Bel Air Collection Resort & Spa (Formerly Playa del Sol Grand) Reviews

If you want a quiet place to stay then this is it except for some of the entertainment around the pool during the day but you can escape this by staying on the beach. Love the infinity pool that looks like it blends into the ocean....got a great pic of this with horseback riders on the beach. The only drawback as a timeshare owner was if you wanted a meal you had to purchase with your credit card while others staying there were under the all inclusive. that really bugged me as I paid more to stay there and couldn't get a meal, not even breakfast. Alternatively, we had to go to MEGA store for groceries and go into PV or Bucerias for a good meal. I loved the beach and swimming in the ocean every day and the pool was very nice. I don't like how some greedy people try to reserve lounge chairs with their towels. I asked staff and they said "no" they are not suppose to do this and sit wherever you want. Overall I loved it there but all I need is sun and surf and I am happy!

Just returned from Playa del Sol Grnad this place was so overrated. There were ants in the kitchen that ruined our food it took four calls to housekeeping to have someone spray. Upon Checkin they gave us a room in building three which has a view of the hotel next doors air conditioning units. The staff was not friendly. Not looking to return to this property.

We Love staying at Playa Del Sol Grand! The pool is breathtaking - it looks as if it goes right into the ocean! The rooms have nice features that you don't get in a hotel. It's such a better value to stay here then to pay more for a hotel where you don't even have a kitchen.

The resort is big enough to have all the amenities....golf, Spa, Dining etc. but small enough that you still get friendly service.

The resort is quiet and secluded. It's out of the noise and bustle of PV and I love that. It's close enough for shopping when you want to go out to the city - but such a nice second 'Home" to come home to. As for noise - the construction is complete and the facility is beautiful.

We just stayed Dec 7-21, 2008. To let everyone know The RIU next door is now complete. ALL IS QUIET; NO JACK HAMMERS NOW AS YOU MAY READ BELOW.

The resort still has the best infinity pool in the area!!! People below are complaining about getting a pool chair. It is very easy. If someone does leave their towel in a chair/lounge to hold it, just ask security to move it and you can use the chair. There is a no-reserve policy on the chairs and it will be enforced if you mention it to security.

My Wife and I bought at this resort 3 years ago because we wanted a place that was not a MEGA RESORT. We go for relaxation not crowds. This resort fits the bill perfectly.

The Rooms are nicely appointed and the maids are wonderful.

The whole staff is energetic and fun! We have stayed here 3 times in 3 years and it is nice to see some of the same faces in the staff. In fact many have remembered our names from year to year.

We go in December and Love the weather. Not to hot or too cold.

I give this resort a GREAT review and will continue to go back in years to come.

My wife and I are in our mid 40's and seem to always meet new friends when we are down there.

The city is very safe and fun also.

We stayed at this resort in mid-February. I sent out a redweek wish and requested a 2 bedroom/2ba with an ocean view and a kitchen. There was another adult couple staying with us, therefore a 2 bedroom unite was needed. I had several replies and chose the owner offering their week at Playa Del Sol Grand. Although she could not offer a 2 bedroom, she sold me a one bedroom with a lock-off unit attached. She said she would request an ocean view. When we got there and checked in we were taken to the building where all the 1 bedroom lockoff units were, all of which faced the parking lot. Additionally, the bedroom lock-off faced a very LOUD construction site. There is a new resort being built right next door. We opened the window drapes and BOOM... there was a man with a jackhammer working away. We were told the construction noise begins at 7:30am sharp. Now, on vacation that is just not ok. We were looking to relax and sleep in and the construction noise was not going to allow that.

After voicing our dissatisfaction, we were shown a one bedroom unit with 1 bath which did have a partial ocean view. It did not face construction though. After all the heartache, we settled on the 1 bedroom unit. Half the week my husband and I slept on the hide-a-bed and the other half our friends slept on it. The mattress was thin and each metal bar could be felt. It was horrible.

