Garza Blanca Preserve Resort & Spa

After booking our trip, Roberto reached out and said he would assist us with transportation and arranging the all-inclusive package. We decided to purchase the all-inclusive plan for 5 of our 7 days since we planned to go into town on the first and last day. We agreed to his quoted price for a private Suburban for four people. Shortly after, he wrote back saying the price had increased. We agreed to the new price. A day later, he informed us the price had increased again and said we were free to book transportation elsewhere. Despite this, we agreed to the second increase. Upon arrival at the airport transportation area, we waited an additional 45 minutes past our scheduled pickup time. When it was finally our turn, the vehicle provided was not a Suburban as promised, but an older, run-down minivan. When I mentioned that we had booked a Suburban, we were told we could wait and see if one became available. We chose to just take the ride. During our stay, I will say that the food at the main restaurants, when you could get in, was very good. (Room service and pool food were not at the same level.) However, many guests with the all-inclusive package were turned away without advance reservations. When attempting to book while onsite, we were repeatedly told everything was “fully booked” until after 8:00 pm, despite seeing many empty tables. Housekeeping missed multiple days, and on other days came as late as 8:00 pm, which we declined since we were already settled in for the evening. The night before checkout, we were given an itemized receipt that included an $8 daily surcharge, which I accepted without issue. The morning of checkout, after we were already in our transportation vehicle (which itself was 20 minutes late), staff came out and said we could not leave until I signed the bill. I went back to the front desk and confirmed I had reviewed the charges and asked whether there were any additions. At that point, they added an additional $50 for our departure day, claiming we had consumed a Coke and items from the snack basket. I explained that while I had moved one Coke in the minibar, we did not consume it, and we did not take the sweets. They said they would need to investigate, while we were already concerned about missing our flight due to the delayed transportation. They showed me a photo of the snack basket with items missing. Ironically, I had actually returned an extra unopened bag of chips to the basket earlier in the week, so there should have been three bags, the photo showed two. Despite writing on the bill that I disputed the charges, we were told we could not leave unless I signed and agreed to them. The essentially held us hostage. It was a very disappointing way to end what was otherwise a very expensive vacation. On a separate note, the resort is not particularly kid-friendly. Water sports and hot tubs are restricted to guests 14 and older. We were not allowed to take a paddle board out with our 7-year-old. The kids club itself is very nice, and the staff there were wonderful — but overall, families with younger children should be aware of the limitations.

We always love our stays with Garza Blanca in Puerto Vallarta. The rooms, pool and spa were spotless and clean. Great food selections 6 restaurants to choose from.. The room was exceptionally well stocked and welcoming… so many lovely and romantic touches.

Ivan Solis at the pool was a great help for us and our toddler. Provided excellent service

