We spent the final two nights of a 10 day trip to Puerta Vallarta at the Sheraton after being up in the marina area for the first 8. The Sheraton is actually within walking distance to old town and is very enjoyable with a lot of local activity to see, and it was nice to not have to take a taxi every place you go. The Sheraton for the most part is a somewhat older hotel that has been remodeled a few years ago after a hurricane (although does have a couple new sections on the south end that look very nice). We got our room thru Starwood and were put in a nice room at the top floor of one of the older sections. The view was spectacular and made up for what was a rather plain, but nice and clean hotel room. Large windows opened wide and let in the smell and feelings of being outdoor, on the ocean. Sorry but no balcony in the older sections. The real plus of this hotel are the two pool areas, which are large and modern, well landscaped, lots of chairs, and plenty of shade if you need it. Swim up bars, plus lots of waiters make getting a snack or drink very easy. So-so beach area that had its share of rocks but the water was warm and appeared clean. A small store was on site, along with all the shops expected of a large hotel, and a large grocery was perhaps a 10 minute walk towards town. Had sunday brunch at the outside restaurant that was expensive, but huge and good! All other meals were at restaurants in the downtown area and were excellent, never had a bad meal in 10 days, so my recommendation is just try different places and find what you like. Lots of things to do but one thing that my wife and I particularly enjoyed was walking the back streets of the old downtown and see how and where the locals really live. Very different experience from the waterfront area. Make sure you do a night time walk on the Malecon, preferably on a weekend . Very tourist orientated but lots of fun thing to see and watch. If we go back we would probably spend the majority of our time up in the marina area or perhaps the nuevo area, but taxis to the old town area are easy and a visit to this area has to include time in the old downtown areas.. Have a wonderful time.

We stayed for 2 nights at the Sheraton in Puerto Vallarta since our stay at the Grand Mayan in Nuevo Vallarta was only good for 7 nights and our trip was for 9 nights. It was really just okay. I think they were charging over $400 per night plus tax for the rooms but I used my Starwood points (7,000 points per night, including taxes, which is really cheaper than $400 per night since if you were to buy Starwood points from Starwood it's $50 for 1000 points so this would cost $350 per night, although I get the points for free since I have a Starwood Amex card, so this was a really great deal for me). I am a Starwood Platinum Preferred Guest and I really have great things to say about most Starwood properties. I understand that Sheraton is not always the nicest of their properties but they are generally clean, functional and usually I get great benefits at Sheraton (like room upgrades, free breakfast, etc. thanks to my Platinum status with their program). We tried to check in at 12 noon and were told our room wouldn't be ready until 4pm, so my first impression of this hotel was that they don't do anything special for their premier members. I was told that I was not able to get an upgrade since the hotel was near capacity and the only upgraded room they had was a Tower room (on the club level) but this was a smoking room and it smelled too much like cigarettes so I opted for my non-upgraded room. The room we had was fine, nothing special. The furniture was very simple and not all that nice, but it was clean and fine. Our view was great. There are no balconies on the higher floors so we were disappointed that we weren't able to sit outside with our great view. The bathroom was just okay, kind of small. They had a sink outside the actual bathroom so that was nice. I don't think they mop the floors in the hotel room...this was my major complaint and my parents experienced the same thing in their room. My feet were close to being covered in dust/dirt seconds after exiting the shower and walking around the room. I saw the maid sweep the floors but I never saw a mop on the cart. The bed was very comfortable, it's not as hard as our bed was at the Grand Mayan and the sheets were soft so this was great. There's wireless internet available throughout the resort but you have to pay $120 pesos ($12) per day to use your own computer, I don't know if they have computers of their own for you to use since we brought our own laptop. I was told the internet was free in the lobby, but upon arrival I found out that was not true. The conceirge loungs is basically 2 hotel rooms combined and where the bathroom should be, they installed a kitchen. The view was the same in my room. They have a continental breakfast in the conceirge lounge but they only had fruit, juice, cereal and some meats, so we opted to get the free continental breakfast coupons from the conceirge lounge to use at the main restaurant which had a huge buffet breakfast that was awesome, but the coupons only gave us $5 off, although the brunch was only $21 so it wasn't so bad and that was for New Year's Eve brunch and New Year's Day brunch. I don't know what they have for a normal brunch but the brunch we had was great. The pool area didn't seem to have enough chairs for the amount of guests, and people got up extremely early (I heard rumors of 5am) to secure chairs. They only allowed us to get one towel per person, and the towels weren't that big, so from my knee down, I had to touch the chair without a towel. The pool was simple, very big, with a volley ball net inside it and a swim up bar. The beach was nice but they don't have real beach chairs on the beach to lay down on, they only had plastic chairs to sit on. My main complaint with the pool was they had a very loud speaker by where we were sitting and it was used to blast annoying music across the pool and as a speaker for the hotel to use to set up different pool activities, so it was a little too much like spring break for me. The location of the hotel is great, it's a few blocks from downtown PV, although I don't think I would have walked into town, but other people said they did walk to town. Just a word of advice: check your bill before you pay at checkout, there were charges from the people who occupied the room before us on our bill. The bottom line is that if you are looking for a relatively clean place to stay, with comfortable beds, on the beach, close to downtown area, and don't want an all inclusive hotel, and don't want to spend too much, it's a good place to stay. An added tip is to look into whether or not it's worth it to use Starwood points to pay for the room.

