Hard Rock Hotel Vallarta

We were at the Hard Rock Vallarta from July 26, 2019 until August 1, 2019. We booked a package deal through Costco Travel. Transportation from the PV airport to the property was easy. The resort in in the hotel district in Nuevo Vallarta. Check in was easy. They offered us a drink at check in but it never materialized. We had a ocean view room on the 4th floor. The rooms are nicely appointed. One thing we did not care for was the jacuzzi in the room. Filling the jacuzzi is a long, loud process. The outdoor jacuzzis close at sunset (regrettable) but I see no attraction to sitting in a jacuzzi in a hotel room. I would much rather had a sofa or a couple of comfortable chairs, where we could relax in the evening and morning before going outside. There was a mini bar with canned beer, soda and water. The coffee maker in the room is seriously suboptimal but who cares when there is good coffee downstairs. The room was quiet and easy to sleep in. The pool area is large and, while we were there, filled with vacationeers soaking up alcohol and sunshine. Perhaps because it is the "Hard Rock" there is loud music playing from 9AM until 10PM. Some classic rock, some contemporary rock and some Spanish hip-hop. The pool area is lovely and the Hark Rock employees are generally very friendly (one beach server complained to me about the tip, telling me that 20 pesos is nothing). The four restaurants were overall of a very good quality. We were pleased with the food. In a funny irony, the best salad bar in in the steak house. The bars are lively. The usual Mexican light and dark beer on tap (Meh). With so many nice Mexican craft brews now being made in Puerto Vallarta, I can't understand why there is not a least one bar with a craft brew offer- even if I had to pay for it. The beach in front of the Hard Rock is perfect for bloated tourists who have drank too much and might drown. It is a long, wide, no surf beach. Perfect for walks at sunrise and sunset. The lifeguards at the Hard Rock are way too protective and if there is even a ripple on the water they will put up a yellow flag and not let you take out a paddle board or kayak. The Mexicans are sure they are protecting idiot tourists from themselves and maybe they are. The best time to go out on the water is the morning when it is calm, by the afternoon the wind is up and the lifeguards are all stony faced and saying "sorry." Like every all inclusive resort, the Hard Rock would like you to buy into their property. They incentivize the pitch with some discounts on excursions. You can get a much more lower price on excursions along the water front in PV in the late afternoon if you are willing to make the trip. We did not take the sales pitch offer. We rode the local bus to Puerto Vallarta. It is easy. Get some pesos (you need 20, 50 and 100 peso bills). Catch the "Directo" bus to Sam's Club. Get off at Sam's club and catch the "Centro" bus into the Romantic District. Very easy and the local people could not be nicer. You get such a flavor of the city by riding the local buses. Plus, on some of the buses there are local street performers on the bus (give them a 20 peso note for the performance). We love Mexico. We love Puerto Vallarta. We thought the Costco deal was exceptional (bonus: you get a $211.00 dollar Costco card in the mail when yo get home).

The high star reviews here are very confusing. I see the potential of being a decent resort, but nothing here was special. Bar tenders understaffed. Pools close at 8. Nothing to do at night. One pool, no sand bars. For this price find yourself something better, and don’t think this resort compares to hard rock punta cana. I can say the only reason I would say we had fun was because of who we were with. We had our wedding here and absolutely nothing was special except that- it was our wedding!

Just returned yesterday after spending two weeks at HR Hotel Vallarta. My husband and I have been there before. This is our third stay but this time with our kids and grandchildren. Everyone had a wonderful time. The hotel and grounds are well-maintained. The food is good. The staff is incredible. They all go above and beyond to help make your stay enjoyable. We made spa and excursion reservations prior to our trip. We had three rooms. Mirna Jessica, our vacation planner coordinated everything. Arriving at the hotel Lukaz was assigned to us for our stay and always checked in with us to make sure things were good. Dulce, our housekeeper did an incredible job cleaning our room especially when the grandkids stayed in our room. We had three couples massages and facials. I highly recommend the herbal poultice massage. The best. Alma and Eve were so good we requested them for all our treatments. Juan, the manager at Zen made sure we were taken care of every time. Oscar and Orlando waited on us a number of times. Outstanding service! In the Market, Naomi made the best crepes which I had almost every morning. She also came poolside at 2:00 with popsicles. A big hit with my husband. Esme was a wonderful server. I wish I could remember all the great servers there. In the Frida bar, Alex was wonderful. Always had ice teas on the table for us. We miss his smile! In the Splash bar, Octavio and Luis were the best bartenders. Knew what we were going to order before we asked. Look for Canario, Diane, and Cerezo serving drinks all day long at the pool. The entertainment staff was all incredible especially Jesse! She is awesome. Our grandkids loved her. We love you Jesse. All the staff at the hotel work hard and wish I could acknowledge them all. Puerto Vallarta has the best sunsets. We had sunshine every day, rain some nights. Incredible thunderstorms with lightening that lit up the night sky. We wii be back!!!