After months of research and planning, our wedding and two week vacation at the Buenaventura Grand is over. Wow, what an experience. I'll say right off that our wedding was perfect - better than perfect; it was more than I ever could have imagined and me and my husband couldn't have asked for more. Our wedding Coordinator, Carlos, took care of every detail and did an excellent job. We got married on the beach just before sunset (yes, I did get the timing right!), it was a beautiful day with a clear sky and calm winds. The Buenaventura does have a rocky beach, but the day before our wedding they had a machine come in and pick up all the rocks for our wedding site, and then they raked the sand, so it was perfect. The sunset beach photos after the ceremony turned out amazing, and our supper on the beach couldn't have been better. I'll post some pictures soon! Our guests called it a night around midnight, but me and my husband we not ready for the night to end; so - as promised - we hit the malecon!! It was awesome!! I kept my gown on and we were like celebrities!! As we walked down the street doormen were ushering us into their club straight to the best table in the house. Waiters were always there, and everyone was congratulating us and asking to take our picture!!! We ended the night at Pepe's (a block from our hotel) for a taco before getting in around 5:30am. What a day!!!!
I won't bore you with a long, extended review of the entire trip, so I'll just sum it all up by saying that everything was excellent and there was no disappointment anywhere! The resort was awesome and I'll do a more detailed review of the resort on Trip Advisor, but I'll spare it here as I'm sure most of you are familiar with it anyway. We were very happy with this resort and I thank all of you who offered your thoughts when I was chosing which resort to stay. It was an excellent choice.
Feel free to pm me if anyone is thinking of staying here or has any questions!!!
My Buenaventura Wedding
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Regards
Congrats and glad all went well with your stay in Vallarta....
yes please post a trip report here as well... TA is not the only game in town for information on trips to various destinations... there are many people that will compare what is said over there versus what is said here or on JR's board or Brenda's Board or wherever there is a travel thread...
thanks again sunshine....
yes please post a trip report here as well... TA is not the only game in town for information on trips to various destinations... there are many people that will compare what is said over there versus what is said here or on JR's board or Brenda's Board or wherever there is a travel thread...
thanks again sunshine....
Sunshine Lollypops And Rainbows
Congrats on the wedding ! I look forward to the pics - you better have some of you in your wedding dress on the malecon ! 
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sunshine311
- PV Fanatic
- Posts:60
- Joined:Tue Nov 27, 2007 4:15 pm
WTF???!!???
I just spent 45 min typing a review of the Buenaventura and when I clicked submit, a message came up saying "No post mode specified". I clicked back and my message is gone!!!! AAGGGHHHH! I want to scream!! I guess I'll rewrite it, but not now, I got other things to get to..... I'm so mad.
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sunshine311
- PV Fanatic
- Posts:60
- Joined:Tue Nov 27, 2007 4:15 pm
My BV Review (Typed up in Word first! LOL)
My husband and I, along with 8 others, stayed at this resort for two weeks; March 8 – 23rd. What an awesome place!! We had our wedding at the hotel and everything was perfect!! Our wedding was beautiful, and our wedding coordinator at the hotel, Carlos, took care of everything. Thanks to the Buenaventura my wedding day was perfect and I will remember it forever. As for the resort, here’s my experience…
Check-In – OK, this was the only thing that sucked. It may have had something to do; however, with the fact that we arrived at 1:30am. There was only one guy working the front desk and he was not friendly. Being the wedding couple we were hoping for the honeymoon suite (it’s not guaranteed), and when we asked he had no idea who we were or that we were getting married there in two days, he claimed to not even know Carlos who works at the resort!! He put us in an unrenovated, small room with two double beds and a view of the alley. On a normal vacation I would not have minded, but it’s our wedding!! The thing that really made me mad about this guy is that he gives my husbands young single cousin, who was last in line for check-in, an ocean view balcony room!!! I went to bed crying feeling certain our wedding was doomed.
