No loungers around the water park area at CPC and kids club is more geared for your 5 yr old. IMO, the Melia would be a better choice in PV for both your kids with kids clubs for different ages and nicer accommodations; the Riu Jalisco would still be a better choice for all the above plus better food and more dining options.

We have stayed at all the resorts your looking at. Having said that our kids are now 13 and 14. The Melia would be your best bet for the family. It has a great kids club (under 12, but really 8 and under) and they do hgave a club that caters to those older than 12. I don't know about your situation,but our older boy never fit in with the younger group. We just get to know the teens club leader and viola.... our 12 year old was taken care of ($$$). The other hotels have great things about them. (we are staying at the Friendly Vallarta March 17th to 31st). Food might not be as fancy but staff, location and service just cannot compete with a few hours at a kids club and we never went to bed hungry. We are planning zip lining and desert dune buggies to fill in the time that the kids might want to do something more also maybe a beach trip up teh North coast. It is great that I can go shopping or walk the beach and see a bit on my own without having to take a cab with everyone to make it worth the cost. Feel free tpo contact me if you want more info.

We stayed at Riu Palace Pacifico this past December, and walked over to the Jalisco, it's really a 3 star, no where near the caliber of the palace that is listed as a 5 star. don't believe the ratings! With that said the Riu Palace was awesome, and totally catered to kids, when they saw us with our stroller comming into the restaurant at least 3 servers would run to get a high chair and one would hold my daughter's plate while we were at the buffet. Super kid friendly, looking forward to going back.

For sure the Jalisco is not in the same class as the Palace, but it would be a higher category and more kid friendly than the Friendly.

Hi there! I just returned from the Riu Vallarta after a 7 day stay. The Vallarta was wonderful!! No complaints at all about anything. My boyfriend and I walked the beach and checked out the other 2 Rui Hotels. As far as the pool area and beach/activity area there was absolutely no comparing the Vallarta to the other 2. At our resort there were two separate pools. The one for the children was great and had multiple slides. We were scratching our heads why anyone would choose either of the other 2 resorts. Every night we were there they had a different themed show (Vegas, Grease). Before the main show they had a show for the kids and the little ones were able to get up on stage with the entertainers. There were also games set up for the children. After the kids show there was a small 4 piece band in the center square where the adults and children danced to Mexican and American music. At 9 the regular show started and all was quiet at 11 pm. Hope this helps!!