This was our third trip with up to 14 friends and will definitely come again. Yes - the pool was being redone but it has to be done sometime. Service couldn't have been better - very friendly, efficient and remembered us as returning guests. Food was great and authentic!!!

We had the worst experience ever, bad food, bad customer service, long lines to get a drink, the pool was under reparation so we were not able to swim, a lot of noice and for the cost that we paid it was very expensive.

We just returned from one week at the Samba Vallarta all inclusive resort. When we arrived late in the evening there was no lineup at the front desk. We were looked after promptly and given a room with a king bed as requested but without the balcony we paid for. After contacting the front desk Javiar promised us a suite the next day which is exactly what we got. Although we had 2 queen beds with the suite instead of a King bed we were very satisfied with the suite, in fact we had 2 balconies which were quite nice. The rooms have heavy curtains and sheers. The heavy curtains black out the light. We slept great in the comfy bed and bedding. Comfy pillows too, and lots of them!

The staff of the Samba are all very accommodating to the best of their ability. This is a smaller hotel complex where you can get to know the different staff quite well. The facility is not new but seems well maintained. They have three pools and they are undergoing re-tiling one at a time. The other pools are unaffected.

The pool deck and beach have ample lounge chairs including palapa shades on the beach. We spent most of our time at the beach and swam in the ocean. While lots of people reserved lounge chairs with towels we never had a problem finding 2 lounge chairs to use. The beach at the Samba is one of the nicest beaches I have ever seen in the PV area. The slope of the beach makes swimming and playing in the surf relatively safe as there is a slight slope to the beach within the swimming area buoys.

The cooks at the beach snack bar are unsung heroes. Olga in particular went out of her way to to make our lunch special. We asked for something special and she delivered every-time! She also made our day special on one of the busy days we were there. Thanks Olga and staff.

There are two la carte restaurants. They are Italian and Mexican. Reservations must be made the same day and there is never a problem getting it for either the 6:30 or 8:30 pm sittings. The food service and presentation are great. The Mexican Coffee is good, but the presentation is excellent! The waiters are the same guys that served you breakfast and lunch. This puts perspective on how hard the staff work.

We have been to all inclusive resorts that are stingy with the booze, this is not the case at Samba! The bars seemed well stocked with quality liquors. In our case, they carried 3 types of gin, Beefeater being the one of choice. There was a good selection of fruit juices and a couple beers on tap as well as (large) bottles poured into plastic cups at the beach or glasses at restaurant. The bar waiters on the beach were great, in particular Salvador was excellent. He kept drinks supplied on the beach in extremely hot and humid weather trudging through hot dry sand always smiling! When we were leaving to go check out Salvador came and thanked us for coming to the Samba, asking if we enjoyed our stay. That gives you an idea of the level of service typical with most staff at Samba Vallarta.

We tried to get a late check out several days before our departure. Since our flight left in the evening we wanted to take advantage of our last day at the beach. Standard check out time is 12 noon. At first we were promised a late check out but the day before we went to re-confirm and we were told there were no late check outs but a hospitality room would be available to change and shower etc. for only 1/2 hour. When we went to get the room to change we were sent to a recently vacated room, or should I say almost vacated! We walked into a pigpen. One suitcase in the room, shoes on the floor, garbage everywhere, a swim suit in the shower, a flood on the bathroom floor and best of all, no clean towels. We managed to get a maid to help us out with the translation help from the bellman Adan we got the room mopped up and received clean towels etc. By now our 1/2 hour was up. It's not the hotel's fault that some people are pigs, but they should not send people into unkempt rooms. Rosario the head person at the front desk was of no help. While waiting for the airport shuttle, Adan, the bellman, apologized numerous times for the condition of the room and that we had problems. Overall, a great vacation and we'd certainly stay at the Samba Vallarta again and be much wiser regarding use of a hospitality suite again.

We have been to the Samba Vallarta 3 times, The first time it was fantastic, great entertainment, great food and lots of friendly people. Second time, the entertainment sucked, food was ok, still had friendly people. So we tryed another place in Puerto Vallarta, closer to town, the only disappointment there was there was not enough beach for a walk, lots of rocks, and the hotel favored the locals that showed up for the weekends. So we went back to Samba Vallarta because we love the beach. That was the worse time ever. The main pool was closed. And even if you just wanted to relax by the pool, you couldn't because of all the noise. Also, when we checked in I handed them our paperwork with our reservations on it, showing that we already paid for the room. And the clerk charged our charge card for another 10 days. She did not understand what she did, so we asked for the manager. She got someone else, and he was able to correct the billing. And he also said that if we came by in the morning he would upgrade our room for the inconvience. When we went to the desk in the morning the same girl that checked us in was there. So we discussed the issue and she acted like she did not know us or knew what we were talking about, so her supervisor started talking to us and said she does not know us. And that no manager was going to up grade our room. We just left, and tryed to enjoy our trip, but that left a bitter feeling. We left one day early.We will be going back to Puerto Vallarta but will try one of the other resorts, and we will tell our friends that the Samba is not worth the money!