My husband and I own a one bedroom at the newer Villa del Arco in Cabo San Lucas; therefore, we typically go to Cabo, but, this year, we decided to try another city in Mexico and felt Puerto Vallarta would be a good option since we could stay at one of two sister resorts there (Villa del Palmar or Flamingos). Also, my parents' home resort is at Villa del Palmar in Puerto Vallarta and, although they have not actually BEEN there in 8 or 9 years, they have fond memories.

When I called to book our week, the person at UVC attempted to talk me into booking at Flamingos. She said because we owned at Cabo, we'd probably like Flamingos better than Villa del Palmar. In hindsight, she was likely right. But, we wanted to stay a bit closer to the action for our first visit to Puerto Vallarta.

Before we left, I, too, read the reviews on this resort and was a bit concerned because it sounded like our experience might be hit or miss.

As it turned out, that is pretty much how it was.

First off, although we know to walk right past the timeshare vampires at the airport in Cabo, we were a bit confused at the Puerto Vallarta airport because there were people standing around looking like they were representing Villa del Palmar (beneath signs of the resort). On not one but TWO occasions, we got stopped by one of these ghouls and in both instances, they out and out lied to us about when our transportation would be there (50 minutes) and tried to suck us into signing up for their timeshare's presentation. I'll say in general that putting up with these folks and their constant come-ons and sales pitches can be amusing at times, but, after awhile, it gets quite irritating. So, like we do in Cabo, we tend to smile sweetly at them, say nothing except maybe a "No, gracias", and sail on by.

Of course, our transportation was waiting for us right outside the area!

And, that is another thing; if you are staying at Villa del Palmar, don't bother with the pre-arranged transportation (they don't even do transportation from the resort back to the airport). It cost us $13/per to get to the resort whereas it was a $8 cab ride back to the airport (my understanding is that it is a bit more expensive to take a cab from the airport to the resort, but, certainly not $26!)

Ok, so, we arrived at the resort. Since we did a Wed-Wed week, it really was not very crowded (note: this was a definite plus on travel side as well; the airports were not as crowded, we had zero delays/problems with our flights, etc.) As we are Gold Members, we were able to walk up to the Gold Member desk and check right in (no waiting).

This is where I always get frustrated. Being a Gold Member with UVC is supposed to mean we get the best room available, even if it's a larger unit than ours. This has never happened to us yet, in fact, we typically have a few go-arounds before getting a room we want. The good news is, for the most part, they are willing to let you look at several rooms before you accept one and check in.

This time was no exception. We got there and found we'd been booked into a room in Building 6 on the 2nd floor (near the hot tub/La Cucina). My husband told them we wanted something in either Building 1 or Building 8 (the two closest to the beach) and higher up. The check in lady let us go look at a room in Building 1 on the 4th floor; but, it looked out at the pool, not the beach AND it was a studio, not a one bedroom. So much for the upgrade bit! We went back and asked for something else; then, her manager (we supposed) leaned over and said something to her in Spanish. After that, we were simply told the room they'd put aside for us was the best available. Given that the resort was about 1/2 full, we really found that hard to believe, but, by this time, we were tired and wanted to unpack and get a margarita, so, we accepted the original room.

After we did this, we were ushered over to the concierge to get our Gold Card (we get this automatically being Gold Members). We knew what to expect; they'd give us the card, tell us somethings about the area and resort (some of this was actually very helpful), etc. Then, we'd get hit to attend a "Member's Meeting" so we could "Get questions answered about our membership". Well, we got tricked into this once in Cabo as this "Member's Meeting" turns out to be yet another presentation in the hopes that you'll elect to upgrade your unit size or your season. We'd already decided that we were NOT going to do this; even if it meant money and such because we HATE being hit up for stuff we don't want (or intend) to do. If we were younger and needed the money, we might, but, as you get older, your time becomes more important than a few extra bucks here and there. But, hey, if other people chose to do it, all the more power to them.

Anyway, we told "Elaine" no; it was amazing how many more times she attempted to get us to say yes to this "offer" (round trip transportation to their other resort, the "meeting", then $250 in cash and more of a discount with the Gold Card). I almost felt sorry for her, but, we were resolute!

We lasted three nights in the room. On the 2nd morning, the toilet stopped up and overflowed. Always disgusting when this happens. I will say that they got a maintenance person out there very quickly to fix it, then, a maid to clean the floor. Although this room was "ok" (clean enough but, as my review title suggests, just sort of "old and tired" looking), the issue became our next door neighbors who were chain smoking in their room (apparently smoking is not allowed in the rooms although there is no signage posted to this effect) and out on their lanai. This meant we got a permanent wafting of smoke into our room/lanai.
By Saturday morning we'd had enough of this so I marched down to reception, explained the problem, and we were given another room with no hassle at all.

This room was in Building 5 on the 5th floor. It was a tad bigger and brighter but the A/C ran constantly. It was either off or on.
Also, there was an incredible amount of mold on the bathroom ceiling. It is VERY humid in Puerto Vallarta, much more so than Cabo; we noticed everything constantly felt damp and limp; the bed linens, the pages of the books we were reading, the tile floor. Obviously, this is not the resort's fault, but, it was a tad off-putting to always feel "slimy".

