What a wonderful place!! The food is awesome. Every restaurant had many menu choices and everything we had was fine dining and excellent. The Azul buffet was very good, a nice setting and lots of choices. The staff is so accomodating. They have all been very well trained on customer service and they all go out of their way to get you anything you need. Very friendly, and they know your name after the first day.
There are lots of little surprises like a massage when you check in, and mini massages every day around the pool, popsicle wagon, fresh fruit and juices poolside, and they even come around and clean your sunglasses.
We were upgraded to a suite with a hot tub and private balcony. Our room very clean and confortable with every amenity you could want. With 24 hour room service and great customer service, what more could one ask for?
This is a beautiful place, and the grounds very well maintained with lots of flowers and greenery. Three pools and a large hot tub deck by the beach make it a perfect day spot.
We stayed at this resort Jan29-feb4th. The weather was great, cool at night so you don't need to turn on the ac. We will definitely return next year! Loved it!!

We stayed at the Grand Velas, Nov 25th - Dec 5th. It's the nicest hotel we have stayed at in Mexico. The hotel seemed to be at 30% occupancy at the time and we really had a quite and relaxing vacation.

Us:
Family of three, including a 10 year old daughter. We visit Vallarta about twice a year and have stayed at the Melia, Riu Vallarta, Riu Palace Pacifico and Vallarta Palace in the past.

Arrival and check in:
We took a cab from the airport which always works out the best for us. The check in is done at the lobby sitting area instead of standing at the counters. You are given a hibiscus welcome drink and a choice of a 5 min head or hands massage. You are also given cold towels to refreshen up. Instead of the usual plasticky all inclusive bracelets you are given what looks like a designer bracelet of soft material. Someone escorts you to the room and
shows you around and provides details regarding the room and the hotel. They take time and explain every detail which we found to be quite useful. You are also asked what time you prefer the room to be cleaned and the turn down times. BTW, these times were never followed but still... Best check process we have ever experienced.

Room:
We had booked a standard room and were placed on the third floor overlooking the gardens and the pools. No view of the ocean whatsoever. Lower floor rooms are blocked by the big palm trees. The room iteself was very spacious, 900+ sq. feet. It had a hugh balcony with a day bed, almost like a small room in itself. The bathroom was big with very nice bath amenities. There was a flat screen TV and a DVD player. There were three phones in the room, including one in the toilet. The safe is of good size and will fit standard size laptops. The fridge had water, sodas and three kinds of beer, Heineken, coors and something else. Hard liquor is provided through room service. You get to order two bottles at any given time. Once a bottle is empty they will come and replace it with your choice of liquor. We ordered Don Julio and 1800 reposado. They have premium liquors here, just ask to see the menu. Our room did not have one but the rooms also include a beach bag that you can use.

Be sure to get room serivce. The menu is extensive and better than the ones at a la cartes at other resorts. They will bring a table and set it up, either in the room or the balcony. The setting is just as if you were in the sit down restaurants and the food choices and quality is amazing. Rooms also have a snack tray that has an amazing variety of chips, nuts, chocolate and food bars, etc.

Food:
The resort has three AAA four diamond a la carte restaurants for dinner. Frida(mexican), Piaf(French) and Lucca( Italian-Mediterranean). The concierge was nice to provide us advance reservations for all 9 evenings to these restaurants. They have menus for these restaurants online at their website that you can take a look at in advance. There was always live music being played and the decor and the overall dining experience was excellent. The food was gourmet quality and easily the best among all a la carte restaurants we have ate at, at other resorts. We enjoyed eating a variety of dishes including escargot, veal, osso bucco, lamb, seafood, and more. Desserts here are delicious also.

You also have the ocean front Azul restaurant which serves buffet style breakfast, lunch and dinner. You can also order off the menu at Azul. It has some very nice choices in case you want something other than what's at the buffet. The ocean front view at Azul is awesome.

Resort grounds:
Very nice grounds. Three levels of infinity pools all at different temperatures, nicest pools we have encountered in Mexico. Three restrooms on three sides of the pools, never a far walk away. There is an awesome poolside snack bar that you can go to or they will take your order poolside and serve you at your loungers in trays. And these are no ordinary snacks like hotdogs, burgers and fries as at other places. Besides these usual things, you also get to
choose from ceviche, seafood cocktail, three different types of tacos, and many other dishes. Try the coconut icecream with baileys for dessert.
Poolside, they come by giving out popsicles, massages, offering to clean your sunglasses, passing around chocolates, etc. No towel cards, you go to the towel hut and they will setup the loungers you select. No need to worry about lost towels or cards.

Evenings:
Pretty boring. This is a resort where the idea is to unwind and relax. There are no evening entertainment shows or other activities. Someone plays live music at the lobby bar and that's it. The lights are dimmed everywhere at the refort and its pretty quite. Almost like they want you to put to sleep. The room above the lobby bar has some pool tables, etc. No one used it when we where there. We are used to other resorts where they have nightly entertainment and it is lively with bright lights and people mingling and things happening so it was a change for us. You pretty much eat your dinner and have a quite evening. There was supposed to
be a Mexican show once a week in the evening but even that got canceled, due to low occupancy I suppose. However, if you prefer to just relax and have a low profile evening this is perfect for you.

Overall:
A great resort that will pamper and spoil you. A place to truly unwind and relax. You will get gourmet food and excellent service. They carry more than 10 different kinds of beer and any top shelf liquor you want. Just have to ask. We look forward to going back at the Grand Velas, again and again, cost permitting... Excellent food, booze, pools, service, etc. Very luxurious.

