Hilton Vallarta Riviera All-Inclusive Resort

As far as the overall experience, it was pretty good. Could have done without the ninos running down the halls, screaming, and slamming doors at midnight, but I guess you don't go here to get a good night's rest. I'm really writing this to give a shout out to the waitress Esmeralda at Velo. She was our server for 3 breakfasts, and she was excellent. She recognized us and helped us out and then on the 3rd day she pulled a baby sock from her pocket that we had dropped the day before. Above and beyond service! The people there were great. The room was a little dirty and really sloppily painted. Swim up bar was nice. Food was okay (buffet food mediocre but the omelette bar was 🔥). Don't go to sea salt, it's just a limited version of vela. The non-buffet restaurants were excellent. Nice little beach swim zone behind a breakwater. I would go back with a big group of friends but not just with family - a little too busy/chaotic for my tastes.

This continues to be my favorite resort and I've been to about 15-20 all-inclusives. It's not perfect, but we consistently have the best time here. The #1 reason we love it so much is the staff. We got to know a bunch of them. They knew us too, by name and by drinks lol. The things I absolutely love: The beach - the water is clear and beautiful, is is sandy, and the rock formations prevent the waves from being agressive which makes it super easy to swim in. The pool (adults) is the perfect temperature, and it is absolutely stunning to see the ocean from the pool deck. The servers there - Omar and Ernesto were super attentive. I love that you can just order lunch from your pool chair and they will bring it to you. The sky bar area - while no shade for the day, at night it is a great place to hang out and get in the hot tubs. Beautiful views. The 2 "hidden" lounges, martini and mojito were great for evening hangouts. We became great friends with Jacqueline and Cefarino at the martini lounge. They would see me walk in and instantly make me my espresso martini. Cefarino was helping me and my husband practice spanish, and Jacqueline was such a fun person to talk to, definitely my favorite staff member. She also introduced me to my new favorite drink - a Hugo Spritz. We made it a point to go there to see them every single night before dinner. ❤️ I miss them! The food - was really good. Previous years may have been slightly better but still had very good dinners. The servers were excellent, especially Joshua at the Italian. The sit down lunch seafood restaurant Cocomar - had amazing food. We had Jose as our server the first day, the first thing we did when we arrived and every day we came back to see him and show him the crafts we had made that day. Twice they suprised us and made us a special dish in addition to our order. The daily craft - everyday at 11am we did crafts with Blanca. This was our third time at the resort and it was nice to see she is still there. We made braclets, keychains, and some other crafts. I honestly looked forward to it everyday. For the restaurants- the Italian was our favorite. The steakhouse that is only open 2 nights a week may have not been worth it, my husband had a terrible hamburger and I ordered a fillet and got some other sort of steak, maybe a flank? Mexican was good if you like more traditional mexican food, and the Asian had great appetizers but the mains were just average. The breakfast buffet omlette guy, Marcus, was an absolute delight! I usually don't use the station but the first day he convinced my husband to get an omlette and was so funny making jokes, I told him I was just there for the show. But then every day after I just had him make me a fresh egg. On the last day we were eating and he brought me a special pancake out of the blue! The entertainment was great - if you knew about it. Yes there is a schedule online but one night we went to the skybar at 8pm for the show and there was basically no one there and nothing going on. We figured we would just hang out and have a few drinks since clearly no show. We saw many people come out of the elevator, look around, and leave. Then at 9pm, unannouced, the show started. I felt terrible for the performers because there was almost no one there - since no one knew it was happening. In previous years they had 2 food trucks for lunch which they have unfortunately gotten rid of. Still had many options but I missed the trucks. We are gold members - but I'm not sure that meant anything aside from our wristband color. We booked just a basic regular room but were pleased to find out we had been put on the very top 14th floor. I thought it was an upgrade for being gold but then we met a Diamond couple who got a 4th floor room, so idk. The rooms are spacious, clean, and excellent views. Even previous years being on the 4th and 6th floor were good views. Room service was good. You can order on the app and pick the time, so we were able to order a couple hours in advance so it would arrive right as we were heading back for the evening. Just watch out, they were consistently 15 minutes early. In previous years you could make dinner reservations for 2 days ahead but it was 24 hours ish only this year. Regardless, every morning at 10am when we went to make reservations it was wide open for times. I do think the hotel was not even close to capacity so perhaps on busier weeks it could be harder to get the time you wanted if you didnt do the night before when they opened for the next day. We did not want to leave. Already planning our trip here for next year.

