May, 2007

Rating : 8 out of 10

Tariff:  3 nights' stay for $ 645

Atmosphere

The NH Krystal Hotel in Puerto Vallarta is located between the airport and the town, just south of the Marina area along the coast of the Bay of Bandaras. It is a lovely large resort with many amenities and a variety of accommodations. The entrance way into the resort has bright yellow domed buildings that serve as a lobby and an "entertainment center." The brick walkways, tile roofed buildings, and tropical landscaping give it an old world feeling. There are older buildings housing condo style apartments. From the exterior they have a more traditional styling--stucco and wide wooden window and door frames, red tile roofs, wrought iron balconies overlooking a lush courtyard and pool. At the other extreme is a big, modern 4 story hotel building with open, airy lobbies make it very inviting. It is situated beachfront overlooking the palm trees and tiny grass roofed palapas where guests can recline on the tropical beach. There are duplex villas that come with their own mini swimming pools and landscaped yards--talk about privacy--and these are only a short walk from the larger pools and beach.

Service

Very helpful, polite bell men in white uniforms transport you and your luggage around the resort in golf carts, but it's also very pleasant to stroll the grounds. As far as keeping the place up, there are many attendants taking care of the walkways, the gardens, the buildings--so you get the feeling things are well tended to. The front desk and concierge desk attendants were helpful, but at check out the service was so slow we were worried it would compromise us getting to the airport--everyone in our party talked about being on "Mexican Time" and maybe that slower pace is just the way things run. One thing that was very quick and easy was getting a cab from the front steps of the lobby to anywhere--no waiting and very inexpensive (now that I've seen how easy it is I would never consider renting a car).

Amenities and Dining Options

Aside from the features already mentioned, one of the key features of the NH Krystal Hotel is its enormous swimming pool that meanders under arched bridges and has deep areas, shallow areas with fountains, underwater loungers, and a swim up bar! Next to the pool area is a thatched roof building, which looks like a gigantic teepee, inside which is the bar and restaurant where breakfast and lunch buffets are served. We tried the buffet food at two meals and thought it was average--but there are three restaurants in the complex that we never tried. There was just too much to see and do in the town of Puerto Vallarta to stay at the resort exclusively!

There was a baby pool on one side of our beachfront building and on the other side was an entire plaza of hot saunas (at least 6!). There was also a playground, meeting rooms, and a gym. The gym was a bit disappointing because although the hotel had tennis and racquetball courts, its workout area was a covered, open pavilion with a variety of equipment, and in that humidity working out outside didn't seem very appealing.

Included in the package we had at the Krystal was a small continental breakfast buffet and a happy hour buffet, again with white uniformed attendants. We ended up looking elsewhere for breakfast because the water wasn't hot enough for good tea, the juice had a funny taste, and although it's probably just a matter of personal taste, the kind of rolls and pastries served are not very good. The one day I did get to the happy hour, I had a soda and some chicken wings--nice little snack.

NH Krystal Puerto Vallarta
Avenue de las Garzas
Puerto Vallarta,
Jalisco, Mexico
(322) 224-0202
(210) 225-6333 or (800) 730-0019