Anyway, to sum it up... the experience we had was horrible. Yeah the pool was pretty if you can get a good spot in the sun. We just went to the beach everyday and didn't bother with the small pool. People put their towel down at 6am and didn't show up till 10am. The hot tub was COLD! The staff didn't do much to satisfy us as there were so many people complaining about their rooms facing the construction. The hotel should not have booked those rooms to be honest while construction is under way. If I was an actual owner I would be furious. So, we spent a large sum on a 2 bedroom unit, ended up with a one bedroom and some bad memories. Anyone staying in this resort should definitely be aware of the issues we went thru and witnessed others go thru as well. I am not usually a complainer, especially about vacation but after saving up vacation time, saving money and anticipating this trip, I was so let down. I will never stay at Playa Del Sol again.

What makes this resort so nice, is not the resort, but the beach and waves in front of the resort. The water is shallow right in front which is nice for young children, but just beyond are some nice waves to body surf or boogie board.

The staff are friendly, the grounds well kept.

We stayed at the Playa Del Sol Grand in January 07. This is the "down time" for tourist season, so the place was quiet, which we enjoyed. The best part about this resort is the pool. It is a beautiful infinity pool, which is the reason we picked this resort in the first place. Really beautiful pool. The hot tub was not connected to the pool. It was off the the corner of the property, and the bushes had grown up to where there was not a view of anything, let alone the ocean. Was not impressed with the hot tub, at all. The rooms and grounds were in desperate need of and up-date and seemed run down and old. I would rate it a 3, at most. We ate at both restaurants, and they were not good at all. The ONLY thing this resort has going for it is the pool. . If you don't care about the rooms or grounds and want a nice pool, stay here.

I travel with my wife and two children ages 11 and 14. We are timeshare vacation travelers, and find reviews and recommendations from others very helpful. In that spirit, we like to provide and share the same back

This is actually the first bad review I've written. The short story is bad service and poor maintenance at the Playa Del Sol Grand, but if you want the details or would like some of our thoughts on restaurant and excursions… please read on.

First the fun stuff.......

We enjoyed Nuevo Vallarta and Puerto Vallarta very much. We took three excursions while on this trip. A canopy tour and a private dive excursion through Vallarta Adventures. We also took a guided Horse riding excursion through the Jungle. . All three were excellent...

The canopy tour was very exciting, exceedingly safe, and the guides were great with my kids. It is very thrilling zipping through the treetops. The longest zip line was big papa and it was 240 meters long. Clearly Vallarta Adventures has the safety thing down to a science. Double safety lines and “click in” protocols, left me with no concerns regarding the well being of my kids. We booked and paid roughly $69 per person through the resort. Both my kids and myself rate this a must do if you are not afraid of heights. It was a real blast!!!

Since this was my daughters first dive since getting certified in Curacao (see that review if you want) we opted for a private panga (boat). Fernando our dive master and Pro our boat driver were great with my kids. My daughter was a little nervous, but Fernando really helped her feel comfortable. We opted for Los Arcos and Las Calettis for shallow diving without a lot of entry wave action. Pacific marine life was abundant including a sea turtle and spotted ray and visually very different than the Caribbean. I was very pleased with both locations and Vallarta Adventure. The total cost was about $500. Ask for Fernando and Pro, they were great.

We also went on a horse back excursion through the Rancho Capomo. It was about $59 a person. We have been on several other rides in other countries. The horses although they only understand Spanish commands) and facilities were all good. At lunch I tried the house tequila when we toasted, and it was smooth. All of us agree that with the river trail, waterfall, jungle, swinging bridges, authentic lunch, and lariat show.... This is absolutely the best horse excursion we have been on.

We also like to try different restaurants when we travel. The two primary hotel restaurants (the Palm Terrace and an Italian one ) were ok and satisfactory. You can get 15 percent discount you can get on all food and beverages and 1000 pesos off at the Italian restaurant if you listen to the 90 min timeshare pitch... The savings is definitely a plus. Also the No Name restaurant down town had great barbecued chicken and was not pricy. We actually liked the Italian restaurant next door. It is a notch up but has the prices to match. Very nice Kalua and Vanilla Creme bru Le. In the Paradise Village Plaza we tried the xxxxx Steak house and the Jungle. Although The jungle seemed to be having a disco/rainforest Cafe identity crisis my son swears the had the best chocolate cake...m bar none.