Overall we had another enjoyable and relaxing visit! This was our 3rd visit in the last 4 years. There have been some changes since we were last there in 2024 but nothing terrible. One thing I didn't care for with the changes was that there used to be a room category called "obstructed view". These were rooms on the bottom 4 floors which could have your oceanfront view blocked by palm trees. The rate was cheaper, since the view wasn't clear to the ocean. Since they removed this category these potentially obstructed view rooms are now part of the category of Standard Oceanfront. These are rooms from floors 1 to 6 now. Just be aware if you book this category you may have palm trees in your view. There is a continuity issue with their app when it came to the menu for the Grill. There are two menu options that you can click on, one is the old menu and one is the current. They should remove the old one to prevent confusions on this matter. Please pay attention to the App when it comes to restaurants. They are not all open every night. Reservations, they say" are required but we were able to walk to up to at least one and get in without one. Cancelling restaurant reservations should be easier. You have to dial O to cancel. Well, I called one evening to cancel one I had for the next night, spoke to someone who said it was cancelled for me. The next morning when I went to book another restaurant, the old reservation still showed as active. Had to call again and this time was transfered to someone else who cancelled it for me and I was able to verify it was gone on the app while still on the phone with them. The North Tower is supposed to be the "Adult" tower. During our stay there were plenty of instances where I say families going in and out of rooms in the adult tower with plenty of children in tow. They were also in the North Tower elevator a lot so they had to be staying in that tower as well. The Deck Grill ... they replaced the charming VW busses that they used to have out there making fresh burgers to order and guacamole and sold salads. We miss those busses greatly. Now there is a new grill present. We never saw it open before 1:30pm which, to us, it pushing late for lunch. Food was prepared in volume and placed in steam trays. The one time we did go there, the burgers and sausages were dry. The potato wedges were not seasoned and greatly undercooked. We had a Bali Bed at the Adult Pool for the entire 6 days we were there. My understanding is that the capacity of that bed is 3 people. We saw someone from the Spa showing an empty one to a group of 4 one day and she must have sold it to them for the day. 4 wouldn't have been so bad but they turned into a group of 9 and were quite loud and intrusive to the otherwise peaceful adult pool area. Personal music is not allowed around the adult pool area. One afternoon, a man decided to place his medium sized bluetooth speaker on the edge of the pool and play his own music at an unreasonable volume. Then proceeded to swim away. None of the staff said anything to the man or tried to turn the music down. Kids in the adult pool was sit and miss. I know of several who were booted back to the family pool by the lifeguard, spa personnel or the pool monitor. But there were several who managed to stay in the adult pool all day long and were never advised they were in the wrong place. Biggest issue I had for the week we were there ... our last full day, we were told the day before that the ENTIRE adult pool deck was going to be closed for a private event. No bali beds, no chairs. I had reserved my bed a month before we arrived and werent told anything about it until the day before it was going to happen. We ended up having to sit somewhere else that we really didnt want to be. On top of all that, they didnt start setting anything up on that deck until almost noon. By 4pm, they was still nothing going on there. Didnt notice any group using that area until after 7pm. Was super disappointed in being booted from the area and then they didnt have any scheduled there until later in the evening. Lastly, and I dont think there is anything I could do until after that fact on this ... they charged my credit card TWICE for my room charges after we left. Now I get to battle with them through my credit card company and hope it is resolved sooner rather than later.

Good but could be better! The hotel overall has comfortable rooms, all facing the beach, although the palm trees directly in front of our balcony blocked almost 100% of the view. The cleanliness of the rooms was very good; however, the toiletries were not replenished throughout the week, nor were the snacks in the room’s minibar. The restaurants were very good, and the food was enjoyable. The service in the restaurants was excellent, and all the hotel staff were very friendly and helpful EXCEPT for the front desk staff and the person in charge of restaurant reservations. They were always on their phones, responded rudely, and showed no empathy toward guests’ needs. This is unfortunate, as they are the first impression guests have of the hotel when checking in or requesting assistance. I would especially like to recognize the outstanding service provided by Norma, Luis, and Juan at the Vela restaurant — they were excellent in their roles!

The breakfast in the Vela is the best Marlen, Blanca ,Fidel, and Rosario took great care of us.