This is our third trip to Garza Blanca in Puerto Vallarta. My husband and I came here the end of January/beginning of February 2026, meeting friends of ours at the resort. This is a beautiful resort and the views are fabulous. In the past, we’ve stayed in both a high-rise and also the smaller units right on the beach. This trip we stayed in Building 2 on the beach. Previously, this area was all large rocks. They’ve made barriers to make more beach area here. Very nice. We had a walk-in closet, another closet and a large dresser – way more storage than we could ever use. Housekeeping was great! Thank you Almendra for taking such good care of our room every morning and ensuring we had everything we needed. The views from the different buildings are breathtaking! Most buildings are up on the side of mountains, so you’re high up and get wonder views of the bay area. During the winter months the whales arrive – let the shows begin! There is a trolly that takes you around the resort. Please remember to make your dinner reservations prior to arriving, as you may not got the restaurant and/or time you prefer if you wait. I made our dinner reservations, for 4, towards the end of November for our January/February trip. There is a concierge here, but honestly, I’m not sure that there was a lot of value for the ‘service’. Because our friends had arrived a few days before us, they were able to make reservations for the 4 of us at the new Peruvian restaurant (which is very good). I asked the concierge to cancel the reservation I had made for that night online prior to arriving. My husband got a text message later that evening that said ‘we missed the four of you for dinner’, so obviously our reservation was not cancelled. We had a similar experience when we changed the time of one of reservations. We went ½ hour later, and later received a message that we never showed for dinner. We found that if you’re at the pool or at the beach you can have lunch delivered to you. Very convenient and it was tasty! We were also grateful that the ‘get up early and save a chair’ game isn’t played here. You could find chairs throughout the day, at the pools and the beach. We spent a lot of our days at the roof top pool in the new Sanctuary building. Our waitress there, Mariam, took great care of us. DAO, contemporary Chinese, was a very good meal. Our waiter, Alberto, was amazing, giving us excellent suggestions and providing outstanding service. The Hiroshi restaurant has been revamped a bit. It’s been relocated to the new Sanctuary building. In addition to sushi, they now also have table grills for Korean BBQ dishes. Our waiter, Andre, who also did the cooking at the table, explained how the process worked and helped us in selecting a good variety of dishes. Thank you Andre for the very special meal. Hiroshi was also serving a la carte breakfast as well – it was fantastic food. I had the Quesa Birria – it was the best ever!!! Luis and Erik, our waiters, were a pleasure. Bacados, the steak house, has very good food. They serve breakfast and dinner, with tables both inside and out. Our waiter Julian was very attentive. Blanca Blue (Mexican) has a buffet available for breakfast, which had a large variety of dishes to choose from as well as an omelet and crepe station. We thought the buffet was very good. They are also open for lunch and dinner (a la carte). I had a disappointing dinner there. In the past the meals were very good, so maybe it was just an off day for them. Our waiter, Marco, was good and had someone from the kitchen come out to speak with us. Thank you to Orlando, our waiter at NOI (Italian); you were fabulous and our meals were excellent. You will also find a nice bar outside of this Italian restaurant. The lobby bar is small, though there are some chairs and tables. Cons – My only complaint would be having to sign for your meals and drinks if you’re all inclusive. We kept forgetting that we had to sign. We’d get up to leave and the poor waiter would have to come running after us telling us we need to sign. We’ve never had to do this at any other all-inclusive resort we’ve been to. Bit of a bother, but not that bad. A bonus is they now have a sports bar in the new Sanctuary building. HUGH screens to watch! You will find live music by individual musicians throughout the resort at different places and times. It’s wonderful sitting in a lobby listening to the piano being played. We enjoyed an acoustic guitar during one dinner and the sax player at another dinner. Very nice touch if you’re able to time it right. Extra Activities to do – While this isn’t part of the resort, this excursion is a must! Even though my husband and I went here on our last trip here, we once again took a cab to Jardin Bontanico, a beautiful botanical garden. It was lovely to walk through and look at all the plants. There’s paths and buildings throughout the gardens, with peacocks, chickens, and lots of other birds to see. You can also support their efforts by going to their restaurant. We had lunch there; the food was really good and very reasonably priced. Our waiter, Armando, was fabulous. You can’t go to Puerto Vallarta without taking a cab to the Malecon and exploring the romantic zone. There is usually various entertainment as you walk along the boardwalk. People playing instruments, the Mayans on the very tall pole, spinning. There are lots of beautiful statues as well. There’s also a pier that looks like a sailboat in the distance.

The standout qualities of Garza Blanca Preserve and Resort are the stunning natural setting and the incredible service from wait staff and tour guides. The wait staff at the various restaurants at the resort provided the kind of attentive service and friendliness that has become hard to find from service professionals, at least in the U.S. We were particularly impressed with Gio and Arturo at Bocados Steak House, and Gerardo and Orlando at Noi. In addition, Tito, our garden tour guide, was incredibly knowledgeable charming and enthusiastic; and Salvador, our hiking guide was full of energy, attentive to everyone’s safety, and generally a joy to be around. The natural setting at the resort was truly spectacular. A enormous effort was made during construction to preserve the natural rainforest surrounding the buildings, which gives it a lovely Garden of Eden atmosphere. The explosion of plant life and the songs and activities of exotic birds were a joy to observe from the sizable balcony of our junior suite. Though the beach had a fair number of rocks that sometimes made walking barefoot difficult, it also seemed part of the more rugged, less groomed natural environment of the resort. In all honesty, We found the staff at the Garza Blanca front desk and concierge to be somewhat less eager to please than the other service staff. They were less warm overall and quite slow to respond when we had issues with noise in our room from the A/C, and problems with our safe. Visitors should also expect the typical pressure from concierge to attend marketing presentations for memberships, etc. Overall, we were extremely pleased with our experience at Garza Blanca. Though we usually don’t like to go back to resorts we’ve visited, I would definitely consider returning to the resort if we stayed in one of the newer towers.