Villa La Estancia - Riviera Nayarit

We had another wonderful vacation at Villa La Estancia. The staff is a big reason why we keep coming back. Gerry, Raul & Bryan welcomed our family back as soon as we arrived on property. Jose & Gabby took great care of our every need at the pool. Already counting the days until we come back in December.

I wanted to give Villa La Estancia more stars. I really did. The grounds are lovely, the rooms are spacious and beautiful, and on paper, it looks like a five-star resort. But as we learned over our seven-day New Year’s stay with two young kids (and traveling with another family), five-star resorts live and die by service, and service here simply did not rise to the occasion at all. CONCIERGE CHAOS Right after check-in, we were directed to meet with Paola, our concierge. She walked us through a resort map, explained restaurant hours (or so we thought), and gave guidance on dining with kids. Unfortunately, nearly all of that information turned out to be incorrect. She gave different restaurant hours to the other family traveling with us, which should’ve been our first clue. We specifically asked whether we needed to arrive early to avoid long waits with young kids. Her reassurance? “Not at all - waits shouldn’t be longer than 10 or 15 minutes.” Reality check: our very first night, we bounced between every restaurant on property, put our names on multiple waitlists, and waited over an hour at each. We finally sat down around 8:00pm, an hour and twenty minutes later. Our youngest slept through dinner and didn’t eat. It didn’t get better. Paola “reserved” a 6:30pm New Year’s Eve dinner at La Casona for us. Later that day, she called our room at 4:50pm and insisted we be in the lobby by 5:00pm to sign paperwork to “confirm” it, which was confusing, given that she’d already confirmed it. She then called the other family traveling with us and reassured them it was all set. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t. I proactively went to La Casona the afternoon of our supposed reservation. They had no record of it. Thankfully, I was able to make one directly with the restaurant. Paola had also “made” another 6:30pm reservation for us at La Casona on a different night, plans we had scheduled excursions around. The day before, she called to say 6:30pm was no longer available and it had to be 6:00pm. I explained we couldn’t adjust. She told me not to worry. We showed up that night and were told we had no reservation at all, but could be seated at 8:30pm. With two kids in tow and eight empty tables visible, after much back-and-forth, they seated us within ten minutes.The kicker? The restaurant staff explained they don’t communicate with concierge for reservations. FOOD & POOL SERVICE - UNDERWHELMING The food overall was mediocre. We’ve been to many all-inclusives over the years, and this was hands down the skimpiest breakfast buffet we’ve encountered. Pool service was slow even on non-holiday days. Jesus deserves a shoutout for working tirelessly to help people find chairs and towels, but the chair situation is absurd. Guests reserve chairs as early as 6:00am. There were days we had nowhere to sit, and yes, there were days the resort ran out of pool towels. Another shout out to Marcos at the pool restaurant who also really went above and beyond. MAINTENANCE….ON YOUR VACATION CLOCK Upon arrival, our front door was broken. We were told we had to be present in the room and wait for maintenance, about 45 minutes of vacation time lost. Another night, the air conditioning in the second bedroom failed, and again, we were required to stay in the room for 45 minutes while it was fixed. Maintenance will not enter unless you’re there, which may be understandable, but the result is vacation time spent waiting around instead of, you know, vacationing. OVERLY STRICT POOL PERSONNEL Now, let’s talk about the pool rules, or rather, how they’re enforced (or even what they are!!??). Maria, a pool staff member present for two days of our stay, was repeatedly and unnecessarily confrontational with families. Multiple families noticed and complained. A child with an inner tube doing gentle jumps and swimming back (we're talking a 3 year old jumping to her mother at the edge)? Shut down. A parent in the pool lightly tossing their child playfully in the air? Not allowed. A small ball tossed back and forth at close range between a dad and his young teenager? Nope. I experienced this personally and watched her approach other families as well. On behalf of a group of parents, I calmly asked her name and why playing with our kids wasn’t allowed. She became mean, confrontational, and asked for my room number, which I gladly gave. Intimidating guests for asking reasonable questions does not scream “family-friendly.” Notably, on days she was not present, no other staff member said a word to us or other families engaging in the same behavior. THE GOOD (BECAUSE THERE IS SOME) The rooms are gorgeous, though ours oddly lacked a ceiling light over the dining table (just exposed wires hanging from the ceiling). The grounds are beautiful. The potential is absolutely there. But potential isn’t the same as execution. Villa La Estancia wants to be five-star. But five-star service is accuracy, communication, consistency, and making families feel welcomed rather than managed.

La estancia never disappoints. Once again the staff went above and beyond to make sure we felt well cared for. Even more, they made the time feel more personal and enjoyable. I can’t say enough about the hustle, the humor, and the personal touches from Angel who kept us fed and hydrated at the pool and Jesus who made sure our chairs were reserved and our umbrella was moving with the sun. We felt like we were personal guests in their home. Thank you so much! Can’t wait to return!!

Jesus was incredible for our pool side concierge! 10/10. Always going out of his way for us! Juan was our personal concierge/butler for the trip and was amazing! He constantly checked in on us daily and got us everything we needed for our baby and family!

Jesús is going to give you the best attention in the pool and beach area. Just look for him and you’ll have the best time!!!