Garza Blanca Preserve Resort & Spa

I am a Tafer member you would think that would carry some weight but it doesn’t. I’ve been to all three Garza Blanca’s and this is by far the worse. The wait staff at the restaurant were wonder, the cleaning staff wonderful, everything else fell short. Let me start with the beach, its very rocky and the sand will burn your feet so bring water shoes. On our first day one of pools was closed, they said we pored lots of chlorine in that pool and it will harm your skin. We said okay. But that only left one pool by the beach that was open and it was super full of kids with pool floaties. So we went back to our side of the resort. This resort is massive it has 5 hotels spread out through the property that sits on the side of the mountain. So in order to get around you need to take a trolly. The trolly was old and always packed. Probably more than it is intended to hold when you have 10-15 people waiting at each trolly stop during peak times. They said the trolly comes around every 15 min it’s more like every 20-30 mins and that’s if you can get a seat. The food is decent for all inclusive but the prices are greatly exaggerated. One night we had dinner at the steakhouse Bocados. It was Applesbees quality food at Steak44 prices. Last on checkout day we waited 20 min for the trolly when it finally came it was full every seat was taken and people were standing. A family of 7 proceeded to get on when made the trolly dangerously full.i called the front desk with assistance from the pool bar tender cause we were already out of our room. Mind you it’s 91 degrees outside with 65% humidity. The person I talked to on the phone said I had to wait that other families were also waiting. I told the man we have been waiting almost 30 min. We are leaving in less than 20 min and we still have to check out. Mind you we were ready 1hr prior to our pick up time. He said you can always walk we have a bridge. The walk is 20 min down hill to reception. I asked the man can we get the van that picks people up for check in and check out. He said no they are picking up peoples bags. I said why can you send a car. He said you just need to be patient and then he hung up on me. So I went back to the trolly stop where the very van that was suppose to be picking up luggage was picking up a family who had just had breakfast. I eventually got really load because someone was doing a timeshare tour at that moment and I wanted them to know exactly what they were buying into. The person doing the time share tour got on the phone real quick and had a care pick us up. I told all of this to my concierge. She apologized, but what good is an apology if everything stays the same. I’ve been to all Three this was our best room. The food was underwhelming, and the service was just okay. For how much people pay to go to Tafer Resorts they need to do better.

What a beautiful place, amazing food and most of all the house keeper Blanca Guzman(hope that’s the right spelling). Blanca kept our beautiful room clean even the big messes my family left her. She definitely deserves a raise.

My family and are not rich people. We save up to go on vacation, the people running the resort are amazing and made our vacation feel like we were royalty. Great servers like Gio, Enrique from bocados. Every day started great because of the breakfast crew. Thanks!

