Let me just start out by saying we did not want to leave the hotel and come home, so on our 9th day, we changed our flight and stayed another 3 nights! The pictures online do not do this hotel justice. It is beautiful, clean, and not your typical Mexico hotel decor. We booked a room beachfront, but were put up in the 4th tower. The room was gorgeous, the views of the bay & beach spectacular and you could hear the ocean day and night. The room was huge and beautifully decorated. The tower had it's own infinity pool if you did not want to go down the hill to the main pool/beach. There were gentlemen ready with golf carts to take you down to the main hotel area day and night. The restaurants were VERY good and not pricey. We ate at the steakhouse 2x and had excellent steaks (filet and flank) and great service! We also ate at the seafood restuarant 2x to have the hamachi, as it was amazing. Blanca Blue is right on the ocean too and one night had a 3 piece band. Great bartenders at all the bars that made yummy speciality drinks and fresh fruit drinks out by the pool. All of the staff from Theresa at the front desk to the pool attendants, maids, bartenders, and the staff that just hung out to get you whatever you needed were all so nice and friendly. We did not have one bad experience with anyone we came in contact with. The service was GREAT!! So, we can't wait to go back and hang out on the beach, paddleboard, play some cards in our cabana and catch the bus (6 pesos) to head downtown for some tacos! What a perfect vacation...oh and from our room you could lay in the hammock on the deck and watch the whales!

Me and my husband just returned from our wedding at Garza Blanca a few days ago. With the wedding aside, Garza Blanca is by far the most beautiful resort in all of Puerto Vallarta. I have been going to PV since I was 8 years old, staying at all different resorts. Garza Blanca is by far my favorite. Last year my husband proposed to me on the beach at garza Blanca so it was no question that we would get married there. It was the best decision we made. All our guests were blown away at our beautiful wedding and the beautiful resort. Annie, our wedding planner, was the best! she made everything so easy for us, and everything went PERFECT the day of the wedding. my husband was very sick the day of the wedding (stomach infection)...the staff was so quick to get him a doctor and he felt much better by the time of the ceremony. The service at the cocktail hour and reception was exceptional. The staff is very accommodating, and takes care of all your needs. The check in process is very easy and you are greeted with a yummy margarita upon arrival. The rooms are so nice, spacious, and very clean! The food at all 3 restaurants is amazing, I don't think anyone had anything they didn't like. Our favorite is the fajitas in the lava bowl! Yum! Our only very small complaint is that they make you check out your all inclusive bill every hour even if you aren't finished. My family found this to be a bit of an annoyance. Other than that, I very highly recommend garza Blanca for a wedding, honeymoon, family vacation! It's amazing!

It's rare that I am ever uncertain as to how to rate an establishment. I found this resort confusing. On one hand, the resort's physical attributes are top notch however the TIMESHARE tactics are make the resorts desirability to return questionable.

I'll take you through a logical sequence of what you will experience following your arrival:

- Location: It's only about a 20 minute drive from airport. IT's located right o the ocean in the best part of the bay where blue water is a luxury. It's a $10 cab ride to Old town, $15 to the marina area/mid town/Malecon and $20 to the airport. Great location for our intentions!

- Security & Concierge: Top Notch. The resort has a gated security guard who will ask you your name and room number everytime you come and go. Don't be annoyed. It's for your own protection. Also, there is always a nice and personalized welcome everytime you arrive.

- Check in: IMPORTANT!!! READ THIS!!! Despite the check-in process being professional whereby they greet you with wet towels and a wonderful margarita, the check-in person is a TIMESHARE stager. She or he will actually have the other receptionist run around doing all the traditional check-in paperwork. This person will offer up a glorious and magical tour that if you don't take, the world will apparently spin off its axis otherwise. Just say NO Gracias! They will inevitably persist by telling you all about the discounts you will recieve blah, blah blah. Despite you being couteous, they will be offended and perplexed as to the why's behind you electing not to commit in what they frame-up as a 90 minute "tour" and free breakfast. They want for you to follow their check-in path and when you divert, oh when you divert, the true behaviors of the check-in staff rear their ugly heads. Pure rudeness. We are not here for a sales pitch nor do we want our vacation time consumed for what numerous others told us, several hours of selling us your timeshare program. They use the check-in process to strong-arm their agenda and for that alone, I would give the resort a 1 star rating had it not been for the for the nicer aspects of the resort. (I suspect that management will comment on my review, cite the many glowing reviews from others. I would just like to say, good for them but I can in return show you numerous other reviews wherby they weren't happy with the approach. No means No. Accept that for your answer and let us move on with our vacation time.)

