Viva Vallarta all inclusive 11/9-16/02

[CAgals]

Left California on Alaska Airlines. Flight was on time and uneventful. Taxi from airport to hotel was $50 US from the approved taxi ticket sales booth. Took about 45 minutes to get to hotel.

The damage from Kenna to the Viva was virtually unnoticable, a bit of repair to the palapa roof and some freshly sawn branches on some trees. The staff mentioned upon inquiry that the pools had been emptied, cleaned out and refilled but that there was little damage.

This was my first trip to the hotel. My friend had arranged the accomodations and I didn't find this site until right before I departed on the trip so had little knowledge of what to expect.

I walked with the bellboy for 5 minutes before we arrived at the room. The room was fine, 2 double beds, tv, chair, small shelf area with stool and mirror for doing hair, etc. Marble bathroom with sink, commode and bathtub/shower. The sliding door opened onto a small patio with 2 plastic patio chairs. The closet had one rod and a small shelf area with tiny in room safe and minifridge. Our room had a small view of the ocean and we could hear the waves crashing onshore.

The grounds are very spread out and it is quite hilly. Lots of hiking to get to and from the rooms, the pool, the beach, the restaurants, the massage center and the lobby. A senior or anyone handicapped would not have a good time here. Their literature says they have rooms for handicapped and we did see one person in a wheelchair. You would have to have arms of steel or a very fit and athletic attendant to push up those hills and ramps to get to the rooms. I didn't like the walks I had to take much less the climbs and I am fully ambulatory. Our room was up a hill, through a building, down a hill, down 2 flights of stairs and then halfway through the building from the main restaurant/lobby area.

The room we were assigned was in building #3 called the Maguey building. This was a terrible location for us. When we asked about being moved we were told the hotel was 90% full and they could not change us. This building was the farthest away from the "Relax" pool which is the adult only area. The main pool was also quite a hike up and down the hills again. I have already described the trip from the buffet restaurant. The relax pool was over yet another hill.

The main pool was nice but was completely overrun with children, mostly of the mainly Mexican clientele. They were splashing and jumping off the waterfall edge and running nearly everywhere. Babes in diapers were taken into the pool by their mothers. I would not go into that water. There is only one bathroom and it was at the far end of the pool. It was also pretty loud with music over loudspeakers and yelling by the activities staff. After spending a couple hours here sunning we decided to hike again and find the relax pool.

The adult-only relax pool was small but interesting in that it had a disappearing or infinity edge and looked out directly onto the beach. The music here was calm, mostly classical and the volume was medium-low. There was a small bar available here and also a bathroom.

There were bars at both pools but only the main pool had a snack bar with hotdogs, hamburgers, quesadillas and nachos. There was no poolside service for drinks or snacks and there was nothing available at the beach. More walking up and down those darn stairs and hills.

At the beach they offer boogie boards which I wanted to try. The surf was good for the first couple days and there were alot of surfers in the water near the boogie boarders. After that the surf died down and there seemed to be more room to wade and swim. Unfortunately that same day I met a lady whose knees and feet were all scuffed up who told me of her boogie boarding experience. There were hidden rocks under the water and the waves beat her into them. This was not explained to her by the staff when she checked out her board. Needless to say I took a pass on salt water fun after seeing her.

We ended up packing our beachsacks each morning to avoid the huge hike back to our room. We put our clothes in the packs and changed in the bathroom at the relax pool. I took plastic ziplock bags and filled them with chips at the snack bar so we would have something to nibble on. I took my insulated water bottle to the bar which held more than the small cups. This avoided a bit of the walking.

We hiked up and over the hill to breakfast then hiked up and down the hill to the relax pool, changed, sunned and swam. Hiked to lunch buffet in our coverups each day then back down to the relax pool. We started off returning to the room to shower before dinner but scrapped that after a couple days and just changed in the bathroom at the pool. Hiked back up to the buffet restaurant for most dinners. Buffets were plentiful. Could always find something to eat. Not what I would call stellar food but quite edible. The only bathroom for this area was located down a hill or down a long staircase then across a large patio then past the lobby bar whcih was near the show stage. Not at all convenient.

The optional restaurants, Mexican and Italian, were decent. I liked the Mexican food better but the view from the Italian which overlooks the ocean was nicer. Of course once the sun went down you couldn't see a thing so it didn't matter.

A writer on this board mentioned that the drinks seemed watered down to him. They did to me too. We remedied this by asking for our chosen drink and then a shot of whatever booze in it on the side. Dump in the shot and you have a decent drink. Leave it out during the day and you can drink all you want by the pool and not get buzzed. I stuck to rum or vodka based drinks. The brands were all local Mexican brands but I had expected that.

Went to the show the first night and it was the activities staff doing choreographed dancing to a variety of music. Skipped it for several nights then went back again and it was the activities staff doing choreographed dancing to pop music. Skipped it after that and watched tv in the room or read novels for nightly activity.

I tried out the massage center and had a full body aromatherapy massage and an aromatherapy facial. This combination was the "Viva Plan" which cost $950 pesos. This was only chargeable to the room, I took cash to leave for tips. Both were done very well and I was relaxed and pleased. I also tried the beauty shop and had the aromatherapy pedicure, cash only. Very nice job on the pedicure with the lotions, cutilcle removal and callous scrubbing but the paint job could have been better. My friend had her hair trimmed there and was pleased with their job.

We took a taxi into town one day for something to do. This was our third trip and had already done the activities thing so we just went to town to shop a bit and see the hurricane damage. Taxi to town from Viva was 300 pesos plus tip. Malecon was destroyed. Most of the ground floor shops were being redone and repaired. One block in from the ocean and it seemed that little was affected. Had a nice lunch and drinks at Archie's Wok and it was time to head back. Taxi back was 280 pesos plus tip.

The taxi back to the airport from the Viva was 260 pesos plus tip. Duty free shopping was good, bought some booze, cigarettes, perfume and makeup. Waiting lounge inside security has a small bar where smoking is allowed so I spent my wait time there. Alaska airlines on time again.

All in all it was a nice trip but we will not stay at the hotel again. Too much walking. If you are an adult and prefer the relax pool try a room in building 1. If you have kids and will use the main pool then building 2. Building 3 is for hikers or those who would like forced exercise to combat the buffet calories.