Villa La Estancia - Riviera Nayarit

My family of 4 (2 adults, 2 teens) just completed a 6 night stay in a 2 bedroom, ocean view villa with the Extended Privileges AI. We had a mix of experiences, but overall, were disappointed and would not return. The resort has an identity crisis. It is clear La Estancia was developed and marketed as a fractional ownership resort, where guests self cook and relax at the pool. Advertising a luxurious "all inclusive" experience is misleading and poorly executed by the resort management. The positives: - beautiful, safe walkable beach - calm, swimmable ocean - large, lockout villas ideal for families with teens - some truly outstanding employees (Jesus, Cesar, Angel, Raul) - lush, manicured landscaping meticulously maintained - New Gourmet Hall Breakfast Buffet was the best dining experience on property....which is not a compliment The negatives - There's only 1 indoor restaurant (La Casona) and it was only open for dinner. - The majority of restaurants, activities, lobby bar, and kids club are located at lower priced and lower standards property next door (Palmar Flamingos), where the service level was not a AAA 4 diamond resort. - Air conditioning in the la Estancia lobby and La Casona restaurant was not working properly. The temperature was close to 80 degrees. -The El Patron restaurant at Flamingos was closed for renovations the entire week. - Non existent activity staff. Supposedly, Flamingos has an activity staff, but the several times we looked, we did not observe any daytime pool games or night time shows. - There was daily construction on the second floor of Building 2 involving a jack hammer. It made for a loud, uncomfortable experience in our villa and at the pool. I researched many Riviera Nayarit/Punta de Mita options before booking. Hopefully, this review helps someone avoid our disappointment.

The atmosphere is always great with the workers doing their best to keep the visitors happy especially Jesus. I come every year to visit and the location doesn’t get much better than this with a beautiful beach. The rooms are always incredibly clean and always leaving snacks for guests. With everything being worth the price and value you can get with an all inclusive.

So much fun and relaxation! Thank you to Jesus at the pool making sure we had shade and comfortable chairs. Ricardo the pool waiter bring us tasty food! The pool bartenders Nico and Lucio who were always on top of making us yummy drinks! Edwardo at La Casona was so fun and has an incredible voice. Esmeralda at breakfast was on top of our orders! I highly recommend. We have been coming here for years!

1000/10 experience!! Jesus / Angel helped us out each day at the pool, always with a friendly smile.

This is my second time at this resort. I came in November as well. I absolutely love it. The service is great From The, cleaner, Felix, who is amazing to the pool guys, Jesus and the others, to all the service providers at each of the restaurants… The food was fantastic at each of the restaurants. The breakfast buffets were excellent. The property is meticulously maintained by the men and women who care of it throughout the day every day. The air conditioning works perfectly. The rooms are gorgeous and spacious. I can’t think of a single thing complain about. We did have some trouble with the locks on our doors, a couple of times, but maintenance took care of it without trouble.