Quinta Maria Cortez Beach Hotel — Hotel in Jalisco

TL;DR-Gave away my rooms and lied to.||Please don’t book this hotel! I booked an ocean front room on booking.com over a month before my trip, days after booking I decided I wanted to upgrade to a larger room. Via the booking.com message app the manager, Itzel, told me there was no need to cancel my booking as I had already paid and could pay separately for the upgrade. At that time I was still within my cancellation period that ended 1-week before my trip. Itzel said she would upgrade me in the system and I could pay separately for the larger room they call the “penthouse” (not a penthouse BTW). While someone was staying in the downstairs penthouse (Superior Room) Monday through Wednesday I could have the upstairs penthouse (Luna Room), but only Monday through Wednesday. I responded to her message within and hour and I said perfect! She responded back within the hour saying, “Nice choice-we will see you then.” While online, I saw the Superior room, the other penthouse, was available Thursday, I then booked the Superior room for Thursday through the Expedia website.||I decided to extend my stay one more day and asked Itzel to book Friday for the Superior Room as well . She told me I was already booked in the Superior for Friday-I was not, and she did not respond when I sent the message. So I booked the extra night through Expedia for Friday for the Superior room.||I arrived at my schedule time Monday, 4:30ish PM, well within their arrival times, and was unable to locate anyone-and the place was dead, no people. When I finally located and spoke with the staff, Jerry, he handed me the key and we went up to a room that was clearly NOT the penthouse. The room was teeny tiny. He told me that I had not answered back when Itzel offered me the penthouse-so they booked it with someone else. I showed him the message from Itzel, clearly confirming the Luna room, and he just shrugged. After he abandoned my friend and I at the bar for 30 minutes while he “figured it out”, he returned to tell me there was no other rooms available. Then I said, “Well at least we still have the Superior on Thursday/Friday.” Jerry shook his head no and said it was “unavailable.”. He had given that one away too I guess? I told him I had specifically booked that room through Expedia and not as an “upgrade”. There was no sorry- no nothing. He told me to talk to Itzel, the manager, in the morning. ||We approached Itzel in the morning. She looked annoyed we exist. She told me that when she went to book my room after we talked she noticed it was already booked. I asked her why she didn’t communicate that with me and she shrugged me off. In fact her demeanor was unkind, irritated, and as if WE had done something wrong, not them. I asked about the Superior room and she said, “I just assumed you would want to stay in the same room your entire stay.” Uh-no ma’am you don’t get to decide that. I asked her to move us to the Superior Thursday/Friday. ||Itzel told me the Superior had a previous history of a small water leak and was suddenly “unavailable”. I asked if we could look at the room to see if we could stay in it and she told me we could not as someone was in it!!! How can someone be in it if you say people can’t stay there since there is a water leak?!?! She said they would be out by Thursday/Friday apparently in this “unavailable” room.||I let her know we wanted to cancel our booking. Itzel said it is, “non-refundable” for Monday through Wednesday since I pre-paid on booking.com. My friend said she wanted to still stay in the Superior Room Thursday/Friday. Itzel said, “No, you wanted to leave, you can leave!” She walked over to her computer and said, “I cancelled your booking for Thursday and Friday.” As a parting note Itzel also stated that the other staff member, Jerry, told her that we had refused to pre-pay for Thursday/Friday. We didn’t even talk about money! I told her I just wanted to leave and she told me if Booking.com will let you have refund on the non-refundable room she was fine with that, but we must be out by 11AM. Mind you, I couldn’t talk to her until after 9AM when she got there and it was now close to 10AM, so I had one hour to do everything.||I talked to booking.com as I packed and filed a complaint-I was out of there before 11. Good riddance. I got a refund for the days we did not use and will never be back again. I suggest you do the same. Unprofessional at its very best. Booking.com was fabulous, I highly...

I made our reservations in November for Vida Sol. The information I received at booking described our rate as including a private chef and houseman available throughout the stay. The chef would prepare two meals a day (included in the fee), except for Sundays. Meals would be decided and arranged at breakfast each day for that evening. Groceries would be paid for after shopping was complete, in cash, plus a $12 fee. When I emailed 2 weeks prior to our visit to arrange for our arrival dinner and first grocery delivery, I was told that there were new owners, and things had changed. They would "honor our rate", but now a chef would be $150/day, grocery delivery would be $50 each time, and grocery costs would have to be paid with a credit card or Venmo with a 5% additional fee. Over the course of the 4 days with staff, this would have cost us an additional $1000. I disagree that QMC/CTV actually honored the rate, as they did not include all of the services that had been contracted.

