if you are a family, this is a decent, typical sheraton. i was on a very high club floor and the room had a beautiful view of the ocean.

the club lounge is a stingy, lame, embarassment to the sheraton brand. their offerings are very poor. not enough food, the food they do have is cheap and unappetizing.

the hotel clearly has an employee fraud problem. for example, posters are placed throughout the property explaining that no cash is accepted, anywhere on the premises. of course, while eating at the pool restaurant, our waiter offered to give us a discount if we paid in cash instead of a credit card. obviously, the waiter is pocketing the cash. (typical of american-heavy tourist towns in mexico, really. just about everybody down there sees american green in their eyes and they are motivated to profit somehow from it.)

pool restaurant food was pretty decent, unremarkable.

the pool area is nice but it's a typical "family" pool, full of shrieking kids. fun for your wife and kids, not so much fun for the single traveler who has to listen to them all, instead of having some peace and quiet.

the RATE is what really stood out here. if you book directly on the MEXICAN site, and not the US Starwood site, you will find a significantly cheaper set of rates, that suddenly make this "okay" property actually quite attractive.

another benefit to this property is its location - it is further south than most of the big chain hotels, so if you want to go into town a lot, instead of hibernating at the hotel, it's convenient for that. the Westin PV is a much, much nicer property, but it's further north, toward the airport, and coming to/from the Westin takes much longer in a cab.

the WIFI is TERRIBLE. there are very few places where you get a good signal. you absolutely CANNOT get work done, while staying at this property. at best, the wifi is good enough for some very basic, very very slow, social/news surfing. if you have an actual need for legitimate internet access, do NOT stay here, although you should also know about PV, that internet access seems to suck all over town.

also the hotel security is pretty aggressive, they do not let people in and out of the lot very easily, so be warned, if you plan on inviting visitors over, etc.

they also try to make you wear a tacky white wristband while you are staying there. i refused, and carried the wristband with me, instead.

we have been coming here for over 8 years spending as much as 8 weeks a year . we are treated like family from the moment we arrive till our departure date. every staff member goes out of his or her way to make you feel like you are the most special guest in the hotel.the front desk manager staff and concierge are wonderful. we stay on the club level and the breakfasts and cocktail hours are first rate. the rooms are large bright and well maintained. the butlers go out of their way to give wonderful service. housekeeping makes everything clean and bright. the pool area is beautiful and there are enough chairs to keep people from fighting over space as often happens at hotels of this type. all in all we love the sheraton and hope we will be able to stay there for many years to come on our trips to puerto vallarta.

We have stayed at the Sheraton Buganvilias several times and each year is better than the last. Great location, great service at the pool. We do not eat at the hotel - always go downtown or up in the mountains. The beach is rocky so if you love a soft sandy beach this isn't the place for you. We actually love the pool and the view of the beach from the pool which is great. We will be back in the fall!

I have been going here almost 20 years and really enjoy the experience. They have a very good staff and maintenance is also good. Also the security is very good! Generally Puerto Vallarta is very safe. We saw many police and para military groups all thru the town. They have completely redone the Malacon area and increased the sidewalk area by closing part of the street. Well done!!

The WiFi is weak but they are rewiring for improved connectivity. There are IT people available 24/7 to help you get hooked up. I noticed a marked improvement this year but you have to stay near the windows to stay hooked up. That should improve with time.

Food comments:
We ate at the gourmet restarant twice this time and had good food/service both times. The other food venues are buffet oriented and pretty expensive abt $20/person. You can order off the menu at all locations.

The food is on the buffet was plentiful but expensive for the quality. The fruit is very good but the meat choices are just average. But you are just a few blocks ( $5 taxi ride ) from the town with many good resaurants of all types. Or within walking distance from several good restaurants across the street behind the soccer field.

The following applies to the Vacation Club Only:

They are currently working on redoing/modernizing the top 9 floors with a major recontruction or the 25th floor with bigger units, more luxury and, of course, more cost. The 17th floor is being worked on now. The new units on the 7-24 floor are not going to be bigger but they will be rebuilt with new appliances and tvs. The units in floor 1-6 are getting no upgrades but they will replace a tv with a newer tube type unit if you ask.