Read Reviews of Vela Vallarta, a Family Beach Resort in Puerto Vallarta

This was my first time ever going away for Christmas, ever, in my entire life and I am so glad we chose Velas Vallarta! My daughters are 10 & 12, we also traveled with my mother, my husband, my 94yo grandmother, my brother and his fiance's family. At times we were 16 people for meals. 6 of us stayed in a 2 bedroom suite. It was quite spacious, beds were comfortable, air conditioner worked very well, with a separate control for the master bedroom (which turned out to be a life saver for my elderly grandmother as she doesn't like it as cold as my husband and girls do) The minibar was well stocked and restocked daily. The small boxes of cereal were perfect and a nice surprise, my girls love to eat dry cereal and these traveled perfectly down to the pool. Speaking of the pool, we spent all our time at the main pool with the swim up bar/volleyball net. Each morning we were up early (7:30) and were able to save chairs in a great area. The "swim beds" are awesome and quite comfortable to lay on and allow you to be in the pool and still hold a conversation with people who are laying on the lounge chairs/at the table. Ivan was our waiter every day and he was amazing. We ordered pool side lunch almost daily, from pizza & burgers to nachos, & chicken tacos. No one was every disappointed. The pizza in particular was really good, a nice thin bar pizza, the sauce had a lot of flavor. We ate breakfast every morning at La Ribera. Breakfast right along the beach with the sun rise was stunning. The pancakes, waffles & french toast (made to order) were thick, fluffy and delicious. Members of my group had omelettes a couple times and had no complaints. I was a big fan of the scrambled eggs (are they cooked in milk, they were so creamy & fluffy!) and the chilaquiles were my favorite thing to get each morning. The coffee was thicker than American coffee and stronger than what I make myself but very flavorful with just a splash of cream. A few people in my group enjoyed theirs with Baileys, and some had latte's which were delicious. Dinner was eaten once at Andrea's Restaurant. Go down/call right away at 7:30 to make reservations! The food was delicious but reservations go quickly! We ate there on December 23rd, 2019, I forget what the theme was but the beef was stunning. Tender, flavorful and left us all wanting more. Their take on what I can best describe as scallop potatoes was amazing and very cheesy. The other nights we ate dinner at La Ribera. My daughters chose to eat from the buffet while the adults ordered off the menu. A few standouts over the week were the Pho Soup, the coconut crusted shrimp, the rib eye, the coconut mushroom risotto and the pork chop. Our waiters every night, at both restaurants were always very attentive to our large groups. If you're looking for something new and fun to drink that isn't a typical margarita try a Paloma (like a margarita but better, more refreshing) or a Vampiro (a mexican sangrita ) My grandmother had a massage one day. She is sometimes difficult to please (She's 94, she's earned that right!) so I chose an aromatherapy massage for her. She said the woman who gave her the massage (she didn't get her name unfortunately) was so gentle, my grandmother left the spa floating! My only complaint is that it turned out we all had a $30 spa credit that we weren't informed of. I was on the fence about getting a treatment and ultimately did not, but probably would have if I had know about the credit. Same for my mother and husband. That was a little disappointing, and we didn't find out till we saw it on the bill at checkout. DO NOT SKIP sunset on the beach. Hands down the best sunset I have ever seen. Santa parasailing onto the beach on Christmas day was amazing. Something we've never experienced before and probably never will again. My kids loved it. Another awesome treat was the Christmas tree & ornaments left in our room on the 24th for our girls to decorate. That was so special and made Christmas morning that much more special, to have the few small gifts we brought to open to do so by the light of a tree made it feel like a "normal" Christmas morning. The koi pond is such a nice touch. Go to the store on the resort and buy fish food. It's so fun to feed them and just a little thing that gives kids and adults that little something extra to remember from their trip. The beach is beautiful, the surf was HUGE and amazing to watch, but a little intimidating for my girls so they chose not to swim in the ocean. Some of the adults with us did and while they loved it, also said the waves were quite strong. The vendors on the beach are nice, friendly and not pushy. If you tell them no thank you they move along and don't push you to buy anything. Overall this was an A+ experience. I wouldn't hesitate to go back. Everything was beautiful, clean, well maintained and enjoyable

I think it’s our sixth time here. We both work and by this time of the year we’re just tired and want to just rest and do nothing. And that’s our place to go. This year is amazing and special thank you guys for unusual and delicious deserts! Thank you

This resort is top of the line. I've resided here before and continue to return. It's like a home away from home to us. We enjoy the ammenities and the staff is top notch. This town is family oriented and they have great restaurants on and off property

I thought I had reviewed, but looked through my history and it isn't there! This stay was actually June 2017. From member check in to check out, we had a wonderful time here. Service was top notch and the only issue we had, early morning construction noise, was gone from the day we mentioned it. The food and its service are really, really good. No, not five diamond, but they dont advertise it as such, either. We were never disappointed with dining options. The beach water is what it is....silty from the 3 Rios draining into the bay. This is beyond control of the resort and I won't discount their rating for it. My daughter loved the kids club. We are arriving to.orrow and she is 10 now, so we will see how it goes this time. The pool entertainment staff were engaging and there was always something for my wife and daughter to do while I laid around getting fatter. I wish I could remember the names....I promise a more timely review this time