Leia W.
Yelp
Just returned from a 5-day/4-night stay at the Hilton Riviera Puerto Vallarta. It's a mixed review.
The resort is a 30 min drive south of the airport. Uber/lyft fell around $20 at the time for two. It is up a mountain a bit, so when you come into the lobby on the 4th floor it overlooks the ocean. Since the hotel is cliffside, all rooms have an ocean view and steps from the beach from the 1st floor.
The room keys are QR code bracelets tied to you at check in. That's very convenient since you don't need to keep track of a key, card or removable bracelet. Room was clean, modern looking, A/C worked well, its really the only place in the whole hotel with A/C except for one or two restaurants, and the spa.
Bed was comfortable, I dont usually sleep well in hotels but I did here surprisingly. I missed a dinner reservation and a couple night time hotel events because of that. All good though, I love sleep. Bathroom is a bit weird, I think they tried to make it look bigger by using more glass walls than opaque ones.
Supposedly this used to be Adults Only, but its now open to kids. Unfortunate for me, good for others I suppose. It is fairly secluded, nowhere to just walk to outside the hotel without transportation. And the resort is kinda small, so it lacked options during the day. So you can get a bit bored (child or adult) unless you plan excursions.
We didn't excursion this trip, it was too humid and we just wanted to relax. There were only two pools, one being adults only because of the pool bar. But no signs informing kids/parents. But the pool bar was nice, spent most of my outdoor time there. Bartenders were cool (thanks to Victor & Manuel, I think), they tried to hold interactive pool activities during the day (Edgar was fun!).
The beach was nice, they placed rock barriers from the open ocean making the water at the beach pretty calm and surprisingly warm.
To the food... the worst experience was at Sunan, their "asian" restaurant. We were there with friends, and were all really disappointed. They tried to have a signature dish from each asian region rather than focusing on one country, which is a big mistake.
I had the catch of the day, which thinking back I realized they never told me what the fish is. But it was a white fish, it was bland, rubbery and dry. Tell-tell sign that it wasn't fresh, and also overcooked. The rice was absolutely awful, like it was halfway cooked and crunchy.
Couple friends had ramen, it just tasted like bowls of salt. Another friend had some kind of "asian" flavored ribs, again a hard, chewy, salty mess. We all had like 3 bites and just left. They should get rid of that place, none of that represents asian food.
The best place was Seasalt, their grill/ steakhouse. Wish it was indoors, because they grill it outside and the smoke and heat of the grill fills the restaurant. Its a great smell, but its hot and smoky, on top of an already hot day. We got the New York Steak... knowing they tend to overcook, we ordered it rare and it came to us beautifully medium-rare with a yummy char. Seasoned well too, and a bigger portion size than expected. It was perfect!
Room service was hit and miss. Their club sandwich wasnt bad, the mixed salad is just the club sandwich without bread. The pizza seemed microwavable, as did their chicken strips. The burger was alright.
But glad they offered water bottles for room service, which I stocked up on. You can order mimosas too, but it tasted really off. Just order those at the bars/restaurants.
Cocomar was good, the ceviche was refreshing though I don't like they shred the fish. Think its to cover that the fish may not be the fresh. The octopus was good though, not shredded, you can recognize every slice. That was tender to eat, pretty delicious.
They have a separate sushi deli, they served the same tasty octopus, but they poured a soy based sauce on it, rather than on the side. The salmon and tuna rolls were okay, again they shredded the fish and mixed it up with some light mayo or something. Makes me always think its covering up fish that has been frozen for awhile.
The breakfast buffet is decent, fairly standard. I liked the chilaquiles, eggs, hash browns and the fruit and cheese options. The meats were often overcooked in those warmers, avoid those and go to the station where they prepare omelets and bacon fresh. Those are better options.
Tips. It's a tip happy place. Grab like a hundred dollars worth of $1 and $5 (or more for longer stays), or pesos because they often will not offer change. Know your money conversions. Although it's all inclusive, there are things that can only be bought, and good chance you'll have better service if you tip. We always tip in countries/places that accept it.
This was a last minute reservation, so we paid more than most. Therefore, my review may be somewhat biased having higher expectations due to cost, based on that... this would probably fall more along 2.5-3 stars.