Villa Premiere Hotel & Spa (adults only)

another cold Albertan · Post by **another cold Albertan** » Thu Nov 03, 2011 1:04 pm

Has anybody stayed at this hotel in February? We are a late 40's couple looking for a nice quite place with great service.

pvfunlover · Post by **pvfunlover** » Thu Nov 03, 2011 2:21 pm

The Golden Crown Paradise is an excellent adults only all inclusive.

another cold Albertan · Post by **another cold Albertan** » Thu Nov 03, 2011 6:40 pm

pvfunlover wrote:The Golden Crown Paradise is an excellent adults only all inclusive.

We have already booked our vacation so can't change this time. We also didn't discover this site until after.
Thanks for your responce and hopefully we can get some feedback on the hotel we are staying at.

Enjoy your holiday

Is it February yet

kcowan · Post by **kcowan** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 8:08 pm

Villa Premier is a fine upscale hotel right in El Centro. You will love it. It is quiet but you also can access the Buenaventura next door for more action if you please.

ruler61 · Post by **ruler61** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 8:26 pm

Yes. we have stayed at Villa Premier several times as well as other hotels such as The Westin, Dreams, Casa Velas and Hacienda San Angel. Each property provides something different but we love VP. It is a small hotel (about 80 rooms) that is adult only that is a great place to relax. The hotel is nice and well maintained. All the rooms have views of the water and always kept very clean. There are two pools and always seems to be plenty of lounge chairs or beds available. We love the location because you walk to many of the restaurants, malecon and other points of interest. Sometimes we will take a taxi at night if we are having dinner in the romantic zone so my wife doesn't have to walk that far in heals. They offer an all inclusive however I HIGHLY recommend that you NOT choose this option. There are so many wonderful restaurants in Vallarta and one of the main reasons we come back year after year. Sometimes we have breakfast at the hotels but often walk and eat breakfast in Vallarta. There are several places within a few blocks of the hotel. We often eat lunch by the pool or at Barracuda's just down the beach and we always eat dinner in town. I am happy to share more information if you would wish. I know you will have a great time and enjoy your time at VP.

albertahearts · Post by **albertahearts** » Sat Nov 05, 2011 9:45 pm

ruler61 wrote:Yes. we have stayed at Villa Premier several times as well as other hotels such as The Westin, Dreams, Casa Velas and Hacienda San Angel. Each property provides something different but we love VP. It is a small hotel (about 80 rooms) that is adult only that is a great place to relax. The hotel is nice and well maintained. All the rooms have views of the water and always kept very clean. There are two pools and always seems to be plenty of lounge chairs or beds available. We love the location because you walk to many of the restaurants, malecon and other points of interest. Sometimes we will take a taxi at night if we are having dinner in the romantic zone so my wife doesn't have to walk that far in heals. They offer an all inclusive however I HIGHLY recommend that you NOT choose this option. There are so many wonderful restaurants in Vallarta and one of the main reasons we come back year after year. Sometimes we have breakfast at the hotels but often walk and eat breakfast in Vallarta. There are several places within a few blocks of the hotel. We often eat lunch by the pool or at Barracuda's just down the beach and we always eat dinner in town. I am happy to share more information if you would wish. I know you will have a great time and enjoy your time at VP.

Could you please elaborate on why you don't recommend the all inclusive for the Villa Premiere? We didn't choose it when booking but have been unsure if that was the right decision. Any information you can provide would be very welcome.

ruler61 · Post by **ruler61** » Sun Nov 06, 2011 10:09 am

There two reasons:
1) Pure mathematics/economics. We reserved a deluxe room for $136.00 per night including taxes and breakfast for two. The all inclusive is $400.00 per night. Typically our rates do not even include breakfast and we often walk and have breakfast at two or three restaurants that we enjoy and that are extremely reasonable. During the day we lounge by the pool have a few drinks and a light lunch poolside. So during a typical day we spend $15-$20 for breakfast (two full breakfasts), lunch $30 and a few drinks by the pool maybe $70 so I have spent $120 for breakfast, lunch and a few drinks for the two of us. That leaves about $150 from the all inclusive price to pay towards dinner, drinks and a nice bottle of wine. We will usually spend more than that for our nights out but we are going to different restaurants each night and eating the best food in Vallarta.

2) As stated in my previous post we LOVE going into town and eating at different restaurants. It is the town, the people and the restaurants that keep us coming back to Vallarta, not necessarily the resorts. Again, this is one reason we love Villa Premier is due to its location and proximity to town and the restaurants. Not that you asked but I will provide you a list of our favorite places to eat:

Breakfast: Las Palamas on the malecon sit upstairs with a great view and Caesars a few blocks from the hotel towards the malecon. There is also a restaurant right across the street from the hotel that serves a nice breakfast but I can't remember the name.

