| Disclaimer: this is NOT a sponsored
review or paid content. I picked and paid for for this vacation myself
and no parts of it were financed by any other parties, nor were they
considered a F.A.M trip. It was fully a personal vacation. |
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| Hilton Resort in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico |
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| The Hacienda at Hilton Puerto Vallarta |
After 8-years away from all-inclusive vacations, I decided to take a
plunge and visit one of my favourite travel destinations, Puerto
Vallarta, again. After doing some initial research on resorts available
under last minute deals, I noticed "The Hacienda - Hilton Puerto
Vallarta" in search results. Since I had previously shortlisted the
Hilton as one of my preferred properties, I was intrigued, despite the
fact that the resort had no profile photo. What it usually mean is the
the hotel is either not very presentable or just very new and the images
were not yet fully loaded into booking systems.
A short research later, a still very limited number of reviews later
(The Hacienda doesn't have it's own page on TripAdvisor but there was a
handful of travellers who reviewed it under the main Hilton umbrella),
it turned out be be a very new development indeed!
The Hacienda, the adults-only section of the Hilton Vallarta, opened
its doors in February 2018 so just mere months ago. What I initially
found really appealing from the information I managed to gather, other
than the fact that it was still very new, was that it had plenty of
mature (read: tall and lush) palm trees and a roofed outdoor pool which,
for someone who can't spend extended time in the sun, was a dream come
true. After consulting with my travel partners, we decided to go for it.
We booked with Air Canada Vacations, partly due to the ability to earn
Aeroplan Miles on the flights, very humane flight times as well as
prices much better than those of the competitors offering similar
vacation packages. We ended up booking the least expensive room type,
Hacienda Garden View.
On travel/departure day, we arrived at the airport around 8pm, with our
flight leaving the Toronto Airport/YYZ at 10am. No 3 am wake-up calls!
The bag drop off took maybe 3 minutes, the security process maybe 15.
Our flight departed on time, operated by Air Canada Rouge (not my
favourite mostly due to the lack of charging outlets and duty-free
shopping) but that's a minor inconvenience. As a frequent flier to
Vegas, I'm used to the disadvantages of said flight service by now.
The flight was mostly uneventful, the immigration process at the Puerto
Vallarta Airport took maybe 20 minutes. Be mindful of the timeshare
vacation marketing people who will be attacking you as soon as you go
through immigration. They try to pretend to be tour operator
representatives. They are not! Just keep walking until you get outside.
The ACV Rep was easily identifiable (red polo with ACV logo) right
outside the airport door and sent us across the street when our
destination rep, Miguel, handed us our vacation booklet with his contact
info and local tour offerings (City and Tequila tour was free but we
decided to pass on it and spend the entire vacation on our own, flexible
schedule). After informing us about a meeting the following morning to
go over options as well as plans for the return trip to the airport a
week later, he put us into a nice air-conditioned passenger van. After
about a 10 minute wait and maybe a 7-minute drive, we pulled into the
Hilton Puerto Vallarta driveway.
We got dropped off at the main Hacienda door, right outside the lobby
and waited maybe 10 minutes to speak to one of the check in agents.
Since we booked the lowest-priced room type, we knew the view would not
likely be great. And it wasn't. After checking out the room we had
originally been given, I went down to the desk to inquire about
potential upgrades. The staff were kind enough to show me several rooms
in the main resort as well as the Hacienda. In the end, we decided to
pay extra and upgrade to the 2 double bed Hacienda Swim Out room. Those
are the ground level rooms, the one we received had a beautiful deck
with furniture.
From the moment we entered the suite for the first time, we knew me had
made the right choice. Brand new (you could even smell it), spotlessly
clean, with beautiful floors, patterns, huge shower. The list goes on.
If you scroll down, you'll find video walk-through of both the room and
the bathroom. I'll let the visuals do the talking.
The Hacienda is located right next to the main Hilton resort. It takes
maybe 3 minutes to walk through the lobby and into the main pool and
restaurant area bordering the beach. On the way there you pass by the
security station, main checking area, the lobby lounge, the lobby bar
(with TVs, perfect for watching the World Cup), the Ki Spa, the
tobacco/convenience store and a little souvenir shop.
All the staff members you'll encounter at the resort are friendly,
professional and speak English. There is maintenance going on around all
the buildings and amenities 24/7. The entire resort is spotless. And
once you sit down at one of the tables at the Seafire (buffet)
restaurant, a waiter will be with you very shortly and your drinking
glass or coffee cup will never be empty.
