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

My wife & I were guests of time share members from another RCI facility. Overall I'd say our experience was very relaxing, accommodating and a delight.We arrived on 2/21/04 at around noon (for 7 days), and knew the "sharks" were ot to sell us a time share. I concur with previous comments, that the sellers are overbearingly persistent to the point of following you as you walk away saying  no gracias. Be aware that your persistence just needs to exceed theirs. For example, eon day 2, we walked into the lobby, which is where all the sharks hang out, and were asked if we had signed up for the tour? Of course, we said, no gracias. She then asked if she could have our name so that she could place our names on a list. We said, no. She then said we d continue to be harassed until our names were on her  do not call list. Rrrriiiiiight!Once we got past the  shark issue, our time there was very enjoyable. We were in a 2 bedroom suite, with a balcony. Our room was very well kept, linens were changed daily (we also tipped our housekeepers daily, as opposed to the all inclusive end-of -stay tip, as the housekeepers changed about every 2 days). We found this to be very rewarding, as by the third day we had little floral arrangements left in our bedroom and living area. We had one instance of ants, contacted housekeeping, and they took care of it within an hour.For meals, the food quality was certainly was not a five star affair, though the location (we had breakfast by the ocean-shore restaurant), and food service, was wonderful. Again, we found that being gratuitous, paid off huge as our time there progressed (letting the same waiter serve us each meal, breakfast & lunch). As soon as we needed a cappuccino refill, he was there with it. Dinner was the one area (other than the  sharks ) that I d say, caused us to rate Velas a 3. It s not that the food was horrible, or not edible, but you could tell that it was kept in warming trays before being served. The presentation was nice, and because we purchased the all inclusive package, we could literally eat & drink without limit, yet the quality of the evening meal was average.Being that we were guests of RCI members, and not having a choice regarding the all in package, though it was very nice and had a very relaxing time, I probably wouldn t go there again

The resort is very nice and the waitstaff and activities staff are extremely friendly. Be very, very cautious when you purchase a package as what they "sell" you is definitely NOT what you get. I had ongoing back/forth email communications directly with the resort. I authorized them to charge my card for a specific package where I had restated in writing what I would be receiving. When we arrived we learned that they would not be providing us the additional amenities as we had agreed upon and paid for. The resort is nice - but you pay a huge premium in order to stay there & the management absolutely did not even attempt to resolve the issue. Proceed with caution

While the resort is quite beautiful and accommodations are great, the gym (spa) here is completely inadequate. Never a problem before because we were allowed to use the gym at their sister resort, Casa Velas. Now, we are told we cannot use the other gym .... it’s closed to us until May because it’s busy season ! The gym here at Velas vallarta holds two elipticals, two treadmills and one bike; that’s it. It’s basically a 9x9 room with 5 pieces of cardio equipment. Very disappointed that management has changed their policy