Recommendations for Puerto Vallarta

[Vegas Insight]

My girlfriend wants to go somewhere other than Vegas for vacation. So now I'm single.

But seriously folks, we are going to Puerto Vallarta in early April. (5-12, if that matters.) We booked tickets via Southwest points, so we can change or cancel our plans if need be, but the travel dates work well for us.

Unfortunately the hotel she was eyeing up (http://www.villagroupresorts.com/resorts/villa-del-palmar-puerto-vallarta) when it was tentative has increased its price, a bunch, for our week. Oddly its reservations are non-refundable, (she says,) which is why she waited after her initial search before pulling the trigger. (If it's not Vegas, I don't do the research or planning.)

By the time we had approval for time off and booked our flights, the rate went up $50+ night. We're not looking for bottom of the barrel, but we're only doing this trip if we can keep it at bargain rates. Foolish, perhaps, but we got bills. We may end up booking VDPalmar at the current $119/night rate. That's about the cap we want to spend per night while on vacation. We're not doing all inclusive, as I don't need 50 gallons of beer at my disposal for a week of vacation. Beyond that, word on the streets (of Minneapolis) is that the exchange rate is highly favorable, so we should get good meals locally at great value.

Both of us has been to Vallarta once, years ago, without each other. Neither of us knows enough about Vallarta to know exactly where we should be looking. I can tell people where to go, and where to avoid, in Vegas. Vallarta? That's Greek to me.

Any suggestions on places to consider that aren't going to cost us $200/night? Or suggestions as to where to network for help on this topic?

gracias

 

[westie]

You could check out Sky Auction to see if something is available at the right price for your dates.

http://www.skyauction.com/vacation/puerto-vallarta

 

[Vegas Insight]

thanks, I will look into that today.

 

[Jerseyguy]

Friends have told me to go to Nuevo Vallarata if you go there. I'd recommend Punta Cana or Aruba or anyplace other than Mexico .

 

[tizzy]

Love puerto Vallarta! Went in 2015 with girlfriend and we stayed at the hard rock hotel and it was an all inclusive so everything except excursions and spa was included. It was great, the pool was awesome all the wait staff and bartenders were great. The only thing I didn't like was that the ocean wasn't the clear blue you will get at places like Jamaica or Dominican Republic but it was so fun riding the waves and relaxing at the resort. We felt perfectly safe going outside the resort also and there is a casino with every type of table game and slot directly across the street. Everything is in pesos so that got a little confusing, lol.

 

[tizzy]

You might look into going to Playa Del Carmen, it's on the opposite side of Mexico close to Cancun. Been there also and going back this summer in June and staying at Unico 2087.

 

[LucyR.]

Mexico is not a safe area and that includes Puerto Vallarta because of the drug lords, the people are angry with the bad working conditions . They could have an incident in the city. They have done it before by burning banks and burning official cars. I was
on a cruise ship when that happened the day before we arrived in P.V. Some lady said she saw a Mexican Army tank in the city streets. Most of the people stayed home and the streets were mostly empty.

All of you reading this info. don't have to believe me. Just read the American Gov. official warnings. Plus, Puerto Vallarta has the
dangerous ZIKA VIRUS that if a women gets bitten by an infected mosquito they will have babies with small heads.

I am an old senior lady so I still cruise to Mexico and I just stay for the day at Puerto Vallarta. It is a beautiful city. I have a friend
that loves to visit Puerto Vallarta and she has lots of fun.

Is a cruise affordable for you and your friend?

 

[ken2v]

Come on, people. BOO!!!!! Is it Disneyland? Hell no. Is it Detroit? Hell no. And Zika? Wasn't that supposed to scuttle the Rio Games? How'd that play out?

Yes, shit can happen in Mexico, and if it does, Barney Miller isn't manning the precinct. But like getting in a car and jumping on the 405, flying Malaysia Air or going hunting with Dick Cheney, you're rolling the dice in anything you do.

 

[wanker751]

Come on, people. BOO!!!!! Is it Disneyland? Hell no. Is it Detroit? Hell no. And Zika? Wasn't that supposed to scuttle the Rio Games? How'd that play out?

Yes, shit can happen in Mexico, and if it does, Barney Miller isn't manning the precinct. But like getting in a car and jumping on the 405, flying Malaysia Air or going hunting with Dick Cheney, you're rolling the dice in anything you do.

I remember reading a reviews for a resort in Vallarta 7 or so years back and everyone complained there were too many Mexicans or "locals" at the,resort. Imagine the fuckardary of that. How dare they enjoy their country.

I bet trip advisor Mexico complains of all there Americans in vegas or Disney.

 

[ken2v]

P.S. I've been through PV several times, but always heading to Punta Mita or Nuevo.

