Sheraton Buganvilias Resort & Convention Center — Hotel in Jalisco

Location: 5* (hotel zone) Cost:4* Food: 3* (details below) Service: 4* Comfort: 4*

Pro-tip: make same day dining reservations from 8a-2p, otherwise you can only select the buffet. Opt for all inclusive, it is worth it.

Stayed here for a four day vacation for día de los muertos (11/1-11/2). At checkin we asked for a clear view of the ocean, as we had paid for a Balcony ocean view room. The gentlemen (Andres) said yes I have a straight on view of the ocean with a large balcony. I said as long as the view was straight on, the balcony could be smaller. He thanked me for my Titanium status and gave us room 1307. Bad. Large balcony yes, view no. The view was largely blocked by a large tall wall on the right, such that you couldn’t see the ocean. We went back down to the check in desk and asked to be moved. They complied and put us in 1415. Much better.

Ate at La villita, for dinner as you have to make same day reservations from 8a-2p.The food was good, a wide variety and the service was great. Breakfast is only at La villita, but again huge variety and great taste. Service remained, good.

For lunch, we had punta sal. Great. Fresh options, many sea food choices. Solid service.

Dinner we made a reservation a las gaviotas, the four diamond restaurant. Bad. Service was slow and terrible. We made a reservation for 7:30pm for a group of six. We arrived at 720pm and let them know 2 of our six would be here momentarily. No problem the lady at the door said. After about 15 minutes, she invited us all in to the lobby to wait for our table. She said she had a table outside now, but if we’re willing to wait, we could have one inside. The ladies in our group preferred inside, so we said we can wait. After about another 10 minutes, the manager come over and scolded us for holding up the other tables. WTF? We explained to him we were told to wait here for an inside table, he said ‘you are holding up other people’s reservations b waiting.’ We said ‘I’d it was going to be a problem, don’t give us a choice.’ At 8pm, the lady came back and said I can seat you outside as there a no inside tables for 6 available. Mind you, it looks to hold about 40 people, but only 3 tables of 4 were occupied inside, and none inside. We were sat outside and promptly asked if we wanted wine, to which we said yes. 10 minutes later they bring menus and we ask about the wine and they said it is coming. 15 minutes later with no wine nor water, we ask for both. The arrived to take our orders. Still no beverages. A small bread plate arrives and we remind them about the wine and water. ‘It’s coming.’

Another 15 minutes later, one of our table mates goes up and speaks to the same rude manager from before, asking about our wine and water. Magically, it shows up in 5 seconds. Our salad and soup course arrives and it is nicely presented. They drop off the food and disappear without provident spoons. We asked the guy who delivered the soup for spoons and he said, you guessed it ‘it’s coming.’ 10 minutes later, no spoons. The water person comes by and we asked about the spoons. 15 minutes later, still no spoons. Again, someone from our party had to get up and ask for spoons and more wine. Geez. This continued throughout the entire meal. A comedy or errors. After almost 2.5 hours, we received our dessert. We asked to see the manager. He didn’t show up for another 30 minutes, hoping we had left. We told him how poor the service and experience had been, and the issues with the food. He just said ‘I see. I understand. Not I’m sorry for this, just a veiled acknowledgement. I would NOT return to this restaurant. Which is a shame, as it is billed as the best they have to offer.

All in all, a great experience, except the poor experience at last gaviottas, the rest the trip was great. Good...

Unfortunate that I must leave this review but for the safety of other coloured young women like me it's important that everyone is aware of these issues. The resort experience itself met our expectations; however, I have never felt so discriminated against in my life before having to interact with the buffet staff and bartenders at the Sheraton Buganvilias.

I had travelled with my friend, a Caucasian woman, and the disparities in treatment were shocking to the both of us:

The servers at the buffet (the only place we could have breakfast and lunch) would speak almost exclusively to my white friend. They very rarely would talk to me, look at me or ask me directly what I wanted and my friend would often order for me because it was much easier for her to get their attention. There was also small things like pulling her chair out for her and not mine - once I actually got stuck in my chair and the waiter just stood there watching as I struggled after he had already helped my friend with hers...

If I came to the buffet by myself for any reason I would usually have to ask many times for assistance and wait until I was visibly upset before anybody came to help. It got to the point where I would nearly get trampled by servers if I didn't move for them as if I wasn't even standing there. This never once happened to my white friend as she was always well accommodated.

I was asked numerous times to show my all inclusive bracelet to prove that I had paid for the drinks I had ordered. My friend was not asked once to show her bracelet and received her drinks with no issues and much faster service.

