So sorry to read all the bad reviews in the last year. Before Petchely sold it last year. It was the best resort in Mexico. We visited the Friendly 6-7 years in a row. They use to give me a birthday dessert delivered to my room every year. Unexpected. Food was good and all the staff were very friendly. Even the front desk. Use to enjoy going the same date every year to see the regulars. I’m still in contact with many of them and they all said there not going back. This is very upsetting. I’m in Nuevo right now and wanted to book a room for the weekend. Now I’ve changed my mind. I guess I’ll just stay in our condo. My condolences to Petchely and his family. His father passed. He was a good happy man 😎

The majority of the workers are super rude to tourists.. The food was horrible.. Instead of calling it the friendly resort. they should call it, the Angry resort.. I have never been so happy to go home. From a vacation.. They are not very nice to Americans. My family and I felt unwelcome😔

Honestly, I am still a guest at the hotel. This is my 3rd day here. The view is very nice, rooms are k not bad but the SERVICE, omg. I am Hispanic and at the moment there’s lots of Caucasians and I love all people types but why is the service more attentive on other race than Hispanics? We do get very few nice servers that have great customer service but others think just because we are a bit dark color complexion skin that we don’t tip. Wait a minute we do tip but I guess our looks gives servers another prospective. It’s not fair, just now we asked for a mojito by the pool area and the server said that they might not have mint leaves and he will be back to let us know. About 45 mins passed by and he already served about 2 to 3 caucasians families their drinks and yet we still don’t know if theirs any mojitos. This is not the first time. Inside the food courts is the same thing. The service here is awful for us. There’s no kind of activities here either. The food is so basic and always the same thing or they change the sauce on the fish, shrimp or meats. We like to explore different kind of hotels in Puerto Vallarta and this hotel needs to be addressed to their bad service. I still have 2 more days and I will try to make the best of it. But I definitely won’t be back, sorry.

By far one of the worst hotels in Puerto vallarta! Stay at another hotel if possible. The food was horrible, drinks are watered down, staff was extremely rude and not friendly with Americans. They turn off all the hotel lights by 11pm to force you to go to your room and sleep. Several Mexico locals stayed here and tour busses kept dropping off more locals. I booked a room months in advance for 2 beds and they booked only 1 bed and claimed that's what I requested. The best part of the vacation was leaving the hotel, since day one I was ready to leave. I stayed for a week but it felt like it was a year because i just wanted to leave this horrible hotel.

We really enjoyed the adult pool and the extra heated section. We appreciate that everything shut down at 10pm. We liked the variety of entertainment especially the saxophone and electric cello solo performers. I enjoyed taking part in a yoga session. Hats off to Erick, he was very helpful and friendly. We would recommend this resort to our friends.

If there is a zero, this hotel is rated O. First of all elevators does not work for days. On our way to check out, my luggage broke coz we had to use the stairs from 5th floor. Staff are very irresponsible. I had come down several times coz my room phone does not work. If I needed something, I had to go down to the front desk. I've reported this since my 2nd day of stay and guess what, till our 7th day, it was not fixed. Bathroom has molds and ants. Bed has bed bugs... (White) Blanket's thread ran. and very unsafe to sleep on it. Since it almost got my 6 year old daughter choked from the runs. Please don't stay here....

This hotel is everything it says, friendly and fun. It’s a four star hotel with five star service. They feed you like king and queens here. 👑 theres 2 buffets, 2 restaurants, ice cream, coffee, pizza, hamburger joints and everything. The food here is very good. Good bars with excellent friendly service. one bar closes at 1am which is good if you want a late drink. there’s a club at the beach at night that ends at 11pm, mariachi and live music comes sometimes as well. The beach is beautiful and the sellers are not overly disruptive like the city beaches. The gym needs to be updated though as half the machines don’t work, and there’s only one bench, there wasn’t even 10 pounds. My favourite section is the exclusive adult only section. There’s a lot of accommodation for kids. So this place is great for both kids and parents to have fun. Would I come back to friendly fun? Yes! The rooms are old and need to be updated but I think the service, views, amenities, food and beach won me over.

