This was the second time I have stayed at Villa del Palmar since 2000. The rooms are comfortable, clean and have all the amenities needed. The partial kitchens have a microwave, refrigerator, stove top, coffee maker and basic dishes. The location is a short, inexpensive bus ride or a long walk from town. My only complaint is that check-in can take quite a while with long lines and the lobby is crawling with timeshare salespeople. If you don't want to spend 3 hours in a "45 minute" hard sell timeshare presentation, make it very clear that you are not interested in receiving whatever discounts they are offering and don't want to make an appointment. I haven't been roped into a timeshare presentation in years although I do own a timeshare. My advice is that if you are interested in purchasing a timeshare, go online and find the resort with the highest trading power and buy a timeshare from the owner. They are notoriously difficult to sell and you can pick up a membership for a fraction of what you would pay if you fall for a timeshare presentation. The only other complaint I have is that there is no icemaker available and you have to go to the bartender to get ice (for making margaritas in your room or for a cooler) and he's a bit stingy with it.

The beach in front of the hotel is great for swimming and the pool is great.

Our staying at Villa Del Palmar was awesome. WE arrived Oct. 6 left Nov.24
A special thank you To Minor, Sergio, Claudia,Allen, Miguel,(and all the bellboys)
Thanks to Aurora and all the girls,the activity staff are fantastic.
Halloween and Thanksgiving party, We had so much fun and the food was outstanding
looking forward to come back soon

We've been going to PV for many years and due to proximity to friends, we started to stay at the Villa del Palmar about 10 year ago. I was impressed recently to see that they are constantly improving the facility, amenities and service and I now believe them to be on par with the best in PV. It is a lovely setting and upkeep is now fastidious (good because the facility is not brand new but is up-to-date) competing favorably with the significantly higher-priced hotels. We will continue to make it our "home" in PV (we love having the small kitchenettes in each room) -- and continue to benefit from the constant improvements. We love the fact that its location and setting are "real Mexico" unlike many resorts which could be anywhere! BTW-- they will try the "buy our condo" number on you like many locations around the world, but if you are not interested and politely refuse the offer, they'll back off right away!

This is a pretty nice hotel in a location that didn't satisfy our travel plans. It is centrally located between the Marina and El Centro, and we went to town every day. It is not a hard trip - we usually took the bus which is very inexpensive - but we should simply have picked a hotel in Old Town for our needs.

The vacationers here are mostly up in years - and we are not youngsters. We've never seen so many walkers, wheel chairs, and oxygen in one place other than a rest home. It wasn't an issue for us and makes for a pretty quiet environment. You can even use the sister property of Villa del Mar next door which is even quieter. Occupancy was 58% and grew on the weekends, which livened things up a little with more children and Mexican Nationals. Anyway, we mention this only for those who are expecting a lively, spring break kind of place - this is not it.

When we checked in we were turned over the hotel timeshare rep for our key and hotel information. It was actually useful since "Grace" was very pleasant and provided a lot of useful information. We agreed to visit the VDP Flamingos resort in Neuvo Vallarta since we were exploring PV and wanted to see how things had developed to the north. Grace "guaranteed" us that it would be a 90 minute presentation including the free breakfast. Well, it turned out to be 4-1/2 hours and five salespersons. They were working up to six when we simply said we were leaving and started walking out. We were later advised that we asked too many questions, which they believe indicates serious interest and therefore didn't want to let us get away without buying something. Buyer beware...

The rooms in the hotel are very clean, but somewhat worn. We loved the bed. The refrigerator is way small, particularly if you want to keep ice in it for drinks. The resort food we had was actually very good, but the high prices made us eat nearly all meals in town. We noticed that they have a sign up in the pool/deck area telling you not to bring your own food or drink into the area, but with their prices most people were simply ignoring it. Happy hour drinks were priced at what should be the regular price (two for one). Staff is exceptional, and we have had nice service in every resort in Mexico we have stayed in. Even the front desk, which some people have criticized, were very friendly and helpful. I don't think you could ask for better personnel in a hotel.

They do have "Elite Status" areas roped off for "special owners." I think that means they paid a bunch of $$$ for the title. They were not used much (not a surprise) but it did create kind of a snobbish aspect to the hotel.

We'd probably stay at this hotel again if it were lotated in El Centro. If that is not important to you, by all means consider it for your PV visit.