Hello From Pico.

Garza Blanca Reserve Puerto Vallarta – All Inclusive.

Date of vacation: June 2023.

Booked through: Costco (included $89 costco gift card, $100 resort credit, and ground transportation to and from airport to resort).

Room booked: Ultra Junior Suite with Panoramic View.

Weather: Warm with humidity, mid – high 80s.

Puerto Vallarta Airport: Once our plan landed, Mexico custom forms was given to be filled by our airline (one per family), you are directed down stairs to customs where they ask you about your stay. After customs, you go pick up your baggage at the baggage claims. Once you are done getting all your luggage, you walk towards the immigration area where all your items are scanned through. After immigration, you will walk through to the exit of the airport.

Recommendations for the airport:

• Always have your passport ready and accessible so you are not having to search through your bag for it.
• Once you have walked through immigration towards the exit, there are SALES men lined up to greet you, while you’re still in the airport. They will ask you about where you are staying, or if you have a ride, tell you they will look up your transportation, etc. You have to just avoid and ignore and continue walking until you exit the airport completely. These are sales people for timeshares and they will try to lock you in and if you’re stuck chatting with them, you can easily miss your transportation to your hotel.
• Plenty of money exchange locations at the airport. If you are going to exchange money at the ATM machine and not the teller, once you get the prompt to accept the exchange rate, you can hit DECLINE so you won’t be charged their exchange rate and still get your pesos.

Transportation: Our transportation was included with our Costco package with a company called Gray Line transportation. I was SO impressed! Once you exit the airport, you will see someone holding a sign that says Costco and Gray Line – they are wearing their company shirt as well, so you will not miss them. Approach them and they will direct you to the other workers who will get you situated. No problem with communication with them, all of the workers we encountered spoke English. Once we were directed to check in, they helped us with our luggage to wait in line, a large SUV pulled up and our luggage was loaded. There were another 3-4 small parties with us that fit in the SUV without it feeling compact. Total time from exiting the airport into their SUV to head to the hotel was less than 10 minutes. Before we were dropped off, we were instructed to come into our hotel lobby the next day to meet another one of their staff to confirm check out time and date along with giving us our pick up time. The staff was there waiting for us the next day without any issues. Pick up during day of check out was just as easy!

Recommendations for transportation from airport:

• Have all your flight information handy and ready to go. You’ll need this information to give to them before and after transport.
• Read their luggage policies as far as how many luggage will accept per person, if you have more than you are allowed, they may not be able to accommodate or you may have to pay extra fees.

NOW , lets talk transportation into town!

• There are no taxis or ubers waiting around the hotel grounds because the main pick up area is gated and gate staff checks who is coming in and out.
• We had NO issues getting an uber to get into town (we went into town twice!) – the only time we had a lengthy wait was at night time trying to get an uber from the hotel into town , which was about a 20 minute wait.
• It cost us about $12 round trip uber to and from town during the day and about $30 at night.
• We felt safe with our ubers!

Transportation throughout the hotel grounds.

• The hotel property uses a trolley system from both Garza Blanca and Hotel Mousai.
• The longest wait we had was just once at 15 minutes, otherwise, the trolleys were running constantly until midnight and really never waited more than 5-10 minutes.
• Plenty of seats on the trolley.

Hotel check in: Once you enter the main lobby, check in will be to your left – plenty of people helping to check you in. Seats are ready for you to sit on and check in with staff at each desk. Our drink order was taken and given to us graciously. Our booked room was not ready – so they gave us a few offers. 1.) One night at Hotel Mousai (their sister ADULT only hotel) and then check in to our originally booked room after the one night at Hotel Mousai or 2.) Two nights at their penthouse and then check in to our originally booked room for the rest of our stay. This was a little bit of an issue for me because we were only staying 5 days and 4 nights and I did not want to unpack and repack just to move rooms. I did ask if we could stay all our nights at Hotel Mousai however they called to check and they did not have any rooms available for that full length of our stay. We ended up staying in the Penthouse for two days. I did ask to see if they could accommodate us to stay in the penthouse for the remainder of the stay if no one had it booked. Unfortunately, it was booked after our two day stay so we did have to switch rooms after our second night.

