Samba Vallarta All Inclusive — Hotel in Nayarit

Great place for family vacations! We just spent a week there for a family vacation, from Feb 14 - 21, 2017. We had 4 rooms, 3 of which were on the first floor, facing the back side. If the rooms were in better condition, I would have rated this a 5 star for sure. Our room had a few issues - mold visible on the ceiling & bathroom, a broken lamp, and a pretty poor shower head. Our air conditioner worked great, but others in our group said theirs was quite noisy. The grounds are very well maintained, and staff are always keeping it clean. It's not a large resort, so you can get from your room to the beach in a matter of minutes, or anywhere on the resort for that matter. The beach was great, with a beach volleyball court, lots of palapas, and plenty of open sand. In the ocean, the sand is quite soft and flat, about waist deep for an adult at about 15 feet in, and gradually getting deeper. Virtually no seaweed or stones, which is great. The pool is quite large for a resort of this size, and is divided into 3 sections. One section is quite shallow for the youngest ones, the middle section has a pirate ship with slides into the pool, and the section closest to the beach bar is the deepest. This section hosts various activities for the adults, including aqua-aerobics daily. The best feature of this resort is the staff, all of whom were helpful and friendly. A special mention goes out to the guy who works the late night snack bar by the beach. He was always happy to see us, dancing while he cooked. Gilberto was a top-notch waiter in the a la carte restaurant, always quick with a deadpan joke. The food at this resort is among the best I've had on any vacation. The breakfast buffet had a section of authentic Mexican cuisine, which were more like brunch / lunch options, and a section of more American options like French toast, waffles, etc. There's a station to have eggs made any way you like, as well as a smoothie station that also made some foods to order, like enchiladas. Lunch buffet was probably the consistently best food, with lots of variety. The dinner buffet was good too, with various themes. The a la carte restaurants are very good. There's a Mexican and an Italian restaurant each night, alternating locations between the main restaurant and the beach bar area. We tried both, and really enjoyed them. Do the Mexican restaurant on the night it's at the indoor restaurant, as they do a terrific flaming coffee thing that's worth the visit alone. Note - you have to get in line to make reservations with the hostess before 7:00am. Here, the early bird gets the fancy dinner. Even though the resort was at or near capacity during our stay, there were always enough empty tables that our group of 9 could sit together, short lines at the bars, and no waiting at the buffet. Beach chairs and palapas were always available. You can sign out boogie boards for 40 minutes. Most look brand new, and almost always available. There were always fresh beach towels available at the hut. You can even sign out bicycles for a couple of hours. The kids club was good - lots of activities throughout the day, though the times of certain activities didn't always match up with what was posted on the board. Activities ranged from face painting to bracelet making to a candy-filled pinata. Every night the show started with a 30 minute activity for the kids, usually a kids disco. The shows were generally excellent, especially the magic show, and the history of Mexico show. The first show we saw was some kind of silent gag reel that our group didn't find very entertaining though. Overall, the resort and the area felt very safe. The hotel itself is gated, and inside a gated section of resort and condos on the strip. We went off the resort several times for excursions, and never felt unsafe. I would definitely return here, especially if the rooms are upgraded. The resort has a terrific vibe to it that everyone in our group felt. You feel welcome, safe and at home here, which really helps the vacation...

Simply put, don't do it. Pick a different resort.  Air Canada Vacations advertises this as a 4 star resort online, but it's a 2.5 to 3 max.  While the staff are cordial and very helpful, and the amenities inside and out (ie pool, buffet dining area, etc) are decent, the accommodations are extremely run down and dated and we had multiple issues during our stay.  Even the outside facade of the building and roofing are falling apart.

If you do choose to stay here, AVOID the bottom floor rooms.  We were placed in one originally, and it was horrible.  The moment we walked in, we could smell the mildew.  The sliding door lock was broken and wouldn't actually lock (loose handle and latch) and stay closed.  Maintenance showed up and rigged it to close, but it could still be forced open from the outside.  You could tell humidity had ravaged this room and likely countless others in the complex.  The bathroom especially was heavily rusted over and there was black mold around the edges of the mirror.  The exposed fuse box in the bathroom made the place feel more like a Motel 6 than a resort.

The grout of the room floor tiling had turned black from the ground in dirt and grime.  No matter how much the maids mopped, it wasn't going to get clean.  We couldn't even walk around barefoot in our room because the bottoms of our feet turned black.