One restaurant we consider a "find" were Thierry’s Prime Steak House near Marina Vallarta. Simply great food, and great service. We highly recommend Thierry’s if you want a good steak dinner while visiting Puerto Vallarta. We celebrated my 47th birthday there and the staff went all out to make it special for me.

The second recommendation is Mister Mueres on Pladra Blanca Beach. I ventured off to get a tour of the Four Seasons Fractionals in Punta Minta. It ended up that they wouldn’t let me in the gate without an appointment...oh well... So on the way back I pulled over where I saw a bunch of busses. It turned out to be a beach where the locals take their families. At the end of the road on the beach is Mister Mueres. So there I sat… surrounded by Mexican Families enjoying a beautiful day sipping ice tea and having the best authentic chicken fajita I have ever had. It was wonderful.... And I think with tip I spent a whole 10 dollars.

Back to Playa Del Sol Grand..... Several events color my opinion of Playa Del Sol Grand. Since I read reviews myself, I was aware of the one bad review among the good and aware of their being better and worse rooms.

So.....prior to traveling I sent them specific request regarding an ocean front two bedroom room and asking for some dive info at check in.

Strike one was there failure to accommodate my requests. No dive info at check in and, they put us in clearly an older what I would call "cut up" hotel rooms.... The layout is really not what you think of as a two bedroom and certainly does not match the online video. After some arguing they moved us, but in the process I learned in a moment of honesty from a front desk clerk that their best building they reserve for owners, the next best for paid reservation, and their worst building for time share trades. Therefore, although I got a better room after some arguing, my advice is not to trade to Playa del sol Grand.

Strike two was when they started painting below us on two different days. Again after some discussions they agreed to stop painting but it was not an easy discussion. The fumes were really very bad.

Strike three is maintenance. Kitchen door broken, cupboard handle broken, screen off track and not able to be reset, cracked housing on TV, missing bathtub stops... Just not well maintained. There demo room shows nice which appear to be the rooms shown on the internet video tour. However that is the owner building. The rest are just not as good in my opinion.

Great grounds with a fantastic infinity pool,

Staff always polite and attentive,

Such a nice difference to have daily maid sevice!

As a family we do not use our room very much and therefore did not mind the lack of dishwasher or Laundry facilities.

Recommend the walk to Bucerias and a meal at Marks Grill

We visit this resort after having stayed at a resort in Puerto Vallarta for a week... Loved the location as it was still close to the Int'l Airport and a short cab ride away from the hussle and bussle of the Puerto Vallarta.

Service was great, from the moment we stepped out of the cab until the time we left... We made use of much of what the facility had to offer. Restuarant food was excellent, pool is to die for with the infinity style pool, and the ground are well kept and clean. Staff all over the place ensuring everything was perfect.

Rooms are great, you have an ocean view in every room. Rooms are modern and loaded with like home features ( DVD,TV,microwave,etc..)

Loved it so much, we are now owners, and would highly recommend a stay here to those looking for a relaxing, pampered get away!!!

Medium size resort so you do not get lost in it. Wonderful location. Down town PV gets old with the traffic and congession. Some like that but at this resort you get to relax and enjoy your vacation. Lots of real nice resturants close by and at the resort.

Date of visit: Nov. 4 through Nov. 11, 2006 Us: Family of six. Two adults and four kids ages 8 -16. How we got there: Trade through II. We own a 2 br, 2 bath at Club de Solie in Las Vegas. Would I return: Not a chance.

The Good…

Landscaping - Beautiful, day and night. Pool - clean, warm, fabulous views. Ponds and water gardens - nice addition to a tropical atmosphere. Bathrooms - spacious, clean, and great shower/tub area. Shower heads drop a lot of water! Refrigerator - full size.

