Chuckanut Bay Travel
Puerto Vallarta
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MARIVAL RESORT in Nuevo Vallarta is a Mediterranean style resort with authentic Mexican atmosphere, owned and managed by French Canadians. It is very clean and well maintained, with a nice long beach and plenty of available activities.   There are 4 restaurants, 7 bars, 3 pools and swim up bar, 4 tennis courts with daily tennis clinics from 9-10am, water aerobics, bicycles, billiard room, pingpong, darts, shuffleboard,  boogie boads, kayaks, hobie cats, and windsurfing.  The food here is good, especially the pizza which is hand tossed and baked in a brick oven over a wood fire. The restaurant by the pool makes great pancakes in the morning, and cappuccinos all day. There is nightly entertainment (the resort staff put on a dance show), lobby bar with live music and dance floor. 
 
I stayed at the Marival Resort in May 2008 with my family. We had a ground floor room in the Grand Section.  The bed was hard and pillows lumpy - if you like a soft pillow, bring your own! We asked housekeeping to put a foam topper on the mattress which improved things.
 
The food was great with lots of options for a la carte dining, even for breakfast and lunch.  Drinks were mediocre. No fresh fruit smoothies. Margaritas were watery.
 
Our 8yr old son enjoyed the kids waterpark and playing waterpolo in the pool.  The kids club was geared more for younger kids.

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Club Marival

 
For a lively, adults-only resort, I recommend the CROWN PARADISE. This is a very nice resort and has all menu dining (no buffets) and 24hr room service. It is located near the marina, 3 miles from dowtown. Most guests are in the 20-40 yr old range, and it can get pretty noisy around the pool with lots of music and activities going on.  The food at all four of the resturants is very good. They have two restaurants that you make reservations for and the menu change every day (long pants required for men). 

RIU VALLARTA  is a great resort for singles, couples and families located on Flamingos Beach (midway between Nuevo Vallarta and Bucerias).  The adults only pool has a really nice atmosphere, good music, swim up bar, in-pool loungers.  The kids pool has 3 fun waterslides and is next to a beachfront restaurant with excellent buffet food for lunch that you can take to the pool. Also great soft serve ice-cream!  You can also use the pools/bars at the Riu Jalisco next door which is more of a party atmosphere. The Riu Vallarta is more upscale and newer.

RIU JALISCO   opened May 2002, this is a large resort with 700 rooms.  Two large pools - one with a swim up bar (kids allowed), and one for families with fountains and 3 waterslides.  Great buffet restaurant on the beach, plus 2 other restaurants, outdoor theatre, and disco.  Water sports include kayaks, boogie boards,  and catamarans.  Kids club with separate toddler pool, soccer games on the beach, arts & crafts in the afternoon. Kids entertainment in the evening with dancing and games. Adult evening entertainment is pretty amateur.   Great value for a 4 star resort!

SAMBA VALLARTA  located next door to the Riu Jalisco on Flamingo Beach.  This is an older, smaller resort with only 180 rooms. Its a budget resort but fine for couples and families with small children looking for a smaller, quiet resort with good service. The rooms are basic but we found the king size bed very comfortable and quiet. The small sofa bed that my son slept on was old and he could feel the springs. The one bedroom suites are a great option for larger families as they will take up to 6. They have a separate livingroom with sofabed, microwave, fridge, 2 bathrooms, and balcony with ocean view.  There is a buffet restaurant (mediocre food), poolside grill (greasy hamburgers & hot dogs for lunch), and 2 a la carte restaurants that require reservations and were quite good.  The main buffet restaurant served a good breakfast but slim offerings for lunch and dinner. They kept running out of things. No pizza or ice cream!   Activities include water aerobics, volleyball, kayaking, and boogie boards.  There is a kids playground located by the beach, as well as shuffleboard and ping pong. Evening "mini-disco" for kids with games and small prizes. Mostly Mexican families when we were there. No tennis courts. Nice size gym. 

ROYAL DECAMERON  Walking distance to Bucerias, this resort is also located on beautiful Flamingo beach. It is very popular with Canadians and offers great value.  There are 3 sections to this resort, the newest section being located across the street from the beach. There are  4 a la carte dining choices (Japanese, Grill, Italian and Thai) in addition to the buffet restaurant. This is a great resort for couples and singles, with a popular disco.  The kids club is only offered when there is a minimum number of children registered. Click here for photos of the Royal Decameron.