We always enjoy our week at the Sherton Buganvilias vacation club- It is always upset by the pressure to attend the time share breakfast in order to receive the 20% discount for owners. This time it was particularly upsetting when our friends and I were embarrassed by Doug the Manger of Sales who started screaming at us when we asked questions about the validity of what he was saying (we had been duped before by the HSI sales pitch 3 years earlier) I was upset when we complained about what had happened and I was told the RCI Guest Services Manger didn't know what was being said about the new scheme to make money.

The time share is very well maintained, has lovely people on staff in the vacation club and we love PV- It is sad that the time share people, from the barrage at the airport thru the pressure to hear the pitch again, mars the otherwise lovely vacation.

I returned to the Buganvilias Vacation Club for my 18th season and found it to be better than ever.
The accommodations, staff, pool and restaurants are all first class! Beautiful views of Banderas Bay and the lush tropical vegetation of the grounds makes this a perfect get-a-way spot. Whether you stay for one week or for six weeks (as I do), you will enjoy it!!. Located just about 1 mi. from the very charming town of Puerto Vallarta and just another mile down the Malecon to Old Vallarta, you can comfortably walk to everything. (But try the buses - they are great!) I can't wait until Dec. 2012 when I can return again.

Linda Pierson

First off this resort has some age but it does not show at all. Stayed in a 2 bedroom using RCI exchange so I have no idea on the rooms in the hotel at all. The room I stayed in was in the C tower on third floor room 1383. Very little ocean view but still a very nice view of pool and glimpse of the beach. If possible I would recommend the B tower it is ocean view. The room was very clean and modern. Water pressure will blow your skin off, it was great!
Just a few warnings check-in desk lacks personable or helpful people but all other employees were great. Unless you own there Wifi is $70 per week! Restaurants are fair but there are many others that are in town and close that are much better. Beach well there is no beach it is all rocks but just walk to the edge of property and beach is better so really no big deal.

Prices at Sheraton are very pricy compared to other stores away from property

I started to rate this a four but overall a great place so don't hesitate to stay there.

I prefer the marina area but if you want to be close to town this is your place.
If you like it a bit more quite then go for the Marina area.

Use credit card or ATM to get better exchange rates.

Nov 19, 2011 Sheraton Bouganvillas Puerto Vallarta
Nice but less than I expected!

We drove as usual, me and Mom, left at 6:45 am and arrived around 1ish. We did hit some traffic in Guadalajara but other than that all was fine. No problems driving thru Nayarit and back into Jalisco, no safety issues, nice ride.

Pulled into parking lot to entrance, bellboys all around, waited for directions, no one did any acknowledgement. Waited and waited. Finally I got out of car, we are right by stairs and I said we are checking in, where would you like us to put car etc…slowly they said just leave it there and go in and check in then we can get your stuff..OK. This is unusual as when you drive they usually direct you and unload car, as do not want you blocking entrance and such. I am a little bit irritated with all this after driving for so many hours but at front desk they are very courteous and friendly so all is well. We check in, get our room keys, room not ready but can have keys, we pay for the AI which is $80.US p/p/d. We are given a paper explaining what it entails, in writing. This will fall into play later. Then we are also told have to pay tax or such of 264 pesos. Only place I have ever been told this separately was at Mayans, so I just pay it.. The check in was friendly and courteous but very slow and took quite some time.

Our bellboy was wonderful, he unloaded the car, parked it, and put everything in room, while we grabbed something to eat. Did I mention WIFI was free if doing AI. They said room signal not very good “but that was not their fault it was the signal“, which is their connection, but whatever. Anyway it was a non issue since it worked just fine in the room for me. I was worried about WIFI and had been told there was a charge thur RCI, which there is but not if doing AI.

As soon as we turned away from check in desk, the timeshare lady approached us, oh we needed a map, and what about a nice breakfast tomorrow, told her we were AI, she said why did you do that, PV is a restaurant haven. True but not sure hotel would like you giving their money away..LOL. I think you still want to come to breakfast , free drinks, etc….we got the map of property and then Mom jumped in, we are not interested this is a timeshare presentation and not interested. She said oh no not really. Mom said well NO not interested, so the girl wrote something down and I just told her and do not call my room in the morning I sleep late for that matter we already said no so mark it clearly do not call, I will be very upset if you do. They never did call us, which was good.

