Grand Velas, Nuevo Vallarta

Kimmi K. is just back from her jaunt to Mexico (and is mighty tan I might add!) . She's guest blogging today about the hotel (which is good since I never stay at all- inclusives) and let me tell you people, this place looks SICK!:

Last week I had the opportunity to visit absolute paradise in a newly developed area of Mexico’s West Coast called Nuevo Vallarta (about 20 minutes north of Puerto Vallarta). The hotel we stayed at is an all-inclusive called Grand Velas.

A bit pricier than your average all-inclusive resort, the Grand Velas was well worth it!
Check-in was inside the grandest palapa I’ve ever seen where fountains, streams and koi ponds, pillowed chairs and couches, cold cloths and raspberry iced tea awaited us after our long journey. We were escorted to our suite (the most beautiful I've every seen!) which had a king size bed, huge shower with multiple heads and a Jacuzzi with his and her sinks, a living room, two flat screen 42-inch plasmas and a 1,000 sq. ft balcony with a hot tub and a view of the ocean, where the sunsets could not get anymore beautiful!

The grounds are beautifully kept with bright and beautiful flowers growing everywhere! The infinity pool had three different levels, each with a different water temperatures to suit everyone’s needs (complete with a swim-up bar in the warmest level). An adults 18+ roped-off Jacuzzi area played host to those people who couldn’t handle the kids on winter break. My recommendation about the pool area is to find the manager on your first day and give him a little something for his “troubles” because chairs tend to get “reserved” very early (they do not actually allow reserving chairs, but if the manager remembers you he'll hook you up).

Now on to the most important element in all-inclusive resorts: FOOD. We were so pleasantly surprised with the food here! At the pool and the casual restaurant, Azul (no reservations needed and no dress code) the food ranges from your expected quesadillas, nachos and fajitas to pizza, burgers, sandwiches (chicken, fish, clubs, etc.). The more formal restaurants consisted of Frida: Fine Mexican Dining, Lucca: Italian-Mediterranean cuisine and Piaf: French classic cuisine. We tryed them all and they were all were delicious (I think Piaf was our favorite)!

Grand Velas far exceeded our expectations and if it's an upscale all-inclusive you are looking for, this is the place to be!