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We just got back from 2 contiguous weeks at the Grand Mayan Nuevo Vallarta last month. We exchanged through SFX. Last fall we did an exchange into the Grand Mayan Riviera Maya. I won't say much about the resorts other than a few observations. I wish to tell more about what we observed and how the area has changed in the past 12 years.
The Grand Mayan resorts are great and the one at Nuevo Vallarta is no exception. The units are luxurious and the service superb. The Mayan Palace/Grand Mayan Nuevo Vallarta is considerably different than the GM Riviera Maya. The Mayan Palace/Grand Mayan Riviera Maya is integrated and they both share the same pool and other amenities, restaurants etc. The Grand Mayan Nuevo Vallarta is on the same property as the Mayan Palace but has its own pools, restaurants, reception area, concierge, etc. I prefer the Nuevo Vallarta one due to more attractions such as the beach which is great and usable, the lazy river, restaurants etc. The restaurants are very convenient at the GM Nuevo Vallarta. You can purchase meal ticket booklets at the Grand Mayan Nuevo Vallarta that can save you form 25% ( breakfast ) up to 60% ( dinner )depending on what you eat. The tickets are a fixed price of 125 pesos for breakfast and 225 pesos for dinner which includes one non-alcoholic drink, appetizer, main entrée and desert. the booklets come in 3 varieties 6 breakfasts, 6 breakfasts and 6 dinners, and 6 breakfasts and 12 dinners. The units themselves are virtually identical except that Nuevo Vallarta has ocean view. The Riviera Maya area has far more attractions such as Xcaret, Tulum, etc. than the Puerto Vallarta area.
Puerto Vallarta has changed drastically and not for the better. We have been there before when it was a very charming and traditional Mexican City that conserved its culture and tradition. That is no longer true. They had a change in their local government about 3 years ago that decided to change Puerto Vallarta to a luxury destination. The result is a very congested city with McDonald's, Domino Pizza, Outback, Wal-Mart, etc. They destroyed 2 very nice parks to build parking garages. Real estate prices have gone berserk with prices higher than California for comparable properties. Condos going for $600,000 USD to well over a million dollars. Homes costing $500,000 - $10,000,000+ USD. There are cheaper homes but they are not very nice and are pretty rare.
We did take a personal tour one day. We talked to the taxi drivers at the Grand Mayan until we found one that we liked. Both my wife and I are fluent in Spanish. We then negotiated a fixed price for an all day tour of Nyarit. We went up to Tepic Nyarit ( capital of the state ) and then drove back along the coast through San Blas and several other coastal towns. We liked Tepic very much. It is traditional Mexican with absolutely no McDonald's etc. The city is very clean with no trash on the streets. We ate lunch there and toured the city. Some of the coastal towns are not very clean. We were very interested in all the agriculture. We saw sugar cane, bananas, mangos, tobacco, etc. All in all it was a great time and our driver was very nice and we had a great time with him. Our private tour lasted over 12 hours.
We went on the Rhythms of the Night tour which was quite good. It was a 1.5 hour boat ride to a private beach only accessible by boat. They filmed the movie "The Night if The Iguana" there with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. It was very enjoyable. They had a good Mexican buffet dinner and then a traditional Indian ceremonial dance that lasted about 75 minutes.
We also went to downtown Puerto Vallarta and walked the malecon from one end to the other. The rest of the time we just enjoyed the resort. We did go to the Paradise Village shopping center which isn't anything to spectacular.
The Grand Mayan resorts are great and the one at Nuevo Vallarta is no exception. The units are luxurious and the service superb. The Mayan Palace/Grand Mayan Nuevo Vallarta is considerably different than the GM Riviera Maya. The Mayan Palace/Grand Mayan Riviera Maya is integrated and they both share the same pool and other amenities, restaurants etc. The Grand Mayan Nuevo Vallarta is on the same property as the Mayan Palace but has its own pools, restaurants, reception area, concierge, etc. I prefer the Nuevo Vallarta one due to more attractions such as the beach which is great and usable, the lazy river, restaurants etc. The restaurants are very convenient at the GM Nuevo Vallarta. You can purchase meal ticket booklets at the Grand Mayan Nuevo Vallarta that can save you form 25% ( breakfast ) up to 60% ( dinner )depending on what you eat. The tickets are a fixed price of 125 pesos for breakfast and 225 pesos for dinner which includes one non-alcoholic drink, appetizer, main entrée and desert. the booklets come in 3 varieties 6 breakfasts, 6 breakfasts and 6 dinners, and 6 breakfasts and 12 dinners. The units themselves are virtually identical except that Nuevo Vallarta has ocean view. The Riviera Maya area has far more attractions such as Xcaret, Tulum, etc. than the Puerto Vallarta area.
Puerto Vallarta has changed drastically and not for the better. We have been there before when it was a very charming and traditional Mexican City that conserved its culture and tradition. That is no longer true. They had a change in their local government about 3 years ago that decided to change Puerto Vallarta to a luxury destination. The result is a very congested city with McDonald's, Domino Pizza, Outback, Wal-Mart, etc. They destroyed 2 very nice parks to build parking garages. Real estate prices have gone berserk with prices higher than California for comparable properties. Condos going for $600,000 USD to well over a million dollars. Homes costing $500,000 - $10,000,000+ USD. There are cheaper homes but they are not very nice and are pretty rare.
We did take a personal tour one day. We talked to the taxi drivers at the Grand Mayan until we found one that we liked. Both my wife and I are fluent in Spanish. We then negotiated a fixed price for an all day tour of Nyarit. We went up to Tepic Nyarit ( capital of the state ) and then drove back along the coast through San Blas and several other coastal towns. We liked Tepic very much. It is traditional Mexican with absolutely no McDonald's etc. The city is very clean with no trash on the streets. We ate lunch there and toured the city. Some of the coastal towns are not very clean. We were very interested in all the agriculture. We saw sugar cane, bananas, mangos, tobacco, etc. All in all it was a great time and our driver was very nice and we had a great time with him. Our private tour lasted over 12 hours.
We went on the Rhythms of the Night tour which was quite good. It was a 1.5 hour boat ride to a private beach only accessible by boat. They filmed the movie "The Night if The Iguana" there with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. It was very enjoyable. They had a good Mexican buffet dinner and then a traditional Indian ceremonial dance that lasted about 75 minutes.
We also went to downtown Puerto Vallarta and walked the malecon from one end to the other. The rest of the time we just enjoyed the resort. We did go to the Paradise Village shopping center which isn't anything to spectacular.