We took a couple of bicycle tours to Vallarta Adventures to see the dolphins, sea lions, etc. They had a tequilla class one day at the pool bar and showed how to make different tequilla drinks. Also had pool voleyball that my family enjoyed. The boogie boards were available and in very good condition. They also have tennis courts.

We took a bus to the Puerto Vallarta zoo in Mismaloya and had a wonderful visit there. Took a bus on the way back and topped by Costco, did some shopping and took a taxi back to the hotel. On another day we took a bus to Puerto Vallarta to see the Malecon and do some shopping. Took the bus back too. There is also a touristic bus that you can take from Grand Velas and it is free and runs in the nearby area including Paradise Village.

Comparison with other resorts we have stayed at:
Riu's and Melia's don't even come close. Grand Velas is by far the better resort. However, we stayed at the Vallarta Palace six months earlier and it runs a second close for us, especially considering that it was about 35% cheaper. Not to mention that at Vallarta Palace you get unlimited calls to US and Mexico from your room phone, free wireless internet everywhere on the resort including your room(Grand Velas charges 200 pesos a day for wireless), no
reservation required at the a la cartes and the awesome $1500 resort credit that you can use for dolphin swim, spa, excursions, room upgrades. Grand Velas has none of these. Rooms at Vallarta Palace though are very small and with those useless French balconies. They have a few, about 35 or so, concierge level rooms with real balcony but those are for adults only. But for one third off at Vallarta Palace, I would be content to go there and splurge at Grand Velas when I can afford.

Bottomline, Grand Velas is a very luxurious place that will pamper you from service to food to your stay, to everything. Go here if you can, you will not regret. Gotta stay here at least once if you visit Vallarta often. Note that if you stay here you can also go to their sister resorts, Casa Velas and Velas Vallarta.

My husband and I decided to go to Grand Velas for a belated anniversary and birthday (for him) trip in the middle of January. Our whole experience with Grand Velas was wonderful.

We arrived at the hotel mid-afternoon, walked into the lobby and were blown away by the fountain in the middle, the greenery in the walkways, and the view straight out to the pools and ocean. We received our welcoming massages and checked in. After that we spent four days shutting out the world in the Zen-like atmosphere of Grand Velas.

Rooms- amazing. Upon check in, we discovered that we would not be able to get the room category we booked (master suite ocean front) because the resort was full and the guests in our room never checked out. To make it right, Grand Velas blew us away by putting us in an Ambassador Penthouse suite for the first night and moving us to a Grand Class suite for the rest of our stay. The Ambassador suite was very nice, but people kept climbing the stairs to our private deck all night keeping us awake. The Grand Class room is in a league by itself, and hands down the nicest room I've ever stayed in. We had our own huge patio with a sun bed, lounge chairs, dining set, and a hot tub that overlooked the ocean and grounds of the resort. We started every morning and ended every evening in the hot tub. The room itself is beautifully decorated, with a large living area across from the bed. The bathroom was gorgeous with a double vanity, large walk in shower, large jet tub, massage table for in-room treatments, and separate toilet area.

Food- again, amazing. We used room service every morning for breakfast on our balcony. The food always arrived quickly and hot, and everything was delicious. We ate at all the restaurants, except Azul, and the food across the board was fantastic. Piaf is very romantic, and the filet mignon is excellent. We loved everything we tried. Food is also served pool-side, which was great to eat sushi, tacos, nachos, hamburgers, or anything else you can think of without ever having to leave your chair. Drinks were also top shelf and liberally poured.

Pool- very beautiful and serene. The lower infinity pool was very warm and overlooks the beach and ocean. The pool bar is there, and the bartenders were a lot of fun to hang out with. There was never a problem getting lounge chairs, and the pool concierge was wonderful in getting buckets of bottled water on ice for you and setting up your chairs and umbrella.

Beach- again, very beautiful. The entry into the water is very smooth and rock-free, and the sand glistens with gold flecks that sparkle in the sun. There are many cabanas and lounge chairs on the beach that nobody seemed to use.

Spa- we had a couples massage and did the hydrocircuit- all of which are incredible. The spa is very peaceful and serene, and we had some of the best massages we've ever had.

And saving the best for last, is the Service. We have never had service anywhere that compares to the service at Grand Velas. The service is what takes this already wonderful property and sends it to a whole new level of amazing. From the moment we walked in, the staff knew our names and used them the whole time we were there. We were constantly being surprised with little anniversary gifts, like chocolate covered strawberries and champagne waiting for us in our room when we went up for the night, and special little cakes and desserts at dinner. The pool staff would remember what you drink, and bring the next one just before you finished the drink you have. No request was ever a problem, and the staff always tried to anticipate your needs and take care of them with a smile. The staff is what makes this place very special.

We hope to be back very soon!

This was by far the most luxurious, breath-taking and high quality service experience I've ever had! I was honored to be selected to go to Grand Velas with my company as part of an employee award program in 2009. I will never forget my experience. The room was amazing with an awesome view and a beautiful bathroom. :) I rarely want to spend any significant time in the bathroom but my suite had doors that opened up into the room with a huge spa bathtub. The outside landscaping and pool areas were also gorgeous and every single person I encountered was kind, friendly and gave excellent customer service. I wanted for nothing and had the time of my life! :) For a first class vacation experience, I would highly recommend this resort to anyone willing to spend the extra money it costs but the quality and service is worth every penny!!