Royal Level at Occidental Nuevo Vallarta

It was my first stay here, and the welcoming staff helped me with all my questions throughout the trip. The lobby bar team made both our mornings and evenings special, with a great atmosphere and live entertainment every night. Karen Ibarra served us almost every night during our five-night stay and was amazing, as were Maria Agraz, Rony Zamora and Jesus Melendez. Abraham Jimenez also looked after us at the lobby bar on our last morning. I’d absolutely recommend the hotel.

The staff were the real highlight. Everyone we met was welcoming, kind and helpful, and we really enjoyed the massages and facials. We liked the food too, though the service at the Japanese restaurant was disappointing. Our biggest issue was the noise by the rooms. People kept yelling in the hallways, and there didn’t seem to be any rule against it. I asked whether they could put up a sign so our baby wouldn’t wake, but they moved us to another room instead. It was a little better there, but the shouting still went on. The rooms are somewhat run down, and the bathroom in our second room had an odd smell. We were there for NYE, and to get a table with a view of the show we had to buy a champagne package. The cheapest was $250 US for one bottle that normally sells for $56. That was way overpriced and took away from the New Year’s atmosphere. We chose an all-inclusive for a reason.

The service from the waiters and bartenders is still nice, but the hotel itself has really let us down. We used to come because the food was delicious, almost the only reason we stayed here. This time it was bad, the choices weren’t good, and the quality had dropped a lot. The pool area smells like poop wherever you go, all the time, and it’s impossible to spend time there. We definitely won’t stay again.

The resort’s Mexican food was easily the best, from breakfast chilaquiles to lunch tacos and guacamole, then aguachile, birria and more at dinner. They had rice and beans throughout the day and lots of tasty salsas every day. Service was warm and friendly around the resort, especially from the bartenders at the royal level pool and the 7th floor bar. The spa was also a lovely, relaxing way to start the week, and Leydi gave me a fantastic massage. We’ve stayed at Occidental NV twice now and I expect we’ll return. The upgraded room had a lovely bathroom, very comfortable beds, and great housekeeping, but the A/C was so relentlessly loud that I needed noise-cancelling headphones to sleep.