Lunch: if not eating at the hotel, El Barracuda on the beach with great fish tacos etc is just down from Villa Premier or Vitea (owned by Trio) at the far end of the malecon with ocean views.

Dinner: La Palapa (ask for a table on the beach) they also have great live music in the lounge area, Trio is some of the best food in Vallarta, Hacienda San Angel is a beautiful small high end hotel with great views, food and beautfiful grounds a must, Vista Grill owned by La Palapa offers the best views of Vallarta with wonderful food and service, El Arrayan for the best Mexican food in town, Cafe de Artiste sitting in the garden is always great, Barcelona's offers nice views, great tapas at reasonable prices, River Cafe has good food and live music and we will be trying Treato Limon for the first time this trip which we are looking forward to trying based on feedback. La Palapa, Hacienda San Angel and Vista Grill all have great food and beautiful ambience/views but all of these are must tries time permitting.

It would be ashame to go to Puerto Vallarta and spend so much money for a hotel and the all inclusive prices and not experience the town, the people and these great restaurants. Even when we have stayed at all inclusive hotels (Dreams and Casa Velas) we go out at night for dinner.

We will be in Vallarta for 9 nights Nov 26 - Dec 5 and will be going to all of these restaurants.

I hope this helps and hope you try these restaurants. I would love to hear your feedback. Good luck and have a great time.

ruler61 · Post by **ruler61** » Sun Nov 06, 2011 10:33 am

Please let me clarify one point from my last post. I stated that we usually spend more than $150.00 for our nights out with drinks, dinner and a nice bottle of wine. That is true many nights particularly if we splurge on a nice wine. However, you can certainly go and eat at all of the restaurants I mentioned and not spend as much money as you would have with the all inclusive option. Good food and wine is something we love so we may spend a little more than some but this is purely a personal vice and is often our form of entertainment. I just don't want to give the wrong perception that these places are cost prohibitive. For dinner El Arrayan and Barcelona's are the least expensive and Cafe de Artiste is probably the most expensive of the restaurants I listed.

One other tip I will mention is that you may want to check out the rates at Villa Premier on the Preferred Hotels website. There are some special offers from AAA, MasterCard and American Express that are pretty attractive. (http://www.preferredhotels.com)

Chow!

albertahearts · Post by **albertahearts** » Sun Nov 06, 2011 1:45 pm

Thank you for such great information! This will be our first trip to PV, my first to Mexico, so we really appreciate the time it took for you to articulate all of this. It will undoubtedly be an excellent guideline for our stay. We too enjoy a nice bottle of wine and a great meal, and your inclusion of costs helps us to know what to expect.

Since you mentioned wines, is the selection very broad or are there primarily California wines available? We have a bit of an affinity for Australian Shiraz so I'm curious what to anticipate in PV.

ruler61 · Post by **ruler61** » Sun Nov 06, 2011 2:04 pm

You will find a broad selection of wines at the nicer restaurants. We do not drink California wines while in Mexico because they are not a very good value do to taxes. In fact they are crazy expensive. We mostly order wines from places like Chile, Argentina, New Zealand. The Champagnes do not seem to be anymore expensive in Mexico than what we pay for them in the US. Believe it or not there are some fabulous Mexican wines but you want to get recommendations from the restaurants. Casa Madera is one Mexican winery that we really enjoy. They have a nice inexpensive chardonnay as well as a reserve that is great. They also produce a nice cab. We did not really start exploring Mexican wines until the past couple of years but we have been pleasantly surprised. Note, I said that they are good but not necessarily cheap. We also typically go to the Mega store or Costco and buy some booze and champagne for the room. I hope that helps.

ruler61 · Post by **ruler61** » Sun Nov 06, 2011 2:11 pm

I failed to answer your question about Australian wines. I am not very well versed in Australian wines but know they make some great wine and I have enjoyed several. I am fairly confident you will find some Australian wines on the menu and most likely a Shiraz. As I recall, Trio, La Palapa, Vista Grill, Hacienda San Angel and Cafe de Artiste all of extensive wine list.

If you and your significant other enjoy good food, fun and wine I am confident you will have a great time in PV. We plan many of our meals with sunset. This is particularly true for the restaurants with outside seating such as La Palapa, Vista Grill, Barcelona and Hacienda San Angel because the sunsets are the most beautiful you will find anywhere in the world. I could make a book of nothing but pictures of sunsets in Vallarta.

albertahearts · Post by **albertahearts** » Sun Nov 06, 2011 2:18 pm

That's excellent! We haven't explored many other countries' wines, so I suppose we need to start experimenting with Argentina and Chile. I bought one randomly recently from Chile that I definitely enjoyed. I'll have to pay closer attention next time. You've mentioned New Zealand but not Australia - is one more available than the other?