The Bad…

Resort Entrance - lots of construction and the registration area is not marked clearly. Mini-store - Very small and limited selection. Prices not on any of the products. Room style - Lots of dark wood and 70’s style décor. Clothing storage - no dressers. Instead there were shelves inside the closets. Also not nearly enough for 6 people. Laundry - no public facilities. You can pay for laundry service, but not cost effective for a family. This is a huge turn off. Kitchen space - no dishwasher or stove. Very limited “counter” space. Room Supplies - No paper or pens in the room - had to ask at desk. Also, don’t forget dish soap. They have something at the sink, but I don’t think it is soap. Pull out bed - mattress was very thin and made crunching sounds. Also, no sheets/blankets in room. Had to call for room service. Hot tub - extremely hot water and jets did not work all week. It seems from other reviews, there hasn’t been pressure jets since August! Pool towels - $25.00 fee if you forget one by the pool at night and it gets picked up. In other words, they allot one towel per person and if you “lose” it, be prepared to pay the fee. With little ones, leaving a towel somewhere is not unusual. If I had know that, I could have brought my own. But then again, there are no laundry facilities to keep them fresh. Pizza Restaurant - website claims to have a “Pizza Patio”. We never found it. Kids Club - too out of the way.

And The Ugly…

Timeshare Presentation - Initial offer - $57,000 for 2 bedrooms for 2 weeks. Last ditch effort - 3 bedrooms in Playa del Sur for $31,000. As we get up to leave, they escort us to get our “gifts”. This is upstairs and another pitch from a man selling memberships to some trade company I had never heard of. Having gotten out of there, we then went to a palapa in the front of the resort to get our six “free” Jungle/City tour tickets. All this after 4 hours of badgering. As for the jungle tour. Imagine 8 hours in a closed-in bus with no a/c! Yes, it was ugly!

There are too many great resorts in this beautiful area to have to return to this one. This resort might have a few things going for it, but not enough to attract my vacation dollars again.

The infinity pool with the swim-up bar was the best! I can't wait to go back.

We were at this resort for two weeks July 8- 22, 2006. I am a timeshare owner and traded two weeks at my home resort to come to the PDSG.

First the Good:

The grounds of the resort are beautiful. The pool is good and the beach front location is excellent.

The food at La Bella Italia was excellent as well as the service. I would return to this restaurant.

The Bad:

I will not return to this resort. Outside of the restaurant service, this was not the level of service I would expect of a resort that is rated 4-5 stars.

Daily, we had to wait for clean towels until at least 5pm in the evening. One evening we waited until 10pm. This was after I called 3 times beginning at 6pm on that particular day. Thank God we did not have dinner reservations anywhere. Most of the days, our room was not cleaned until 5pm. I understand many timeshare facilities do not provide daily maid service. However, when you do, the guests expect that service to occur in a timely manner. Otherwise, what is the point? If no daily maid service, washers and dryers should be available on the premises for guests to wash and reuse whatever towels are provided if necessary. The inventory of towels should be at least twice the guest capacity.

The electricity in the kitchenette area went out twice. The electricity also went out in the unit below us the first time. Fortunately, the maintenance crew responded promptly. Kudos to them. I have stayed in many units with kitchen facilities and have never had this problem. Something is obviously wrong with the wiring or circuitry.

The construction outside of our unit was loud but fortunately we could close the bathroom door to cut down on the noise since only the bathroom window looked out onto the construction.

On 7/15, a very loud family checked into the room attached to our unit. Apparently, their kitchenette area is right next to the lock-off door that adjoins both units. They were so loud that a family from another unit came knocking on my door thinking we were the loud ones. I directed her to the right door. I called the front desk to complain. I don't know if they called the family as the noise continued until 2am. The next morning, I contacted the manager. He stated no other rooms were available. I know that is not the truth because I saw people checking in and out on 7/16. I am also aware that most resorts set aside empty rooms in case there are problems. We should have been offered a room that was being used for check in on 7/16. We were not offered another room until 7/20 which is the day after I called the California office to complain. The noise from the loud family continued until 7/19. They must have checked out on 7/20 because I did not hear them after this date. Therefore, I did not take the manager up on the offer to change rooms. It did not make sense to do that since the loud family was gone and we only had 2 days until check-out.

