W Punta de Mita — Hotel in Nayarit

We used points for a 5 night stay over New Years with another family. This is an incredible new hotel and one of the best deals out there. At first we were reluctant to go to a W because we were traveling with four kids ranging in age from 5 to 8, but we ultimately decided to have adult fun over the New Year and visit a cooler place as opposed to a kid-friendly place. Well, weren't we surprised when we got there to find an amazingly new (and free) kids club? A kids club our kids actually begged to attend. A kids club that remained open until 1am on New Years. Turns out this hotel is the perfect mix of an adult/hip atmosphere with the possibility to bring along kids.

Overall this is an amazingly new property with a fantastic pool and an even better beach -- this has to be one of the best beaches in Mexico. Fairly private, great sand and very swimable.

Rooms: As a Platinum100 my SNA's were denied for the two rooms we reserved with points -- as the hotel was full. yet upon check in we were told one of our rooms was upgraded- turns out we were upgraded to the Extreme Wow Suite -- and frankly, the name does not do it justice. This was a beach house. Two full bedrooms. Living room/ bar, a few plunge pools, and an enormous deck overlooking the ocean. Breathtaking. Needless to say both families stayed there and we gave up the other room, which was a jungle room. But there are many varieties of cool rooms here- lagoon rooms, beach rooms. A lot to choose from in a fairly small environment.

Location: The hotel is a bit secluded, which is very nice and private, but does require a journey to go out to restaurants -- basically a $60+ taxi commitment for every venture. Go to Sayulita-- definitely worth visiting.

Pool: Nice and warm. Very swimable. Short walk to the ocean. Just a few steps. This is a bit of a "hip" scene so expect music and a DJ, but it wasn't overpowering. What's great is they have fantastic beds/cabanas around the pool that are free, which is almost unheard of.

Beach: A bit of a disappointment you have to pay to rent boogie boards ($40 a day each). But the beach is great for surfing and boarding. Some days it was placid and other days had some big surf. A nice walkable beach, just a few vendors, but not annoying. You can rent beach cabanas, which are like little homes- for $250 ish. Very nice.

Food: A very nice breakfast buffet. Omletes made to order. Nice fruit and such. Pool food was decent. Tacos etc. Not absurd pricing. Perhaps expensive for Mexico, but not ridiculous. Spice Market for dinner is just such an odd fit in Mexico. Food was good. But very expensive and just unusual to have Asian as your anchor restaurant. There is a more traditional option as well.

A few minor inconsistencies:

Beggers cant be choosers, but when they brought us to our Wow Suite no one stayed to show us how to operate the sound system or mechanical lighting and curtains. In fact, when we called them back it took two days to get someone to figure out how to work the sound system.

-Service: Typical Mexico service, which was vaguely uninterested, unreliable and what you get with a 10% tip included on everything -- though they expect more, and we gave it when warranted. I do want to point out one gentleman in the Wave beach rentals who was amazing and went out of his way to help us and the kids. We tipped him upon leaving and he was very grateful. I should note the front desk service is fantastic. This merely has to do with food service.

-Taxis are such a scam in Mexico. Somehow you cant get a roundtrip to a 20 minute town without paying $80. It is nice the cars will stay for you, but just seems there has to be a cheaper way.

-Platinum Breakfast: This was a mess. Some days we were told we dont get a check-- other days we were given a check, or chased down when leaving. Some days breakfast was for everyone, some days it was for two, some days kids paid, other days they did not. Other guests told me the same story. But i give the hotel credit, because without me saying anything no breakfast charges were on our bill.

Ultimately, do not sleep on this amazing new hotel. It is a great deal for families who want something for the kids and themselves. And a special shout out to the GM Brian who did everything to ensure we enjoyed ourselves.

We will surely...