The Rooms: We ultimately upgraded from a One Bedroom to a Two Bedroom to accomodate another guest. The rooms are magnificent and on par with a 4-5 star resort. There are two towers on the beach. We stayed on the 3 and 5th floor and had great views. There is little to dislike about the rooms. They are well appointed with top of the line furnishings and appliances. They went all out. Nice job Garza Blanca. Other than their claims the rooms square footage was 1600 and 2100 respectively, I would strongly disagree unless they are adding in the balcony and even with that, I think the numbers are inflated. Maybe 1300 and 1700 sqft respectively at most. They are however more than adequate in space for someone who is planning to stay for a week, a month, a couple of months. For this I would give the resort a 4.5 stars rating.

The Grounds: Superb. Once again, they spared no expense and used quality materials and furnishings. The pool is beautiful... and heated!!!!! Nice touch. Everything about the the resorts architecture was spot on and for this, I would give the resort a 5 star rating.

The Food:
- Blanca Blue: We ate at the beach restaurant "Blanca Blue" once for breakfast, once for dinner and twice for room service. Below average everytime. It's really a shame considering it is such beautiful place. What was horrible? The wait service, the wait time, the food, the regret of being captive at the resort and having to order the food 3 more times!!! It was highly disorganized from the moment we walked into the restraunt to the time we left. We waited 20 minutes for a menu and they weren't even busy! The food had been delayed another hour and parts of the servings were luke warm. I will say that we enjoyed the Tortilla soup though! The breakfast will leave you scratching your head whether it be room service or dine-in. The servings are minimal and uneventful to say the least. Parts of our order were missing on all occassions. Very sad. I would give this restaurant 2 stars.

- BocaDosStk: The restaurant on the hill. Ummmm... WOW! Exceptional in everyway! We ordered the filet. I usually stear far far away from this in Mexico. It was the best filet I have ever had. Service was excellent and the views spectatcular. It wasn't cheap but worth every penny/peso! Well Done Garza... well done! I would give this restaurant 5 stars.

- Pool Bar and Snack Bar: Drinks were great. In fact,they were great wherever we were on property. Not very expensive either. The food was what should be expected for a poolside bar and small grill. good, not great but fulfilled the occasional need. I would rate the pool bar and snack bar with 3 stars.

The Pool - Beautiful. The natural rocks does the trick. The only thing I would suggest is communicating that towels left on the chairs does not imply the chair is taken. The towels on the chairs are actually a courtesy towel drop by the staff. In most enviroments, this means the chair is reserved. Nice touch however, a bit misleading on day one or two. 4 stars.

The Beach: Soooo subjective that I'll only say that I only saw locals actually in the water.

The Spa: I heard from the other two persons I was with it was great but did not experience for myself.

The Gift Shop: Very nice. Does not accept cash. Prices are surprisingly fair. Good quality merchandise.

So, in summary, say no to the relentless TimeShare "Tour" pitch, enjoy the rooms, skip out on the breakfast and any other meal at Blanca Blue for that matter, go instead to the restaurant on the hill, enjoy the pool and the wonderful drinks and great pool service.

Would I go back? With some reservation, yes. But if they pushed the timeshare down our throat in the disrespectful way they did this time, I'll be certain to video it and share with you, the reviewers to see so that you can determine if this is how you would like to be treated upon arrival. Aside from that and Blanca Blue, it's a good place and would recommend.

DID YOU FIND THIS REVIEW HELPFUL? PLEASE CLICK THE BUTTON BELOW AND LET ME KNOW. THANKS AND HAPPY TRAVELS.

I also learn a few watch-outs on each vacation we take, and this location once again confirms that one do home work before you commit to book, for had I ‘known” that:
• If you love running everyday as I do, this place is a non-starter. No trails immediately near the hotel, not enough room on the property to run around – not even an 1/8 of a mile. The two-way very narrow streets adjacent to the hotel – insanely narrow and the drivers, well you’ll experience that first hand in your taxi!?!?!
• the beach was roughly only one hundred yards long – nothing but boulders on each side thereafter,
• the locals used the beach but were chased off when noticed most of the time,
• the beach faced North,
• if you’re a sun worshiper, you need to move yourself every few hours to keep up with the pattern of the sun – again, the property faces North,
• bummer, the steam sauna only worked tow times after four attempts to use it.
• By far the best whale adventure was Ocean Friendly tours, unbelievable attention to detail and the boat takes only eight people a trip, unlike the typically cattle car boats. As great as they were, the hotel never heard of them, simply because they do not pay the hotel a commission. This is not unique to Garza Blanca and why I rarely ever use the hotel to handle my adventures
• sharing the resort with all-inclusive and non-inclusive patrons
o I had to request extra sodas and beer often, Again extra’s as in replacing the consumed items

Google your exact destination and look around "very closely," it very apparent that the location is wrong for runners / joggers, sun worshippers and those loving to walk along the beach.