Our First Trip to Puerto Vallarta and the Golden Crown Paradise Club:
July 20th -27th, 2006
We arrived without incident and made it through the Timeshare Shark Infestation at the airport. In fact, I walked right by our FunJet rep trying not to look at any of the Sharks. “Don’t Look Ethel” lol. But I finally had to look and found our rep who took us to our transportation and we were whisked away to GCP.
We were warmly greeted by Francisco with cool towels and cold drinks. We were a little early so we changed into our pool clothes in the hospitality suite and headed to the beach bar for the famous “Fried Mahi-Mahi Sandwiches”. And yes, they are muy deliciosa!! That was just the first of many of those sandwiches while there.
We then were able to get into our room. Room 2407. It had a beautiful view but was very hot! We turned down the air and went back down to the pool. When we went up to clean up for dinner it was a little bit better but still very warm. We told the front desk, who said they’d check on it. When we got back to our room about 10 p.m. it was still too warm. We talked to the front desk again and they said they’d have another room for us tomorrow. We put in an awful first night! So hot and humid we couldn’t even sleep. And it was thunder storming all night so we couldn’t even open our doors to the balcony. At that point, we were ready to check out and move to another resort. Around noon the next day we moved into room 1301 and it was fantastic from then on. It was a beautiful, cool, room with a wonderful view and a ceiling fan. We were quite a bit happier by now and ready to settle in and enjoy our vacation.
The food was very good at all the restaurants. The beef was certainly not Kansas City beef but I’ve had worse. I ate mostly seafood if they offered it and it was all very good. And of course the Sexy Coffee is a must. The service was wonderful too.
The only real complaint I’d say we had was the limited bottled water. You only get 2 bottles a day and any over that amount you have to pay $1.00 a bottle for. That seemed pretty weird to us. You can have all the tequila, beer, rum, etc you want but only 2 bottles of water??? Anyway, we’d just have them fill our mugs up with ice water and take that back to our room with us. I’m always very thirsty after a day of sunning and drinking so I needed plenty of water.
We went out to eat 3 different times for dinner while we were there just to try some of the places mentioned on this board and they were all fantastico! We went to Pipi’s for Mexican food, Mariscos Tino’s for seafood, and La Panorama the last night for the sunset views and a wonderful shrimp dinner. I’d recommend all three to anyone.
We attended the English Mass at 5 p.m. on Sat. evening and the church was beautiful inside. There was a funeral Mass going on when we first got there and the church was totally full of people but it ended about 5 minutes before our Mass began. Our Mass only had about 20 people there. The shops close to the Church were all very nice with friendly shopkeepers who were not pushy at all. Then we walked along the Malecon again and enjoyed watching the locals with their families as they enjoyed the beautiful evening. There were several beautiful sand sculptures on the beach along the Malecon too.
At the pool snack bar they have hamburgers, pork or beef tacos, chicken wings and pizza every day. Plus, they cooked paella one day for a cooking class and we had some of that too. Yummy!
We had thunderstorms most nights and some were pretty wild but it only rained during the day once or twice and not for very long at all. It really didn’t stop people from still enjoying the pool and beach.
We walked down to Walmart two different times. We never felt unsafe and it’s a nice little walk. We bought our liquor to bring home there. It was the cheapest prices we found. We did buy some tequila at the Don Crispin Tequila Factory that we went to on our private tour. We hired a private driver, like someone on the boards suggested, and it was great. We invited 2 other couples we’d met to come along and with the expense shared 3 ways it was very reasonable. He took us any place we wanted to go and told us things we would’ve never learned otherwise, I’m sure. His name is Oscar and he is a very nice man too.
On the tour we went to Nuevo Vallarta, downtown to the market, to Le Set for picture opportunities and the view, then up into the mountains. We stopped at a waterfall and then went to Don Crispin’s. A very nice day for everyone.
At Walmart, we were approached by a timeshare guy, and we told him we’d go to the presentation for breakfast the next morning. He promised it would only be 90 minutes, tops and we wanted to see the Nuevo area anyway. Well, Fred had a stomach ache all night and didn’t want to venture far from the resort so we cancelled. We were glad we did when we found out some other people got the same promise of 90 min. and it ended up being 4 ½ hours! Fred said the only timeshare we checked out was our eternal timeshare when we went to church, lol. We ended up seeing Nuevo with our private tour anyway.
We changed our money 3 different times while we were there. Once at the airport, once at the hotel and once at the little Casa de Cambio right outside the resort to the right. The best exchange we got was at the Casa de Cambio by the resort. The only problem we had was trying to get small enough bills for tips. I don’t know if they do it on purpose so you end up tipping more or what, but that was the only inconvenience we found using pesos. We recommend tipping for sure. These people work very hard and really seem to care about the guests and about doing a good job.