We were given Room 1779, 7th floor, up the elevator down the hall towards ocean. It is a 2 bedroom, 2 bath unit. You walk in door and to the left is a bathroom, with sink, shower, tub, toilet, etc…then straight into living room or to left is kitchen which has 2 burner stove, no oven, dishwasher ( we did not use), full fridge, Microwave, blender, toaster and coffee maker. The refrigerator is not stocked with drinks nor is bottled water in room, but you can go down to bar or restaurant and get whatever you like, sort of inconvenient, but we made it work. No coffee packets supplied either, there is one dishwasher pellet in room. There is sufficient counter space and dishes, utensils etc. Beyond the kitchen again straight is the dining area, a table, 4 chairs, buffet sideboard, then the living room which leads onto a balcony via sliding doors to the side. To the front is a large window. The living room has built in “L’ shaped couches, coffee table and a flat screen tv. Also a dresser with draws. Lighting is not bad from ceiling but there are very few plugs.

The balcony was a wrap around so you could access from living room or master bedroom, nice loungers and chairs on balcony. Flat screen tv in each bedroom as well. Master Bedroom, king bed a large closet, safe, dresser with draws and bathroom off of it. One sink, toilet, tub and shower in one. Water pressure actually too high/hard…and no adjustment on shower head, plenty of hot water though. Second bedroom had two double beds, or twins unsure…closet in hall and second bathroom full off of hall. So tons of closet space and draw space. The room was quite nice actually, nothing spectacular about it, but roomy, with a great view overlooking the ocean.

The All Inclusive was a huge disappointment. They have a buffet in La Villita, which is the restaurant with the Palapa, but it lacks variety. It is actually very limited . It did seem to get a bit better as the week wore on but some days salad bar with lettuce no cukes, tomatoes etc…unappealing main foods, hot dogs, hamburgs, pasta, nothing special. The refrigerator in room is not supplied with water, sodas or such, so you had to go down to bar, restaurant etc. for sodas , water etc…very inconvenient.

The Sunday Brunch is crowded and you must wait in long line. There is not a separate line for those on AI and those not. Which I felt there should be, but whatever it worked and we had time to chat with others. They have a Mexican décor for this set up, Mariachis playing very loudly, but the buffet is very good, lots of variety, including champagne etc. It is a busy restaurant on this day but the service, as like all the days, was intolerably slow and not pleasant. Unhappy waiters, no smiles, almost had to whistle to get a waiter, really poor service.

The drinks at night in Embarcadero Bar at the hotel side were very good and the service was also good.
The menu by the pool was sort of neat it is on a pizza oven stick, long handled like for brick oven pizza, pretty neat. We did have one day chicken quesadillas by the pool and they were very dry. The fish tacos were not bad. Again the service unspeakable. I spent more time going back and forth to bar to get my own drinks for us, than being served. Once I arrived at bar and carried my drinks sometimes a waiter would pass me and not offer help other times yes. It was their loss as we tip pretty well. It was also our loss as it just was not enjoyable always trying to find a waiter, then having them come if you were successful with a unhappy face etc…Getting a lounger by pool was not too difficult, but umbrellas were not so plentiful if you needed one. Towels were treated like silk or gold, no more than one and so many rules. The beach is pretty much unusable as just too rocky, though they do have a small sanded area for timeshare area with loungers, so own beach area, but to get a waiter there, no way.