I awoke the next morning to a whole new world. We immediately met with the manager, and our wedding coordinator Carlos who apologized for the mix up and got us moved to a great room. It wasn’t the honeymoon suite, but it was still excellent. Our room was newly renovated, big flat screen TV, king size bed, oceanview with a balcony.
Rooms – Through our two week stay, one thing we discovered is that it seems a lot of guests get the older rooms with a poor view upon check in, but then get moved to a nicer room if you request it. So if you check in and get a bad room, don’t cry (like I did!), simply get your name on the list for a better room and you will get one within a day or two. Our room had an in room safe (ask the front desk for a lock when you check in), a minibar stocked daily, and an ironing board. The rooms do not have coffee makers as their website says they do, but with 24 hr room service, we just ordered a pot every morning.
Renovations – As we realized our first night, not all of the rooms are renovated. There was a night and day difference between the room our first night and the new one we got moved to. They are working on it though as we did notice open doors of rooms being redone as we walked the hall to and from our room. The renos seem to be down to just the rooms and they never were disruptive to our vacation at all.
Staff – The staff at the Buenaventura are absolutely awesome. (OK, except the check-in guy who we never did see again). They are all very friendly and are always trying to help and make sure you’re happy. It is true that a lot of them do not speak English though. I’d say about half. This did prove frustrating at times, but whatever! I’ll have to take up Spanish before my next visit!
Cleanliness – I’ve never seen people clean so much in my life!! Every time you turn around, all day long, the staff is cleaning!! The halls, the lobby, the restaurants, the pool area, everything is constantly being swept and mopped.
Food – We did the All Inclusive and loved the food. Each night is a different buffet, and there are 3 different specialty restaurants you can book at the resort, along with the al a carte at the Villa Premiere next door. If we were to do two weeks again though, we would not do AI for the second week. I don’t care how good food is, after two weeks you are sick of it and it all tastes the same. One week is perfect to enjoy the delicious food they have. You will not be disappointed.
Pool/Beach – There are two swimming pools, one is heated, one is not. The pools are very clean and we enjoyed swimming in them daily. The beach is rocky, but it’s not the resorts fault, so it’s not fair to knock them. The day before our wedding Carlos had a machine come in and pick the rocks and rake the sand and the beach was wonderful! By the end of two weeks though, the ocean washed a bunch of rock back up. The rocks are closer to the ocean though, and if you’re just looking to hang out in your lounger, there are not too many rocks higher up so it’s still enjoyable to hang out at the beach.
Bars – There are two bars at the resort. The Lobby Bar and the Pool Bar. I cannot comment on the Lobby Bar as we never drank there. We did take in the Pool Bar a couple of nights and had a blast!! It’s open until 1am and there is music and usually about 50 people all sitting on bar stools and standing around the big rectangular bar. It’s quite intimate and is a great place to meet other guests and have some laughs.
Entertainment – There is a Monday night show and a Thursday night show. Each are about 45 min. long and have various dancers and performances. I’d rate the entertainment value of the shows as OK. Let’s just say that if you’re at the hotel, it’s worth watching, but if you have other plans, don’t worry that you’re missing out on anything.
Location – Cannot be beat!! For our wedding we were debating between the Golden Crown Paradise, and the Buenaventura. Although the GCP is rated higher, we chose this resort because of it’s location. With the exception of the Marina, we walked everywhere. The Malecon is only about 4 blocks away, and within walking distance is all the shopping, convenience stores, restaurants, and bars that you can ask for. We walked every day and always found something new to see.
Well, I think that about covers it!!! All in all, we loved this resort and would stay here again in a heart beat!!!
Thanks again Carlos for making our wedding a beautiful memory that will last a life time.
Check-In – OK, this was the only thing that sucked. It may have had something to do; however, with the fact that we arrived at 1:30am. There was only one guy working the front desk and he was not friendly. Being the wedding couple we were hoping for the honeymoon suite (it’s not guaranteed), and when we asked he had no idea who we were or that we were getting married there in two days, he claimed to not even know Carlos who works at the resort!! He put us in an unrenovated, small room with two double beds and a view of the alley. On a normal vacation I would not have minded, but it’s our wedding!! The thing that really made me mad about this guy is that he gives my husbands young single cousin, who was last in line for check-in, an ocean view balcony room!!! I went to bed crying feeling certain our wedding was doomed.
