Puerto Vallarta, Mexico — The mornings are cool and the afternoons are hot. The beach is empty and beautiful and free of seaweed. The signature bougainvillea is coming into fiery bloom against the poinsettia and the Christmas tree. And the food is nothing like you would expect at an all-inclusive in Mexico.
In short, there’s no better time to be in Puerto Vallarta in general, and at a Grand Velas resort in particular, than the weeks after Thanksgiving and before the Christmas rush. At just about 30% capacity and perfect 82-degree temperatures, the three properties here are friendlier than ever, their surf more inviting, their pricing more reasonable.
So we were happy to trade the New York chill for the Mexican sunshine at Velas Resorts, where TRO was invited on a press trip that split the week between two of the company’s three properties in the Puerto Vallarta area: the laid-back Mi-Casa-Es-Tu-Casa vibe of Casa Velas in Puerto Vallarta and the elegant Grand Velas Riviera Nayarit about half an hour away. At both, we felt like we had the beachfront—and the attention of the staff—pretty much to ourselves.
It’s clear that the Mexican owners, the Velas family, understand the luxury market, and fulfill its promise to deliver an all-inclusive experience worthy of the label, complete with warm and inviting service, first-class accommodations and Michelin-level food. They broke the mold by being the first all-inclusive company ever awarded five diamonds by AAA; among their four- and five-diamond restaurants, two have been awarded a Michelin star.
First we chilled at Casa Velas, where serenity and relaxation, and often romance, rule. Just 15 minutes from the airport, the hotel is designed to make you feel like a guest at a private Mexican hacienda. But with a great chef.
Quiet music sets a soothing backdrop to breakfast and dinner; often the only other sounds were the golf carts on the 18-hole course, upon which the property sits, and the songs of the birds. There’s an intimate (read small but peaceful) spa and gym and a Meditation Field where you can get your zen on with yoga classes or a walk through the shady labyrinth, past the herb garden. It’s also a top romance resort, perfect for anniversaries, vow renewals, and honeymoons. For destination weddings or corporate retreats, the hotel’s intimate size makes a full-property rental possible (with just a minimum of 64 of the hotel’s 80 suites). Rooms here start at 450 square feet, $380 per person per night double occupancy all-inclusive.
When guests feel the need for more action than what’s available onsite, they can take the free five-minute shuttle to the hotel’s private Tau Beach Club, where lunch and a light dinner are served against a backdrop of mountains and ocean, or to the larger more resorty sister property, Velas Vallarta.
We had breakfast and fed the koi to the sound of light music on the terrace each morning, and gourmet Mexican cuisine for dinner at the AAA Four-Diamond Emiliano restaurant— a yummy corn soup followed by sea bass and fresh tuna, ribeye steaks and rack of lamb. One evening, we rode the bus to the beach and ate a light fare to the sound of the pounding waves, but it was too dark to see much. Better to go during the day, when towering waves rose close enough to get your blood pumping, but then broke a couple of feet from shore and rolled up in a gentle bubbly froth.
Grand Velas Riviera Nayarit
Next on our agenda was a 30-minute drive to a totally different kind of experience at the beautiful, luxurious and modern Grand Velas Riviera Nayarit. Dripping luxury among the falling bougainvillea, it’s the flagship Grand Velas property and the first to earn a Five Diamond rating from AAA—and so, arguably, where the concept of luxury all-inclusives began in Puerto Vallarta. There are 267 suites, each 1,000 square feet or larger, including two- and three-bedroom family residences and a majestic three-bedroom Presidential Suite. All look over the three heated pools (each at a different temperature, so you can choose your favorite or mix and match as the sun heats the air around you) and on to the Pacific.
Rates start at around $500 per person double occupancy; kids under 3 are free and there are discounted rates for 4-15-year-olds. An amazing Kids Club is open 9 am to 11 pm, and serves lunch and dinner when parents want a romantic child-free experience. A three-bedroom family residence that holds seven runs $5,750 from January to April and $8,780 over the holidays.
Four specialty restaurants are included (serving Asian fusion, French, Mexican and Mediterranean/Italian), along with a café serving coffee and tea, sweets and sandwiches. From the roast duck and octopus at the beautiful Sen Lin to Coquilles St. Jacques, lamb chops and the best onion soup ever at Piaf and even the buffet at the beachside Azul, everything was fresh and well seasoned and artfully served.
Even the spa here is special, rated five stars by Forbes Travel Guide. Its 20 treatment rooms offer massages, body wraps, hydrotherapy, facials, hand and foot care, and Spa Rituals using all-natural products. The fitness club sports treadmills, stair climbers, elliptical trainers and bikes, resistance and weight training machines, and offers yoga, antigravity yoga, Pilates and Zumba classes and personal trainers.
Both properties offer live music (in our experience, an electric violin, a poolside trio, a tableside magician during the long two-hour dinners) as well as fire and circus shows, beach volleyball, soccer, and nonmotorized beach sports.
Groups of eight suites or more also can arrange private events and experiences including dinners, movies or bonfires on the beach; dinner on the beach runs around $630 for four guests or $1,300 for 10, and is best arranged in advance of arrival. Each Velas resort destination has its own magic, and we adapt and mirror that magic through our properties, so you can have a different experience in each one,” says marketing manager Isabel Rizzo. “Each Velas resort destination has its own magic, and we adapt and mirror that magic through our properties, so you can have a different experience in each one.”
As at many destinations, 2025 also brings a new focus on authentic and educational excursions that take guests beyond the confines of the resort. So we boarded a bumpy bus and took a 90-minute ride high into the mountains to meet the family that for three generations has raised agave to produce raicilla, the underground moonshine of Jalisco that has become the fancy cousin of mezcal, and tequila for a tasting of raicilla and local snacks. Taking a lesson from champagne, the local brewers of this funky-flavored spirit have protected the name and reserved it only for bottles brewed here in Jalisco, baked in clay ovens the old-fashioned way. (Pointing to their grandpa and his 80 grandkids, Diego and Jorge, the two brothers who run the taverna and the tours, claim raicilla is an aphrodisiac. But who am I to say?)
Grand Velas is in the midst of a suite renovation project that will lighten the décor. In some cases it also will open the bedroom and living room into one big space, and add an indoor Jacuzzi in an expanded bathroom. Ninety-nine of the 267 suites have been redone so far, and the majority are scheduled for 2025.
But honestly, we were happy to give up the in-suite jacuzzi for the design that offers the larger living room and the privacy that comes from a separate bedroom with a door that closes. That way I could get up early while my husband slept on, grab a cup of coffee and putter around, then sit on the balcony to watch the sunrise, the bougainvillea blossoms flutter and the sea birds swoop over the Pacific.
Mi casa es su casa indeed.
Cheryl’s 40-year career in journalism is bookended by roles in the travel industry, including Executive Editor of Business Travel News in the 1990s, and recently, Editor in Chief of Travel Market Report and admin of Cheryl Rosen’s Group for Travel Professionals, a news and support group on Facebook. As an independent contractor since retiring from the 9-to-5 to travel more, she has written regular articles about the life and business of travel agents for Luxury Travel Advisor, Travel Agent, and Insider Travel Report. She also writes and edits for professional publications in the financial services, business, and technology sectors.
