Grand Velas Riviera Nayarit — Hotel in Nayarit

I think our first visit to this wonderful place was in 2007. That is when we initially went to Grand Velas, not really knowing what to expect or that it would be the beginning of a relationship with a fantastic group of people on the Pacific coast of Mexico. In 2007, we had never been to a place like this so it was a new experience. We enjoyed the visit so much, we went back again a couple of years later and were so pleased that many of the same people were still working there and remembered us. They made it very difficult to leave. So a long term relationship had begun and we determined that as long as we were able we would try to go back for vacations and visit what quickly became our "home away from home" and our "family" in this beautiful setting. For the past 17 years, as often as possible, we have tried to spend at least a week in this beautiful setting -relaxing, rejuvenating, and enjoying the place and the incredible people.| I am hesitant to mention names because I don't want to leave anyone out who deserves special recognition. The entire staff here is awesome. I am sure that there are times they must be tired and weary from another day of hard work but they don't show it. They bring smiles and good attitudes and go the extra mile to make sure their welcomed guests have the best experience possible. There are so many seemingly small, but unexpected, things that amaze me even after all these visits - things like the petal of a flower on your lounge chair (Gustavo, Leonel, and Diego), balloons in your room because of a birthday (Chepe), a pot of coffee and fresh-baked pastries early in the morning (Julio, Francisco, Carlos) while you are doing your morning reading an hour before the restaurant even opens. There are all the waiters in Azul who have worked together as a team for years and never tire of meeting a standard of excllence I haven't seen anywhere else (Edgar, Ricardo, Ricardo, Litui, Carlos, Eduardo, Pablo, Pablo, Luis, Francisco, Julio, and others). There are waiters in the more formal restaurants in the evenings who are as good as any in the world, some who have been at Grand Velas over 20 years (Francisco in Piaf and Oscar in Sin Lin). There are other things that stand out like the chef (Raul) preparing a special dish at lunch or dinner that he thinks you might enjoy, or the maitre'd at Azul (Fidel) making sure that you have things you need on time and that you get to sit at that special table you enjoy by the water. Then there are the hotel management people (Pilar, Ler, and Sebastian) taking time to stop by your lounge chairs in the middle of the day to make sure everything is going well and that you are enjoying your visit. There are also so many people who don't necessarily interact with the guests but are more than willing to if you acknowledge the beauty and perfection of their work by offering words of appreciation and encouragement (Eduardo the gardener, Carolita who keeps the walkways clean and spotless, and Brianna who never passes a dirty window that she doesn't clean). Who can ever forget Carlos or Mariano who stop by to chat before they go out to lead more water sports or recreational activities? And the pool concierge staff (Jose, Lemuel, Francisco, Saturino, Gustavo, Enrique, Diego, Nadia, Kenia, and others like Raymundo and Gorge) make sure there is never a moment that you need anything while you enjoy your day. There are many wonderful concierge people (Chepe, Luis Mateo, Manuel, Ramon, Daniela, Maria, and Gabriela) who are all excellent an handle details. On this trip Chepe assisted us and was a pleasure to see every day. There are other fantastic people who often work behind the scenes (Fabiola and Guadalupe come to mind) who always make you feel appreciated and welcomed even though you may not see them as often. Antonio and Maria in room service are two other examples. All these people, and more (including the people who maintained our suite to perfection - Marsela and Diana) make every visit to Grand Velas memorable and make sure that when you leave you will want to return many times in the future.| There is one thing I do not enjoy about visiting Grand Velas - you have to eventually leave and go home! However, as painful as that feels, I can assure you that if you have taken time to get to know the wonderful people you just met and took time to be enriched by the beauty of the property, stunning sunsets, and the sound of endless waves coming ashore, you will leave with hope of returning and confidence you will not be forgotten the next...

My wife and I spent a week here recently for her birthday, along with another couple, and I have to say that it's by far the best hotel/resort I've stayed at with the best service and accommodations. Not once were we bothered with timeshare packages, massage/spa services, etc.

Previously my only experience with an all-inclusive vacation was the Dreams resort, also in Puerto Vallarta, and that was also amazing, but going from there to Grand Velas is like going from a Toyota to a Lexus, 720p to 4k, a movie on a tablet vs a theater -- It's a noticeably large step up!

You get off the taxi and are instantly greeted warmly with damp scented towels, top shelf champagne, and a five minute massage. It really helps to transition your body and mind from the hectic mentality of air travel to a relaxed state so that you can release that tension right away.

*Our concierge, Luiz, was professional, attentive, and as accommodating as humanly possible, and made our stay such a blissfully joyous occasion and memory. Luiz even offered his services to us on his day off, if we so needed! Impeccable in every way.

