Bad service! Had to wait and ask twice or three times for everything! I usually will brush off bad service once and try the place again and this was the second time.
Cheeky Monkey was bad!
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Vallarta Security
I´ve been living in Vallarta for 3.5 years now, but visiting since 2001. I happen to have many old friends from school living in other cities in Mexico, mainly Mexico City and Guadalajara.I own a business, I am very good friend of many hotel and restaurant owners, I get on very well with the municipal and State authorities, and on top of that I hired the services of a security expert (same advising local authorities) since 2008, just for advice.
Puerto Vallarta is probably right now one of the most secure cities in Mexico, and compared to the US it would be probably in the top quartile, if not amongst the top 10% safest cities between US and Mexico. The murder rate in Mexico in 2009 was 11 for each 100,000 habitants, in Brazil the rate was 25 for each 100,000 habitants, in Venezuela the rate is 48. The worst city in Mexico, which is Chihuahua has a murder rate of 180 (which is the highest in the Western world), Vallarta´s murder rate was probably around 3.
Since last year, a new drug organization Zetas is trying to enter Vallarta (they are already in Bahia de Banderas), who is a traditional place for El Chapo Guzman. El Chapo is a \"soft\" drug dealer that just wants to distribute drug quietly, below teh radar screen without killings or violence. Los Zetas are ultra violent, they don´t care for the business, they just want power and control at any cost. Since 2009 there has been a war between both that has affected negatively Vallarta and Bahia de Banderas. But, this war is just between them and their supporters (politicians, police, lawyers, etc), it does not affect \"normal\" citizens or tourists.
The grenade, which was not an attack, fell from the pocket of a drug dealer in a bar that nobody has ever gone (apart from locals living at El Pitillal). It was an accident that helped arrest some undesireable people. In Vallarta you can drive at night in 80% of the city, walk at night in 80% of the city, during the day in 100% of the city. The most that happen to you if you are unlucky is that you get robbed, or they enter to your house and steal your laptop, or even steal your car while parked, but that is common in every single city in the world. In London, I lived in South Kensington (one of the best areas) and I was robbed, a family was killed two blocks from me while sleeping by 2 \"street kids, you couldn´t walk at night in many areas, etc and that is real 1st world.
Mexico is suffering from a problem that should have never happened if it had been tackled many years ago, now is very difficult to solve. But places like Vallarta are safe by all means. I would be much more worried in Mazatlan or Acapulco, which are still safe for western standards.
We all know that here there is corruption, lack of infrastructure, unemployment (which leads to small robberies), etc but that does not mean this is a place where people should not come, or that they should come with caution. That applies to places like Pakistan, Jordania, South Africa, etc where I´ve been, nothing happened to me, but you needed to take care at all times because violence is the day-to-day for those people.
Maybe you don´t know this, but the most prominent businessmen in Vallarta (owners of hotels, large corporations, newspapers, etc) that live here, none of them uses bodyguard or anything similar. Some they do not even use a driver (only during the day), and they are worth US$10 million or more.
the owner of a huge real estate company that lives in mexico city and that has a development in vallarta, he uses 2 security cars in Mexico City and here he just has a driver that takes him around, and he goes to La Leche, De Santos (when it was downtown), and others completely alone after midnight.
That is the beauty of Vallarta, and we should be proud of it. It is true that 3 years ago it was even safer than now. I remember the \"policiacas\" news being: \" a kid stole two bananas from the supermatket and he is now in jail for 2 days\"... And now there are some worrying situations, but nothing that directly affects normal citizens, and even less tourists.
I knew the lawyer that was killed 4-5 days ago, he was a good person but dealing with obscure matters (ejido land), and as you saw afterwards, it was a drug related murder (they killed his killer a few hours later).
We should see more of this (not affecting tourists) and we should see a rise in minor robberies (crisis is hitting the unemployment very hard), but I still feel safer here than in many areas of most US cities (starting by New York, LA or San Francisco).