Food was plenty, varied and fresh. Scroll all the way down for photos of
some of our meals. We also tried the O'West sushi bar on the rooftop of
the shorter of the two main/poolside hotel buildings and it was
excellent, the meals at La Catrina (the Mexican restaurant at the
Hacienda) and La Delice (French restaurant) also left nothing to be
desired. Fantastic food and service all around.
Another great thing about the Hacienda - there's a Starbucks location in
the lobby - regular coffee and all snacks (pasties, sandwiches, salads,
cakes, etc.) are all part of the all-inclusive program. Lattes and
such, are extra. Our room had a mini bar that was replenished daily with
a variety of beer and soft drinks.
Housekeeping, quick and efficient. All the pools were clean and
beautifully maintained, with the pools at the Hacienda being for the 18+
crowd.
Safe to say - we have found our new go-to resort in Puerto Vallarta and will most certainly be back.
On our last day, we checked out at noon and were met outside the
building by a local ACV rep who collected the return transfer voucher
given to us by Miguel on day two, put us into a cab, and of to the
airport we went. The airport is new and modern and works with the
efficiency of your typical international airport. There are many food,
drink and shopping options both before and after security. What a
difference from my last PVR trip 11 years ago when bag scanning
consisted off airport workers going through your dirty laundry manually
(yikes! hope they were making really god money for having to deal with
people's post-vacation mess).
Our return flight departed on time, at 3pm. Perfect timing. That's what I
meant when I said the flight were at humane times. No early wake up
calls, no wait for the room or for the flight or transfer on the way
back. Thank you ACV.
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| The Hacienda at Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Checkin Area |
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| The Hacienda at Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Lobby Waiting Area |
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| Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Main Gateway |
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| The Hacienda at Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Open-Air Lobby |
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| The Hacienda at Hilton Puerto Vallarta Corridors |
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| Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Walkway to the Main Pool Area |
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| The Hacienda at Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Resort Grounds |
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| Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Main Pool and Restaurant (Seafire - buffet) |
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| Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Main Pool |
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| Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Pool-side cabanas (extra charge) |
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| Hilton Puerto Vallarta - One of the resort buildings - Icon Vallarta condo is the background. |
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| Hilton Puerto Vallarta - One of the resort buildings - Icon Vallarta condo is the background. |
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| Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Main Resort Building |
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| Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Main Pool Sunset |
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| Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Main Gate |
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| Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Main Gate |
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| Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Starbucks at the private swim-up pool |
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| The Hacienda at Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Immaculate Resort Grounds |
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| The Hacienda at Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Casona Talpa Building |
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| The Hacienda at Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Beautiful Plants |
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| Hilton Puerto Vallarta - View from the O'West Sushi Bar on one of the hotel buildings' rooftop |
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| Hilton Puerto Vallarta - View from the O'West Sushi Bar on one of the hotel buildings' rooftop |
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| Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Ballerina Statuette in the Main Lobby |
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| Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Ballerina Statuette in the Main Lobby |
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| Puerto Vallarta - Beach at Sunset |
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| La Hacienda at Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Main Lobby |
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| La Hacienda at Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Main Lobby |
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| The Hacienda at Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Resort Grounds |
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| The Hacienda at Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Resort Grounds |
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| The Hacienda at Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Resort Grounds |
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| Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Main Pool |
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| The Hacienda at Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Palm Tree Maintenance |
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| The Hacienda at Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Adult-only pool and swim-up bar |
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| Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Sunset seen from the main pool |
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| Hilton Puerto Vallarta - View from the beach |
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| The Hacienda at Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Rooded / partly-covered adults only pool |
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| Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Resort Grounds and Main Building |
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| Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Resort Grounds |
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| Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Main Lobby |
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| Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Ki Spa |
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| Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Ki Spa |
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| Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Main Lobby |
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| Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Main Lobby and the Tobacco (convenience) store |
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| Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Main Lobby / Bar Area |
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| Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Main Lobby / Bar Area |
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| Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Main Hotel Building |
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| Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Main Hotel Building |
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| Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Ki Spa |
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| Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Souvenir Store |
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| The Hacienda at Hilton Puerto Vallarta - One of the Fountains |
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| Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Main Hotel Building and Check-in Area |
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| Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Main Lobby / Bar Area - World Cup watching party |
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| The Hacienda at Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Adults-Only Pool and Swim-up Bar |
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| The Hacienda at Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Adults-Only Pool and Swim-up Bar |
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| Hilton Puerto Vallarta - One of many fountains / mosaiks |
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| The Hacienda at Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Main Lobby |
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| The Hacienda at Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Main Lobby |
Hilton Puerto Vallarta - Meals
(Seafire Buffet, La Delice French Restaurant, La Catrina French Cuisine)
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