This is the second year we have spent our anniversary at the VP. We have stayed in both the honeymoon suite or the Master suite primarily because of the tiled bath/hot tubs on the balcony, the views and the privacy of these particular rooms - especially when relaxing on the balcony. This year, when checking into the honeymoon suite on Saturday, we asked if an upgrade to the Master Suite was available and the front desk said it would be available on Tuesday. So we immediately paid the increase in fees and reserved the Master Suite for the second half of our vacation. On Tuesday morning, I stopped at the front desk and they informed me that we had to be checked out of our room by 11 AM and they would store and move our luggage to the Master Suite and we could check into the new room at 4 PM. We headed to Old Town Vallarta for breakfast, shopped around downtown and then walked back to the VP arriving around 2:30 PM.............and lounged around the pool until 3:45 PM when we checked at the front desk for our new room keys. To our amazement, the front desk said the occupants of the Master Suite informed them at 2 PM (check out is 11 AM) that they were extending their stay. The front desk just allowed this to happen.......they didn't say that the room was already reserved, they didn't come and find us at the pool or prepare in any way-shape or form to deal with this situation. We then asked, what are our options? They showed us another room (small balcony, no outoor tub) - which was still uncleaned and wouldn't be available for several hours.........so we just decided to check back into our original room. We, to say the least were upset, so we grabbed our luggage and packed it ourselves back to our original room. When we entered, we were suprised to see that it hadn't been cleaned, althought the sheets had been stripped from the bed and piled on the chair, and it didn't appear that they planned to clean it that day. So we headed back to the front desk to inform them of the room condition and then headed back to the pool for another hour and a half waiting for our room to be prepared. We like the VP and may stay there again but this experience was very disappointing.

Where do I begin?

My first vacation to Mexico was meant to be a complete disconnect – no laptop, no cellphones, no work. My wife had arranged the trip through our travel agent (Nob Hill – PDX) with the following stipulations: it needed to be quiet, all-inclusive and no kids.

Her suggestion was the Villa Premiere in Puerto Vallarta. The website, although very nice fails to capture just how amazing this place was. The greeting of champagne and neck massage was not only welcome after the flight from PDX but also unusually fragrant. The choice of pillows (from a large menu) and which scent we would like for our room - we chose eucalyptus (our clothes, baggage, and personal items held on to this fragrance well after we arrived home - was done at the front desk before we were escorted to our room by our butler, who we were told would draw our bath and tend to any need we might have. Over-the-top!

From those initial impressions we were transported to an enclosed haven (heaven) of deliciously prepared and presented food (24 hour room service that did not come any less thoughtfully arranged), unlimited drinks (order any Bloody Mary's you might like for breakfast the night before with no-ice as the bar doesn't open until eleven am), and a more-than-accommodating wait staff that were not only attentive to our every need but representative of all that is attractive in Mexican people.

We completely and totally submersed ourselves in this warm (87 degrees everyday in early May) lap of luxury. The details (towel animals in the room) of our suite poured over into the restaurants and open spaces around the pool (say hello to Omar and Carlos at the poolbar for us). The pool was sparkling and pristine looking out onto Banderas Bay. The wandering merchants (selling silver? and other knickknacks) were kept away as well - unless what they sold interested you.

Needless to say, we left the hotel for two hours - to get souvenirs.
We swam with no dolphins (although they swan past each day), took no parasailing or zipline excursions, did not fish or explore the city and surrounding beaches. We did not want to leave during or at the end of the vacation.

I highly recommend the hotel and hope that, if your goal is to leave the outside world completely (although they do have wi-fi and a business center for you workaholics), this is the single best place I have found.

Paul and Bonni Petillo

Great hotel. We booked the whole trip with amex points, but looking at thier website, the hotel seems a little pricey. The welcome massage with champange was short, but nice and relaxing. We did not have a chance to eat at the hotel or use the spa services. The drinks at the pool were OK, but I found myself going back up to the room and mixing my own coctails mostly. The pool was nice, with a great view of the bay. I liked the bags of ice for the rooms, and they make cool designs with your extra towels. The nice thing about the hotel is that it is very centrally located. We probably went to 20 different restaurants/cafes during our stay there. Very friendly staff also.

I chose this hotel for our long weekend getaway based on all these Tripadvisor reviews, and I am so glad! We really enjoyed our stay at the Villa Premiere. The location is great - a short ten minute walk to the Malecon (boardwalk), which is a stroll we took virtually every day. We got to see the other behemoth hotels in the Hotel Zone, and the more run down establishments in the Romantic Zone, and we are very happy we stayed where we did. The hotel only has eighty or so rooms, so there weren't a million people wandering around the property like some of the other places we saw. It was incredibly easy to get a pool seat - no towel saving necessary. Granted we did come in the off season, but judging by how crowded some other places seemed, I think you'd still be better off here.

We booked the hotel through Costco, which included a free "romantic dinner" - a prix fixe intimate dinner on the sand. They only book two a night, so you want to book it early. The Costco package allows you to choose any dinner for free, so we naturally chose the most expensive one (with lobster). The service was excellent and the food was very good. When we got back to our room, they surprised us by setting up our jacuzzi tub and sprinkling candles and rose petals everywhere!

Like others mentioned, even though they claim maid/bellman gratuities are included, a couple of dollars tip seem to inspire the maids to create fun shapes with the towels (we got elephants and sailboats). On the day we didn't leave any extra tip, we came back to a clean but not-as-fun room.

The staff here is great and eager to help. Best part is - NO TIMESHARES! That's right, I could go and walk through the lobby with no worry that someone was going to harass or pretend to befriend me into getting a timeshare. Since one of our tour guides let us know that Puerto Vallarta is known for three things: "tequila, silver, and timeshares," this was a great relief to us and another bonus to not staying at a big condo resort.

Spa packages here are absurdly expensive - if you are looking for a massage, there are plenty of $35/hr massage places within walking distance to the hotel. You do not have to pay the $100+ prices they are asking for.

Take advantage of their free daily breakfast - no buffets, just regular sit down meal service. We slept in most of our trip and only got to enjoy it on our last day - and we were bummed as the food was pretty good.

Overall a great stay at a great hotel!