I hadn't realized Mexico had their own wineries, but I'll check to see if our Canadian liquor stores have Casa Madera available so we can test drive it before we get there.

another cold Albertan · Post by **another cold Albertan** » Sun Nov 06, 2011 3:06 pm

ruler61 wrote:I failed to answer your question about Australian wines. I am not very well versed in Australian wines but know they make some great wine and I have enjoyed several. I am fairly confident you will find some Australian wines on the menu and most likely a Shiraz. As I recall, Trio, La Palapa, Vista Grill, Hacienda San Angel and Cafe de Artiste all of extensive wine list.

If you and your significant other enjoy good food, fun and wine I am confident you will have a great time in PV. We plan many of our meals with sunset. This is particularly true for the restaurants with outside seating such as La Palapa, Vista Grill, Barcelona and Hacienda San Angel because the sunsets are the most beautiful you will find anywhere in the world. I could make a book of nothing but pictures of sunsets in Vallarta.

I first off want to thank you for all the great information.We have already booked our package and didn't take the All Inclusive package. We figured if we really wanted to we could always do it when we got there. But after your comments I feel more comfortable that we made the right choice. Secondly is about the pool area is it blocked from the sun during any part of the day? The reason I ask is two years ago I stayed in Cancun and the hotel blocked the sun out completely by two in the afternoon.
One other thing did you upgrade your room when you were there?

albertahearts · Post by **albertahearts** » Sun Nov 06, 2011 4:29 pm

ruler61 wrote:There two reasons:
1) Pure mathematics/economics. We reserved a deluxe room for $136.00 per night including taxes and breakfast for two. The all inclusive is $400.00 per night. Typically our rates do not even include breakfast and we often walk and have breakfast at two or three restaurants that we enjoy and that are extremely reasonable. During the day we lounge by the pool have a few drinks and a light lunch poolside. So during a typical day we spend $15-$20 for breakfast (two full breakfasts), lunch $30 and a few drinks by the pool maybe $70 so I have spent $120 for breakfast, lunch and a few drinks for the two of us. That leaves about $150 from the all inclusive price to pay towards dinner, drinks and a nice bottle of wine. We will usually spend more than that for our nights out but we are going to different restaurants each night and eating the best food in Vallarta.

2) As stated in my previous post we LOVE going into town and eating at different restaurants. It is the town, the people and the restaurants that keep us coming back to Vallarta, not necessarily the resorts. Again, this is one reason we love Villa Premier is due to its location and proximity to town and the restaurants. Not that you asked but I will provide you a list of our favorite places to eat:

Breakfast: Las Palamas on the malecon sit upstairs with a great view and Caesars a few blocks from the hotel towards the malecon. There is also a restaurant right across the street from the hotel that serves a nice breakfast but I can't remember the name.

Lunch: if not eating at the hotel, El Barracuda on the beach with great fish tacos etc is just down from Villa Premier or Vitea (owned by Trio) at the far end of the malecon with ocean views.

Dinner: La Palapa (ask for a table on the beach) they also have great live music in the lounge area, Trio is some of the best food in Vallarta, Hacienda San Angel is a beautiful small high end hotel with great views, food and beautfiful grounds a must, Vista Grill owned by La Palapa offers the best views of Vallarta with wonderful food and service, El Arrayan for the best Mexican food in town, Cafe de Artiste sitting in the garden is always great, Barcelona's offers nice views, great tapas at reasonable prices, River Cafe has good food and live music and we will be trying Treato Limon for the first time this trip which we are looking forward to trying based on feedback. La Palapa, Hacienda San Angel and Vista Grill all have great food and beautiful ambience/views but all of these are must tries time permitting.

It would be ashame to go to Puerto Vallarta and spend so much money for a hotel and the all inclusive prices and not experience the town, the people and these great restaurants. Even when we have stayed at all inclusive hotels (Dreams and Casa Velas) we go out at night for dinner.

We will be in Vallarta for 9 nights Nov 26 - Dec 5 and will be going to all of these restaurants.

I hope this helps and hope you try these restaurants. I would love to hear your feedback. Good luck and have a great time.

Please clarify if the price difference you mentioned in price between all inclusive and room only is for both of you? We rechecked and if we'd booked the all inclusive for the 7 days, the total for both of us would have been $1110 Canadian extra, all taxes included. We're wondering if the difference is because ours was a full package including flights and that there is a discount as a result.

ruler61 · Post by **ruler61** » Sun Nov 06, 2011 5:05 pm

I just checked kayak.com, villa premier's website and preferred hotels website. There are large discrepancies in pricing between the different sites but for us our choice for 9 nights at Villa Premiere for a Premier Room is $1,453.00 US including breakfast for two and all taxes or $3,022 all inclusive for two. That's a difference of $175.00 per night which is not as bad as my previous search but still not worth the all inclusive for us because we will not eat dinner at the hotel. We are flying directly from DFW to PVR and did not book the air with our hotel.

