Another vacation in Paradise, Puerto Vallarta Feb 2014

This trip was the most relaxing one for me that we have had in a long time.  Since we have been to PV so many times we didn’t feel the need to take tours or shop or even sightsee like we have in the past. There were a few things that we wanted to do again, and a few new restaurants to try, so this time I’m going to blog about the things we did different, or the highlights of our trip and not all the details as in the past.

This year we decided to switch it up a bit and stay for 2 weeks in one location in Puerto Vallarta.  In years past we have stayed in Old Town for the first part of our vacation, then in our timeshare at the Marina for the last week.   Due to continuing frustrations at the Mayan property at the Marina we decided after last year’s visit to look at our other options.  Our time share came with the option to trade through SFX (San Francisco Exchange) so we called and found that we could stay at the Sheraton Bouganvillias using our time share week, and stay for another week using our bonus week.  At the Mayan we were not able to use the bonus week during the months of Feb/March.  2 weeks in one location – that should be fun. 

We love the feel of Old Town and being able to walk to all the great restaurants, and we loved the location at the Marina and all the great shops and restaurants there too.  The Sheraton is in the Hotel Zone between the two, so we weren’t sure if we would like it but we decided to try it.

We arrived in PV on Saturday, 3/8 and took a taxi directly to our hotel, arriving about 2:30pm.  We were able to get into our room right away which was a plus.  The timeshare (resort) buildings were separate from the hotel, with its own lobby, pool, business center, spa and fitness center.  Our exchange was for a one bedroom unit so what we got was two separate rooms with a single entry outer door, then two interior entry doors.  One room was the living room and kitchen, with toilet and shower, and the other room was the king size bedroom with bath/shower.  Both rooms had balconies.   The living room had a murphy bed rather than a sofa which was a little awkward and not as comfortable as it could be.  The rooms needed updating but they were clean and adequate and the bed was very comfortable. 

After unpacking and getting settled I went down to the pool area.  The pool was large and beautiful.  It was about 4:30 by then so people had left but there were limited places.  The weather was warm (80+) and plenty of sun left.  I stepped in and found that it was nice and warm.  Love, love, love the pool!  My biggest complaint at the Mayan was they stopped heating their pool several years ago.  I immediately knew that this was going to be a great, restful vacation. 

Our first evening we decided to eat dinner at the hotel restaurant, La Villita.  Although they had a Chinese Buffet we ordered off the menu instead.  Fajita’s and guacamole – Mexico here we are!

Some mornings we walked into town for coffee and or breakfast.  We found that the location was great as it was a nice walk to town if we went early before it got too hot.   Several times we walked all the way to Old Town and had breakfast at our all-time favorite,  Fredy Toucan’s.  Always a line, but it’s usually quick and worth the wait for a great breakfast.  It’s always fun to see familiar people working there, including the owner.  

Every day I spent hours at the pool reading, resting, relaxing.  One time early on  I was not able to find a place to sit at the resort pool so I headed to the hotel pool and found a place in the shade.  The hotel side was louder, had a lot of kids and loud music playing.  Later I moved over to the resort side.  Talking to a few people I found that people bring their towels down by 7 am to reserve a spot.  No one likes it but they have to play the game to get a spot.  After that I was up at 7 reserving my spot by pool.

One of the first days Doug was trying to work but the internet was not working well in the room.  The business office internet did not work for his laptop – not sure why.  I had brought my laptop and it worked ok, so we didn’t know if it was a problem with the laptop, which was quite frustrating.  Someone suggested trying the business center on the hotel side and once he did that it solved all the problems. 

Evenings we usually went to town or the Marina for dinner.  We had dinner at our favorite locations including Victor’s at the Marina, La Cerveceria Union in town, Joe Jack’s FishShack, Derby City Burgers.   This year we were able to try a few new restaurants that were great also.  El Barracuda which is located just north of the Malecon on the water (turn west at the OXXO on the corner).  Great view and wonderful fish tacos.  It was a nice walk from our resort.  Also, a few blocks east of our resort was Mariscos Cuetos, a neighborhood restaurant with excellent seafood.  Doug had cocoanut prawns that were huge, and I had breaded sea bass which was great.   We also tried a new restaurant in Old Town called Old Town Bistro.  It was classy, with a piano player, white tablecloths, great décor and good food for a great price.   All of these places are on our list to try again someday.

We spent one afternoon in Suyulita, just relaxing over lunch at Captain Pablo's on the beach.  Love this little surfing village.

One day we went to San Sabastian, which we had done in the past.  San Sabastian is an old mining town that is now more of a ghost town with very few people living there compared to the mining days.  There is a beautiful old church and a coffee plant which we stopped and toured.  We had bought coffee last time we went and Doug really wanted to buy some again.  That was a fun day although it was very hot and we were glad to get back to the hotel (and me to the pool).

Another afternoon we went to Bucerias and went on a tour with Investours, a non-profit that provides support to the local business community through micro-loans or grants to help with their businesses.  The donations from the tours go directly toward the expenses to support the businesses.  We met with three businesses, Francisco’s Painted Bowls,  Javier’s Fresh Seafood and Ceviche, and Birrieria Ponce, a family restaurant run by Don Carmelo.  All of these businesses are successful today because of the hard work of the owners and the support they have received from family and friends, as well as Investours.

We both decided that we enjoyed our stay at the Sheraton resort and would like to stay there again in the coming years.  If possible we can buy a few weeks there to stay a little longer after retirement.    We’ll see, as time goes on.   For now, it was a great stay!

I also decided I want to include the name of the books that I read during my trips.  So, for a first I am including here that I read the following during this trip:  “Quiet Dell”, “An Invisible Thread” and “Piers Morgan – the Kindle Singles Interview”.