Rivera del Rio Boutique Hotel — Hotel in Jalisco

This place has WOW at the end of every spiral staircase and hidden stairwell. First off its location is absolutely perfect: on the bank of the Cuale which was burbling over boulders and festooned with birds, in a quiet residential neighborhood where you felt immersed in the daily life of locals, a short walk to street markets in Old Town or on Isla Cuale (the footbridge to the cool green island is a block and a half away).

Alex, the owner, greeted us at check-in with icy margaritas, chips and luscious guacamole and then Grant Olson, the manager, initiated us to the serpentine hotel layout, some tips for enjoying the neighborhood and finally our eye-boggling room. We stayed in the ground floor Carlotta suite and while it was much more room than we needed it truly felt like an apartment rather than a hotel room. This suite would have been perfect for 2 couples since the master could be closed off with 2 sets of swinging doors leading to the rest of the suite. The suite was beautifully decorated and full of amenities, art work and perfect furnishings. We loved the private entrance that opened onto the street since we enjoyed sneaking out for many walks, both day and night, around the area. the 2 bathrooms had great showers (a garden tub in one of them) and plenty of hot water. The modern kitchen had everything we needed and the wife fell in love with the 'fridge (which was brand new). Tap water was purified and drinkable as well.

We both agreed that the king bed in the master had the best mattress we have ever encountered in a hotel and the full wall sliding glass door onto our semi-private patio opened the room up beautifully. The AC was zoned for the master bedroom and bath and another high efficiency unit was zoned for the kitchen, salon and 2nd bath allowing ice cold air via remote controls when and where you needed it. The elegant queen sized canopied daybed in the salon was also super comfortable for hanging out in that spacious room. A lockable cedar clothes closet was a nice touch and a room safe was also provided. The entire hotel had wifi.

Up a spiral staircase and then a narrow stairwell provided access to the 4th floor rooftop deck and pool (very refreshing) and well stocked honor bar. Another spiral staircase then led to the 5th floor deck and the large spa.....with spectacular views of the surrounding mountains and gringo gulch. There was nothing like a warm bubbling spa in the sky and a cold cocktail amid the twinkling lights of the city to ease the walking blues out of our bones....one night a 5th floor neighbor across the street played a wonderful eclectic playlist of music from his apartment patio...lots of fun.

Breakfast (included) was a choice among 5 menu items served in the magnificent lobby area of the hotel...great food and we looked forward to it every morning. The lobby was also where the indoor pool was located, but the only swimmers we saw in it were carved wooden duck decoys.

Tho it was a modern incarnation the hotel oozed tradition and history, really quite a place and a remarkable value. I commented that even if I lived in town I would have to stay here once in a while. One caveat that bears mentioning is that there are a lot of ascending or descending steps to navigate from one area of the hotel to another...I found them magical, but others might find them to be a pain either real or imagined.

The bottom line is that the hotel and staff are exceptional and we...

Oh boy, where to begin?

Let me say to the hotel owners, managers or whatever staff, please do not follow up my review with a response as I have read many of your responses and note you take little to, well, no responsibility.

The Staff: Front desk staff is kind and responsive, although an hour our is a bit much after 3000 miles of travel.

The Room: We were given a room in the "New section" this certainly gives a new meaning to the word "New" Where do I start? First and foremost, safety. Did I happen to mention safety? I have stronger door locks in my home bathroom than in this room. It literally was a doorknob with a lock like an interior door. No deadbolt, no peep hole, and no latch. CRAZY! The walk-in shower, albeit attractive; leaked and les not forget taking a hot shower did not exist. $1,600 usd to sponge bath and use the shower wand to wash my hair. Again, CRAZY! The room itself is decorated with totally unmatching items that clearly were bought at a discount store. The bed (King) was Ok nothing great and very soft. There is a split system in the unit to keep it nice and cool which it did. However, it blows right into the dangling light which rattles as the air blows on it.. NICE (Or was it?) We had a wonderful balcony that overlooked the dry creek bed and the homeless man I watched pee this morning. Again, $1,600 for that! I could get that for free at home. Lastly, if you like the sound of both very large dogs and small ones too then you will love their sound at 5:30 AM. Every morning, and pretty much all day anytime someone walked by. We have two large dogs at home, again, I can listen to dogs barking ALL DAY at home, and again, for free.

The POOLS: Nothing to write home about. Hopefully there is never more than 6 people otherwise super cramped at roof top, 3rd floor pool is tiny, and another pool in the dining room, yes, dining room.

Food: Breakfast was included, we ate once and then booked it out of there and ate out on the town. But I would not suggest there was anything wrong with the food.

LOCATION: If being away from the beach crowds, all-inclusive scene, the noise (Except for dogs) and tons of people and feel like trading all that in for homeless, trash, rundown (poverty) then this is your best bet. Walking around is a breeze, and you are not far from all the action. But this side of town closes down fast! I will admit there are a few wonderful places a block or two away, but hey I guess you could say it is up and coming? IDK. I also know that literally around the corner, oddly enough, is one of the best restaurants in all of Mexico, so I read.

Listen, I love living the real deal, I hate beach hotels, chains, and tons of rude people, but even for me, this was a bit too much for the price. It was very obvious when you crossed the threshold from rundown roads, sidewalks, buildings, trash, homeless and the very hard-working poor folks. All of the sudden the streets are a tiny bit better; the sidewalks are much larger and nice; the shops are filled with eye popping crap and some amazing art too. The folks working these fancy shops and restaurants are in uniform not sitting outside smoking, or yelling out to us women what I am sure was sexist comments in Spanish.

Despite any of the negative you might perceive from my review, this is a great city, and the destination has been a blast! But the hotel? Well, I say what might not be good for us may be great for you and enjoy your stay,...

I wanted to highly rate this hotel because it is, in fact, unique & beautiful with great front desk staff. However, I had a dangerous event happen (the A/C HAD A FIRE LEADING TO NETTING ABOVE THE BED CATCHING ON FIRE) which I feel the hotel management did not properly address.

I stayed in Riverio Del Rio Jan 16-18. Originally, I booked the King Room, but was able to upgrade to the Alejandro Penthouse for a total of $60. Of note, I booked the hotel a few weeks ago and noticed that the King room was almost $100 cheaper the day I was checking in when I looked again online, but I did not mind the price difference because I felt it was worth it being in the Alejandro Penthouse. The Alejandro Penthouse - not only has a bedroom, but a full kitchen, full bathroom, living area & huge balcony. Unfortunately, the A/C (which is above the bed & next to netting) had a spark resulting in a fire. The netting caught on fire, which was terrifying. There was damage to some of my belongings. I tried to use the phone in the room to call the front desk, but there was no dial tone. I ultimately used my phone to dial the front desk via WhatsApp, however, given the weak internet signal she was unable to hear me. Luckily she heard my distress and immediately came to the room. Of note, I addressed the poor internet service with the staff the day prior, but they were unable to fix it. I was immediately placed in the King Room which was significantly smaller - possibly a third of the size of the Alejandro Penthouse (just a room, bathroom & small balcony area).

I sent an email to the hotel about the matter & was informed by the front desk that the manager has "Waived my $60 upgrade fee, provided me with free breakfast, & given me 50% off my $75 massage & $40 VIP transportation to the hotel" as compensation. When I tried to get charged the current price for the King room, the front desk declined to tell me what the price was and continued to say that the manager re-enforced "no refunds". I found this compensation insulting, given I have belongings that have burns on them (from debris falling from the netting) & it was a very scary experience due to their faulty equipment. Nonetheless, it could have been a potentially more dangerous situation, if I...