So, we planned to cook for ourselves, as I was told there would be a fully stocked kitchen. We were very disappointed, but we had already spent a lot of money on airfare for 6 of us, so we came anyway hoping things would get better. They did not. The kitchen was not clean, and not fully stocked. Pots and pans had not been properly cleaned. There were no bowls, just a hodge podge of leftover containers. The dishwasher failed to work - the soap did not dispense and therefore the dishes were not clean. The coffee maker was dirty as if it had never been cleaned, including the reusable filter. There were not paper filters available. I could not prepare meals for 6 in this kitchen, so we incurred significant extra costs eating at restaurants, which we had not planned. We paid $20 US for breakfast the first morning in the hotel restaurant. The food was fine, but way overpriced for what was received. The rest of the menu was quite limited - about 8 total dishes to choose from - so this was not a good option either.

Also, our "private villa" was the kitchen storage and laundry facility for the entire property. Staff was constantly walking in and out of the villa to do laundry, get cleaning supplies, and get dishes and silverware for the restaurant door. We could never predict who was going to be walking through the living room at any given time. As well, the living space was open to the restaurant, next door as well as to an office above with a kitchen. The noise in the early morning of staff arriving and doing dishes, etc was quite loud in the villa. It was not the peaceful stay we had imagined.

On Sunday afternoon, one of our party went to take a siesta only to find that their bed was completely soaked. It appeared that the air conditioner condenser had leaked all over the bed. We went several times to the front desk to try to find help - no one was ever there. We tried to call on the phone and no one answered. We stripped the sheets and found some extra blankets and pillows to make a makeshift bed for the night.

I am so disappointed that this was our experience, because the property is unique and beautiful and in a great location. Oscar was very pleasant, Juan kept our pool clean and balanced. Other than that, we did not feel well cared for or welcome at all. We were hoping to find a place to return year after year - this was not it.

I wish the ownership luck as they transition away from the private villa to a boutique hotel experience, but they need to do better if they expect to succeed. We are world travelers that have stayed in all kinds of properties - from business hotels in Tokyo to Four Seasons in Anguilla. Sad to say, this is the worst vacation experience we have ever had. There are a lot of other places to stay in Puerto Vallarta - we will be choosing one of those...

Hotel Quinta Maria Cortez is nothing short of magical. The entire experience is sublime.

First, the design of the inn and the rooms is spectacular. Heavily influenced by Mexican design and artifacts, as well as other influences (like, Roman columns), each room has its own personality. The common areas are well appointed and complete the package. The design is classical, not modern yet each room has every modern amenity you want.

In terms of amenities, there was nothing lacking: Daily breakfast made to order Butler-like service available all day (until 8pm) Menu of food, drinks and wines available all day, including on the beach Kitchenette including coffee maker toaster oven fridge and blender Air conditioning, ceiling fans Luxe rain shower and soaking tub Plunge pool on premises, Massage available

Direct access to a fairly secluded beach is a hallmark of this hotel. The beach in front of Hotel QMC is spectacular, and is perfect if you prefer not to be packed in with others (as with at the “chairs” resorts down the beach). There are some craggy rock formations, which provide privacy, with smooth sand between allowing for swimming and access to the water beyond. Snorkeling can be done just off the beach, and sunrises and sunsets are amazing. And drinks available all day, just call and order!

The service at this hotel is five star. From Sara the service manager, to housekeeping, breakfast staff, and butler/security staff everyone is incredibly friendly, accommodating and service oriented; and make you feel like family. We had breakfast one morning with one of the hotel owners (who is also a frequent guest) who was charming and told us about the history of the hotel and some of the characters and urban legends of Puerto Vallarta. There is a menu of food and drink items (including bottles of wine) which can be delivered to your suite, the beach or anywhere on the property - and are just a phone call away. There is an Oxxo convenience store a 5 minute walk from the Inn.

A few things worth noting, which may make this property not right for you: The Inn is built into the side of a cliff, you enter on the top level and rooms are spread over 4 or 5 levels all connected by stairs, if you have difficulty with stairs or mobility this it not the right place for you. They do have a plunge pool, but not a big resort-style pool. It’s all about the beach. The Inn is located in the affluent area known as Playa Conchas Chinas. It is a 15 minute walk to the Malecon, or a 10 minute cab ride. Cab ride is 70-100 pesos, so not really a financial issue but might be a convenience issue for some.

All told, this is an ideal place if you want to split your experience between luxurious quiet beach time, and the buzz of in-town time.

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