This is my 6th time visiting Garza Blanca Preserve. I have been to Garza Blanca Cabo twice and yet to visit Garza Blanca Cancun (still up for debate due to sargassum) FOR REFERENCE: I have had so many experiences with this hotel, some bad, some good, and some fantastic. I will breakdown this trip and give you all that I experienced. We have stayed in beachfront, honeymoon suite, panoramic 2 bedroom suite (tower 4), 1 bedroom suite (tower 5), and finally a one bedroom double in Sanctuary. TOWER: Sanctuary RECEPTION: Adriana Colmenares has always been the person who has helped me have the best experience at Garza Blanca. I believe she is a manager. I reached out to her to let her know we were coming. She has always made me feel heard and has always addressed my concerns. She was able to give me a decent floor with a great view and it was great! This is the first time I didn't have to move rooms and was completely happy with what was provided. Check-in: Sanctuary has its own check-in and Sebastian greeted us with open arms. The process was easy and you are greeted with champagne. Time Share/Presentation: Once you check in, you will be "passed on" to a person wearing black. In our case it was Rosy. I knew the pitch was coming, because this is not my first rodeo. My husband and I are not in a position to buy a timeshare and I feel like the first no should suffice, but it is not enough. I have been there done that and no amount of credits, free dinners, massages will convince me otherwise, however this is a part of the process. Rosy is also in charge of handing you a pamphlet regarding the hotel and making sure all of your reservations are taken care of for the restaurant. She did tell me I had a reservation for 6 but it turns out it was really for 5:30. I want to trust that she just made a mistake, but I would have missed my reservation. I had already scheduled all my reservations, but we did find out that some of the reservations we had made were for days the restaurant was not open, so Rosy changed it for us. We politely declined and at the elevator she tried to get her boss to convince us again... but again we are not in a position to buy so we had to say no. I did say that I am tired of being told that it is 90 minutes when sometimes it is half a day. I really don't want to be bothered about these presentations but I guess it is something they have to do to get their sales in. Concierge: At Sanctuary you are designated a concierge. Our concierge was Marco and even though I had made my own restaurant reservations, Marco was very helpful in rescheduling some of our times due to time constraints. Overall, I am not sure what else he could have done, however he was very responsive and helpful. The Room: We had a double room. We are 3. My son is 12 and 2 beds work just fine. The room was great. We did not get a tub but you get a jacuzzi and my son loved it. He missed his hammock but maybe they will add later. The jacuzzi was warm, but I think they refill it for you and it was cool and my husband and son appreciated it so much. The room had an iPad. Everything was controlled by buttons, and my son got a kick out of the sunrise button. It plays music for you... my husband did not like it so much. All very easy to figure out. Blackout curtains were wonderful. The restroom does not have privacy, so your butt will be visible to anybody who walks in. It is made of all glass with a wooden floor. I am not sure how clean the wood floor or how they scrub it... but I wore flip flops. The latrine is tiny and tilts you up a bit. It has a bidet and your butt will be clean. The toilet paper is scented and not sure if some people would not like that. It is also very rough but it does the job. Room Service: Room service was top notch ZERO COMPLAINTS My son loved the chocolate cake. The shrimp burrito was my favorite. Food arrives hot. The wait is normal. They will call you after you make the order on the iPad. Maintenance: We never received our daily botanas - peanuts, snickers, gummy bears, we thought Sanctuary didn't get them. One day this person was passing by with all the botanas and we asked him for some. Our room was cleaned every day. Overall great at maintenance. Mini Fridge: Always stocked with Modelo, Pacifico, Corona Light, Sprite, Coke and my favorite Diet Coke. Also... Gatorade and carbonated water 10/10 - ZERO COMPLAINTS The TV: Not many options as far as channels but what was available... it was ok. We watched Hotel Transylvania. Electricity and Wi-Fi: Our power went out 3 times during the stay. The minute the power goes out you can feel it. It makes you want to leave the room, then you realize that the elevators will not work. We tried to find the stairs and never found them lol... our fault we didn't look hard enough. We risked it and took the elevator not sure if we were running on a generator or the power had come back on... but I would have lost it if I got stuck in an elevator. The Wi-Fi went out one night for longer than an hour and that was frustrating. The tv works off of the Wi-Fi and obviously you can't use devices. My phone didn't have the best reception so we decided to go to sleep. I am sure they are working out the kinks but living in a digital world that was rough. Thank goodness I didn't have to work or do anything important. Restaurants: Blanca Blue: Hannia was a nice hostess. Blanca Blue has the best service. The waiters/servers are incredibly accommodating. They make your guacamole in front of you. Regular Dinner was good. They had good options. I have not had the best experience with Garza Blanca grilled Fish except for the salmon. My husband likes the tuna. The shrimp on the other hand.... love love love. Blanca Blue: If you have an all inclusive package there are some dishes you can order that are 20 percent off. We chose the Market Red Snapper Zarandiado. This was a great dish and we were charged 1700 pesos for it. Is it over priced, yes, but if you are at a hotel it is to be expected. I had had it before on another trip and I wanted my husband to try it because we loved it so much. It did not disappoint. Roberto made it nicer by adding shrimp to the dish, even though shrimp are a part of the all inclusive plan. My husband does not like bones, so I had to help him check for bones (it is a phobia) Overall Roberto made it so nice. He even opened the windows so I could get a better view of the lightning show outside. Hiroshi: Loved Hiroshi!!! We are from Los Angeles, arguably one of the most diverse places to eat. The food was delicious. Some of the cuts of meat were tougher than others. The New York was chewy and it was a hit and miss with the ribs. Insider cooking tip... soak the meat in soy sauce and it will tenderize it for you... don't believe me? Look it up. The tempura 10/10 and recommend highly. So delicious if you eat it hot. Miso soup delicious. I did not try the rolls. I generally don't eat sushi when it is really hot. I am sure the fish is fresh and I am sure somebody else has already reviewed it. Bocados: Ah... Bocados.... is by far the best breakfast for us. You are surrounded by a whole bunch of time share presentations, but for us the food is unbeatable and the view of