Our delta flight was cancelled and we were given a room for a night. The staff was not accommodating. I was given 1 room with only 1 king bed for my family of 5 yet I was assured the whole time while checking in I was getting a double bed room. When I went back down to the lobby and asked for a double bed room they told me I can not change rooms. Yet later I found out the family checking in behind us from our same cancelled flight got a double bed bedroom. The hotel is an all inclusive but is literally the worst food we had in Mexico. Most of the food was in identifiable. The only thing at the restaurant we felt comfortable eating was cereal with warm milk. There was no air conditioning. When we asked the staff about it they literally said “the air conditioning will work in an hour because right now the city is taking all the air and it will be the hotels turn in an hour” That was the last straw. We walked straight out and went to Marriott.

We had an amazing first trip to Mexico, and as a family this place felt like home. We felt safe we were well fed and always had a drink! Most of all the workers were great and the room with the view was stunning! We would go back!

Don't waste your money on this hotel the food its awful. They just put the randomness things. Even spoiled food and its either really salty or needs salt. The waitress by the beach and pool only help white people. Even though we come to the US but we are mexican as well. Too bad they don't refund us.

The staff here are mostly very friendly that is true.but it is very difficult to find out when the specialty restaurants are open and even more difficult to make a restaurant reservation. There had been a lot of improvement here since last year. The bed was comfortable and the room is very spacious. Each floor now has a water dispenser do you can fill up you bottle of water (they provide 2 bottles of water initially). On arrival we were given small sippy bottles and noticed that people use them for their cocktails at the pool. The food has also greatly improved and we were treated to entertainment by fire dancers one evening. It is very helpful to scan the QR code on the room key envelope to find out all sorts of info regarding restaurants and entertainment etc. Overall we are very happy with the improvements and are now planning on coming back every year.

Pros: large room, balcony nice views, free food/drinks, two pools, direct beach & lounging area, smart TV, jacuzzi, daily room cleaning, bag service, elevators, excellent vibe, price, etc. Cons: although activities are mentioned majority of this isn't explained when you check in. I have been here for a number of days and just saw the "aquaticos" and spa. Not sure if it's free as it only has Spanish writing; I wish they'd tell you about these services. Also the rooms are not 4 star quality, floors are sticky tiles, some wear on furnishings. There is also no room service in case you wanted to eat alone without heading downstairs. I have seen only 1 cockroach which must have been bad luck but that grossed me out. Most staff dont have the best english which would been more convenient. Lastly noise levels at night can be quite high, ambient/static noise is a must especially if you're on the lower floors. Overall the experience has been great couldn't ask for more, we only paid $2k for 7 days for all inclusive trip through selloff.

The staff are unreal! We had fun with so many of them. The service is 5 star! My in-laws have been going here for 9 consecutive years and we came this year to join them, glad we did. The room are getting ready for some fixing, the food is good, the drinks are abundant. My mother in law introduced me to Pochelo the owner, very nice fellow. He should be proud of his people as they work hard for him and the guests. Our guy “Double Double” was always on cue! We will be back as long as they have a resort. Good job everyone.

We have been to this hotel several times. We were always pleased until this trip. It has changed so much in the last couple of years. We will probably not come back to this hotel again.

The ocean view from our pent house room was amazing, but the room lacked design and colour. It was very plain especially for a pent house room. The service was mostly very good, but the service st the New Year's pier dinner, that we paid extra for, was slow and unorganized. Waiting an hour between courses was ridiculous. The food has been very good at any of the buffet restaurants and excellent at the Al a Carte restaurants. The resort needs to add some more comfortable relaxing furniture outside instead of all the rod iron low seating they have which is not that comfortable and not that easy to get into or out of if you are a senior. Nightly entertainment on a stage would have been nice, but we did enjoy the trumpeter and the flutist. All in all, it was a decent resort.

This is the first and LAST time staying at this hotel. While the staff is very friendly, everything else was wrong about this place. Every single bathroom I was in was filthy, toilets clogged and some of them puked all over. I agree with some of the other posts on here. People have to get up early in the morning to reserve chairs and beds. Some abuse that privilege and save their spots all day, leave and don’t use them and don’t give someone else the opportunity to use the seating. The buffets’ food is NOT good at all. Kids are running everywhere. I saw one kid spitting on the ground and throwing food in front of an employee and they did nothing about it. The entire time we stayed here I was ready to leave. We ate outside of the hotel but the food was not great. Everywhere you walk there are used alcohol cups placed everywhere. The place is dirty. I don’t recommend this place to anyone. There are way better resorts next door or further down the hotel zone. If I could give this place less than 1 star I would. The only good thing about this place is the friendly staff. Other than that it’s a no for me.

