Playa Los Arcos Hotel Beach Resort & Spa Puerto Vallarta — Hotel in Jalisco

I love, love this place! It is located in the Romance Zone in Puerto Vallarta. 4 floors in a U shape. We were in the middle of the U which looks directly at the ocean. Awesome sunsets from our balcony every night!!! They have a long pool which breaks up in three sections, large section, kids section, and infinity pool. I think the infinity pool has jets. The infinity pool is the last connection and it looks directly at the ocean. Every day I got up early and grabbed our towels which the hotel supplies. I went to the beach and got 2 little side tables that they have stacked up. I put them in the first row of the beach where nobody can sit in front of us as we look at the ocean. The hotel allows this. Later when we come down we stand by our tables, a staff member brings us 2 lounge chairs and a huge umbrella. There is also a waiter to take your drink orders through out the day. We had this done every day! You can go all inclusive if you want. However the town has taco trucks that we also ate at. And no, we did not get sick. Very cheap tacos. You can walk anywhere. One of the things I liked was walking the beach looking for colored glass and tiles. We enjoyed this place so much that this year, (2021)we are renting an apartment for 2 months and half way through we are staying at Playa Los Arcos for 4 days 3 nights. The rooms were clean and the staff were friendly. There is also parasailing which I did; it was awesome. HIGHLY RECOMMEND. Update: This is the 2nd time (2021) in 3 years that I have been to Playa Los Arcos. We were greeted by the doorman who took our luggage to the desk where we were served refreshing Mojitos. When everything was situated, our luggage was brought up to the room. We then proceeded to check out the hotel. We noticed that the restaurant had been updated. The remodeling made the restaurant look smooth, sharp and clean. The red flowered trees and twinkle lights were a wonderful addition which made it romantic and elegant. Swimming pool had lounge chairs and tables now built right in the water. The hot tub, and infinity pool looks the same. The staff was very accommodating. Whatever we wanted, they made sure it happened. I loved that we took 1 step and we were on the beach/melicon. We would have 2 lounge chairs, table, and umbrella set up for us, where we set our beach towels when we handed him our beach towel cards for the day. The next day we did this all over again. These cards are given when you check in. We chose all inclusive which includes drinks and food. The buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner had quite a choice to choose from. We noticed that the food was better by having new choices and quality. In addition to the buffet, there is still a station (which has been updated)for breakfast where they make pancakes, French toast, and any sort of eggs you desire. We sat in different areas of the restaurant for meals...such as up front for a full ocean view, further inside with an ocean view and on the side of the restaurant you can step outside to eat and it feels like you are in a quaint little cafe. The waiters, we can't say enough on how pleasant while taking care of us and hardworking they are. Our days were spent on the beach looking for colored glass and sitting on our chairs looking at the ocean while being served our drinks. Also we walked the malecon and the streets seeing what the shops had to offer. Lastly we enjoyed our balcony. We stayed at Playa Los Arcos for 4 days and 3 nights. I was happy with all the safety measures they took for keeping us, as much as possible, from Covid-19. Playa Los Arcos had a temperature gauge, hand sanitizer and disinfectant solution that we stepped on and then a mat to dry our shoes on. This process is at the front door and the entrance to come back in the hotel area from the beach. There is also a security guard placed there to make sure no one that isn't staying at the hotel doesn't get in. Oh, and each room has a safe to put your valuables in. If I had to say 1 negative thing it would...I am glad they are starting to...

We booked at Playa Los Arcos recently for our Puerto Vallarta vacation in April 2024. The reviews are accurate the hotel is not great and it is not terrible it is good and the location is FANTASTIC.

We were looking for a reasonably cheap and cheerful getaway. My husband insisted on an all-inclusive booking to have a controlled budget where I usually prefer to travel ala carte and stay away from big hotels. This hotel was a perfect balance for us. The all-inclusive option was a reasonable add-on and helped us stay in budget in these crazy inflationary times however, I did not feel trapped on a resort because the location allowed us to get out and explore every day.

We met so many people that make this an annual trip for the exact reasons that I just stated. If you don't care as much about your hotel and amenities and are big on exploring and dining at different places, immersing yourself in the culture and not relying on your hotel for your entire experience then this is a perfect spot. On the contrary, if you are the type of traveler who likes to simply relax and indulge in great amenities, excellent food and premium drinks you will absolutely be disappointed. It really does depend on what your travel values are.

The Pros:

It is a small boutique hotel not a huge property which I love.

The layout is great and pools are awesome.

The beach is incredible.

Everything is walkable. We LOVED walking into town, walking the beach & walking the malecon. We left the property every single day but had the convenience of our all inclusive package for our core meals.

The Cons:

The drinks are not premium if you care about this it will be an issue. We each found a couple of drinks that we liked & made due with that for the week. ** Just as a side note, we found out halfway through our stay that we had access to the sister property across the street which is adult only and offers premium drinks and a snack bar that is catered more to adults. Los Arcos guests are not allowed to use their pool as they are not allowed to use ours HOWEVER, we were allowed access to their rooftop premium bar, sun loungers and snacks.

