My husband, mother, and father-in-law, stayed here recently via an Apple Vacations 6 Apple Square Deal. Loved it. Here is my rundown:
Beach:
Very secluded and beautiful!! The sand is soft, not rocky at all, and whatever small debris is washed up is immediately picked up by the staff. Feels like your own private beach. There are a couple vendors, but they are not too pesky.
Room:
All rooms appear to have an ocean view, which was awesome because I loved watching the sunsets and waking up to an ocean view. Some rooms didn't have balconies, not sure what the fee was to upgrade. There was no whirlpool bath in our room, which I would have preferred, it was just a standard bathroom tub/shower and vanity.
Pools:
There are 3 small pools (smallest I have experienced). No rafts are available to float around on, as there really isn't enough room. The main pool has a swim up bar and was were the majority of the action happened. It was a little too crowded with lawn chairs for the size of the area so after one day at the main pool we resorted to the adults only infinity pool, which was the smallest of them all, but much more peaceful with a great view if you want to relax. There were probably only 12-15 chairs at the infinity pool so you have to wake early and reserve! The other pool was also quiet, but in a more shaded area with trees. Both the infinity pool and main pool also had hot tubs.
Food:
Outstanding!!! Every meal was amazing, we really couldn't pick our favorite place! All unique, and delicious! Generous portions too! Loved the escargot, mussels, ceviche, mahi mahi...steak at Seaside grill, soooo good! Highly recommend breakfast at Oceana, I don't think many people knew about it as it was nevery busy. Loved the fresh squeezed OJ and juices from the juicer. Also loved the little cafe to get lattes, coffee, espresso, cupcakes, muffins, etc.
Location:
5 mins from downtown, 20 mins from airport. The resort itself is pretty small compared to others I have stayed at, which I didn't mind at all because you don't get lost and you don't have to walk too far to anything.
I gave the resort 5 stars because although there are some minor things I would like to have different (larger pools being the primary one), for the price you can't beat it! It was an amazing place, and I would go back in a heart beat.

This was our second trip to this resort, 2012 being our first. We liked it so much last year, we decided to go back this year and upgrade to the preferred tower. It was outstanding in every aspect! Totally love everything about the resort, the people, location. Really, I don't think it could have been better. The rooms and amenities in the preferred tower were definitely worth the price upgrade. Rooms in the other tower were Ok, but nowhere as nice as this tower. If you are ok with a clean, nice room, the regular rooms will be fine, but if you like the extra pampering and more, go for the preferred tower. Restaurants, bars, pools, entertainment are all top notch. One of the main things we like is the layout of the resort. Two excellent seaside restaurants, and I mean on the water, plus a beautiful private beach. Service overall was outstanding. The spa is wonderful too. We met lots of great people from the U.S., Canada, and other countries. I will say another thing we like is that it is not a college kids hang out, we like to party, buy it was a nice mix and not crazy wild.

Late February, 2013, my husband and I spent six nights at this hotel. The food was excellent and a very nice variety, all of the servers in the restaurants, bars, beach and room service were wonderful. We stayed in the older tower, but had a great view of the ocean and the room other than a horrible MUSTY smell was very comfortable and housekeeping did a very nice job. My issue and only complaint was the terrible musty smell. We noticed it on our first day, but thought if we left the window open it would go away. We tried to get through the next day and night, but in less than 48 hrs in the setting I was having sinus issues and needing my inhaler.

I went to the front desk early am after the 2nd night there with my concern and effects of the must (mold?) on my breathing. They did offer me 4 choices, which I honestly can recall only 3 of....1) They would move us to a 2 bed room (this was our vacation and wanted our king bed) 2) They would send housekeeping and maintenance in to go through everything (I was not thrilled about having to stay out of my room for a portion of the day) 3) They would move us to a room with a king bed and balcony (which was not totally necessary) the next day. Well, by the third day when we could be moved to an acceptable room, we opted to just try and keep the windows open and deal with it. The thought of repacking and unpacking clean & dirty stuff after 3 days seemed a hassle. We did go to the malecon for a few hours that evening and upon our return they had been in the room and tidied up, used incense or something to cover the smell, and it was much nicer to be in, but only for a day or two. The sinus issues didn't go away, but at least it didn't smell so bad. I just find it hard to believe that in the entire complex, there was not one room between the towers that would have been better for us.

It is unfortunate, because other than this matter, which was big, it was wonderful!

I'm quite late reviewing, but almost 7 months later my husband and I were reminiscing about our trip, and I realized that I needed to post a review. My husband and I went mid-September for our "baby moon", so I was a little over halfway through my pregnancy at the time. We splurged and stayed in the Preferred tower. To us it was worth every penny, but we spent the hottest part of the afternoon napping and reading books in the room. Everything was wonderfully immaculate and the room was gloriously comfortable.

We enjoyed the food quite a bit. We tried all of the restaurants with Portifino, Seaside Grill, and El Patio being our absolute favorites. Seaside Grill had some amazing aguachile that my husband could not get enough of. Portifino had a lovely ambiance and the food was stellar. El Patio had some of the best pastor tacos I've ever had that come out as a pre-appetizer. I was only disappointed that I didn't see a whole plate of them on the menu! In the morning we liked to get coffee at Coco cafe then head over to World Cafe for the buffet at breakfast. There were lots of options there and we usually ended up eating far more than we should start the day with!

We would then settle in on the beach while it was still fairly cool and quiet. We'd enjoy swimming, read on the beach, and peruse the wares of the vendors. Lots of lovely silver and we came home with a great blanket as well. Once it reached afternoon it got a little too warm for me, so we would head to shower, lunch, and lounge in the room or wander the resort. We went during the off season so it was fairly quiet and not every restaurant was open every day, but we would do the same again. We were there for Mexican Independence day, and the resort suddenly became very full for that weekend!

Every one we talked with who worked there was amazingly kind and helpful. My husband speaks Spanish, but even when I was wandering alone there wasn't a noticeable language barrier.

Housekeeping did an amazing job of maintaining the room, and of course we made sure to leave a tip every day. I only wish that the toiletries were stocked more or made more readily available - I absolutely fell in love with the lemongrass lotion and the bar of soap, and wish I could get some more out here!

Oh, we also managed to avoid the "not a timeshare" bit fairly easily, but my husband and I are a young and tattooed couple - we don't exactly look like the type to have that sort of money at our disposal.

Our trip was scheduled during the laying and hatching season for sea turtles as well! We were able to sign up at the front desk to get a call if a mama turtle came up on the beach, but were warned that it is often very late night/early morning. We didn't go on vacation to sleep, so we signed right up! There was only one other couple down when we were called, and it was awe inspiring. Absolutely worth getting woke up in the middle of the night! We actually signed up for it twice for the week we were there. The call usually came around 3am, and we would call room service after we got back. It was actually included, but we definitely made sure to tip a little extra! Even the room service food was fairly good - it always showed up quickly and hot. We also participated in the turtle release at sunset. It was absolutely lovely.

Sorry if I've bounced around, I've got a newborn distracting me now. :) Overall we absolutely adored each and every aspect of this trip. We will definitely return in a few years once our newborn is old enough to leave with his grandmother for a few days. The place appears to be quite family friendly, but I know we'll need a nice romantic getaway sometime soon. The only complaint I can think of in the least is that they didn't have horchata, which is a traditional Mexican drink that my husband is particularly fond of. I believe it's not prevalent in that part of Mexico, though.