We like the water and beaches better in Cancun but we like the people and the town better in PV so I guess it’s a trade off.
The first evening we went in to town to eat at Pipi’s. It was very good. They made us complimentary guacamole at our table and it was some of the best I’ve ever tasted. I got the Shrimp Tequila and Fred got the beef fajitas. Both were very good but Fred said he’d get the shrimp next time. We walked along the Malecon after dinner and did some window shopping along the main street.
Our trip up to Mariscos Tino’s in Pitiall was quite a ride. We didn’t realize it was so far from the main road and we started wondering exactly where the taxi driver was taking us. But then there it was and it was very good. I think it might’ve been my favorite meal of all. I had a wonderful shrimp and avocado salad and I’ve thought of that thing everyday since. They also had some of the best Sangria I’ve ever had. Plus it was very pretty the way they served it. While we were eating, a real, honest to goodness cowboy went by on his horse. I think he was coming home from work or something.
Definitely worth going here.
We really enjoyed the dinner at La Panorama too. The prettiest sunset of the week was the one we saw there. Plus the food was very good and the service fantastic. Another one we’d highly recommend.
Behind the pool bar at the GCP in a little fenced in area they had a turtle sanctuary for turtle eggs. Each night they’d take the hatchlings down to the water and release them. I got to release one of the baby Tortugas one evening and it was really cool. Also, the pirate ship would go by each night and shoot off fireworks which were always pretty to watch.
My newly learned Spanish was very helpful. The locals helped me when I needed it but overall I was able to at least get my point across and understand what they were saying to me. One of the taxi drivers told me he was born in Guadalahara and moved to PV as a small boy all in Spanish and I understood him great. He told me my Spanish was very good but I think he was being over generous in his praise. I’m going to keep up my studies and hopefully do better next time.
I’m very thankful to all of you here who suggested these great places to eat and shared all your experiences with us. I was even brave enough to eat the shrimp on a stick from a beach vendor because of the postings I read here. And it was very good. And next time we’re going to get some corn from one of the vendors on the Malecon and who knows what else we might be brave enough to try by then.
And there definitely will be a next time. Maybe in February.
Sorry this report was so long but I didn’t want to miss anything. I’ll try to share some pictures later.
July 20th -27th, 2006
We arrived without incident and made it through the Timeshare Shark Infestation at the airport. In fact, I walked right by our FunJet rep trying not to look at any of the Sharks. “Don’t Look Ethel” lol. But I finally had to look and found our rep who took us to our transportation and we were whisked away to GCP.
We were warmly greeted by Francisco with cool towels and cold drinks. We were a little early so we changed into our pool clothes in the hospitality suite and headed to the beach bar for the famous “Fried Mahi-Mahi Sandwiches”. And yes, they are muy deliciosa!! That was just the first of many of those sandwiches while there.
We then were able to get into our room. Room 2407. It had a beautiful view but was very hot! We turned down the air and went back down to the pool. When we went up to clean up for dinner it was a little bit better but still very warm. We told the front desk, who said they’d check on it. When we got back to our room about 10 p.m. it was still too warm. We talked to the front desk again and they said they’d have another room for us tomorrow. We put in an awful first night! So hot and humid we couldn’t even sleep. And it was thunder storming all night so we couldn’t even open our doors to the balcony. At that point, we were ready to check out and move to another resort. Around noon the next day we moved into room 1301 and it was fantastic from then on. It was a beautiful, cool, room with a wonderful view and a ceiling fan. We were quite a bit happier by now and ready to settle in and enjoy our vacation.
The food was very good at all the restaurants. The beef was certainly not Kansas City beef but I’ve had worse. I ate mostly seafood if they offered it and it was all very good. And of course the Sexy Coffee is a must. The service was wonderful too.
The only real complaint I’d say we had was the limited bottled water. You only get 2 bottles a day and any over that amount you have to pay $1.00 a bottle for. That seemed pretty weird to us. You can have all the tequila, beer, rum, etc you want but only 2 bottles of water??? Anyway, we’d just have them fill our mugs up with ice water and take that back to our room with us. I’m always very thirsty after a day of sunning and drinking so I needed plenty of water.
We went out to eat 3 different times for dinner while we were there just to try some of the places mentioned on this board and they were all fantastico! We went to Pipi’s for Mexican food, Mariscos Tino’s for seafood, and La Panorama the last night for the sunset views and a wonderful shrimp dinner. I’d recommend all three to anyone.
