Fiesta Americana Puerto Vallarta All Inclusive & Spa — Hotel in Jalisco

I grew up going to Mexico and the Dominican Republic with my family to all-inclusive resorts during spring break. This year, I was getting very burnt out at work so I decided to just go on a vacation by myself and found this resort at a reasonable price. I stayed the week before Christmas and early on the hotel was about half booked but near the end I think it was completely booked. I think this gave me a good chance to see how the hotel operated during average times and full times. Overall, I would say that this resort, like all resorts, has its pros and cons, and I had a great time.

Pros:

1. Rooms were nice. Each room has a mini-fridge stocked with drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic). They would also leave you a small can of pringles and a snickers bar each day, which was an interesting but nice touch. The interior was nice and updated and the view was nice as well. I would say that most, if not all, rooms have at least a partial ocean view unless you are on the first floor.
2. The staff was ultra friendly and very nice. Reading other reviews and what I experienced myself, it's clear that they pride themselves on exceptional customer service.
3. This resort has one of the best beach fronts in Puerto Vallarta. The sand was nice but not ultra ultra smooth so I would still recommend flip flops. The lounge chairs were closer to the hotel and there was a rope keeping the merchants a bit further away, but it's Mexico they are going to try to sell you stuff everywhere including the beach. Just like the pool area, servers would go by on the beach asking if you want a drink and you could even ask them for food from the grill after 12:00pm. Overall, I would say beach and the oceanfront is the best feature of this hotel. One small warning about the ocean at this resort: a few feet into the water and there is a STEEP drop-off. I am 6'4", and I was walking out into the ocean with the water getting above my knees and then all of a sudden, one step later, I couldn't touch the bottom at all. I loved this but this makes it a bit dangerous coming back. Parents be careful.
4. The spa is small but really nice. I decided I wanted a massage at the on-site spa and it was great. (Rosa did a fantastic job and immediately found my bad shoulder - it was just what I needed). The plunge pool, showers, steam room all were great.
5. As somebody who likes a big breakfast, the breakfast buffet was great.
6. The kids club had some decent activities. I don't have children but they would announce events for kids over the speaker that even I was like "wait, that sounds fun" (make your own pizza comes to mind).

Cons:

1. The main pool is shallow. The max depth is about 3.5 feet. This can be a pro or a con the way you view it but for me it was a con. This pool is GREAT for younger kids. There were a ton of younger kids in the pool and they seemed to love it. However, I would say that kids in their mid to late teens would actually not like this pool. This isn't a pool where you can throw a football around or play with a ball because of the shallow depth. For adults, there was a swim up bar and multiple submerged seats and benches to sit and drink in the pool but that's about it. There is an adults only rooftop pool area in the Sonne club, but you need a Fiesta Club room to get access to this area. While I did not book a Fiesta Club room, I did poke my head in when it wasn't busy to look around. My advice is that if you are a family with younger children where you want some alone, kid-free time, and you can get a Fiesta Club room at a decent rate, this might be the resort for you. If you are a family with older kids, look elsewhere.
2. There was no way to draw a bath in your bathtub in your room. There was no plug or switch to make the water stay in the tub. A little disappointing.
3. I would agree with some other commenters that the hotel is starting to show its age, though I don't think it is very noticeable. The biggest way it shows is the elevators. Sometimes one would not be working. (They were in sets of two so you would just have to...

We just spent a week (start of Feb) at this resort. Because reviews are important, I have divided up my review into parts. We were there for our anniversary, so hopefully this can help you choose your resort. Overall, we really enjoyed our time, food, drinks, and ability to just relax. This resort provided that for us.