Recommendations:

• If your room is not ready at check in on the day you arrive, definitely negotiate for the best deal and not just the first offer they give you.
• Have a printout ready of your entire booked hotel stay, just in case!
• They will ask you for your passports to make a copy, so have this ready.
• A $500 refundable deposit will be asked for.
• They have handouts for activities scheduled for the week, maps, restaurant dress code handouts– we were not given all of this at our check in, so ask for them!

Penthouse 3bedroom/4bath Review: We were so grateful for this HUGE upgrade. The penthouse had 3 bedrooms and 4 baths, it also had a full kitchen, huge living room with dining table, laundry room, a bathroom accessible from the living room area. Each bedroom had a King size bed, walk in closet, shower and bath tub. Each closet were walk in closets and had robes and slippers, bubble bath kit, LoOcctaine toiletries (that we were obsessed with!), TVs in each room, ceiling fan, access to balcony. There was a huge wrap around balcony that had built in bench seating overooking the beach, a outdoor dining table with chairs, potted plants on the balcony, jazzuzi, and hammock. I was most impressed with the huge hallway you see when you walk in from the front door but the wrap around balcony was so impressive!

Although we enjoyed it so, so much! It was rather huge for just us two. 3,000 sq ft! But it was a perfect two days and gave us a real idea of what we will be booking when we come back with family and our kids. It is a perfect room to book for a family with teenage kids, multiple families going, family with kids and their grandparents! Or I mean, if you really want to book it for two, then it will still work (obviously!).

Pros of penthouse:

• Laundry accessibility was amazing! I can imagine this being beneficial with kids after a long day at the pool or beach.
• If you’re not planning to do an all-inclusive plan, the full kitchen would be great to utilize to cook your meals as a family.
• The Garza Blanca penthouses are located above the main lobby – this makes it easy access to everything!! Blanca Blue , the restaurant where the breakfast buffet is just right below the room, pool and beach access is next to the main lobby. Concierge service is right there when you get out of the elevator. The trolly picks you up right outside the main lobby. Again, so convenient if you’re going with little ones and a big family!
• AC worked great!
• Water bottles were stocked for us to easily drink.
• The room/house itself is just grand!! You will not be disappointed.

Cons of penthouse:

• You’re situated ocean front but it’s not panoramic view so you definitely will feel more of the humidity.
• Some of the locks on the wrap around balcony door were not working, therefore made us a little paranoid during the night hours with how big the penthouse was with just us two.
• A lot of birds on the balcony: poop on the balcony, birds grabbing food from guests on the beach and bringing it on the balcony to eat (we had watermelon all over the balcony floor from the birds eating).
• Jacuzzi takes a while to heat up so I recommend once you check in, to just turn it on before grabbing dinner or exploring the resort.

Pools: There are two main pools in Garza Blanca. One is right by the front lobby area. The second is situated between the panoramic view towers 4 and 5 (this one is much smaller). Both pool areas have a jacuzzi. Only the main pool area has access to the beach. The pool near tower 4 and 5 is near the Trolly area to be picked up near those towers. There is a bar and availability to order food and drinks from their poolside menus. Towels are easy to access. There are wait staff to take your food and drink orders.

We did not go to any of the Hotel Mousai pools (you have access to these pools as well if you’re staying on the Garza Blanca resort but must be adult only).

Pros of pool:

• It was relaxing to just have a chill day to do nothing but lounge, eat, and drink by the pool.
• Food and drinks were amazing!
• No issues finding seating / chairs.
• There was a DJ near the main pool during lunch hours during our pool lounge days and we loved him!!!! DJ music makes the pool so much more fun.
• Easy bathroom access to the smaller Garza Blanca pool.
• Wait staff was so kind!
• There is a masseuse on the grounds of the main pool , free 5 minute massage before having to pay for price $40-50 for pool side massage.
• Fresh coconuts are able to be purchased at the main pool.
• Kid friendly.

Cons of pool:

• No bathroom access close enough to the main pool.
• You can only order pool side drinks starting at 11am and food at 12-noon.
• Wait staff takes a little longer to order your drinks/food, I do think there needs to be a few more wait staff as the pool can get busy.
• It takes a while to get your tab/check – so if you know you’re done ordering food, just ask for the tab right after ordering your last meal/drink.