The beach was always clean, as were the pools and pool areas, and pool temperatures were consistently just warm enough; Never cold. *My advice is to get to the pool when it opens for the best lounge chairs spots. Poolside waiters were always amiable and attentive, and the liquor selection has something for all tastes (I indulged in Glenfiddich, Hendricks, Grey Goose, Patron, and the usual common top-shelf names -- Part of the all-inclusive package!). Occasionally we were offered free five-minute poolside massages and decadent small bites while seated in our chairs.

They offer a teen area that seemed like it was a dance club for kids, and they had a full daily schedule of activities for adults like bike rides, meditation, yoga, water aerobics, stretching, etc. The instructors were all professional while being fun too!

The food is what you'd expect at a five-star hotel and five-diamond restaurant: Elegant, attentive, artistic, and amazing. All the indoor restaurants require dinner attire and the outdoor restaurants are more casual. Poolside dining was surprisingly upscale, with ribeye burgers, various ceviches, etc. The buffet at Azul was our breakfast mainstay. Room service also doesn't skimp at all, and you can get filet mignon to your room late-night if you want. The indoor fine dining restaurants offer interesting art-forward atmospheres and low-light ambiance to go along with truly great food and service (our group calculated the per-person cost for an appetizer or two and a main course, and it usually came out to around $90-120 (USD). The food was my favorite aspect of the hotel!

We took one day to go walk the Malecon and it was as beautiful, lively, and fun as the last time we were there! If you like beer, definitely check out Monzon Brewing and also Los Muertos Brewing for likely the best craft beer!

The only few downsides on our vacation were things that were pretty much out of Luiz' control, so we didn't mention them. The whole week we only experienced one time when kids were behaving with their parents, at an indoor restaurant, and besides that it was like not a single parent paid any attention to what their children were up to around the pool areas or elsewhere -- It got pretty crazy at times and was surprising. Also, there was a huge wedding party for the last two or three days we were there, and many from that party were being obnoxiously drunk like they owned the place.

I get it that people need to feel free to let loose on vacation, but when it gets to the point of imposing on other's vacations it gets annoying. Didn't let the kids or drunk broes ruin our vacation by any means, but was eye-roll-inducing sometimes. The other thing was that something's in the rooms showed obvious signs of abuse, but having worked in the hotel business before, I totally get that you can't replace every single thing when problem guests treat things poorly; Everything functioned just fine, it was more like a few...

We have been visiting Grand Velas for a number of years, and it's unfortunate to see the quality of their customer service deteriorate. We originally booked a pool view room for our stay (2 connecting rooms), and were given a garden view room in a poor location. ||||We kindly gave the hotel a chance to rectify this. Upon several apologies, the hotel manager said that they'd find us the right room the following day and asked us to just "temporarily" unpack and be patient with them for a day. We kindly obliged. It later turned out that we spent more time chasing them to correct this issue than needed and had to burden our "vacation time" to solve a screw up on their end.||They later resorted to giving us two rooms on two different levels with a bed configuration different than what we had originally requested. We had a representative from the hotel that couldn't empathize with my wife (a concerned parent explaining how having a room on a different floor was not suitable with children). In a hostile tone, the lady insinuated that we had to take this and had no other alternative. She was rude, unprofessional, and quite frankly, didn't care about our concerns.||||Noticing that this woman's attitude had escalated and had lead us nowhere, we went to hotel manager ("Ler" to be specific) to see if he can further help with the situation. He said he'd look into it.||||4 days later, we never received a call nor did we get a follow up. We did our best to enjoy the trip; however, the service was below average at best. Upon check out, they offered us a "complimentary upgrade" for our next trip. They (Lily Medina to be specific) also insisted that I sign a hold harmless agreement and not post any negative review. Knowing this experience would be critical to future guests (not only as a recent traveler but also as a Costco shareholder), I felt it was imperative to reject signing a foolish document in order to make my voice heard through the Costco Travel community. Lily was not going to get her way.||||Clearly, they have a financial interest in mind and didn't quite care about the concerns their guest had.||I'm rather disappointed that Grand Vellas is showing signs of decaying customer care. My family and I can now only reminisce on the enjoyable experience we used to have when we originally were treated as a valued guest. Those days seem long fetched now.||||Unfortunately, we will reconsider choosing Grand Velas in our future visits to these destinations. I'm not one to leave a negative review, but our experience needs to resonate with those that will be paying an inflated price for a trip their "hoping" will have some customer care to go with it. ||||Hope this sheds some light on our recent experience out of the many we've had with Grand Vellas. ...