My wife, 17 year old daughter, and I stayed at the Sheraton Buganvilias in Puerto Vallarta from 12/26/06 - 1/1/07 and enjoyed the city and the hotel tremendously. We had previously been to Cabo, Cancun, Ixtapa, and Acapulco, and probably liked Puerto Vallarta best of all. We were in the Towers on the 22nd floor with a full ocean/bay view room. There are so many reviews posted on this hotel and things to do that I will just focus on a few things that I think are important and can help make your stay as enjoyable as possible.

The pools are great, although the holiday size crowds dictated that we had to get down early (8:00AM) , get the towels and stake out chairs or we would not have had spots until mid afternoon. The staff around the pool was very friendly and helpful. They would set out chairs where you wanted them if they were not yet in position, clean them if a bird got to them during the night, and the towel boy would help you learn to make your daily request in Spanish.The pool activities were fun, thanks to the very high spirited staff. There was always music and the variety ranged from opera (really!) to mariachi, to US and Mexican pop, electronic dance, and oldies. It was all enjoyable.

The staff in the 23rd floor lounge were also very good. The coffee was so good up there (and in most of the local restaurants) that I asked our "waiter" if he could tell me the brand the hotel was using as I was interested in picking some up at a local market to take home. He came back in a few minutes with a piece of paper where he had written the brand (Cafe Punta de Cielo) and two complimentary bags of coffee for us. I noticed them fulfill many special requests for others as well. They deserve a nice tip, but don't wait until the end of your stay as if you do it sooner you will find the good service gets even more attentive, even when they are very busy.

The bellmen are very helpful and if you tell them where you are going, they will confirm the taxi fare for you (costs are posted on a sign out front but you may not always know which applies to your destination if you are going to a specific address) and will tell the driver where you are going and the fare. We had no problems at all with transportation.

We used the local bus for some of our trips to town or back, and walked other times. A bus comes every few minutes so we never waited long and 5 pesos ($.50) is a bargain. The stop is right in front of the hotel.

We spent several days with a vegetarian and had two very good meals at restaurants suggested by the concierge. One of them is right across the street from the Sheraton . It is called 100% Natural. In addition to a lot of vegetarian specialties, they also serve several chicken and fish dishes. 5 of us (including our 17 year old daughter) enjoyed the food and atmosphere. We had an open air table on the second floor so we could watch the action below while we ate.

The second restaurant was called Planeto Vegetariano. It was downtown a block or so from the Cathedral. It was a buffet with a good variety of hot and cold dishes, all vegetarian. No chicken or fish here. There were signs indicating that all of the food was safe - all washed with purified water. Six of us went here for dinner and enjoyed it very much. Thetotal tab for us all, including dessert and beverages was about $40. It was a great value.

We had no problems with the food or drinks anywhere, and took no special precautions. We had another wonderful dinner within a very short walking distance of the hotel at Hector's on the Beach. You'll see the sign just past the Sheraton property on your way into town. It is so close my wife and I left our room at 7:00 to walk over there to look at the menu to see if our daughter would like it. The atmosphere and menu both looked great so we walked back to the room, picked her up and were back seated in the restaurant at a table right above the sandy beach with an unobstructed view of the waves lapping in just in front of us by 7:30. The food was very good.

We had a great time and if we came back to Puerto Vallarta again we would definitely consider coming back to the Sheraton for its ideal location, great amenities, and friendly staff. (By the way, the time share business is a non-issue at the hotel unless you are interested).

Finally, we did four tours with Vallarta Adventures, all booked in advance on line through their site with a 20% discount. We did a whale watching/sailing adventure, a sea lion encounter, a canopy tour, and the Rhythms of the Night New Years Eve party at Las Caletas. All were fantastic. If you only have time for one, do the canopy tour. This company knows customer service and does a super job.

My teenage daughter and I spent Christmas at the Sheraton. Our room was in the hotel tower. What an ocean view! The "butler" service was very convenient for morning coffee and "passes" to the gym. The continental breakfast that comes with the tower (club) floor room was limited and not worth the extra price of the room. The 2 pools are very nice--plenty of chairs, but could use a few more umbrellas. The staff is pleasant and service oriented. We were never approached about a timeshare.

The location of this resort is the best for walking into the old part of the town -- 10-20 minutes.

Minor things that kept me from giving this resort "5 stars:" -- only one of the four tower elevators was working the entire 5 days we were there; we had ants in the room (22nd floor); the toilet "ran water" from time to time; the club floor facilities (described above) are small and limited; the shower water pressure was not great.

This resort was pricey for the holidays.

We really enjoyed being there and would not hesitate to return.
Highly recommended.