We attended the English Mass at 5 p.m. on Sat. evening and the church was beautiful inside. There was a funeral Mass going on when we first got there and the church was totally full of people but it ended about 5 minutes before our Mass began. Our Mass only had about 20 people there. The shops close to the Church were all very nice with friendly shopkeepers who were not pushy at all. Then we walked along the Malecon again and enjoyed watching the locals with their families as they enjoyed the beautiful evening. There were several beautiful sand sculptures on the beach along the Malecon too.
At the pool snack bar they have hamburgers, pork or beef tacos, chicken wings and pizza every day. Plus, they cooked paella one day for a cooking class and we had some of that too. Yummy!
We had thunderstorms most nights and some were pretty wild but it only rained during the day once or twice and not for very long at all. It really didn’t stop people from still enjoying the pool and beach.
We walked down to Walmart two different times. We never felt unsafe and it’s a nice little walk. We bought our liquor to bring home there. It was the cheapest prices we found. We did buy some tequila at the Don Crispin Tequila Factory that we went to on our private tour. We hired a private driver, like someone on the boards suggested, and it was great. We invited 2 other couples we’d met to come along and with the expense shared 3 ways it was very reasonable. He took us any place we wanted to go and told us things we would’ve never learned otherwise, I’m sure. His name is Oscar and he is a very nice man too.
On the tour we went to Nuevo Vallarta, downtown to the market, to Le Set for picture opportunities and the view, then up into the mountains. We stopped at a waterfall and then went to Don Crispin’s. A very nice day for everyone.
At Walmart, we were approached by a timeshare guy, and we told him we’d go to the presentation for breakfast the next morning. He promised it would only be 90 minutes, tops and we wanted to see the Nuevo area anyway. Well, Fred had a stomach ache all night and didn’t want to venture far from the resort so we cancelled. We were glad we did when we found out some other people got the same promise of 90 min. and it ended up being 4 ½ hours! Fred said the only timeshare we checked out was our eternal timeshare when we went to church, lol. We ended up seeing Nuevo with our private tour anyway.
We changed our money 3 different times while we were there. Once at the airport, once at the hotel and once at the little Casa de Cambio right outside the resort to the right. The best exchange we got was at the Casa de Cambio by the resort. The only problem we had was trying to get small enough bills for tips. I don’t know if they do it on purpose so you end up tipping more or what, but that was the only inconvenience we found using pesos. We recommend tipping for sure. These people work very hard and really seem to care about the guests and about doing a good job.
We like the water and beaches better in Cancun but we like the people and the town better in PV so I guess it’s a trade off.
The first evening we went in to town to eat at Pipi’s. It was very good. They made us complimentary guacamole at our table and it was some of the best I’ve ever tasted. I got the Shrimp Tequila and Fred got the beef fajitas. Both were very good but Fred said he’d get the shrimp next time. We walked along the Malecon after dinner and did some window shopping along the main street.
Our trip up to Mariscos Tino’s in Pitiall was quite a ride. We didn’t realize it was so far from the main road and we started wondering exactly where the taxi driver was taking us. But then there it was and it was very good. I think it might’ve been my favorite meal of all. I had a wonderful shrimp and avocado salad and I’ve thought of that thing everyday since. They also had some of the best Sangria I’ve ever had. Plus it was very pretty the way they served it. While we were eating, a real, honest to goodness cowboy went by on his horse. I think he was coming home from work or something.
Definitely worth going here.
We really enjoyed the dinner at La Panorama too. The prettiest sunset of the week was the one we saw there. Plus the food was very good and the service fantastic. Another one we’d highly recommend.
Behind the pool bar at the GCP in a little fenced in area they had a turtle sanctuary for turtle eggs. Each night they’d take the hatchlings down to the water and release them. I got to release one of the baby Tortugas one evening and it was really cool. Also, the pirate ship would go by each night and shoot off fireworks which were always pretty to watch.
My newly learned Spanish was very helpful. The locals helped me when I needed it but overall I was able to at least get my point across and understand what they were saying to me. One of the taxi drivers told me he was born in Guadalahara and moved to PV as a small boy all in Spanish and I understood him great. He told me my Spanish was very good but I think he was being over generous in his praise. I’m going to keep up my studies and hopefully do better next time.
I’m very thankful to all of you here who suggested these great places to eat and shared all your experiences with us. I was even brave enough to eat the shrimp on a stick from a beach vendor because of the postings I read here. And it was very good. And next time we’re going to get some corn from one of the vendors on the Malecon and who knows what else we might be brave enough to try by then.
And there definitely will be a next time. Maybe in February.
Sorry this report was so long but I didn’t want to miss anything. I’ll try to share some pictures later.