TARA C.
We came for the beach and the wildlife, and both were lovely. The ocean was warm, the beach was clean, and swimming on the public north side was great. There are a few trees for shade there. I didn’t try the private beach. From the building, the view is fabulous, and in late November we saw lots of dolphins and humpbacks. The grounds are well kept, and reception staff were awesome. The restaurant has great views, though the food was terrible and overpriced. My breakfast was $16 for two raw eggs that I’d asked to have over easy, one piece of old, chewy bacon, a tablespoon sized hash brown, a tiny spoonful of awful refried beans, toast, and tea. I couldn’t eat the eggs. The happy hour cocktails are two for one, but they’re deadly. Getting around is easy enough. Bus stops in both directions are right out front, with reasonable fares: ten pesos into PV or to Boca, and forty pesos past Boca. Uber is great too, just arrange a ride in the app. The mini store is pricey and mostly has emergency basics and junk food, no whole food items, so shopping in town is better. I took two buses to Casa Leys market in PV and got an Uber back. Noise was the biggest problem for me. The hotel to the south blasts music all day, with a DJ shouting into a speaker, and I could hear the music and bass clearly from my GS unit in the middle of the building. My first night, one of the cartel-owned luxury homes next to the hotel played music nonstop until 8 am. The bass rattled the building. Apparently this happens frequently, and no one can stop them. I didn’t sleep at all that night, and it ruined my vacation. It took three days to recover. The hotel music continued all day the rest of the time, usually until around 10:30 pm, without a break. Boat operators also bring loads of tourists to swim at the nice beaches, park right below the condo, and turn up their music. Really annoying. The condos aren’t soundproof. The walls are paper thin, and although the waves dull the noise a bit, you’ll hear people chatting on balconies too. You may end up shutting the doors and turning up the AC. Despite the no smoking bylaw, people smoked on balconies and I smelled it constantly while I was home. Owners blame renters and renters blame owners, but both ignore the building rules. It comes down to whether each person is respectful. The public beach gets very crowded on weekends, with boom boxes, nonstop music, and lots and lots of screaming kids. This is no quiet getaway. If you want peace, stay elsewhere, and avoid Girasol Sur units on the south side, numbers 01-09, such as 501 or 909. You can still hear the hotel from the north side, units 10-16, but the south side gets the music directly as well as noise from the hotel’s loud rooftop air conditioners. The condos are a bit run down, and since each one is individually owned, the condition depends on the unit. Toilet paper goes in the bin, not the toilet, as is customary here. There isn’t really hot water, though an early shower can be pleasantly warm. Renters have to wear an annoying blue plastic wristband. I couldn’t wait to cut mine off. Some owners put a towel on a pool lounge chair and claim it all day whether they use it or not, which is very poor behavior. Make sure your unit has AC. It gets hot and humid, and you’d melt without it. The pool was mostly full of babies in diapers, so I avoided it.
