The Villa Vera was a very welcome breather after spending a week at Cancun. This is just the kind of place that my wife and I would look for, and we sort of stumbled on this place through a time-share exchange. We weren't sure what to expect, with it being on a marina, but in my book this place is at least a four or (maybe even a five) star resort.
The scene here is very relaxed but luxurious. I wouldn't recommend this as a place for kids, as this is really more of a place for romance and quiet time. It's located pretty much right in the middle of the island, so it is convenient to get to either end, though it is not really on the beach.

We stayed a week at Villa Vera in late October 2007. What a great property! We normally stay right on the beach - but booked this through our RCI exchange. We were pleasantly suprised with the accomodations. We had a third floor room with the outdoor jacuzzi (like you see on the website), but it did not work. The staff came and filled it with cold water. They kept telling us it was a "mini-pool" - not a jacuzzi - even though it had a heat pump....Otherwise - the room was clean and comfortable.
The pool was great - very clean. Food and drinks were good - but overpriced.
The town was fantastic! We rented a scooter and traveled around on it the entire week. It was wonderful not to have to rely on cabs to take you around the island. Restaurants downtown are good - especially the Cuban one. However, Lounge Alamar - on the opposite end of the island was to-die-for. Awesome Asian-fusion cuisine and very private.
We are big beachers, but we found the beach on Isla to be very disappointing. Lots of erosion. The palapas on the beach were great - nice to sit in the breeze and have a cold beer - but we prefered the Villa Vera pool over the beach.

Our studio villa was very pretty. Large, comfy king sized bed took up most of the front half of the room, with a chair, mini bar, tv and cd/radio. The back half of the studio was a large bathroom with the closet and drawers, sink, jacuzzi bath and toilette. It was tastefully decorated in island colours of turquoise, pink, white and lots of natural wood.

All rooms look out onto the pool which was never busy the whole week we were there. Always found it easy to get chairs and an umbrella. The pool bar/restaurant was busy with people fromthe marina as well as hotel guests. The food was very good but about 50% more expensive than places in town. Service around the pool was only existent if you ask for it, otherwise, they didn't mind if you brought your own drinks down to the pool.

Overall the service was courtious, but not overly friendly. It seemed like they tried to be in the background...which was fine with us as we were looking for quiet R&R.

The loudest sounds were of the birds in the morning and occasionally guests walking around the pool forgetting what time it was, but this had to be one of the quiestest places we've stayed at.

Not much to do at this resort in terms of onsite activities (except boating, fishing and tennis), but if you are looking for a getaway that leaves you with time to think, read or just stare at the palm trees, this is the place.

We would have gladly stayed another week if we had had the time. We would go back to this resort.

My husband and I stayed for 1 week at the Villa Vera Puerto Isla Mujeres. We had a wonderful, quiet and relaxing time there. We did a RCI timeshare exchange and even though we knew that we would only have a "basic" room beforehand, I would not do a RCI timeshare exchange again. The reason is, is we own a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom unit and feel that we should be able to get a 2 BR, 2BR unit in exchange. Our "basic" room though was very nice and large. It had a huge king sized bed, a (I think pull out) couch, a table, 2 chairs, a small counter area with another chair and coffee maker (bring your own coffee and flat coffee filters- napkins work too), a separate toilet and small sink, shower with jacuzzi tub (that didn't work), closet with small safe (but big enough for our camera, money, cell phones, ipods) and another sink area and large counter space, and a smaller 4 drawer chest. It also had a (locked up) fridge area that I never had opened, but you could take everything out and use it as your mini fridge for the time being. As mentioned before, all the rooms face the pool. There is great landscaping and the pool is nice. It has a fountain with an area of about 6 inches of water where you can sit or partially lay down and an area to sit in the water. There is also a separatie "kiddie" pool next to the main pool. There is a swim up bar that no one really used. Happy hour is from 5:30pm-6:30 pm. It would be nice if this was during the day when the pool is getting used more. I think they would get more business that way. IMO, drinks are way overpriced. $7.00 for a pina colada (it was good though, but expensive). The pancakes and fruit plates were good for 35 and 40 pesos each. The club sandwich wasn't bad and of course, the chips 'n salsa and guacamole were very good. The harbor is nice and the boats are amazing! The free internet access in the lobby is nice and it was pretty quick. You had to pay $20.00 extra for the week to have your room cleaned daily, otherwise it gets cleaned on Tuesday and Thursday. The room was always cleaned well. We tipped and got great folded towel "art" animals (a snail and an elephant) left on our bed. I did check out another larger room while the maid was cleaning. It had a mini kitchen, 2 bathrooms and a separate room upstairs with the jacuzzi tub on the balcony (like you see in the pictures), but only a couple/few rooms have this. We were on the lower floor and that was nice. We loved the covered patio with 2 chairs and a table, ceiling fan and cozy hammock! The AC worked very well in the room. There are also 2 ceiling fans in the room too. I agree with the other post in regard to very dim lighting. There are 2 nice lights that you can swing over the bed. One of each side. They are small, but pretty bright. I did not hear at all any loud music at the pool, unless they turned it way down. In fact, it would have been nice to have it a little louder, but we enjoyed the various music at the pool and it was very quiet. It would have been nice to be closer to town (which we knew once again beforehand that weren't). It was quick $3.00 taxi ride to town or a 25-30 minute walk (with sidewalks all the way to town). (I mention this because there aren't sidewalks everywhere). We decided to walk to Garrafon and that took 45 minutes (with no sidewalks). We had a wonderful time on the island. Playa Norte is nice. Great reastaurants everywhere! Would I stay at the Villa Vera again? Yes, but like I mentioned, I would use an extra vacation or pay a good nightly rate instead of a RCI timeshare exchange again. I would stay at the Villa Vera again for a good deal, but I would look at other locations downtown too. Check in and out went well. The workers are friendly. Knowing some Spannish would help, but you can get by without it too. There was a mixture of aged people ranging from some families with kids to middle aged and older. The average aged people were probably in their 50's. It was a great time and I can't wait to go back!