We had an issue with the Specialty Restaurants, there are two depending on who you talked to. The paperwork they give you when paying for AI, that you have to sign and give to them a copy states you can only dine once in their specialty restaurant Gaviotas. Perfectly clear to me. So we went to concierge in hotel area as they requested to make our reservations for Gaviotas and also one night in Italian. Oh no, you can only go once. I explained again yes once to Gaviotas and we want to go once to the Italian, nope you can only go once to one or the other. I showed them the paperwork, after asking so what is the Specialty restaurant and being told Gaviotas, so it clearly states we can go to Gaviotas once and to the Italian who knows how many times, we want to go once. The concierge Eduardo told me no, one or the other. I went over to Timeshare front desk and spoke to Carlos about this and he checked paperwork and said I was correct so he called Eduardo, so we went back to him. This time he said the same thing but in different words, one or the other and only once. At this point I am so frustrated I just told him okay I would like to speak to a manager. No managers here now, okay then have one call me tomorrow and I am very unhappy and displeased. The next day I was called by the manager David Padilla, who was very nice and said he would make an exception. I told him well your paperwork clearly states differently so why an exception. He said well it is wrong, so I said well then thank you but also you should have paperwork changed as this could create more issues for you. He very nicely thanked me but said all paperwork comes out of Mexico city so nothing he could do….Okay but this is the craziest and worst policy I have ever seen. Or experienced. I vacation a lot and do a lot of All inclusive vacations and this was very disappointing to say the least.

We did dine at Gaviotas, the décor is very nice, on the fancy or elegant side, but the service though much better than the buffet, sporadic. The food well we sent out first meal back as was inedible, so hot, the devil must have made it, the second meal was edible but nothing to write home about. So all this and Gaviotas was not even that good, we hoped the Italian on Friday would be better but alas we never did make it there.

The fish Tacos by the pool were quite good but you had to keep sending waiter back for what he should have brought, napkins, salt, ketchup or salsa etc…Seemed everything was disorganized and a hassle.
The best meal we did have was one night at the buffet they had ribs, mashed potatoes, arrechera, veggies, salad, so that was decent but again little variety or choices and the desserts were more plentiful than anything. The Club sandwich at Trattaria for lunch was good and breakfast was always fine.
The best Waitress was Rosa over at El Embarcadero for snacks and drinks, and Jesus in La Villita. He actually provided service, checking if we needed drink refills etc. he at one time worked at Casa Velas so he knew how to wait tables for sure. When I mentioned I knew him from Casa Velas funny his whole demeanor changed service with a smile, professional, etc.

The room amenities were shampoo, soap, body cream, soap, toilet paper and 4 bath towels and 2 facecloths. Very specific. The maid was just fair, we are pretty neat anyway but she was just fair, no extras for sure and some days forgot to replenish towels or shampoo etc.

Most days we spent at the resort or around the resort, resting and laying in sun which was our objective. We did walk to the Malecon, checked it out, so beautiful with all the new renovations. We shopped and shopped and browsed. Ended up at Plaza Romy at Café Mango to visit with friend, then moved on to Sea Monkey Restaurant. The area was fairly busy. They have $1. Beers and margaritas. I had beer and Mom had margarita which she said was fine. We also shared nachos and the portions were plentiful and good. We then walked back in dark to Sheraton, along malecon passing a procession and many other fun things.
The walk back was just fine except for a small area close to the hotel where it is so dark, but other than that felt very safe and no issues what so ever. The area that was dark was hard to see so posed a falling hazard.

The weather while we were there was just wonderful not to hot nor cold and no sweater needed at night. Sadly on Weds. Nov. 23 we were called from home and there were health issues with my Dad. It would be necessary for us to go home as soon as possible. We went to front desk again speaking with Carlos I think and told them the situation and that we would have to leave early the next morning as too dark now to drive back to Lake Chapala. They were very kind and understanding and had no problem giving us a refund for AI days not used. Thanksgiving morning early we loaded up car with bellboy and drove back the 6 hour ride.

Overall: This was an RCI exchange so we got a pretty nice room considering that with a great view. No complaints there whatsoever.
The service is not good at all, very disappointing. The food also very disappointing and I would not suggest the All Inclusive here to anyone.
The location is good as you can walk to the Malecon in about 15 minutes. The beach is less than appealing.

Would I return…to be fair it seemed to improve over time or maybe we set our standards lower in time, but either way I would give it another chance, one only though, but I would NOT do the All Inclusive. I also would not do the Sunday Brunch if not doing the All Inclusive, it just did not do enough for me t warrant the price if not on All Inclusive.

So we had a nice time anyway. We got to see the New Malecon in all its glory. We had some relaxation time but alas we missed out on the last few days of vacation and also our second week which was scheduled at Casa Velas…sigh.