I really do hate having to write such a bad review for only my 2nd review ever...but I must tell the truth. And here it is. This place is horrible. If I could have gone lower than 1 I would have. If you have ever stayed at the Crown Paradise in Cancun, like we did, please DO NOT think the properties are the same, like we did. IF the Cancun property is truly considered their jewel, than the PV property is the Motel 6. And quite frankly that's an insult to Motel 6, sorry Tom Bodett. Upon our arrival, we were slowly checked in by gentlemen who spent more time checking out the female patrons walking back and forth instead of checking us in. We got a very brief welcome. The sink in our room leaked everytime we turned on the water. So we used room towels to soak it up. I alerted front desk. The room itself was really small and very outdated. In cancun we got 2 full beds, in PV we got 2 twins. Me and my wife did not fit. So we split up the kids and each slept with one. After a terrible night sleep, we went to our Costco travel rep, who was not there on our first day day check in. Explained to him the room conditions and our experience with the food and staff. He would talk to the manager and let us know what he could do. We asked for either a new room without a leaky sink and better bed accomo or Costco to put us up in a comparable hotel elsewhere.

So after checking in and unpacking the kids, we were still excited to hit the pool and beach. Our balcony overlooked the pirate ship kids swim area. Much to our surprise, there is no check-in for the kids club for this area as its not secured like it was in Cancun. So if the girls wanted to play here, which they always did, we too had to sit and wade in the water. Not so bad I guess, but it was sure nice in Cancun to leave the kids to play and enjoy the adult pool and spend some time with the wife. Not the case here at all. As they played I inquired more about the kids clubs activites and came away confused and disappointed. There was no daily/nightly entertainment where a group of well trained and caring sitters would watch your kids and take them until you were ready to get them. In cancun, they had kids dances, movie nights, game nights, where you could then have alone time to get a cocktail and just enjoy your spouses company. Then get the kids after they had a great time themselves and regroup as a family. NOT HERE IN PV.

After a few hours of swimming and checking out the "resort", time to eat. For get about it. Much like Cancun, but without the choices, the fried food was soggy the burgers over cooked the hot dogs, were just plain odd, and always cold. They had a hot dog cart guy who would walk between the 2 pools and my wife asked if she could please have a "hot" hot dog, he seemed very annoyed. After a few minutes of waiting my wife got her hot dog...hot on the outside, cool to the touch on the inside. But it wasn't just him it was the case at the outdoor snack bar and the buffet. Wow the buffet. Limited choices and the same thing every day. Want to hear something funny. To get bacon in the morning you had to know to ask for it and the cook would pull a magic tray from under his/her station and voila a large chafing dish of bacon. They would proceed to give us 2 pieces each. And then it would disappear again. We missed out on bacon the first 2 mornings because I didn't see it out and thought maybe they didn't serve it. I happen to see someone ask. Our first night we booked at the "japanese" restaurant. It was a sushi buffet and ala carte japanese cuisine. We were booked early as we were starving after a terrible lunch. The sushi wasn't ready yet, so we ordered off the menu. The ala carte food was fine, but my wife who doesn't use chopsticks asked for a fork. Our waiter looked at her and said "all you have to do is walk up there (points to buffet area where the sushi wasn't ready yet) and get one over there." Now folks that is customer service at it's finest. No our legs aren't painted on. They work. But whether it be at a buffet in america or any restaurant across the globe, I did not think this was a outlandish request that our waiter couldn't honor. She got her own fork. The next night we tried the "italian" restaurant. Long story short, it was neither good or italian.

Now back to our englis speaking Costco rep. After our first day/night, bad food and small beds with a leaky sink, he went to the GM of the property per our request. He said there is nothing he can do about the food, he was sorry it was so bad. They could also put us into a new room down the hall but the size of the beds were the same. If we wanted to upgrade our room, 1 queen and bunk bed it would be $100 a night. Tempting. Our nearest hotel change wouldn't be ready til the next day. We took the new room. Our Rep then asked if it would be ok if he introduced me to the GM. I thought why not. I could at least thank her for understanding our concerns and getting us a new room. He walked me to her office and he went in had me wait outside. I could hear her voice was raised. He came back out and said, "she didn't want to meet with you. That she did what she could and there was no need to talk." I thought perhaps he doesn't realize that this is not coming across very well at all. So I said that's fine with me. I then asked who do I need to see or talk to about getting that room change, as our rep turned to go back in she walked out briskly and said to both of us, anyone here can help him, he doesn't need to see me, they all know at the front desk what to do. Wow another shining example outstanding customer service. Our reps face was flushed with embarassment as he apologized profusely.

For your money, sanity and family enjoyment please please please find someplace else. Trust me. You will thank me later.