We noticed a foul smell around the plants that were in the hallway. We were not sure if someone spilled something nearby or if someone may have thrown up near the plants. Given that some folks were drinking heavily, this is possible. It is a good idea for housekeeping to pull the plants away from their locations and sweep/mop around and under them.

During the entire two weeks of sitting around the pool and on the beach, I only noticed a young man come around one time to ask if anyone wanted to order food and/or drinks. Otherwise, I noticed people had to go up to the pool bar and request assistance. This really did not bother me because we ate off site most of the time. I did order drinks but requested them at the bar. A true 4-5 star resort would see to it that service was provided to guests around the pool and on the beach.

We tipped well and still the service was poor outside of the restaurants.

PDSG has the potential to become a great resort. The attention to details, the needs of the guests and service related issues must be addressed. Otherwise, it is no better than a basic two star resort at this point.

There were many beautiful resorts in this area of Nuevo Vallarta. They all have rooms available like a hotel so you do not need to purchase a timeshare to stay there. When I come back to this area, I will stay at one of the other resorts.

We read many of the reviews for this place on a number of different websites (TUG, Redweek, Trip Advisor, etc.) Most of the reviews were very mixed. Some gave very high marks, while others had so much harsh criticism, which made me wonder if I made the right choice. We traded our timeshare in Cancun to come here. We had been looking at going to either PDSG or the Villa del Palmar Flamingos (both very new resorts). Our exchange request gave us PDSG, so that’s where we went.

The resort was very clean and new. Very well decorated and landscaped. Its not a huge hotel like the VDP Flamingos. It is more like a smaller “boutique” type resort. If you like the larger “mega” type hotels, like a Marriott, than the VDP Flamingos is probably a better fit. The VDP actually looks nicer with better construction and seemed to offer many more amenities from what I could tell from walking through it (the VDP is directly adjacent to PDSG). VDP has a much nicer and better stocked deli/mini-mart.

The PDSG was very cozy and quaint. The condition of the resort is very good. Nice beach. The swimming pool was also very well done and never seemed crowded like you might find at a bigger resort. You always hear about people complaining that they cannot get a good pool side chair cause they are all “reserved” with towels by 7am, but that was not the case here. I was here during peak season and the resort was fully booked, but it never “felt” crowded. It was always very quiet and relaxed.

It seemed to appeal to an older crowd and maybe that’s why it was so quiet. For rest and relaxation at a nice, cozy resort, this is a very good choice. If you’re looking for high flying action and opportunities to meet other singles, you will be sorely disappointed. I happen to be in my 30’s and I came with my wife and 14 mo old son. We just wanted a place where we could relax with our baby. PDSG certainly fit the bill.

The rooms were also very spacious and well furnished. The beds were fine to us. Some of the reviews seemed to indicate “very hard” beds. We slept well. We had a studio, which more than met our needs. Came with full size fridge, stove, microwave, and all necessary utensils and cooking instruments. Lots of cabinet space. We purchased groceries from a supermarket on our way from the airport, so we had lots of drinks and snacks for our room. The kitchen makes a big difference when traveling with an infant. That’s why we love timeshares so much. Keep in mind, that though this resort is rated 5 stars, it is by no means a Four Seasons level of quality. Like I said, the rooms are nice, but not “that nice”. It is probably more like a 4 star by American hotel standards. Overall, with regards to the accommodations, we had no complaints.

The restaurants were decent. There are two (Bella Italiana and Palm Terrace) and we ate there for most of our meals. With the young child, we chose not to venture off from the resort much. We also ate a meal at the VDP Flamingos restaurant next door. None were worth writing home about. All have VERY slow service, but we have found this to be true of all restaurants we have been to in Mexico. Every dinner lasted two hours. But this was also the case when we were in Cancun and Cabo. We have just accepted it as the “way of life” down here. If you accept it for what it is, you won’t get so upset. Getting upset won’t do you any good anyways.