The buffet isn't terrible but it is not excellent. There was always something at one of the stations that we enjoyed but the food was certainly not a highlight. Breakfast was our favorite meal.

We only used one of our a la carte dinners because it turns out that it is not a meal at one of their additional restaurants. They set up some tables on their outdoor veranda and offer a separate menu that is slightly elevated from the buffet and call that an la carte. The beautiful restaurants with the cool dine in pools, are not at all part of the hotels package. You do get a 10% discount to eat or drink at them however.

Because the beach location is not at all secluded or private, you will be accosted by beach by vendors. It's part of the experience and when we needed a break from it we hung out in the pools.

Everything closes at 10pm. So no bars or food access past this time but walk out the front door and there are plenty of options from convenience stores, restaurants, food stands and bars both big and small so I'm not really sure if this is a true con.

All in all, we had an incredible vacation in Puerto Vallarta. The city itself is amazing and full of culture. There is so much to do from exploring, eating, shopping or just walking and taking in the beauty. As an "excursion" We took an Uber to Boca and did the hike to the incredible Las Animas Beach which was a much quieter Beach overall and is easier to swim in. We caught a water taxi back to Boca and hopped on the local bus back to Puerto Vallarta which was a cool experience in itself.

WORD OF CAUTION: pack all the sunscreen that you need and a little extra. A bottle of sunscreen in Puerto Vallarta even way off of the tourist areas will run you $24 to $40 USD! And the Sun on that side of the ocean is VERY hot and strong. We came back with the most incredible tans we have ever had from a week vacation but we spent a small fortune on...

We spent 9 nights at this hotel. This was our 3rd time here, but the first time in many years.

There were pros and cons to this hotel. We were visiting the area for a LGBT+ event so lots of partying. The whole romantica zone is VERY gay friendly. The local businesses and residents seem very accommodating. Highly recommend the area for a gay-cation.

The Cons!

NO VISITORS ALLOWED. This was our major pain point. I saw them kick folks out who weren’t guests. It seems odd for a hotel to not allow visitors but here we are. If you want to have visitors, whether it’s family/friends or fun, you will want to find a different place to stay. Our Expedia reservation did not mention anything about this policy. We did find it on the hotel website however.

SMALL ROOMS. We booked a supreme premium room. It was updated but the rooms were very small. If you are expecting resort type rooms, look elsewhere. We made friends at the hotel and got to see their standard room. They were not updated so be aware that not all rooms at the hotel are updated. There were also only very select rooms with a full ocean view. We had a partial ocean view but needed to look out over the balcony at an angle to see it. Most rooms either face the pool or the adjacent buildings.

WRONG ROOM TYPE. We were not given the room type that we booked and paid for upon check in. I had to argue with the front desk agent to get the room that we actually paid for, which included a balcony. They were insistent that we got the room we booked. I had to show them their own website, highlighting the difference between supreme standard and supreme premium. Eventually I had to speak to the manager, who did get us the room type we booked, albeit two days later. We received no type of compensation for the error.

AVERAGE FOOD. The food in the restaurant is just okay. We have done AI here before but don’t see the value with so many good restaurants nearby. I would not recommend unless you plan on spending every day at the pool, drinking.

The Pros!

GREAT LOCATION! The Playa Los Arcos is in a fantastic area with so much to do just outside the doors. A 24hr convenience store is just steps away. A laundry service and pharmacy across the road. Restaurants and shops everywhere. The hotel sits between Olas street and the beach.

SPA. I got a massage with the ladies at the spa. We received 10% off for being guests of the hotel. They were very professional and accepted cc. I recommend if you are looking for some “you” time.

HOUSEKEEPING. The room was cleaned well on each day we requested service. Two bottles of water daily. We even took the DND sign down later in the day a couple times and still came back to a clean room. No washcloths the entire stay.

FRIENDLY STAFF. The hotel staff were mostly friendly and we were usually greeted with a smile and a hello. Despite my initial concerns above about the wrong room type, no issues with the hotel team in general. They work hard to give you the best experience possible.

FELT VERY SAFE! As much as we hated the “no visitors” policy, it definitely created a very safe environment at the hotel. Trust me, you are not going to be able to sneak your visitor past the security team. There was always people working the front desk area.

POOLS. I spent a few days at the hotel pool. Loved the lounge chairs that were partially in the water. The pool was shaded most of the afternoon so it was wonderful for preventing those burns. The hotel was family friendly but there were not many kids during our visit. Seniors and gays seemed to make up the masses. Lots of repeat guests.

LGBT+ FRIENDLY! We felt welcomed and accepted. At no time did we feel that the hotel was not gay friendly, despite their “family friendly” description.

Just my opinions on our stay at Playa Los Arcos. If you want to be able to invite someone back to your room, look elsewhere. If that isn’t a deal breaker, you will likely...