My brother, my parents, and my wife and I stayed at Casa Nicte for a week in August '07. I stumbled across this place while searching for available rentals on the internet. Compared to the other places I was looking at, I thought to myself this must be too good to be true. I thought the price seemed very reasonable and the ammenities sounded great. Finding out that it was right on the beach right near the malecon (the "main strip" in the original downtown part where there is alot of great dining, shopping, and nightlife) made it even that much better. Before I booked the place, I even called one of the owners and asked "this almost sounds too good to be true, what would you say is the biggest drawback to the place?" He was very honest and said that at times because it is so close to the Malecon that it could be a little noisey at night. That proved to not even be a problem for us. While a few people would be on the beach in the evening in front of the place, it was not disturbing at all and they were usually gone by the time it got dark. We even slept with the windows open a couple of nights, and the only "noise" we heard was the wonderful sound of the waves crashing on the beach.
When I travel, I like to "take in" the local culture. Therefore, I rarely go the commercial hotel / timeshare route. This rental is a very authentic villa, and you know you are in Puerto Vallarta - in a good way!
I don't know where to begin on the nice things to say about this place. For our situation, I could not think of anything better. My parents used the larger master bedroom with adjoining bathroom. My wife and I used the uppermost bedroom which while it did not have an adjoining restroom, it did have a very private bathroom (upstairs about 5 steps, but out of sight from everyone). My brother used the downstairs bedroom which had two twin beds. Another review I read referred to a small bedroom, I'm not sure which one that would be. They accomodated our situation just perfect, and I think it would accomodate three couples very well also. The dipping pool was a very pleasant surprise. I had pictured a hot tub sized little dipping area and being the time of year it was thought it would be much too hot to use. Was I ever wrong, we all used it almost daily. The temperature was great and you can actually swim around in it. Don't get me wrong, you won't be playing any water volleyball in it or anything like that, but it is very enjoyable. You can expect beautiful sunsets from the pool or on the patio next to the pool. I think the kitchen would be very functional. We planned on using it, but the food is so reasonable and good that we never ended up cooking in. But, if that is something you wanted to do, it seemed like they had everything you would need. Each room had its own safe and all windows and doors had bars over them. While this helped assure us that our belongings as well as ourselves would be safe, we never felt the least bit endangered. (Even the nicest safest hotels have the most secure doors and safes in the closets)
There was daily maid service. Unless you speak very fluent Spanish, don't expect to be able to communicate with her. But, you don't really need to. She knows exactly what to do and you'll come home to very clean place each afternoon.
We never met the house manager, but he was very helpful. From helping us with transportation from the airport to calling us almost daily to see if there was anything he could do to make our stay more enjoyable, he was great. (A quick note on transportation from the airport to Casa Nicte - if you use any of the cabs / transportation from the airport, expect to pay about 40 US dollars. If you have the ability - not too much luggage - walk about a block from the airport and catch a YELLOW cab. It will cost 7 US dollars for 2 to 3 people with luggage).
The entire place has A/C with a main unit in the living room and individual units in each bedroom. I don't know how to explain the units as they are not "tacky" window units, but also not cental air. Although, I don't think you'll find anything closer to central air unless you stay in a timeshare/hotel. They actually worked out perfect as you can set each room its own temperature.
I was so impressed with the place that I feel hard pressed to say anything negative about it. From my own personal experience, the only thing that was not perfect was that the bed we slept in was a little short. I'm 6 foot and my feet hung off the end. That certainly would not keep me from going back and staying in the same room. And, it didn't keep me from sleeping well.
I could say so much more, but let just summarize by saying, when I go back to Puerto Vallarta, which I will, I can't imagine staying anyplace that I would enjoy more than Casa Nicte. The authenticity of the place and the affordability can't be beat.
I highly recommend this place and would be happy to answer any questions about it that anyone may have. You can email me at kwashler@covad.net.

We love Puerto Vallarta, and travel there several times a year, we decided to stay in downtown PV this trip, because it is such a lovely city, and so much to do. We found Villa Casa Nicte on line, and found it to be a very lovely villa! The house has beautiful archetechture, and charm. If you have longed for a vacation where you can wake up and sit on your own patio and enjoy the beach this villa is for you. I loved drinking coffee, watching the locals walk their dogs down the beach, and by the way, they do pick up after their dogs! Sunset was spectacular every evening, grab a drink and sip it as you watch the sunset, it just doesn't get any better than that! The Mexican people are so nice and most speak very good english. At night local kids would play ball outside our villa, but as soon as they realized we were home, out of respect they took their game down the street, that was impressive to me! PV has a very low crime rate, and you can walk downtown at night with no problem. We have been out late at night, even on back streets of downtown, and never felt threatened. The house is located a few blocks from a large grocery store, which was a huge convenience, we also found local restaurants close by that were very good, and inexpensive. I would rate the house right up there with the best, and would highly recomend it to my friends. We are divers and recomend Pacific Scuba, they are great, and never rush you. They put all our gear together for us, and are super nice! The house is very secure with metal bars that lock, so your belongs are secure. I hope everyone enjoys it as much as we did! The owner of this house is very nice and is very gracious to share it wih us!

We stayed at Casa Nicte and four of us thought this was a very nice authentic Mexican home. It is within a block or so of the Malecon and is right on the beach. The house has three bedrooms and three bathrooms with a nice size living room and kitchen and a small dining room. It also has a nice small dipping pool and an outdoor patio that overlooks the beach. The individual A/C units also work very well. Everything in my opinion is very positive, however one of the bedrooms is pretty small and you must park on the street if you have a rental car, although parking is not a problem if you don't mind walking a block or two. There is also a house manager who can deal with any problems that you may have, plus also help you to arrange side tours. Overall I would recommend Casa Nicte if you want an authentic Mexican Casa right near the Malecon.