 

[harvson3]

I teach on Latin America at the college level. Have lived in multiple countries there.

Here are the facts: the entire state of Jalisco, in which P. Vallarta is located, has had 30 cases of zika, dengue, or chikungunya from 2010 to late February 2017. The state has a population of 7.84 million. None of the cases has produced microencephaly in newborns. All diseases are transmitted by the same mosquito that comes out in the evening. Wear bug spray.

There is a drug cartel that operates in Jalisco (which is a large state, such that PV is the fifth-largest city), but they gain nothing by targeting foreign tourists. In fact, they hurt themselves if they target tourists.

And though crime rates are higher in Mexico than in most of the States, taking a bit of vigilance and caution mean that you're overwhelmingly likely to return with nothing worse than sunburns.

(I strongly believe that violence in Mexico would drastically if demand for drugs fell in the US, but that's for another time.)

 

[LucyR.]

I want to add that tourist are safe in Puerto Vallarta. The tourists are only in danger of the cross fire between the Mexican police and the drug lords. Tourists have gotten killed by an afternoon gun fire fight between the good guys and the bad guys.
I have proof.
Yes, bad things can happen in any city including my city. This is why I still visit the beach ports by cruise ships.

Lots of tourists visit Mexico and they are okay. But, I am looking at two single gals asking for advise. I care about them and I
don't get good feelings about them going to Mexico. I do have a high level of intuition. This is why I didn't give them great advise.
Sorry Ken. You are right that bad things happen every where. Lucy

 

[ken2v]

You don't need to apologize, Lucy. Let's just keep reason about us. Yes, I would venture to say one is more likely -- however minute the chance either way -- to get unceremoniously dispatched in Chiapas than Corvallis. But it's still an outlier. Sad for the victim and family, of course, but still not statistically significant. Putting it another way, how many Americans are killed in Mexico annually and how many are killed in American at the hands of other Americans?

 

[LucyR.]

Ken, it has to do with two single gals going to Mexico and they might want to go out at night time to night clubs that are not safe,
Puerto Vallarta is a beautiful tropical area where tourists go zip-lining in the mountains filled with mosquitos. One friend of mine
got bitten twice under her blouse when she went zip-lining. She was a young woman and there is no cure for the Zika virus and
it can be passed on sexually to a male. That is a real danger in tropical areas of P.V. and it is also the most beautiful area too.

Several tourists have died in in the west coast cities of Mexico. It is really sad to hear that American men have disappeared while
walking to the store to buy beer and they never return to their hotels. That has made the news in Los Angeles about our west coast Mexican ports. America does stay out of those problems. They used to help out years ago but now there are too many problems for America to deal with that country.

The cruise ships do warn the people to play it safe and stay in the tourist areas.
Plus, the Mexican police always take the side of their people and not the tourist. They tell the tourists to go back to their ship when they get robbed. This happened to a close friend of mine recently.

One time I had a serious argument with a vendor and all of a sudden I realized I was not in my USA Country so I ran back to
the cruise ship. I was going to call security at the Mexican port but I remembered they would take me to their Police station to
have a long discussion and take all the money I had in my purse. That is what they do to tourists. Mexico gets tourists from
all over the world. The police did that to one of my guy friends in Mexico. Their police don't care about the tourists. The taxi
drivers told me they have to share their money with the police when they have tourists. Plus, taxi drivers are not always safe.

My sister got threaten by a taxi driver that he wanted extra money from my sister after he had already made a deal with her and her friends. She got real scared and told her friends she wanted to go back to the ship and she got out of the taxi. She was with
some rich friends so I am sure they gave the taxi driver the extra money.

The cruise ships that leave out of the Los Angeles ports are now cruising towards the North Pacific Calif, coast. I feel safer
in the west coast ports.

Ken, I totally agree with you that no place is safe. I recently went to the Coachella valley. It was just 9 p.m. at night and I got off a
bus and I only had to walk for two blocks to get to my hotel. Some of the streets are super dark with no lights.
A crazy old bum started walking with me but I felt safe with him than the men that were looking at us. After one block I noticed
a coffee shop so I ran in there. They called the cops to take the bum away because he wanted to sleep on top of a parked car.

The lady manager said it was not safe to walk around in the night. She got one of the restaurant workers to walk me to my
hotel as we passed bums walking around. When I got to my hotel I felt safe and gave the worker $10. for being my security.
I was in the City of Palm Springs. "WHEW".... Lucy

 

[ken2v]

My wife -- not then my wife -- lived on her own, in Mexico City. She traveled extensively throughout Mesoamerica, too, alone, with a female friend, with others at times. She's still with us all these years later. She also knows where not to go right here in Apple Pie America SoCal. Then again, people get killed in anti-gun Great Britain.