We stayed the third time at Punta Mita and after the St. Regis and Four Seasons we decided to try the W Hotel now.||Location and Installations: 5/5|A bit outside of the classical Punta Mita area where the other properties are. The advantage of the W is the great beach and ocean where you can literally swim all day!|The W in comparison to those other properties has the best beach area by far, is a bit smaller and you can reach everything easily by walking.|There are two pools very close to the beach are, one for adults only with a nice view over the beach and ocean and the pool for everyone (1 minute walking) with two jacuzzies.|At both pools there are bars and food available almost 24/7. There were always enough sunbeds available.||Restaurants: 5/5|Amazing food! We had lunch at the Chevycheria, amazing seafood and fish!|Also the food at the pool was always delicious, shrimp or fish tacos, fresh prepared salsas…|We loved the dinner at Venazu Restaurant, one of the best Enchiladas we ever had!|For us the food at the W was always delicious and spectacular, for our 4 day stay not necessary to get out for lunch or dinner.|We booked the all inclusive package with was completely worth it! For lunch every dish is included at for dinner there is a separate menu, with about 20 main dishes at Venazu for example… including delicious vegetarian options.||Service: 4/5|Overall fantastic in almost every part of the hotel.|Specially at the pool and restaurant the set ice outstanding, here I want to thank specially Antonio who is doing a fantastic job at the Chevycheria restaurant or the pool area.|Also a special thanks to Julian from housekeeping, Gabi and Alejandro from Venazu restaurant where we had dinner three times. And last but not least to Arturo( breakfast) and Sergio (Pool).|The staff during the day is really amazing, fast and friendly!|Why only 4 of 5 stars: I compare the W to other 5 star properties with a price tag of 1,500 USD per day for our room incl the AI package.|The second day in our ocean front pool villa there was no cleaning at our villa. We were outside for breakfast and at the beach from 9:30 to 6:30pm. Explanation: we have a little delay… our room was then made when we went out for dinner.|During the turn down or cleaning, nothing special like in other 5 star properties was made, e.g. fresh fruits or little handwritten card.. also the classes of our wine and the ice of the bucket were never changed, you had to ask always for it.|At check in I had to ask for an upgrade which was only offered for an extra cost (520 usd per night). At FS or St Regis, both as well as the W when we stayed here with less tab 40% occupancy offered upgrades for free for 2 categories and the rest for a small payment.|As well as check out, no one asked if we enjoyed our stay or if that they’ll be happy to see us again.|In those areas the W must work on to remain a 5 star property and to catch up the service of their great staff at the pool and restaurants!||Rooms: 4/5|My wife’s parents stayed at a wonderful jungle view and we booked an ocean front pool villa.|Also the wonderful jungle room is very spacey and a 5 minute walk to the beach and pool.|Our villa was huge, with two bathrooms, amazing beach and ocean view and a huge pool overlooking the ocean.|A very comfortable bed and a two minute Walk to the ocean and 3-4 minute walk to the main oool and restaurants.|We liked the interior design, very traditional Mexican from the 60s combined with the special W new design touch.|Why only 4 stars: we felt that a renovation will soon be required here and there… pool and jacuzzi cleaning was never made, only upon request… and no personal details during our 4 day stay in one of the highest room categories at this property.||Overall summary:|Great location, too beach and ocean, nice pools, great service at beach, pool and restaurants, nice rooms and delicious food.|Opportune areas: service at other areas as described, probably lack of Personal on weekends when the hotel gets more busy and a renovation of the adults only pool and rooms could be...

Good pool service and the resort workers are generally very efficient and nice. Great aesthetics and design of the property, it's well designed. That’s about it.

Where to begin? I thought Mr. David Gauna, the new General Manager was brought in to make the W Punta De Mita better and not worse? Recall that several years back, this hotel did not even try to honor Elite benefits and/or upgrades.

We all have our reasons for wanting to stay at a W hotels. Many of us are raving fans of this hotel brand as well as our loyalty to Marriott. Myself personally, I have stayed at 6 other W hotels worldwide including the W Bali. The fact that I purchase bath and bedding products at the W Hotels The Store website for my home, that alone should tell you something about my loyalty and love for the W Hotels brand. And I also have the W Maldives booked for January of 2023. Apparently now I need to rethink my relationship with this hotel brand simply because hotel management at W Punta De Mita hotel does not seem to care if you are happy or not as a customer. It seems at this location, all they care about is their profit and they do not have any common sense as to try to keep guests satisfied. It’s the little things that make us paying guests feel special and appreciated, and keeps us coming back. And the entire staff simply disappeared when I wanted them to look into assisting me.

Listen, if you are you going to spend well over $1,200/night USD (for a basic room, including some meals, drinks and extra cash tips to the waiters and resort workers), it better be worth it. And in my opinion, the W Punta De Mita was not worth it at all. At least at the Grand Velas, you pay over $1,000 USD/night but you get very quality all-inclusive F/B, and I liked that there’s no pretentiousness at Velas Resorts.

Bottom line is the hotel ruined what was supposed to be a beautiful elaborate surprise birthday balloon arrangement for my wife. Several days before checkin the hotel informed me that balloon arrangements wouldn’t fit into the regular ocean view room they upgraded me to (I am Bonvoy Elite and had booked the jungle view originally). So we scrambled for alternative options. They suggested upgrading me to an Oasis suite and gave me a very good price for the upgrade, or so I thought. Well it turned out they weren’t very clear and what they were quoting me was the upgrade per NIGHT in addition to what I was already going to pay for the basic room. So the upgrade charge was going to cost more than my entire 2 night stay combined. Unbelievable. And they had the audacity to quote me such an outrageous number.

I reached out to management in an attempt to get some assistance and they were all hush hush and nowhere to be found. Not one employee offered any assistance. At any other reasonable hotel or resort, I would think they would not hesitate to upgrade me to a suite to accommodate the birthday balloon arrangements, or hey here’s an idea, how about honoring the original upgrade price that you give to your guests in the first place?! So then I had no choice but to cancel the balloon arrangements, and the local vendor lost out on almost $500 USD worth of work for the arrangement. I guess the W also does not like supporting their local entrepreneurs.

The entire experience left me somewhat dumbfounded. To be honest, prior to my arrival, I was also debating to cancel my entire stay @ the W Punta De Mita because of the petty back and forth I had with their Front Desk Staff - Okay yeah we’ll give you the suite for this xx price, followed by oh sorry we quoted the wrong price, to we’ll give you the suite for 5% off, followed by 10% off after I pushed for more discounts.

Also beware and check your bill. The hotel adds an optional room service charge for the maid, which you can supposedly remove during checkout, but in my haste to exit the property, I did not notice the option to remove it, so definitely consider doing that. Hey this place wants to nickel and dime you as a guest, well we too can...