Food is good not much verity. The room i got is very old,a 22"smart tv bathroom no hot tub toilet never flushed right, safety box didn't work Exposed old closet. Its a 4 out of 10 for the room. lobby hotel in general very well maintained nice decorative tile on hallways.

I stayed here 5 years ago and loved it . Lots of activities during the day . Went back again feb it looked great but chairs on beach and pool side were very uncomfortable and black mole under the chairs . Never enough umbrellas ( unfortunately some people were so greedy demanding 2 well others then had to pay to rent them from sales people on the beach . Day activities next to nothing. Black mole under my bathroom sink and counter along with others as they also said the same . They just cleaned somewhat and painted it . Room smelt for 2 days as there is no fans in bathrooms. Went back again in march and didn’t stay there big disappointment. Not fun . Staff was excellent but if you put in a complaint it took days and repeating your self you just got fed up .

Was a nice smaller beach hotel. Our room 1407 had a beautiful view of both the ocean and the pool area. Room was very comfortable and clean. Saw whales from our balcony! Great balconies!! Rooms had mini fridges which was fantastic! They supplied a small fridge bar every day included in cost. Only 2 a la cart restaurants. 3 buffets. Food was generally very disappointing all around. Even omelettes were not right … overcooked or something. No variety from day to day, food temps always weird i.e. hot food only luke warm, cold foods room temp. Short supply of fruit. Did not get an experience of Mexican cuisine at all. Staff were overall very friendly and helpful and fun. Hotel is in good location closer to the marina but have to taxi to the malecon. Would not stay again because of the food but otherwise was very nice. Did find some good restaurants in walking distance for delicious Mexican food.

Nothing special, can’t be trusted Nothing special about this hotel – the only rooms worth taking are the suites, and there’s only 6 of those. The rest of the rooms are small and quite dated. The on-site restaurants are middle of the road – not terrible, but not great. The real problem is their booking policy – the website claims “fully refundable” if cancelled within a certain time. However, bookings cannot be managed on the website, you have to call the hotel directly. The toll-free number doesn’t work in Canada, so it’s a long-distance call. Their office isn’t open on the weekends, and even during the week the hours are spotty – it’s hit-and-miss if there’s anyone in the office. But you have to call the front desk to find that out, and that’s not a free call. And “fully refundable” isn’t really – they charge a handling fee, and their policy is to refund after 31 working days after cancellation, which isn’t mentioned anywhere. But they don’t even follow through on that – we cancelled a booking for this April on January 16. Despite multiple phone calls, emails, and promises that “the process is done”, the refund still has not been processed as of March 24. There are many other choices of hotels in the area; unless you’re absolutely desperate I’d give Friendly Vallarta a wide berth. And if you must book here, use a 3rd-party booking site at least they process refunds if necessary.

We generally enjoyed our stay, thought the location was beautiful, staff where nice ect but unfortunately we had over $500 in clothing taken from our room and the hotel will not get back to use or at this point not even respond. We had 1 dress, 5 shirts, 2 pairs of shorts, 1 pair of pants and 2 kids outfits stolen from our room. Someone (housekeeping or hotel maintenance) went through our dirty laundry bags at the hotel and took put anything that was brand name or new. We knew it was done at the hotel as we sealed the bags when we left for our trip home and they where not cut open at the airports and that's the only way to use them as they are single use... We've emailed, called 6 plus times talked to multiple mangers and nothing. It's super disappointing as we are a young family and $500 is a big hit. I never leave negative reviews but I don't want to see this happen to anyone else.

Please beware. I believe most of the good reviews for this place are fake. I cannot put it into words how horrible this place is and how many people in our group got sick. Absolutely horrible. My daughter and several others are terribly sick from the food. She’s afraid she will have to go home. Stay away from this place unless you want dysentery. It is also dirty and there are bugs in the room. You can message or email me if you want more details. This hotel should be shut down by the board of health.