I awoke the next morning to a whole new world. We immediately met with the manager, and our wedding coordinator Carlos who apologized for the mix up and got us moved to a great room. It wasn’t the honeymoon suite, but it was still excellent. Our room was newly renovated, big flat screen TV, king size bed, oceanview with a balcony.
Rooms – Through our two week stay, one thing we discovered is that it seems a lot of guests get the older rooms with a poor view upon check in, but then get moved to a nicer room if you request it. So if you check in and get a bad room, don’t cry (like I did!), simply get your name on the list for a better room and you will get one within a day or two. Our room had an in room safe (ask the front desk for a lock when you check in), a minibar stocked daily, and an ironing board. The rooms do not have coffee makers as their website says they do, but with 24 hr room service, we just ordered a pot every morning.
Renovations – As we realized our first night, not all of the rooms are renovated. There was a night and day difference between the room our first night and the new one we got moved to. They are working on it though as we did notice open doors of rooms being redone as we walked the hall to and from our room. The renos seem to be down to just the rooms and they never were disruptive to our vacation at all.
Staff – The staff at the Buenaventura are absolutely awesome. (OK, except the check-in guy who we never did see again). They are all very friendly and are always trying to help and make sure you’re happy. It is true that a lot of them do not speak English though. I’d say about half. This did prove frustrating at times, but whatever! I’ll have to take up Spanish before my next visit!
Cleanliness – I’ve never seen people clean so much in my life!! Every time you turn around, all day long, the staff is cleaning!! The halls, the lobby, the restaurants, the pool area, everything is constantly being swept and mopped.
Food – We did the All Inclusive and loved the food. Each night is a different buffet, and there are 3 different specialty restaurants you can book at the resort, along with the al a carte at the Villa Premiere next door. If we were to do two weeks again though, we would not do AI for the second week. I don’t care how good food is, after two weeks you are sick of it and it all tastes the same. One week is perfect to enjoy the delicious food they have. You will not be disappointed.
Pool/Beach – There are two swimming pools, one is heated, one is not. The pools are very clean and we enjoyed swimming in them daily. The beach is rocky, but it’s not the resorts fault, so it’s not fair to knock them. The day before our wedding Carlos had a machine come in and pick the rocks and rake the sand and the beach was wonderful! By the end of two weeks though, the ocean washed a bunch of rock back up. The rocks are closer to the ocean though, and if you’re just looking to hang out in your lounger, there are not too many rocks higher up so it’s still enjoyable to hang out at the beach.
Bars – There are two bars at the resort. The Lobby Bar and the Pool Bar. I cannot comment on the Lobby Bar as we never drank there. We did take in the Pool Bar a couple of nights and had a blast!! It’s open until 1am and there is music and usually about 50 people all sitting on bar stools and standing around the big rectangular bar. It’s quite intimate and is a great place to meet other guests and have some laughs.
Entertainment – There is a Monday night show and a Thursday night show. Each are about 45 min. long and have various dancers and performances. I’d rate the entertainment value of the shows as OK. Let’s just say that if you’re at the hotel, it’s worth watching, but if you have other plans, don’t worry that you’re missing out on anything.
Location – Cannot be beat!! For our wedding we were debating between the Golden Crown Paradise, and the Buenaventura. Although the GCP is rated higher, we chose this resort because of it’s location. With the exception of the Marina, we walked everywhere. The Malecon is only about 4 blocks away, and within walking distance is all the shopping, convenience stores, restaurants, and bars that you can ask for. We walked every day and always found something new to see.
Well, I think that about covers it!!! All in all, we loved this resort and would stay here again in a heart beat!!!
Thanks again Carlos for making our wedding a beautiful memory that will last a life time.
