I am going to start off this review misstating I will without a doubt stay at Vallartta shores again. To begin the location is perfect. Sitting only feet away of Los Muertos beach. Even though this is located at one of the busiest beaches this is in a quiet location.

I stayed into rooms. I stayed in Suite 4 and penthouse B. I will begin with Suite 4. The room is huge. It has a great kitchen area fully stocked with plates and every kitchen item you would need. The room is decorated in the Mexican-style. To me that is a positive. I prefer something that looks less like something from Miami Beach and something that looks like it belongs in Mexico. The bedroom was large and the bed was comfortable. My only major complaint about this room is the horrible musty be odor. It hits you as soon as you open the door.

For the majority my trip we stayed in the penthouse B. The outdoor space here is incredible. A large open kitchen with a breakfast bar. Full-size refrigerator and all major appliances except for a dishwasher. Was not all that important because one of the amenities to renting the penthouse is your own private chef. Our chefs name was Roderigo.

The penthouse had three bedrooms and three bathrooms. Each room was about the same size. There were all large and very comfortable. The bathrooms were large with very big showers with great water pressure. The beds were some of the most comfortable beds I have slept in anywhere in Mexico. The musty odor was not an issue in the penthouse.

Now comes all my nitpicking with the penthouse. The penthouse worn. It is definitely in need of an update. It is not that anything was broken but nothing seemed new or updated recently.

I have read other reviews that complained about the ants. Having been to Puerto Vallarta seven times and talking to friends who own condos there this is a common and almost inevitable problem. The only time we ran into the ants was when leaving out tooth brushes or food.

Having a pool on our own balcony was a great plus. The downside it was heated and way too hot. Penthouse B does not get more than about three hours of sun throughout the course of the day on the balcony.

Now about the best part of renting the penthouse. It was Roderigo our chef. Not only did he prepare some incredible meals he was pleasant and personable. He is the major factor of why my friends and I plan on coming back and staying here again. I thought I would miss going out to the great restaurants. I did not miss them at all his food was so much better and we saved a ton of money.

When it comes to location and space, right on on Playa Los Muertos beach, Vallarta Shores is tough to beat. You get a full condo, right on the beach, in healthy walking distance from all the great restaurants and nightlife Puerto Vallarta has to offer. That alone gives the place a Very Good rating in my book.

We stayed in Unit 5, and your mileage may vary as the units all are finished differently and have different sizes.

I'll start with the positives.

The space in the unit is absolutely amazing. The high ceilings and generous beachfront balconies really do set this space apart from any of the other beachfront places we've stayed at in PV. The views alone are five star!!! We didn't really use the loft space bedroom, but I'd imagine it would be more comfortable for a family with kids, than for a second pair of adults. The bed was super comfortable, and the bathrooms perfectly fine for our needs.

I can't over-emphasize the quality of the location either. At the south end of Playa Los Muertos, it really is easy access to the beach and especially to everything on the South Side of the river. The hotel has a few lonely palapas on the beach, but we preferred to hang out at a busier beach club. There is also a small pool area that looked quiet and nice, but we never made it over there really. We never felt the need to hop in a cab the entire time we were there, at all times of the day or night, and never felt insecure in the area. But if you want a cab, there generally was one parked just down the street, and the front desk was able to quickly round one up for us for our trip back to the airport.

As far as the negatives, it really comes down basically to TLC. This genuinely great building is showing its age, and at least our unit showed it. Tiles show wear and tear, the air conditioner (which only cools the main master bedroom, not the lofted area or living space) is super loud, the refrigerator and dvd players both seemed rusted on top, the exterior railings in need of a serious scrape and paint. None of these things themselves really bothered us much. The place does sell itself on older charm, not as a five-star palace. Despite these minor faults it's a winning combination in my book.