Eventually we were moved to a fouth floor room that was more clean overall, but still had the rundown look.  The walls weren't well insulated, so we could hear kids shouting from down the hall outside.  And the air gap around the door leading to the hallway just welcomed bugs to come in.  We had ants and cockroaches.

At one point the flush chain in the toilet broke which required replacing.  That sort of stuff happens and it was fixed.  The issue was while the maintenance staff was there, we told them the hot water knob in the bathroom was leaking when turned on.  We showed them this leak and they acknowledged it.  But then did absolutely nothing about it.  Instead of calling them back again to take up more time from our trip, we just put a towel there to catch the water.

The food at the buffet was decent most days, but on more than one occasion the AC wasn't working right so it was like a sauna in there.  The outside eating area by the pool just had simple food like hotdogs, nachos, and burgers.  Ok for what it was.  We only tried the Italian à la carte restaurant which was pretty good.

One recurring hurdle we ran into during our stay was the lack of English spoken by the majority of the staff.  We understand we're in Mexico, and it's not their native language.  But you would think there would be some basic English understood.  For example, during dinner one evening my wife asked for red wine.  The server just stared at her like she was speaking Swahili.  This lack of bilingualism extended to the front desk staff.  Thank goodness for Google Translate.

On the plus side our kid did love the pirate ship and it was nice we could see him from wherever we were in the pool area.  And the greeters went above and beyond to help us.  Also the grounds were well kept.

We gave a smaller resort a shot instead of going with one of the big boys such as the Riu, Iberostar, Barcelo, etc based on the reviews, and it was a mistake.  Just too many small issues that added up and took away from the overall enjoyment...

UPDATE ... it was such a great experience at Samba that I already booked for January next year, but this time for 2 weeks. First of all, disregard any negative reviews about this resort. I've travelled across 4 continents, and I've stayed in everything from a tin roof, dirt floor hovel to Presidential suites in 5+ star hotels. Samba was amazing in all respects.

Yes, it's smaller and less glitzy than the big hotel chains, but that only adds to the charm, and you never have to wait in line anywhere! 124 rooms, I think. I never had to wait in any line at reception or for food and drinks. Lots of lounge chairs around pool and on beach. I always had a pallata to sit under, and I don't get up early. Everyone knew me by name, and they were always very friendly. There's more than a few workers that went above and beyond to make my stay comfortable and enjoyable. I tried to get everyone's name, but there were definitely a few that stood out.

Mi amor Norma ... in all my travels, I have never met a harder working employee ever! I'll post a selfie with her below. Antonio, Guadlupe, and Yothman ... best bellboys who were friendly with all patrons. I loved chatting with those fellas every time I went out for fresh air. They kept everyone's possessions safe. Always quick to respond to my requests or call me a cab. Bernardo at the concierge desk went out of his way to try to secure me a round of golf across the street. More on golf at the bottom of review.

The young girls at the front desk we're always very friendly with me and always made change for me when I needed money for tipping. Don't forget to tip the staff! They all work very hard, and all the tip money is shared with all the workers.

Housekeeping was awesome, and my room was always spotless. Definitely the most comfortable mattresses and pillows I have ever slept on anywhere, including my own home. Lots of hot water and clean towels. I was in room 310, so thank you to everyone who cleaned my room all week. Maintenance workers made sure that the complex was clean and the pool was crystal clear.

Many thanks to Cele, Sergio, Alex, Daniel, and Meza. I always had a drink on my table within a minute of sitting down. Real professionals and Nori at the flat top made the best omelets I've ever eaten anywhere in the world.

Gilberto, Marco, Ivan, and Luis at the pool / beach bar always had a drink ready when I came to the bar. They worked hard all day long. They were even quick with the cheap people who didn't tip.

I've probably missed some people, but I'm telling you, everyone worked hard. One of the men working security around the pool saved a little boy who was drowning right in front of me on the first day. I didn't even see what was going on until he reacted. Good thing he was paying attention!!

They have little shops and pool tables with top-notch equipment and new felt on the first floor. Ping pong tables outdoors, and a kiddie slide in the pool.

Now for all the golfers ... New owners at Flamingos across the street raised their rates exponentially, and you can now expect to pay $248 US plus caddy fee. I used the GolfNow app and found amazing deals (under $100) at Vidanta Resort, which is a 250 peso ($20 CDN) cab ride away. They have four courses and are hosting the Mexico open on Febuary 22nd. Caddy fee is $15 US that you pay directly to the caddy after your...