you're not looking for luxury, I think Pelicanos is a fine place to go!

This was mine and my husband’s first trip to Puerto Vallarta. We have nothing but good things to say about the city, restaurants, cab drivers and the natives. The hotel however was a total bust. We read the reviews before we took our vacation and decided to keep an open mind since the reviews were so mixed. Our first and last meal at the restaurant was terrible! It took (literally) 45 minutes to get our food in a restaurant with 3 occupied tables. The waiter was sweating all over the place. The hotel room was mediocre and the pools were nice; the staff was rude. There was noisy construction going on all over the hotel but not the type of construction it needed. Although we didn’t see roaches in the room there were plenty in the halls and the dead ones were there for days. Any areas marked “adult” had children everywhere, it was not enforced. The concierge (which must translate as “salesman” in Spanish) was relentless. We used an alternative exit the entire time because every time we entered the lobby he hounded us. When we checked in we were in our room for less than 5 minutes before he started call our room asking us to come down and speak to him. We decided early on that our best time would be spent away from the hotel so that’s what we did and we had a great time experiencing the city! My main reason in writing this is there were a lot of underhanded things the hotel was doing to guests. We met quite a few couples who were told not to bring money, everything would be covered, and they were lied to. Upon checking out the front desk manager requested our room keys, pool cards and bracelets. They make you wear cheap plastic bracelets the entire time you’re there, which they told us we needed to get drinks at the pool. Since we decided that we were only going to sleep there (plus they’re a target for salesmen on the streets) we took off our bracelets and threw them away. So we were unable to return them although they NEVER told us we had to return them or keep them on. He ended up charging us $180 US dollars for two cheap plastic bracelets which were not reusable! When we refused to pay he said he was going to call the police, not wanting to miss our plane or get involved with the police we paid the money and decided we’d dispute it once we got back in the states. Eventually it was returned to us. They’ll try to scam you anyway so beware. The SECTUR is the Secretary of Tourism in Mexico and they monitor hotels and look out for tourist so if you find yourself in a situation like this they’re a good resource for help!

Walking into Pelicanos there were police all over our hotel and no one would tell us why. They were there our whole stay...Right when we got there it took about an hour to check in because the keys would not work in our room so we were walking up and down there stairs with all our luggage until we got a room that a key worked... Our room smelled wet, but the beds were ok.... For the money we paid it was not what i would have expected. We did not know there was a section 1 and 2 or we would have for sure stayed at 2 because 1 was filled with drunken high school kids and police. We spent most of our time over at the better pools where I myself was not getting starred down my police and rude sexual comments being made... Food was only good in the morning, we always had to go out and eat at night. When it was time to go to bed we could not sleep because the hotel allows these teens to party outside and in the halls till all hours of the mornings and even after making complaints it never stopped...And in the morning police next to us slamming there doors and yelling and singing, it was really annoying. So if you plan on staying here dont be in section one or just even better get a diffrent resort.

We were in a shell explorer program which allowed us to try a few of the shell resorts out. We were deciding between going to Hawaii again or staying here in Puerto Villarta. We kind of wish we had gone to Hawaii instead. This Shell resort did not measure up to the other locations we have seen at all.

First off, they had made a mistake and were expecting us a day earlier even though the confirmation clearly showed we arrived on the correct day. The room we were given was less than impressive with old furniture and tile flooring. The bathrooms were a bit scary also. The housekeeping crew did a very good job though.

Other visitors complained about big bugs in their rooms, but we did not see any. We did have little crabs running around the hallways though, but they stayed out of our way. Our room was next to the "activities" pool which basically meant loud thumping music until 10pm every day. Good luck taking a quick nap.

The breakfast buffet was the only food worth eating. We only got "all inclusive" for 1 day and I am glad we did not get it any more than that. It isn't worth it. The lunch and dinner buffets were awful. The drinks that you get unless you have the special black bracelets aren't that great either. There are lots of good restaurants downtown, so I wouldn't waste the money to stay at the resort to eat.

We went to a few of the nightly shows that they put on at the resort (since they were right outside our door) and they were all fun. The beach at the resort isn't much to speak off. The pool areas are all pretty nice though.

Overall our stay was good and the hotel didn't make or break the vacation. I would just try a different place if I visited again.