Unfortunately the one place I will dock this place on is housekeeping. The ladies I met who took care of our room seemed lovely, but the bottom-line is there were ants throughout our stay, especially in the kitchen. So we avoided bringing much food into the kitchen, and tiptoed carefully in the bathroom where they hung out too. This seemed so widespread, to not be noticed by the people cleaning. We had to ask the hotel to clean our fridge the day after we checked in, because it was genuinely dirty inside. I think they gave it a quick once-over, but really it wasn't much better, giving us little hope for any further complaints. Bed linens were absolutely clean, but the towels were a hodgepodge, tiny, and sometimes with holes in them.

Bottom line? Would I stay here again? I'd certainly consider it. The space and location are beyond fab - AND RIGHT ON THE BEACH with the glorious waves! We slept really well and overall had a completly excellent stay here, and loved a heck of a lot about Vallarta Shores.

I would hope however that the hotel cleans up its act -- especially considering the "for sale" sign that went up during our stay...

This was our second time staying at Vallarta Shores, we chose ground level unit one. We decided on that as the other units were too big for my wife and our 11 year old son. Hindsight, we would have paid the extra money for the bigger units upstairs or would have rather took the other ground level unit. Unit 1 has its windows, where everyone can see right into the unit, the other ground level unit (unit 2) has its windows high, so that is not an issue. You definetly here alot more noise on the ground level unit, and one night walking back, 3 mexicans in an SUV, were cat calling at my wife and ended up parking in front of Vallarta Shores and decided to smoke a fatty and crank the music with the doors open for about half an hour. There is a chain link in front of Vallarta Shores, but it was not locked or even up, which would have prevented this from happening. The ground unit is not a good option at all! We also had problems with no hot water, 4 days of no hot water out of a 9 day stay. They assured us they were addressing the problem, a maintence man did come into the unit, but it still took 4 days to get hot water. My wife and I could handle it, but for our special needs son, cold showers don't do very well with him. The staff is always friendly at Vallarta Shores and that is a big plus.

We booked a 2 bedroom condo at Vallarta shores right on the beach.
And ended up on the Hill. We booked with one person who said it was ok if I was a week late with my second payment as it was right before Christmas 2010.

When I paid my second installment and they received it. I get a call saying that they would NOT be honoring my request as I was late with the payment. I told them I had an email from their staff member saying it was ok and they said the employee was no longer with them.

They didn't call till they received payment and now were at 40 days before we leave and by the time they send back the money I will not be able to get another place.

I looked franctically because I also negotiated with Vallarta Shores that I would take 10 days instead of the 14 as I wanted just to get this condo my mother is elderely and cannot do alot of stairs. When I started looking around no one wanted to rent because it was only for 10 days and I was locked into my flight dates.
I was soo stuck do I get my $$$ back or do I suck it up and take another one of their rentals

I was so upset I tried not to get mad and the the middle man. But I did finally get out of him that they we're able to rent out MY CONDO OUT FOR 3X'S WHAT I PAID. Wow that says alot about the owner of this condo.

The Middle man said he would make it right for me - which at the time I doubted with only this experience to go on - I wasn't happy.

But they had my $$$ and I wasn't able to get a place on such short notice.

We stayed up on the hill VIlla Azul which was beautiful panoramic views.
And they gave us Taxi $$ so my mom didn't have to walk up the HILL. Unfortunately the 36 stairs up and down were to hard for her and she ended up staying at another condo with friends we went down with.
I didn't like the that the chef (also maintenance man) and housekeeps were always walking thur our lounge area. They would just open a side door and walk right thur no knock. We like our privacy and it wasn't very private.

I was give two envelopes by the chef which stated they wanted a $100 a week for him and the housekeeper. I thought this was persumptious of him and it wasn't my intention to stay at a huge 5000 sq foot villa. It was just 3 of us.

The noise from the road came in thur the villa they was construction going on up the hill. So these big trucks we making there way up the hill from 6 am to 10 pm. Our bedroom open concept was on the road level so we got to smell diesel while we slept. We didn't spend much time at the villa as my mom was down by the other condo.

I will not recommend this place. They did try to accomodate but I felt like this is how they rent out the Villa Azul because no one wants to be away from the beach and action of the town.