Happy to clarify any doubt if I happen to have any info. Best
Puerto Vallarta is probably right now one of the most secure cities in Mexico, and compared to the US it would be probably in the top quartile, if not amongst the top 10% safest cities between US and Mexico. The murder rate in Mexico in 2009 was 11 for each 100,000 habitants, in Brazil the rate was 25 for each 100,000 habitants, in Venezuela the rate is 48. The worst city in Mexico, which is Chihuahua has a murder rate of 180 (which is the highest in the Western world), Vallarta´s murder rate was probably around 3.
Since last year, a new drug organization Zetas is trying to enter Vallarta (they are already in Bahia de Banderas), who is a traditional place for El Chapo Guzman. El Chapo is a \"soft\" drug dealer that just wants to distribute drug quietly, below teh radar screen without killings or violence. Los Zetas are ultra violent, they don´t care for the business, they just want power and control at any cost. Since 2009 there has been a war between both that has affected negatively Vallarta and Bahia de Banderas. But, this war is just between them and their supporters (politicians, police, lawyers, etc), it does not affect \"normal\" citizens or tourists.
The grenade, which was not an attack, fell from the pocket of a drug dealer in a bar that nobody has ever gone (apart from locals living at El Pitillal). It was an accident that helped arrest some undesireable people. In Vallarta you can drive at night in 80% of the city, walk at night in 80% of the city, during the day in 100% of the city. The most that happen to you if you are unlucky is that you get robbed, or they enter to your house and steal your laptop, or even steal your car while parked, but that is common in every single city in the world. In London, I lived in South Kensington (one of the best areas) and I was robbed, a family was killed two blocks from me while sleeping by 2 \"street kids, you couldn´t walk at night in many areas, etc and that is real 1st world.
Mexico is suffering from a problem that should have never happened if it had been tackled many years ago, now is very difficult to solve. But places like Vallarta are safe by all means. I would be much more worried in Mazatlan or Acapulco, which are still safe for western standards.
We all know that here there is corruption, lack of infrastructure, unemployment (which leads to small robberies), etc but that does not mean this is a place where people should not come, or that they should come with caution. That applies to places like Pakistan, Jordania, South Africa, etc where I´ve been, nothing happened to me, but you needed to take care at all times because violence is the day-to-day for those people.
Maybe you don´t know this, but the most prominent businessmen in Vallarta (owners of hotels, large corporations, newspapers, etc) that live here, none of them uses bodyguard or anything similar. Some they do not even use a driver (only during the day), and they are worth US$10 million or more.
the owner of a huge real estate company that lives in mexico city and that has a development in vallarta, he uses 2 security cars in Mexico City and here he just has a driver that takes him around, and he goes to La Leche, De Santos (when it was downtown), and others completely alone after midnight.
That is the beauty of Vallarta, and we should be proud of it. It is true that 3 years ago it was even safer than now. I remember the \"policiacas\" news being: \" a kid stole two bananas from the supermatket and he is now in jail for 2 days\"... And now there are some worrying situations, but nothing that directly affects normal citizens, and even less tourists.
I knew the lawyer that was killed 4-5 days ago, he was a good person but dealing with obscure matters (ejido land), and as you saw afterwards, it was a drug related murder (they killed his killer a few hours later).
We should see more of this (not affecting tourists) and we should see a rise in minor robberies (crisis is hitting the unemployment very hard), but I still feel safer here than in many areas of most US cities (starting by New York, LA or San Francisco).
Happy to clarify any doubt if I happen to have any info. Best
How much are you asking for the Brooklyn bridge?(owners of hotels, large corporations, newspapers, etc) that live here, none of them uses bodyguard or anything similar. Some they do not even use a driver (only during the day), and they are worth US$10 million or more.
I love PV and have been going since 1984. I still feel safe there.
That being said the writer that Kat quoted, does not have a clue.
That being said the writer that Kat quoted, does not have a clue.
If you click on the original posters name and look at all the posts he has made. You will no longer feel the need to respond to his comments.
This was when I was there Xmas and new years