Anyway, it was interesting to me how we couldn't get a room higher up when we checked in, yet, as soon as I complained about another guest, they moved us!

Our only other disappointment, really (other than it just not being as nice as Villa del Arco in Cabo where everything is brand spanking new, Italian tile, marble, wrought iron, etc.), was we opted to eat in for the Prime Rib Night on Sunday (normally we would not have done this because we like to explore restaurants in the town but we both unfortunately got a bit sick from "something" and were not as adventurous as we usually are).
I would NOT recommend this. For $38 per person, you get either salad or soup, the prime rib, potato, vegetable, dessert and either coffee/tea. For $28, you drop the soup or salad, dessert and the coffee/tea. We opted for this because neither of us wanted dessert and coffee/tea. Well, my mashed potatoes were INSTANT (I definitely recognize this flavor from my long ago starving college student days) and the meat was not cooked to order. Also, there was probably no horseradish in the sauce.
It took forever to get our meal so we ended up with a complimentary dessert; some sort of frozen apple tart (like Sarah Lee or something) with vanilla ice cream (the ice cream was good!)

Ok, those were all of the "misses", here are the hits!

We found all of the staff to be extremely helpful and friendly. No one ever pestered us for a tip. In particular, the guys at the pool were just great (Daniel, Eduardo and Julio in particular). Because we were not feeling great, we spent more time at the pool than we would have otherwise. The pool area is extremely well maintained and kept up. The water was bath water warm (not freezing like some resort pools). We had snacks by the pool on three occasions; nachos, guacamole and a hamburger. All were really tasty. We didn't think the drinks were watered down at all, in fact, the margaritas (on the rocks) packed a powerful punch. We were usually around to take part in the pool's happy hour from 4-5 (two for one but you don't get a Gold Card discount on those drinks).

The sports bar near the pool was ok, too. This is where we went right after we checked in for a margarita...kick a$$! Real strong. Maybe not a good thing for all people, but, we appreciate a good drink. We ate there twice; the food was fine. For whatever reason, we both really liked the refried beans there!

We had breakfast a few times at La Cucina where they have a huge buffet. We never partook of this, though; neither of us can eat enough to justify the cost. So, we ordered off the menu and the food was more than decent (if a little slow in coming); in particular, the breakfast burrito. Watch out for those $2.50 cans of Diet Coke (Coke Light), though! Ouch.

I agree with other posters that the beach area in front of the resort is a bit sorry. We sat out there one afternoon because there were no chairs by the pool (by the way, as with other resorts, fellow guests have a tendency to "reserve" chairs by throwing their towels on them for hours on end; this is supposedly not allowed, but, I've never seen anything done about it). Sitting out on the sand was ok; the service was not as good, though and you have to put up with the people on the beach trying to sell you their various wares. They stay behind a line, but, if you happen to look up from your book, they'll catch your eye and start waving their stuff around. Now, I understand this is how they make their living and I actually bought one of the beach dresses for $20, so, it didn't bug me but it might bug some folks.

We did go to Soriana ( a big grocery store few blocks to the right of the resort twice and agree the prices are superior to the on-site market. Plus, the bakery is fantastic. We also went to Wal-Mart on another occasion but didn't think it was worth the cab ride (we were not buying fresh produce, otherwise, we probably would have because Wal-Mart does have an amazing produce section). My husband got caught in a conversation with a ghoul promoting his restaurant in Wal-Mart, though!

Ease of transportation was one of the best things about Puerto Vallarta. Cab rides are usually $5 to go down to the Malecon, a bit more if you are going to Old Town or further. $8 to get to the Marina or airport. The bus is easy to take and cheap BUT when we were there it was very hot and humid and my husband almost melted on the short ride down to the Malecon, so, we never got back on a bus. We probably would have taken it more often had it been cooler.

We enjoyed the Malecon area; the sculptures/statues are something else (if a bit out of place). I was sort of turned off by the dirty ocean water down there, though.

We hit one or two flea markets where they have the usual come-ons and cheap stuff. I particularly got a kick out of the designer sunglasses (Ray Bans, D&G, Dior, etc.) that had "Made in China" printed on them. But, hey, most of them were from $10-$15 depending on the vendor, so, what the heck.

Based on reviews from other posters, we had a few beers at Cheeky Monkey ($1 beers, great view of the Malecon/water, cool breeze). We also stopped at Pipi's one afternoon for their famous table-side made to order guacamole and were both duly impressed with both it and the margaritas. We had lunch one day at La Dolce Vita right there on the main drag; we hadn't read any reviews on it but we got a 10% discount with our Gold Card so figured why not. It was fine. The stand-out by far was Cilantro's, where we had dinner our final night of vacation. We'd highly recommend this place. For breakfast one morning, we took a cab to the Marina to eat at Mr. Cream Pancakes and Waffles; very good selection of breakfast food.

I'll post separate reviews of these restaurants.

My husband and I have discussed this, and think IF we ever go back to Puerto Vallarta, we'd definitely stay at Flamingos. Although it is further from the Malecon, etc., we'd prefer to stay at a newer, fresher, resort. Plus, we've heard the beach is much better there.

Villa del Palmar should use some of the maintenance money that they receive every year from its members to work on upgrading their units. The resort's best asset is definitely its employees.