Hotel Review: Fiesta Americana in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

During May 2009, I stayed at the Fiesta Americana in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for four nights. The hotel was very empty, due to the recent swine flu scare, but we still had a great time. We made reservations through priceline.com and had no problem checking in. The process was quick and easy and everyone was very friendly. We took a taxi to the hotel from the airport for about $10USD. Our room was very clean except for some mysterious, dried, red liquid on the bathroom mirror. The beds were more comfortable than expected. The maids did a good job of keeping it clean throughout the week. There was a turn down service each evening around 6PM which I found to be more annoying than anything since we were back in our room getting ready to go to dinner at that time. Someone came up to our room to welcome us and on our last day a man came to check our room. It felt like someone was always knocking on our door.

The first night, we received coupons for free drinks from the restaurant by the pool. We went down there to use them and felt pressured into eating dinner there as well. The food was not very good; I suggest you go into town and find different restaurant options.

There is a grocery store across the street. However, outside food and beverages are not allowed in the hotel so if you buy anything you will need to sneak it in. I was hassled by the concierge as I tried to return to the hotel with a couple gallons of water.

Our room was on the second floor. While we had a nice view of the pool, we were barely able to see the ocean. If you want an ocean view, you would probably need to be on the 5^th floor or higher. Keep this in mind when making reservations.

The beach in front of the pool is very rocky due to a hurricane taking all the good sand a few years back. There is a breakwater a bit out from the beach which reduces the waves so it would be a good place to swim with children. If you are looking for a nicer beach, walk about 10 minutes to the north. There is a great spot with soft sand and bigger waves in front of some hotels that are being constructed. Depending on the time of year you go, beware of jellyfish. They look like bright blue blobs here. We also saw some manta rays close to land.

The pool was large and clean. There were plenty of lounge chairs both in the sun and shade. My only complaint about the pool is that it was about 3 feet deep everywhere which made it pretty impossible to actually swim. The towel system is also a little strange. You are required to sign out towels and return them each day. You are given a small slip of paper that you are supposed to save and keep with you for your entire stay so track your towel usage. We were unaware of this policy on our first day because our Spanish is not that good. The towel man seemed quite upset that we lost our ticket.

We enjoyed our stay but if I were to return to Puerto Vallarta I would try out a different hotel. We did not experience any huge problems but there were daily frustrations that didn't need to happen. If little things bother you, this is not the place to stay.