Villa del Palmar Beach Resort & Spa Puerto Vallarta - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

9061 reviews

• 

  Fine experience. Not great. Meh.

  I don’t typically write reviews, but after being concerned reading reviews before coming, I felt I needed to do my part for the internet. Went with a group of 12 between Christmas and New Year’s. 3 kids under 15 and one 18. 8 adults. Villa del Palmar Beach in PV is fine. Unfortunately, that’s it. It’s fine. This *is* a time share property, but we had a great guy named Christopher greet us upon arrival who was real and honest with us, offered us one time, and respected us when we said no thanks. Rooms: fine. Clean-ish. Little amenities. You have to ask for anything like extra lotion, soap, hair dryer, etc. Our towels were refreshed daily. We left tips for our housekeepers every day - just a personal preference. You must ensure you book a bed you are guaranteed to get or else you’ll end up with two beds for a couple, like we did. They were overbooked and despite my multiple requests and confirmations prior to arrival for a single bed, we were denied in an extremely rude way. Pools: 2 pools - one big one, one smaller pool with two “mini” pools that sort of look like hot tubs. The main pool was extremely warm all week, usually packed with kids, and a fun water slide, which as adults, we had to do at least once. Not our vibe. The smaller pool between the resort and the beach was more our speed, access to the beach, and still by the pool. Less kids. We didn’t do an adults only resort because two couples had their kids with them this year, totally fine. Little restrooms around so, connect the dots there. Food was fine - typical for an all-inclusive. Best food we had was in town, obviously. Now the worst part (most important for us) - Service: Between all of us on the trip, we’ve experienced multiple all-inclusive around the world and in Mexico. You have to sign a “receipt” after every bar order, food order… pretty much everything. None of us had ever experienced that. If you forget to sign the ticket, they will hunt you down and tell you the mafia will come after the servers if you don’t sign. We got back to our room at 10pm one night, shut the door, and immediately had a young man knock frantic about us forgetting to sign the check at the beach that morning for 2 drinks. You can’t just grab a snack or something quick - you must sit and attend during operating hours that change daily. When you order anything, it takes an eternity. We’re patient folks, most of us have worked in hospitality and food service - we get it. The resort was severely understaffed over all. And because of the signing receipt thing, you had to wait to flag someone down, until they decided to come by and check on you, or go up to the bar to get the ticket to sign. One night dinner took 2.5 hours because of the slow speed of service. There were 2 of us at that dinner. However, the light of our trip was a sweet gal named Yeraldin who took great care of us. She remembered our drinks, would get us 2 at a time so we didn’t have to wait long, and busted her butt for her customers multiple days during our stay. The resort itself is pretty meh, not much to do outside of drink and relax (which we loved) but the “games” and “theme nights” were a little embarrassing. Minimal effort there for guests. Little music to enjoy at the pool during the day. Atmosphere was pretty lackluster - kids screaming and birds. They’re either painting, doing some construction/maintenance (one elevator was down the entirety of our stay - only one functional in our building), so something is always closed. Understandable that this wasn’t our vibe, but just a review for folks who align a little more with us. And an honest review for folks confused by all the reviews like we were before coming. It’s a fine place. You’ll find gems of humans working. But most are cold, annoyed, and understandably so if they’re being so overworked. The stay was fine - I mean we were at the beach for 6 days during December, but we won’t be back to another Villa group property.

  Jan 01, 2026
• 

  great staff

  4th stay, I called the resort ahead of time, spoke with the staff directly, and clearly explained our needs. When we arrived everything we discussed was met, which made our stay stress free. Melanie explained clearly and how to use it my 130$ resort credit and I had no issues. She continued to be my go to person whenever I stopped by the desk with a question I was greeted with a smile and a helpful answer from her. While it was a bummer that the credit could not be used during happy hour pricing, that is the rules and it is a business, after all. We especially enjoyed the games with the actividades staff. They were fun, engaging and welcoming. We were particularity impressed with ELY, who made us feel seen and welcome. We laughed a lot with him and the rest of the team. Thank you for making our trip so much fun Ely! We ordered a few things from the pool for lunch but mostly I cooked which is my preference. Checkout was easy and accurate. I do pay attention and I recommend that others do as well. Overall is a great family friendly resort.

  Dec 31, 2025
• 

  Members team

  We want to give a big shout out to the members team at Villa Del Palmar in Port Vallarta. We love the activities here that the team provides for us such as aerobics, Jazzercise, crazy games, blackjack, bingo, kayaking. Everyone here at the resort is super friendly and very helpful with whatever we may need. Thank you to Bianca, Monse, Anna, Alondra, Roger, Gina, Kaori and Dahen!

  Dec 31, 2025
• 

  Avoid this resort

  We’ve been here for 1 hour and we are ready to leave. We are not difficult to please but this place is ridiculous. Before we could have our first drink we already got blindsided by the “new resort” pressure presentation in exchange for discounted tickets to the NYE party that’s on site! The rooms are basic and just ok. The balcony would be nice if it weren’t 10 feet from a restaurants loud kitchen exhaust. We immediately went back to the front desk to ask if we could pay to upgrade to a different room or if there was a different room of any kind available. The front desk staff said that we had already paid for the most upgraded room they have and that there were no more rooms of any kind available in the entire resort. Mind you this is as droves of people are showing up to check in. I assume they all got turned away? The front fest staff dismissed our concern and did nothing to accommodate. We were not looking for a freebie. So keep in mind, if money is no obstacle, this is the best you’ll get. There are so many nice hotels in PV, this is not one of them. We have been to PV 6 times and have never been disappointed until now.

  Dec 30, 2025
• 

  I'll be back 😀

  It was my first time but definitely not my last time. The resort was clean, beautiful, right on the beach. Everyone was friendly, warm and welcoming. Even though it was all-inclusive, I appreciate that my room was equipped with a kitchenette with dishes , pots and pans if I needed to make meals in my room. I also had an amazing view of the pool and beach and a balcony where I could sit and enjoy the scenery. I enjoyed the authentic food and meal time (specifically breakfast) was my favorite as I got to interact with Etelvina. She is fantastic, attentive, and just seems like an amazing human being. When I thanked her she never took the glory but attributed it to her team: Eriberto, Miranda, Xoll, Celestino. Puerto Vallarta is beautiful and I know this wasn't my last time there. The only things I'd change if I could: there was a very pushy salesman at the airport who wouldn't take NO for an answer trying to sell excursions/membership for the hotel. The 2nd thing would be for the hotel to have more night time activities for guests to enjoy. Once the restaurants close at 10:30 it gets very quiet and nothing to do unless you venture off the resort.

  Dec 30, 2025