We loved our time spent at Friendly Vallarta. It was a repeat trip. The restaurants offer a wide variety of menu. One special a la carte meal was available by reservation and without additional charge. We liked the pools. Some were at the beach. We found all of the staff to be focused and friendly.

Not enough chairs at the pool. If I wanted to get a lounge chair or a seat by the pool I had to get up at 5 AM and go out and reserve it. It was impossible to find any place to sit near any of the pools. The food was not real good some of it was OK but for the most part the food was not good we had to go to restaurants in town to get decent food. They have 3 other restaurants beside the buffet and if you had to make a reservation you had to do it at 9 AM and ONLY at 9 AM on the day the restaurant was open. If you missed the 9 AM deadline you were SOL!! For these reasons I will never be going back to this resort. The staff was very friendly and service was excellent. The facility is clean and very well kept. But if you're a person that likes to go and lay out by the pool and relax you will have a extremely impossible time finding anywhere to sit by the pool.

Everything is fantastic here. It's beautiful. Everyone who works here is exceptionally kind and helpful. With regards to food, the selection is more limited than other all-inclusive hotels in the area, yes. But that's fine. Because the food here is significantly better tasting and higher quality than anywhere else I've stayed. They offer quality over quantity and everything I have eaten here so far has been really good. I always finish everything on my plate here instead of only liking some of the food I've selected for my plate.

Place is for Family with kids only. It's needs Major update most of the of the staff is friendly but you will get the rude ones that can make your stay very uncomfortable. If you plan on solo stay this is not the place.

Because we pay to have access to a friend's wedding, and we don't deserve a minimum glass of water, we are disappointed and if you are invited to a wedding don't do it, send a wedding present but don't attend. If you planning to have a wedding here don't will going to be a huge mistake.

If you're looking to stay at a hotel to relax and not go anywhere AT ALL with family, wanting to sleep early then this place is great. The downside of this hotel is the following: The food is great but there is not a lot of variety for the breakfast buffet, if the place is packed I suggest to try to go eat as early as possible if not ,you won't have the opportunity to eat since they close at certain times at the same time both restaurant-buffet. Sadly on there online page it says that they have a Sushi restaurant, well let me tell you, NOT TRUE. They have two restaurants where you have to make reservations which are Azul and Frida. Sadly, Azul opens during the weekends and Frida ,the portions are very small and you may only order once in the menu and dessert. They do have a "snack bar" but they open from 10-5 , it would be nice if it were open at least from 10-10 for the kiddos. The rooms are very spacious, comfy bed however you literally share your room with other people, meaning there's no privacy because they can hear you or viceversa so this is not a good place to stay for couples since the place is really more for family only. The pools are great, there's three and two jacuzzis. The only downside is that they ask you to get out exactly at 10 pm even during the weekends! There's many things that the hotel can improve, sadly I wouldn't like to come back even though the place is lovely , there's too many cons.

First time there, and I really love it, the attention, the facilities, the buffet it's pretty good, the pool are clean and the bar has pretty good drinks! I definitely will comemback with My family!

I have been waiting for a refund for half of a year now and have yet to receive it. We loved the resort and were planning on going back in the fall but we will no longer be!

The hotel is ok. My room had a nice view. All restaurants serve the same food. Compared to Cancun, Cabo or even Huatulco the food sucks. The waiters are very rude. "Security" keeps asking you your room number and the date you are leaving. I felt discriminated in my own country.

Hotel is nice with great prices for our ACN/Flash Mobile convention!! The staff were very friendly and helpful. It was clean right on the beach with a large pool area great food and drinks. The only setback is their parking. They need much more parking and better accommodations for the handicapped ♿

Disappointed. Tried to make a sunset picture with my daughter- a few persons approached and told me that it’s an adult zone - no kids here. Not quite sure how you wanted to divide - it makes more sense to make a separate hotel adults only without discriminating against those who have kids

Older resort in nice condition and the stars are based on the fee. Not all the drink options at higher $ resorts. Food was decent, pools were nice and great beach. We had ocean view and super close to the amenities as hotel style.