Since this was a hotel review I must leave it at that. But there were so many hightlights. The people themselves, the city and the other dining options. Absolutely Fantastic! Don't miss fine dining on the beach at La Palaypa. Tables directly on the beach and a wait staff that pampers. Freddie Tucans for breakfast. Yum. Several taco stands that were tremendous. But avoid the one on the Malecon next to the ice cream shop. We are from California, we know chorizo, a delicious greasy pork/beef cased meat that is great with eggs in the morning or a taco. This place however, chopped up a hot dog and called in chorizo. Thas was laughable. There were other taco stands that truly made chorizo tacos. Rico Mac Taco has good lunch and at night right outside is a guy who makes hamburgers, giant juicy perfectly cooked hamburgers.

Last thing right near the hotel was a grocery store. The hotel, and most if not all for that matter, did not have a money exchange service. And this grocery chain was awesome. Not only was it a amercian style grocery chain, they had everything, their money exchange gave the highest return for the american dollar. The airport was low and the cambia stalls were just as low. I would just buy a candy bar, a snack or water and they give me change in pesos. If airport was 12, cambio stalls 11, the chain was 14/15 pesos to the dollar, easily.

Soda lovers! Almost forgot. if you drink coke, pepsi, sprite, 7 up. You are fine, if you don't mind paying 1-2 dollars for a can. What shocked me was the newer drinks like say coke zero, $5 and up for a can.....a can!!!! It was 7.50 at the airport.

Any ways, Puerto Vallarta is still beautiful and one of our favorite places to visit. Just don't stay at Crown Club. After our stay in Cancun, I joined their "frequent flier" program, thinking how awesome it was. Stay at properties and get points and stuff for future stays. After PV, I canceled.

This May our family vacation....Hawaii.

Last March we vacationed at Crown Paradise in Cancun. In December we vacationed at Crown Paradise in Puerto Vallarta. There is no comparison; Cancun was like paradise with pools, an excellent kids club, excellent entertainers, beautiful rooms and food wow amazing... In Puerto Vallarta well it's the complete opposite, morn, lunch and din buffet was the same all the time with very little choice, the rooms were OK but smelly even if you kept your doors open, my daughter had to sleep on the concrete sofa not a pull out. The kids club was boring as hell and the pool for the kids well you had to be with them it wasn't part of the kids club, so it's safe to say we didn't get a small break from our kids, even the staff for the entertainment was boring. The evening shows at Nitro were very good but very loud. On a positive note my husband spent 2 1/2 days at the San Janvier Hospital... Very clean, staff was amazing and at his beck and call, food was good, he had a very comfortable stay and would recommend the hospital if need be.

If you are a family with young children and limited budget for a tropical vacation, this resort is a good choice.

The waterslides and children's pool is better than most. The staff had a great entertainment night for kids, set up outside - really cool games, contests, carnival like snacks and music, my 8 year old loved it! He is a shy boy and the staff is really good at encouraging all the kids to participate. Good pool table room where my son and his dad had a nightly pool game! The beach restaurant caters to kids - ready made pizza, fries, and make all you want ice cream cones with no clothing restrictions.

The food and drinks are not the best I've had in Puerto Vallarta, but the lower price makes it manageable for some families to bring the kids, who normally could not afford it. Room was on the small side and dated, but we paid for the lowest priced room, I'm sure you could pay a little more for a bigger/nicer room. However, when you take small kids on a vacation to Mexico, the MOST important thing to everyone's enjoyment, is having them entertained, and this resort does. We would bring our family back.

Tip for parents whose kids don't like sitting at the dinner table:
The buffet has outdoor tables-get one! The kids can eat fast (which ours does) and then play a few feet away in the sand and beach scene watch, while mom and dad can enjoy their wine and dinner, while keeping an eye on the kids. Bring a few hot wheels cars and action figures, and my son was good for an hour!

I am a single mom of 3 and decided I wanted to take my kids on a vacation. This resort was recommended by a travel agent I know and we thought it was excellent! I was worried about the safety coming to Mexico alone with my kids at first but we felt completely safe! We went to several activities and visited downtown puerto Valletta and never felt uneasy or unsafe either walking around or in the cab ride. The resort was beautiful and clean. The staff was friendly and helpful! Having the kids club was really nice because I could have a few hours to myself each day! The price was amazing we only paid $2600 for 4 people 7 nights including airfare!! The all inclusive factor was great several options for food and drinks for both kids and adults and you really dont have to think much about bringing too much spending money. There is a flea market just a block away that has some great mexican souvenirs and they will definitely go down in the price of things if you ask. The cab fare to downtown was less than ten dollars and only about a five min drive. The kids really enjoyed the small water park they had, the water park and pools were very clean and well kept! I would recommend this resort to anyone with kids. They have a all adults resort too if your looking to get away on a kid free vacation.