The Wisdom of The Matty

I visited the area north of Puerto Vallarta recently and did I ever see some beautiful sunsets (above). Celebrating our 3rd weddding anniversary, my wife and I stayed at the brand Riu Palace in Nuevo Vallarta for four nights before culminating the trip with three nights at the Four Seasons Punta Mita. For anyone who is interested, here are some thoughts on both properites.

RIU PALACE PACIFICO, Neuvo Vallarta

LIKED:

• The view from my insanely large balcony (above). All of the rooms have balconies here, but they are larger in the full ocean view rooms, which I highly recommend. In general, the property’s highest attribute has to be its location and natural beauty.
• Free drinks all day long. Admittedly, this can get a bit dangerous, but how fun is it to lay by a beautiful ocean and consume tropical beverages to one’s heart’s desire? The hard drinks were small and not very strong, but there are dispensers in the room for tequila, vodka, rum and brandy! Plus, the refrigerator is restocked daily with Corona. Life doesn’t get much better than this!
• Swim-up bar! Whoever developed this concept should be given the Nobel Prize.
• Buffets for breakfast, lunch and dinner were generally very tasty, with a large selection of authentic Mexican food every day, as well as stations for Chinese, Italian, seafood, steak and sandwiches. Bottomless Cava was also a huge plus for me.
• Generally, very clean throughout the hotel. I liked the large bathroom with stand up shower and the large, modern room.

DISLIKED:

• The entire “specialty restaurant system.” We ate at Guacamole, Krystal and Kyoto, and the food was average to above average. What was annoying is that the hotel doesn’t allow guests to book “reservations” ahead of time, so upon arrival, we were told that all of the restaurants were fully booked. Obviously, we weren’t accepting that for an answer, and we walked into Guacamole and explained the situation. After being made to wait for about twenty minutes, they let us in, and we watched in amazement throughout our dinner at a half-full dining room. The same thing happened three nights later at Kyoto, where the host told us that “since it was our last night” he would make an exception. Thanks buddy, how about the fact that the place was never even near half full during the course of our dinner to begin with? I understand that some people make reservations and then don’t show up, but this system seemed to be difficult just for the sake of being difficult.
• Apparently they don’t have 24-hour maintenance. One night we returned from dinner to find that the toilet chain had come loose from its lever, causing the toilet to run and preventing the toilet from being able to flush. As much as I could have fixed it myself, I don’t spend money to go on vacation to stick my hands in a bunch of dirty toilet water (Mexican toilet water no less). Amazingly, when we called the front desk, we were informed that the maintenance staff had gone home for the night and there was no one that could assist us. After nearly an hour of discussion, they finally sent up a bell boy to help us out. Really, this had to be the low point of our stay. It wouldn’t put them out of business to employ one maintenance person during sleeping hours I don’t imagine.
• I know this is Mexico, but is it too much to ask to have one American sports channel? The hotel advertises its sports bar, but with only Mexican sports channels I had a tough time finding college football or pro football on during the weekend, and this was disappointing.
• I was surprised by the amount of people here so soon after the grand opening, but even more surprised by the large amount of children. I suppose it’s fine for the hotel to cater to families, but it would be nice if the children would at least not be allowed near the swim up bar. Sitting in the pool with a glass of champagne while rambunctious children splash around in the same vicinity isn’t exactly my idea of relaxation.

FOUR SEASONS PUNTA MITA, Punta Mita

LIKED:

• As with any Four Seasons, the service here is not to be topped. Upon arrival, we were given fruit drinks at the check in counter while the bell service stored our luggage. Our room was not ready, but they were happy to show us around the property and then to the immaculate fitness center. When our room was ready, we were disappointed to find that the air conditioning wasn’t working, more than a small problem on a 95 degree day! No problem- they promptly moved us to an upgraded room with a full ocean view. And, they gladly transported all of our unpacked luggage and anniversary sparkling wine to our new room. Above all, the staff spoke perfect English and were all as friendly as can be.
• Along a similar note, we really enjoyed the convenient golf cart rides around the property. The resort is quite spread out and hilly, making walking from place to place a bit difficult, especially at night when the windy trails are difficult to navigate. The resort offers a simple solution to this problem: Any time you need a ride anywhere, simply call the front desk, and a golf cart will be in front of your room in minutes to take you wherever you want to go, kind of like a free go-cart ride! For some reason, we found this to be a lot of fun.
• All of the restaurants here are excellent. I was a bit worried after reading reviews stating that the food was outrageously overpriced, and this is far from the case, as it is probably less expensive than at Four Seasons that I have stayed at in the United States. Aramara served delicious food in an elevated setting, and has live music after 8 pm, and Bahia was a real highlight for us, as it serves deliciously fresh cuts of fish steps from the ocean, which is a truly incredible setting.
• American ESPN in the room. See, it isn’t that much to ask!
• The mango margaritas at the Cora Lounge were amazing.
• The general seclusion and lack of traffic at the property makes for the ultimate in relaxation.

DISLIKED:

• Although the room that they moved us to had much better functioning air conditioning than the first one, we still had trouble ever cooling off at any point during our trip. Plain and simple, the place just doesn’t have very strong air-conditioning.
• We were excited to spend some time at the Infinity Pool, and were disappointed to learn upon arrival that it was under construction. They told us that they had sent a notice in the mail, and it’s possible that they did and I ignored it. The alternative, the adult pool, was pleasant enough, with a large pool and waterfall, although the service at the pool wasn’t quite as “pampering” as it was at other Four Seasons properties. Admittedly, that’s getting pretty picky.