My friend and I had also agreed beforehand that I would tip at the buffet and she would tip the maids. Given that, it could not have been a matter of money because the servers had never received so much as a dollar from her, yet they still showed her very obvious preferential treatment (I wonder why?!). I am a server myself so knowing how tough it is I was very kind and patient with them which makes the way I was treated even more upsetting.

In addition to the treatment differences, we both as women did not feel safe around the servers and bartenders at any time on our vacation. One particular server at the buffet was harassing my friend so badly (weird comments, following her around, grabbed her hand and kissed it) that we had to stop having dinner there and only went to the restaurants for the rest of the trip because she was so uncomfortable.

The worst incident of all was that I had found my reusable water bottle, which I know for a fact was VERY tightly closed, open at our table. Just to be safe, I asked a waiter for a sealed bottle of water instead and was ignored. After that I got up myself to asked the bartender and was told that there was no water left. This was an obvious lie as minutes before they had gotten a bottle for my friend without her even asking for it, and this was the second night I was denied water in that establishment. My reusable water bottle being open, getting denied sealed water and being offered other drinks we did not order was very suspicious and we left the buffet shortly after out of genuine fear of being drugged that night.

Overall, I thought the flight was good, the resort was beautiful, the spa services were amazing and the food was very good. It was just so upsetting that I couldn't fully enjoy any of these things because of the treatment I was being given, which turned a 5 star experience into a literal nightmare.

If you are a woman or POC I would be very cautious about coming to the Sheraton Buganvilias Resort, and I would definitely not recommend coming here to any of my white or coloured...

Pools: 2 large pools with swim up bars. Both have large 1 foot sections for kids to play. 1 pool has a 3 and 3.5 foot section which was great for out almost 4 year olds. They were able to stand and it really gave them the confidence to improve their swimming skills. This pool is warm due to the nights staying in the 70s and it being more shallow. The second pool 4 to 4.5 feet. Less warm than the other pool but definitely not cool. This pool has great waterfalls and vegetation. Definitely the better pool.

Beach: Our kids love the beach in most places. Unfortunately, this beach is not adult or kid friendly. The biggest issue is the incline of where the water recedes. There is a 2 to 3 foot water level when the water hits the sand making it unsafe for kids to play and chase the water. The first day i stood in between my kid and the water. He loved the water knocking him down and me catching him. The sand is full of rocks. My wife loved finding her favorite ones. We realized if you walk 1/4 mile north to La Glorias Beach then the sand is flat and a much better beach. That beach still has a lot of rocks which we didn't mind. It is hot and after the first day we realized you can rent an umbrella and chairs. There is a shack on the way there that rents them, wave runners and sales food/beer. We actually set up camp in front of the dreams resort. I love the Mexico public beach laws.

Food:

-Breakfast buffet was decent. It wasn't amazing but I'm always happy with freshly cooked eggs and a side of beans. There are also all the things you expect in a buffet.

-Lunch is the weakest meal. The tacos were edible though. You can also do poolside lunch. The corn dogs were good and i don't actually like corn dogs. The quesadillas and guacamole were our regulars.

-Dinner was misleading. Since we were in the slow season they alternated between seafood and Italian restaurants. Both of which had some good food and some terrible food items. Eventually we figured out the grilled mahi mahi and mushroom pasta were the way to go. On Sunday the only option for us was dinner buffet which I don't think I would do again. We have younger kids so could not visit la gaviotas or the embarcadero bar. We also didn't visit umai because it isn't part of the all inclusive plan. I can't comment on the food there.

Drinks: Overall the drinks were hit or miss as is the case with most all inclusives. Uriel at the lobby bar makes a great margarita.

Staff: service was hit or miss. We had some amazing service for breakfast with Oliver, poolside lunch with Gamaliel and dinner with Johnathan and Ramon. We also had some terrible service at the poolside. It wasn't busy which made me think service would be better but many times I would just get my own drinks because the servers were chatting and hanging out. I think the poolside service needs better management to improve the quality of service. I also think many times they servers aren't being tipped which makes them less incentivized to work harder.

Wildlife: They have pigeons and birds but are kept well controlled, however there is bord poop on the loungers which the guests are expected to clean up themselves. There isba guy with a trained hawk that keeps the other birds away. It was awesome to watch. He says most hotels in the area do this to keep the pigeons away. There are a few resident iguanas around the pool which my kids loved watching. It did make me a bit concerned about the health of having iguanas swimming in the pool where my kids swam but they escaped unscathed of infections.

Overall, I don't think I...