The Samba Vallarta was not a good place to choose for our vacation. We were terribly disappointed and will never return. Why? The food is really bad and the rooms all have a mildew odor. We are not fussy people but we stayed at the Riu Santa Fe last year in Los Cabos and had a wonderful experience. So I do have a comparison.

We were first given a room on the first floor that had no operable safe, no tub and reeked of mildew. Everywhere on the first floor has a consuming mildew smell. We were immediately given a balcony room on the 4th floor that still had a mildew smell, but not as strong. Did they put wallboard over the existing mildew? Where there is mildew there can be mold. I worried about that. The room itself was well presented and freshly painted - no frig or drinks in the room, however. The king size bed was comfortable and air conditioning was adjustable. There is internet connection in every room but not strong enough - constant blackouts. Just enough to check email but it could not open attachments most of the time.

The food - A smelly cooking oil pervaded all the foods that were cooked, even the grill foods. Canola oil would have been a much better choice. The "sausages" for breakfast were cut up poor quality hot dogs, reheated every day because no one ate them. Bacon was hidden at the grill undercover. You had to ask for crisp bacon because it was undercooked and so fatty and again, poor quality. The "oatmeal" had to be strained for a few bits of oatmeal in a two gallon milk filled container. Not worth the trouble. This situation never changed for the whole week. The "hotcakes" and waffles were tough and lukewarm every day. Margarine instead of butter. No sweet rolls ever. Alcoholic drinks were watered down. Most foods were never hot, except when made at the grill. Even the fries at the snack bar near the beach were cold or luke-warm 5 days out of seven. Never any fruit at the snack bar. No fountain drinks to choose from in any of the bars or eating places. Light Pepsi was poured warm out of a 2 liter bottle at the bar.

The only foods that were always good were the orange juice, the fruit and an out of this world rice pudding dessert that was served on Mexican night.

The wait staff was wonderfully attentive.

I talked with 4 different people during this week. I asked them how their vacation was going. They were all unhappy and would never return. One gal brought her mother for two weeks and felt stuck because their travel company had no other place to offer them. They complained of bugs in their room. Enduring a vacation for two weeks that you find intolerable has to be awful. Another gal was apologizing to her friend for bringing her to this place. A written review by a previous Mexican vacationer was left in our room. He had much the same evaluations that we found.

I will say that the grounds were beautiful, the building was always clean and the beach is beautiful and goes forever. Every employee we encountered during the week was friendly and helpful.

Other reviewers have said "you get what you pay for" here. I disagree. I would rather have been home in our Central Illinois winter than to have forked out my money for this experience.

This was our first trip to Mexico or anywhere south for that matter.Where to begin?! We liked the size of Samba Vallarta. It was nice to meet the same people off and on. We walked to Bucerias a long the beach and saw some of the other resorts and I have to say that we prefered Samba by far. Samba is not as opulent as some but we like that a lot better. The beach was lovely. Not crowded and room to sit in the shade and the waiters came by regularly to offer drinks.The room was clean and the bed very comfortable. Nice bathroom with a good shower. Nice to have it so very well cleaned every day.The food was fantastic and so were the drinks. A lot of variety.The staff is so attentive and friendly. Beautiful pools although we didn't use them since we prefered the ocean which was nice and warm.We can't say enough about the fantastic staff. They go out of their way to be helpful.Samba is not a place if you are looking for a lot of night live but it suited us. We didn't bother taking the bus but just used taxis to get to Puerto Vallarta.It is not very expensive. We went on a few excursions and they were great.All in all we would certainly go back to the Samba if we get a chance to go on a holiday again.We met a lot of people that have been going there year after year and also a lot of the staff has been there for years so that says a lot about a place. Also a good place for families. Quite a few Mexican people and I had some great conversations with some. My only regret is that I don't speak Spanish and I should do something about that.

When booking a trip with my family of 7, which included my 2 young grandsons and myself wheelchair bound, I have to do a lot of research on resorts that would fit the bill.
The Samba seemed like it would fit the bill as a family and accessible resort, and that it did! Here are some reasons for my positive response.Everyone works hard and it is noticed and appreciated ,not like work ethic back home.
1. Staff all who work there are extremely friendly and helpful, from the restaurants, activities, bars really everyone was helpful.So many to thank ,can not name them all.
2. Resort is clean and rooms are spacious, not too big, easy to get around so it is not over crowded like other resorts the result more personal service which is a plus.
3. Pool area large with 3 pools divided for adults and young children. Plenty of beach chairs around pool with at least 200 lounge chairs. Most of the time only ¼ were occupied meaning the pool was not over crowed as compared to the Riu next door.Never had to go out early to get a chair.
Music good , not to loud and not to quiet,good selection.
4. Beach area well looked after, no rocks plenty of areas to soak in sun. Ocean one could go in and boogie board.
5. Plenty of activities for adults and young ones, everyone receives a sheet listing these from beach volleyball ,arobics,shuffleboard,etc . numerous kids activities.
Evening entertainment from live bands to circus at 9 pm[wish could be 8 pm a little earlier]
6. Restaurant buffet has different theme every night, the 3 that stand out in my mind is seafood night [excellent shrimp], barbecue night and Mexican night. Food tasty and in morning fresh watermelon,pinapple,melon,cantilope juice. The waiters were very attentive to ones needs.
7. Snack bar by beach had good hamburgers, ice cream and guacamole just to name some the food there
8. The grounds are well looked after and clean.
9. Salvador and Ricardo look after your needs for refreshments by pool area; they even brought special drinks for the children.
10. For a small family oriented resort it gives you the feel of what larger resorts offer.
A wonderful experience indeed

Beautiful sunsets a plus as well


Well done Samba
Looking forward to returning

If you are looking for the nite life and to be right in the middle of the action Samba is not for you, but if you want a relaxing resort with good room, great service, very good food, perfectly manicure grounds, great beach area than this is the place. We spent 2 week at this resort from January 13 to 27 and it was just perfect and very relaxing. You can go the a la carte restaurant daily just by signing up at breakfast, they have 2 sitting one at 18:30 and one at 20:30 they served about 30 people per sitting and have different theme every nite although the buffet was in it own very good. For lunch most day we would have burgers, machos and salsa at the snack bar very good burgers by the way. One thing I should mention is that the resort is non smoking, I dont smoke but my wife does and other than the beach itself you couls only smoke outside at the front of the hotel and also an area near the beach. The activity at the resort are somewhat limited, at nite there's not much to do. At the beach we saw very few peddlers. The only thing that I did not like is the fact that you cannot just walk off theresort to go to the stores etc as the is nothing within about an hour wlk in any direction other than more resorts but there is a bus that comes by every 20 to 30 minute and getting to vallarta will cost you 16 pesos. This was our second time in Vallarta and 4th in Mexico and enjoyed every minute. Thanks to Salvatore, ricardo, Ismael,Reyes just to name a few you made our stay very relaxing and enjoyable.