Ultra Junior Suite with Panoramic View Room: We had to check out of the penthouse by 1pm. And they gave us a time frame of up until 3 pm to get our new room key. Luckily, we were able to have our room ready right away as we checked out from the penthouse. They gave us a room in Tower 4 , 9^th floor.  All of our luggage was moved over with the bellboy service and was in our room before we arrived. Overall, impression of this room was that it was a beautiful room but very standard. I will say the views from the balcony are so much more beautiful than the penthouse.

Pros:

• The views were amazing.
• Loved the light up makeup vanity with chair.
• Medical Aid Center was in the same tower (we did utilize them for bandaids) , no wait time.
• Trolley pick up was just located outside the tower.
• Bocadoas Steakhouse Restaurant was just below Tower 4.
• Easy access to smaller pool.
• Room service was easy to order and received promptly.
• Closer to Hotel Mousai if you chose to frequent them more (such as restaurants and pool usage).
• Completely stocked fridge and snacks.
• AC worked great.
• Ceiling fan out in patio area.
• Less humidity and cooler since we were higher up in the tower.
• Walkable to the main lobby / bigger pool / beach access area through a walking stair pathway that connects to a bridge to get there.

Cons:

• Leaking fluid from ceiling vent.
• No concierge or front desk in the tower.
• The closets in my opinion were not functional.
• Walls were very thin, we could hear our neighbors getting in to their hotel and while they were inside.
• A little longer wait time for trolley in the panoramic view towers.

Food and drinks: The food here is the absolute freaking best!! I didn’t have anything that I didn’t like. Here are some of my favorites –

1. Blanca Blue Breakfast Buffet – so delish. Everything you could imagine for a FULL breakfast. My favorites here were the poached chili verde eggs, crepes from the crepe station, pork stew, and chipotle shrimp.
2. Poolside menu: two words – Mismaloya Ceviche (thank me later).
3. Pina coladas, make them plain or strawberry – I had about 10 total on our trip!
4. Hiroshi Restaurant at Hotel Mousai – every single dish was perfection, I’m still dreaming of the food til this day.
5. Best dessert I’ve had – Fried Eggrolls at DAO restaurant, it came with condense milk sauce and it was soooo sooo dreamy and so delicious.
6. Best drink at the bar – DI CIOCCOLATO at NOI restaurant; I love creamy drinks and this thing was amazing and I wish I could’ve order one more to savour.
7. Best room service meal: Caesar salad, you won’t regret!!!
8. Another breakfast option is Bocados Steak House near tower 4 and 5 but their buffet options are less however they do offer a breakfast menu that we weren’t offered during breakfast at Blanca Blue.

Pros of restaurants:

• We had reservations and even when we did, the hotel never felt busy.
• The food of course was amazing, I mean, EVERYTHING.
• Attentive wait staff but not bothersome.
• The views at the restaurants, each one had a view! The best view was Hiroshi in my opinion.
• East access from main lobby, both NOI and Hiroshi are located in the lobbies of Hotel Mousai.
• I loved the lighting in NOI restaurant.

Cons of restaurants:

• If you didn’t make reservations in advance, it may be hard to get walk up seating.
• Hiroshi restaurant definitely needs better ventilation system, it started to get stuffy and warm until they opened up the windows.
• They have specialty items that are on the menu that is not included in the all-inclusive, which takes some time to read through the menu to see what is covered and not covered under all-inclusive plan.
• Can’t order room service through their restaurant, I wish this was an option!
• Room service menu has a different menu from all restaurants.

Activities: There are plenty of activities to meet your needs of your vacation. What was important to us to have a chill pool day, a day AND night out to explore the town, and one activity that made us feel “adventurous”. They have a set schedule each week on the times and days of each activities, this can be given to you at your check in. The hosue keeping also gives you a day of events handout after they’re done cleaning your room. Something to note, you will need reservations for the activities – so plan accordingly.