The staff was also excellent. They bent over backwards to make us happy. Maybe its cause we tipped well. They did a fantastic job cleaning our rooms daily, including washing our dishes. They also appear to do a good job keeping the resort very clean and presentable. The concierge is also helpful with arranging activities if you are interested.

If you do come here, Feb and March are considered peak season and you should book your flights 3-4 months in advance as it saved us several hundreds of dollars. We paid about $325 for direct flights from LA. Our friends who booked about one month before paid about $550 and they only had a limited choice of flights as most flights were already booked. We wanted to upgrade to first class, but all those were already booked as well. The guides in Puerto Vallarta say that this year has been their busiest EVER due to the hurricanes in the Carribean. It is becoming a more popular destination and there is tons of development going on down here.

Overall, the Playa del Sol Grand gets a thumbs up from us. We definitely enjoyed our stay there. Not the “greatest” resort in the world, but its certainly nice enough. We probably will not come back to this resort anytime soon as we enjoy trying out different resorts. They are building a Playa del Sol Grand in Cabo and in Playa del Carmen. We hope to check out those destinations soon.

We just returned from an exchange week at the Playa del sol Grand and it was great. We have had some disappointing exchanges and this wasn't one of them. Our room faced the ocean and was a corner room which the deck wrapped around the building giving you a very spacious deck. The one bedroom was great and the setting of the sleeping area being elevated from the living area is a very nice feature. The staff was great and the restaurants are good if you are not adventurous and don't want to explore other areas. I do recommend walking the beach to the town of Bucerios (about 40 minute walk). Good flea market and great restaurants. Mark's Grill was excellent.

We just returned from the Playa del Sol Grand. It was a super vacation. We can''t wait to return next year!! We own two weeks and bought a third week. You can't beat sitting on the beach and watching the dolphins play. The jungle setting is beautiful with a large pool in the center. The accomidations are top notch and the personal bend over backwards to help you. Everyone is so friendly!! It is a little ways from town but this makes it a little quieter. The food at the three restaurants was very good. They have an Italian Restaurant that is out of this world. All units have kitchen facilities and nice bathrooms. The units are very spacious. They even have a DVD player in each. DVD's can be picked up downstairs. The beach is very clean and you can walk for miles. We watched the dolphins play and the fisherman casting their nets to fish. As late as March you can see whales along with the dolphins. We have had a few timeshares over the years. This is most definetly our favorite.

After owning a timeshare at Playa del Sol in town, we switched to the Grand a year ago and stayed there in nov. 2004. We took my brother and his wife and had a great time. The staff were very gracious and friendly. We even left a camera in a cab which the staff called and they returned with the camera intact! Martha was especially helpful, and Martine was a blast. Even though construction was going on, we barely noticed and it didn't hinder us at all, since most of it is done by hand. It's fun to go over to Bucerias and eat at the beach cafes there, a short cab ride. The chef onsite took a bonito we caught and made it like steak, the first time I ever liked bonito, which we ate overlooking the ocean and shared with the staff, which they appreciated. All in all, a great vacation and a wonderful resort.

We bought at Playa del Sol Grand before it was built, so last March we went to see it when we were in Puerto Vallarta. The resort surpasses our expectations. Pool and beach are outstanding (great lounge chairs with shades). We toured the 1 bedroom unit--very large, tastefully decorated, 2 bathrooms. We didn't eat there, but asked several guests about the restaurants--rave reviews. We are excited to spend next spring break at the Playa del Sol Grand. The only down side is that the location is quite a trip from town--but sometimes that is nice, too.

This is a brand new five star resort in Neuvo Vallarta opening Oct 1st, 2003. We are proud new owners and looking forward to staying at our new resort. We have been watching the building and are impressed with the quality and workmanship.

The pool is very large and all of the rooms are equipped with full kitchens, microwave, dishwashers, fridge and stove. The junior studio has a king bed or two double beds. All rooms have Balconys with ocean view, satellite T.V. and in room safety deposit boxes.

Note: The other two ratings are not for this resort, but for Playa del Sol in the town of Puerto Vallarta.