It is hard for me to advise you without knowing everything. However, if it only cost $150.00 per day that may be worth doing. You can do the math and determine what is best for you on that issue.

Here is the website for the wine I mentioned earlier if interested: (http://www.madero.com.mx/english/reserv ... pcion.html)

albertahearts · Post by **albertahearts** » Sun Nov 06, 2011 5:30 pm

I appreciate the extra look you've taken. With it being our first time there, it's hard to determine where we'll prefer to eat, but knowing there are a lot of options definitely helps. I've noted the restaurants you highlighted so we'll have that with us for reference. That is a big plus!

Is the service and comfort at the Villa Premiere as good as the Trip Advisor site indicates? We're aiming to feel pampered and are definitely looking forward to the warmth

We already have snow.

ruler61 · Post by **ruler61** » Sun Nov 06, 2011 6:07 pm

Yes, the hotel being small and adults only provides a quiet atmosphere and a great place to relax and unwind. The staff has always been very friendly and accommodating.

We love Villa Premier and this is either our fourth or fifth visit to the hotel. But to keep expectations in check while VP is a very nice hotel but it's not a luxury hotel such as a St. Regis or Four Seasons. Keep in mind that because the hotel is small all the more reason you may want to get out at night.

Again our reservation includes breakfast so to pay an additional $175.00 for lunch and drinks is not worth the money because we would probably only use about $75.00 - $100 for lunch and drinks and we do occasionally like to get out and eat lunch other places. Bottom line, we like our options and getting into town.

Whatever you decide I hope you will get out and explore the town and all the great places to eat and drink!

ruler61 · Post by **ruler61** » Sun Nov 06, 2011 6:16 pm

another cold Albertan wrote:
ruler61 wrote:I failed to answer your question about Australian wines. I am not very well versed in Australian wines but know they make some great wine and I have enjoyed several. I am fairly confident you will find some Australian wines on the menu and most likely a Shiraz. As I recall, Trio, La Palapa, Vista Grill, Hacienda San Angel and Cafe de Artiste all of extensive wine list.

If you and your significant other enjoy good food, fun and wine I am confident you will have a great time in PV. We plan many of our meals with sunset. This is particularly true for the restaurants with outside seating such as La Palapa, Vista Grill, Barcelona and Hacienda San Angel because the sunsets are the most beautiful you will find anywhere in the world. I could make a book of nothing but pictures of sunsets in Vallarta.
I first off want to thank you for all the great information.We have already booked our package and didn't take the All Inclusive package. We figured if we really wanted to we could always do it when we got there. But after your comments I feel more comfortable that we made the right choice. Secondly is about the pool area is it blocked from the sun during any part of the day? The reason I ask is two years ago I stayed in Cancun and the hotel blocked the sun out completely by two in the afternoon.
One other thing did you upgrade your room when you were there?

Sorry I missed your post and question. No, the pool is not blocked by the sun at anytime during the day. We are currently booked in a "Premier" room which the only difference is it has a nicer bath tub than the "Deluxe" room. The "Duluxe" rooms are not available during the time we will be in PV.

Our personal opinion is that the room upgrades are not a great value for us. All the rooms have the same ocean view but the higher floors offer a little better view. Secondly, for us we spend very little time in the room so we never really enjoy the extra room etc. since we basically use it to sleep and shower. We find the rooms and beds to be comfortable and always well kept.

I hope this helps!

albertahearts · Post by **albertahearts** » Sun Nov 06, 2011 6:20 pm

Perfect. To relax and unwind is our first priority, but we definitely plan to get out and see / do / experience what we can during our trip. Your suggestions have been most helpful, thank you!

albertahearts · Post by **albertahearts** » Fri Feb 24, 2012 7:22 am

I wanted to thank everyone for answering our questions about Villa Premiere and about PV. The hotel was extremely clean and well attended. We did upgrade our room and thoroughly enjoyed our stay. We mostly ate out at the restaurants, many of those recommended here and they were brilliant recommendations. However the food at the hotel itself was always fresh and well prepared for the meals we had there.

One thing is certain. This will not be our only trip to PV or to the Villa Premiere. The staff at this boutique hotel were entirely charming and gave us personalized service simply not found in larger facilities. The location was ideal for us to explore "el Centro" and the Malecon. I would highly recommend this hotel for anyone wanting to make their vacation a little more intimate and special, and I truly don't believe we could have chosen better for what we had in mind.

Villa Premiere Hotel & Spa (adults only)

Villa Premier Hotel & Spa

Re: Villa Premier Hotel & Spa