What we loved:

• Exactly what we planned for: a chill pool day – just lounging, drinking, and eating by the pool until we felt ready to go back to our room!
• The hotel had a set activity itinerary for the week!
• It was very easy to get reservations for an activity; call the number – ask for availability – and you’re set to go.
• Loved having absolutely no set agenda for our stay, we went through each day slowly planning for the next. I didn’t want to be tied down to a set agenda and this was perfect!
• We did the kayaking – they do note experience in kayaking is recommended and I absolutely agree with this as you will kayaking out at sea. If you choose the kayaking, I recommend to take a Dramamine at least an hour before. I never get motion sickness at was feeling it on our way back from kayaking. Also keep in mind you are in open water that could be rocky due to waves and boats, this made me a little anxious throughout the kayak.
• We didn’t do any of the hikes but heard they were not easy!

What we LOVED during our  entire trip:

• Penthouse stay.
• The food (amazing).
• The drinks (amazing).
• The staff was kind.
• I kid you not, the toiletries in the Penthouse (which is different from the regular rooms) , are the best toiletries I’ve ever encountered (sewing kit, bamboo comb, toothbrush with toothpaste – to name a few).

CONS of our entire trip:

• Unfortunately having to pack all our bags and resettle into a new room! (I didn’t mind the new room, I just didn’t want to pack and unpack and repack! Because of this, I never really felt “settled in”.
• Leaving my selfie stick in the penthouse after checking out – called lost and found multiple times and never really got an answer, so we didn’t get it back.
• Although everyone we met was kind, service varied from person to person – ex: we couldn’t sign in to our wifi because they had my last name wrong on their end , when I called for help from front desk , we tried all the name possibilities to log in , at one point he told me “I don’t know, keep trying”– I then had to walk down to front lobby to get this fixed.
• The worst part of our stay was the sales pitch and push for time shares. I was 100% ready and read about their time share pitches, however, we made the mistake of walking up to concierge service to ask for help with our wifi – he lured us in to talking about perks of the hotel and then once I caught on to him signing up for the time share sales pitch, I gave him a stern NO where I felt I had to be rude to him about it as he was just not giving up and it made things completely awkward for the remainder of our stay because we saw him every single day during our stay!

Otherwise, here’s some more photos from our visit in Puerto Vallarta.

Other recommendations:

1. Bring extra sun screen!! For the two of us , one pool day, we used up one full size spray sunscreen!
2. MUST DO: Go into town and get off the resort at least once!
3. Bring pesos from home – that way you don’t have to worry about exchange rates, etc.
4. If you choose to bring pesos from home, order them from the bank at least a week in advanced.
5. Get small change pesos; we stayed 5 days, 4 nights at brought $350 USD in pesos and didn’t even use it all!
6. There is an ATM located on the bottom level near the main elevators in the main lobby!
7. Download all the apps you need to before hand, apps that were helpful for us: currency exchange app, google translation, uber, our bank apps.
8. When ubering into town, we did two different drop off “Romantic Zone” and “Los Muertos Pier” – Los Muertos Pier was perfect at night to stroll along the pier, Romantic Zone is great to start off and get souvenirs.
9. If I could choose one restaurant to book on the resort, it would be Hiroshi!
10. Forget breakfast room service and go down to their buffet breakfast, it is the best thing ever!
11. Ask for bell boy service to bring your luggage to your room, saw a few people carrying their luggage on the trolley after check in and it was not necessary as the luggage takes up space for other guests who need to actually use the trolley.
12. Even though we had All Inclusive , we still tipped. They work really hard and we felt it was much deserved.
13. If you’re going for an adult trip and wondering if you should do GB vs Hotel Mousai – I would say, going over to Hotel Mousai multiple times, we enjoyed the vibe of GB much more!
14. They gym has beautiful views, there are two gyms , both located at Hotel Mousai.
15. If you plan to use Hotel Mousai’s pool and staying at Garza Blanca, you only have Hotel Mousai pool access starting at 8pm.
16. The spa was expensive! Up to $550 for a couples massage, we skipped out on this and enjoyed our time just lounging at the pool. They do offer discounted rate if you email them before your trip to inquiry.
17. There is a kids club on site, it is located between the GB lobby and Tower 4 and 5 – you’ll see it if you decide not to take the trolley and use the bridge to walk over to each side of the lobby vs towers.

Overall, it was a great first All Inclusive trip and we totally felt the price as worth the money! We missed our kids though and know if we bring the kids back to Garza Blanca PV one day, they would love it!!

Hope you found this helpful!

Kay