the ocean. We never went to Hiroshi for breakfast so we don't know what it was like, but I imagine it was similar. We never went to Blanca Blue for breakfast because we have done our share of buffets and we didn't feel like it. On other visits I have been able to go and it was good. We had dinner here but I am not much of a steak house person. With that said. The lasagna was not good. The French onion soup was tasty but not enough cheese or bread. The Caesar salad is made right in front of you and that is delicious. The shrimp cocktail was phenomenal. The crab cake my husband appreciated and he ordered one more. We ordered a filet mignon for my son and it was tough as nails, so he had to send it back. I think overall the steaks need to be tenderized. We are not big steak eaters but this meat does not melt in your mouth. You need strong teeth. The desserts were good here. Pools: Sanctuary: Sanctuary has its own pool and it was very quiet. They have a restaurant called Elia, but it is not open yet. The choices for snacks and lunch were a bit limited but it was fine. The pool faces the jungle. The service was slow and I had to go up and get my own drink a couple of times. There were only 3 families at the pool, but I guess it was not a priority. There was also a creek running below at the bottom of the hotel that also must belong to the people and they were burning wood. The smoke filled up the whole pool area and bother our eyes and flared our allergies. It was a very strong burning smell. The pool for tower 4 and 5 has always been my favorite, but this time it was incredibly disappointing. It was very dirty and I actually saw a guest pour the rest of her drink into the pool. Even if it was ice, she is pouring remnants into the pool. I do not think highly of guests who do this and it was just a shame to watch. The service was fine here, but I could not get over the dirtiness of the pool. This made me sad. I love this pool so much and wish it was better maintained. You could also hear construction for the new tower they are building. When maintained this pool is beautiful with a full view of the ocean. Hopefully they work on it and make sure they clean it mid-day, so it is not so dirty. Garza Blanca Pool This was the pool closest to the ocean and this one is always packed. It does have great service and I appreciate the towels and the fixing of the umbrellas. This one has the best service by far. Here we ordered lunch and had a good time in the infinity pool. I think they try to maintain the cleanliness but by far this pool gets the most traffic. Sanctuary Rooftop Pool: I arrived by myself since my son is not allowed. This pool closes at 7pm but I arrived at 6pm. One of the servers did lay out a towel for me and that was nice, but that was it. I didn't get offered a drink. I didn't get offered anything. Service was terrible. I am not sure if they thought I was from Moussai, but I did not get any attention. I think there were about 3 or 4 parties at the rooftop and there was no reason to not at least offer me a drink. This pool has no shade. It is hot. The water was cool at 6 pm. They are pumping colder water and it felt lovely. The pool has a beautiful view as one would expect. I was able to look at the new tower from the rooftop. I asked questions and they answered them as best as they could but I think they were done serving. I will say. Adult only pools do tend to be louder than family pools. I think it is a mix of alcohol and the excitement of being on the roof. Beach: Garza Blanca Beach has a very pretty beach in Puerto Vallarta in my humble opinion. With that said, the beach belongs to the people. It is not private nor should it be, but on the weekends people who are not a part of the hotel do come in droves on the weekend and on the weekdays. You need to be ok with this. The beach belongs to everyone and people will bring their own drinks, they will leave trash, and they will play music. If you do not like that, then I would suggest renting a boat and going to the more secluded beaches. The only thing about doing that, it is inundated with boats, and I am not sure that is good for the beach either. The beach is nice and from afar it looks like it is a jade color, however it is a little murkier than some other beaches, but still very pretty and safe. There have expanded the beach. There is a rock barrier which will save you from experiencing big waves. Overall it is nice. It is very hot in August and if you are not in the water, you will melt. Drinks: Top shelf liquor and my husband had no complaints. I did ask for anejo once and they brought reposado and I immediately knew the difference. That was in the tower 4-5 pool. They immediately brought me another one. Overall: Our stay was lovely and will have fond memories of this trip. The trolley is so fun but it is an acquired taste. You have to enjoy the ride for what it is. It is bumpy and rough but such a cute touch. They come by often and they are investing in more trolleys since there will be an additional tower. We are looking forward to the new tower, I just wonder if it will have an ocean view since it is further back. I hope somebody can answer this question. The beauty of being so high up is that you get a beautiful view. Last thoughts: The pools should be cleaned more often especially tower 4 and 5. Sanctuary pool needs to be fixed, it already has a broken piece of plaster. The restaurants should get better fish so we can eat it grilled :) Maybe a mahi mahi or red snapper or halibut at no extra cost. I know that low season is in the summer, but the restaurants being closed makes it feel like the people who pay to visit should have as many options as high season does. They used to have an italian restaurant on the beach and that was not available this time around. The menu for lunch and snacks should have more options but the options they do have are good. Ending on a good note: We love Garza Blanca and I would visit again. I would take my family here over and over so long as they maintain their upscale status. Note to the owner and his family: Fernando González Corona you are doing an excellent job in creating memories for families. I hope you give back to the community since they are the ones working to keep your hotels going and doing a great job! The service is excellent. I know that hotels take a lot of the energy. During our stay the water went out in norther Puerto Vallarta. I was told it is because the water is used for the hotel zone, and I am not sure if that is accurate, but I hope the residents can see the hotels as an asset to them. Danger: No danger whatsoever. The cartels are not burning cars and /or OXXOS. Puerto Vallarta is safe. Crocodiles: There are no crocodiles at Garza Blanca. We did see on in the river where all the shops are, however not at Garza. If you see a purple flag DO NOT go in the water. You can blame Vidanta for that one.

I had an amazing time staying at Garza Blanca hotel! Very nice resort and delicious food at the restaurants. Very friendly and attentive staff and I would like to thank Javier Alan one of our servers for his excellent service and attentiveness and kindness! Really enjoyed my time here!