Casa Maria Malecon — Hotel in Jalisco

I liked the thought of an apartment style experience for the trip with my daughter. I didn’t expect to have a landlord dispute for a three night stay. We left within the first hour. ||First, it’s on a noisy street. Not the fault of the landlord, but be aware. Upon arrival I retrieved my keys from the lockbox and entered the first security door. Got my key ready for the second security door and it was already open. |Up to the flat. The bedroom was small, but the bed seemed nice. A/c worked as did the fan. |The bathroom was enclosed in glass off the bedroom so privacy is an issue. |The shower is even more of an open space in the middle of the hallway. Hope you celebrate the human form of your traveling companions. You’ll be seeing a lot of it. |The kitchen was designed in the style of late hippie. |All of the above is something one should consider when staying somewhere but not anything more than that. |The real issue is what followed. ||The listing says 4 adults. One king bed and one futon. The futon would barely fit two adults if they didn’t move. But we only needed two different beds for two people so it could work. |But there was no bedding for the second bed. |Then we noticed that the fan didn’t work in the front area. The front windows could open, but then the noise is worse. And one of the windows was already cracked with a hole. The glass doors leading to a common hallway (listed as a patio) were locked but installed in such a way that they could be opened with a wiggle. |I texted the owner and he said he could get me some sheets tomorrow, so we were without for the first night. He said I could open a window if the fan didn’t work. He didn’t seem to want to do anything to make his guests feel welcome. |He wouldn’t discuss refund. We had to take a 50% loss to cancel the booking and I am now in a dispute over it. Great way to start a vacation. |I wonder if the owner ever sees this place. |My suggestion is to avoid this place...

I would give this hotel a 0 star or negative 5 stars if I could. We did not have a very good experience with this hotel for two main reasons.

1. As soon as we arrived, there was a giant cockroach the size of a thumb crawling right on the bed. We asked if they can change the sheets at the very least. They couldn’t because the house keeper apparently did not leave sheets. So we had to sleep in sheets where we know cockroaches crawled. They did change the sheet for us the second day. When I texted to confirm whether the sheets had been changed, the person had the audacity to say that he did not appreciate my tone. They also said cockroaches are normal in Puerto Vallarta and you can’t get rid of them.

2. This is the kicker. On the second day of our vacation, my boyfriend received an emergency call from his family that his father is in the ICU due to COVID and was on life support. We had to terminate our vacation early and fly back immediately the next day, which meant we would check out one day early. His father passed away a day later. The owner was so heartless as to not refund us for the last night of our stay. We also worked with Booking.com who confirmed the owner refused to refund despite in an earlier message saying he was going to refund us. This is particularly insane given our experience with the cockroach usually would warrant some sort of courtesy from the hotel side. Our two hotels after this one, and other activities such as the Rhythm of the Night dinner cruise all refunded us despite the cancellation was not within the cancellation period. This owner is heartless and also clearly not understand business. It’s $60 and as a business owner, I would 100% process a refund to not tarnish my business reputation, but that is not something this person understands.

I usually am do not leave extreme negative reviews to give people a second chance. But the double whammy really left us no choice but to warn others...

This was by far the coolest experience I have yet to have in Puerto Vallarta. This place is perfect if you are looking to blend in with the locals. The Malecon was 10 steps away, no busy streets to cross, just a simple 10 steps and there you are..the Casa Maria made me really appreciate Mexican Art, the colors are happy colors, you can help but smile everytime you walk through the Door, I was in Apartment C for 10 days, I don't want to leave, I could live here, Abraham, the owner lives on premises and is either responding by text or at your door withing minutes offering whatever it is you need to make yourself feel at home and resolve any issues, answer any questions or make suggestions depending what your needs may be at that moment. Super guy, extremely friendly, feels like we have been friends for years...he really put a lot of thought into his design for each room so you get the absolute most out of your stay here..Love, love, love the decor, the bed was super comfortable, the A/C could produce ice within minutes..the tv offers many channels, Netflix, Prime TV..ever wifi capability to watch whatever movies you want via the internet.. Great location, everything you need or want is literally a few steps away..great store, Coppel, Land, Woolworth are with just a few short away, OXXO a 2 minute walk away for any late night or anytime snacks, soda, beer...what more can I say, I lived my time here and will definitely be back as well as tell everyone I know about the great accomodations he offers. A pleasure to meet you Abraham, my new friend, one more thing, his staff is incredible and willing to assist you for anything you need orwant..I'd give you 10 Stars if I...