Property: 4 stars. It is very clean, well landscaped, and maintained. It is also very dated in some areas. None of that affected our experience. We also saw people cleaning, testing pool water, and there’s security guards that roam the property. If you're looking for a nice quiet place to simply relax and explore, then this will fit your needs. If you want a more vibrant night life, it is not here. Pool: 4 stars. The pool is large and has a swim up bar. The water is clean, however this is dated. Repaired tiles look junky. There’s a random “tub” in the middle of it that doesn’t seem usable. I’m not sure it’s purpose. There’s a zero-entry area for small kids, but that’s it. It remains 3ft deep all the way around. It was the perfect temperature, and refreshing to get in. There is no hot tub here. Family Friendliness: 3 stars. There really isn’t much for older kids/adolescents. Younger children under 5 might have a good time. There are no waterslides and the activities scheduled are more for younger kids. I didn’t see an activity center either. Menus at the restaurants were limited, so I could see kids not liking their options. This really all depends on your family dynamics, but I wouldn’t bring my kids here. I think they’d be bored. Beach: 5 stars. The lounge chairs and beach area are plentiful. You will still need to go “reserve” your chairs with towels, which seems to be normal for all resorts. Servers start around noon, walking around to get your drinks and food. They are very kind. They have a volleyball net if you want to play. The water itself is rough and it gets deep fast. It’s not a super calm or swimmable beach. This is across the bay. Spa/Sonne Club: 4 stars. We got a massage at the spa and that was lovely. That area is beautifully secluded. The Sonne club is an adults only area with the infinity pool. This is where the hot tubs are located. They can only be used if you pay for this upgrade. The food there is a different menu, and they have top shelf liquor. We enjoyed our time up there (we did a sales pitch for a free day), and it was very relaxing. So if this is your jam, then the upgrade might be worth it. Food: 3.5 stars. Breakfast has a vast array of buffet options that are good. The most disappointing thing for me is that there was ever only ONE salsa for my food. I’m the person that wants a salsa bar for all my food, especially in Mexico. Breakfast food doesn’t change from day to day. Lunch is available in two places: the grill and La Cevicheria. Regular American food is at the grill and seafood at the other. We really liked our seafood there – we never ate at the grill. Dinner has 3 restaurants, and you must make reservations. This is a silly policy as we saw empty tables since people probably made reservations, but then decided not to show. It really should just be open unless you have a large party. In general, the food was really good. Our favorite was the Asian place, and we ate their twice. The most disappointing thing are the desserts. I found none of them to be gourmet. It seemed more like regular sweets made to look like something fancy. Our last night there we wanted to use the Mexican restaurant, so we made our reservations for sunset time. They have a nice patio that faces the ocean. What they didn’t tell us is that Friday night was fiesta night. We sat in a banquet hall with strangers at a big table, sharing a giant salsa bowl, buffet food, and authentic dancers/dresses. Honestly, it was horribly overstimulating and loud. It was not the quiet sunset dinner I wanted. So we left. Apart from that, we were never hungry, and always happy with our service for the week. People: The staff are very friendly and accomodating. They are eager to help and...

Just came back from an absolutely fantastic week away in Puerto Vallarta at the Fiesta Americana and as soon as we stepped into the lobby (where they took your temperature to follow COVID procedures) we couldn't be more welcomed. That staff was incredibly friendly and helpful with any questions we had. They always made sure that we were having a great time and we honestly had a perfect one. Jaime helped us with our reservations when it took us a little bit to get the hang of it and made sure our dining experiences were nothing short of spectacular. The food was absolutely amazing everywhere in the resort. We ended up eating the most at their Asian restaurant working our way through their sushi menu. I highly recommend it. But their Italian and Mexican restaurants didn't fall short in anyway, both had the delicious food and amazing staff as well. At El Mexicano they will literally make your salsa in front of you if you'd like and let me tell you, it is AWESOME.

Maggie at the towel hut was super friendly and helped us with renting day beds on the beach, reservations and any questions we had. She was wonderful. The main pool is big and honestly you don't have to worry about it being too crowded, if you'd rather swim in an adults only pool you can head up to the Sonne Club which is an adults only area. If you're not part of Fiesta Rewards then it's only 45 dollars to access the kid free zone for the day. We didn't try it out this time but maybe we will next time.

We ended up on the beach relaxing on their loungers there for half our trip and the service out there was astounding. Sergio, Carlos, Andres and Yonni helped us out and they were quick with a drink refill or getting our food order. They're also super friendly and just great guys that we adore. They even surprised us with drinks of different kinds when we didn't know what we wanted and just let them bring us something. I am not kidding when I say that was probably the best choice we made because we got to try so many different drinks and all of them were fantastic.

The friendly housekeeping staff was on top of everything as well. They made sure our room was taken care of every day, stocked up and disinfected. I can't speak highly enough.

We also tried out the spa they have and let me tell you, if you've never been wrapped in chocolate you're really missing out. It's an 80 minute incredibly relaxing experience that also smells really good. The entire spa staff is just as wonderful as everyone else. After the wrap you're led out in your comfortable spa supplied robe to a little area with loungers and a relaxing pool to sip on some chlorophyll water (which tastes delicious) while you continue to enjoy your relaxing experience. It was a great way to pamper yourself. We also got manicures and not only do I love how my nails look, but my hands feel great as well. If you want to treat yourself to a little something extra I highly recommend going to the spa.

If you're looking to do something off site of the resort or if none of the activities supplied by the resort (the activities board is located right next to the towel hut) are your cup of tea in the lobby is the excursions desk. They are friendly, helpful and knowledgeable when it comes to the different types of adventures available to you and what would best suit your family. We ended up on three different excursions through Vallarta Adventures and each were an amazing experience. We did the Sea Safari, Las Caletas and Dolphins Extreme and I cannot recommend those highly enough. And when having to travel off site for these excursions the resort has taxis available out front for you to use and if you've never taken a taxi or are nervous about it - don't worry. All the drivers we met were nothing short of friendly and knew exactly where to take us. We only had to walk out front and inquire if the taxi was available (which it was) and let them know where we needed to go.

The only negative part of our experience was that we had to leave. But we look forward to...