Crown Paradise Club Puerto Vallarta

Crowne Paradise (CP) has two large pools with scheduled games and activities at both. We played lawn chess and table tennis. The kids water park and play area is large and amazing. It just needs more seating for adults. There is also an adults-only area with a small splash pool and large hot tub and bar that is quiet. There is lot of lounger seating at the pools and on the beach which is good because every chair was claimed every day. There was never a wait for drinks at the bars. The buffet had an extensive selection. At every meal, there was a meat/cheese bar, salad bar and/or fruit bar, tortilla station and bread bar. The food never ran out. The tamales and hot chocolate were authentic and excellent. My son enjoyed the beach-side snack bar with burgers, fries and nachos so we never went to the dining room for lunch.
Our room was basic, old/cheap and disappointing, but at least the beds were comfortable. And the in-room fridge is kept well-stocked. the bathroom was spacious with a separate WC and shower stall.

CP's biggest problem is not their fault. The resort is near the cruise ship dock. On one day the cruise passengers over-ran the beach-side resort facilities in a blatant and wilful disregard for marked private property. They helped themselves to the resort's snack-bar, tiki bar, beach loungers and the outdoor showers. the security guards had their hands full ushering them off the property. In a blatant display of racism, some of the invaders (all north americans) completely disregarded the security guards who had to ask (white) guests seated nearby to reinforce their message. One cruise passenger angrily confronted me simply for noticing that her children were using our showers. Three of them tried to walk off with the resort's glassware from the bar. If they can so easily steal resort belongings, they could just as easily steal guest belongings off unattended beach chairs. CP could raise the tasteful beach barrier to waist height and add some more unsightly signage about private property but I don't know if those measures would decrease the outrageous behaviour. An adjacent hotel has a wall and a gate on the beach but it's really ugly.

Small Complaints:
Restaurant reservations were impossible to get. I tried on 4 days then gave up. On a few days, the music by the big pool was so loud, we could not sit there and talk to each other or read. On a few nights, the dining room was like eating in a wind tunnel. On two occasions, we had to wait for clean towels.

I do not recommend Crowne Paradise for singles or couples. [Details]

We were a group of 12, 4 kids and 8 adults and we were very happy with our experience. I would 100% recommend if you have younger children in your group, ours are between the ages of 3-6 and they absolutely loved the pirate park, kids club and the beach. The hotel was safe and clean and the staff are very friendly. Food was ok and the partying was at the beach bar and was fairly quiet and kept to a minimum and was usually shut down by 12. Great place to take you kids! [Details]

We really enjoyed our stay at The Crown Paradise, it was a good budget friendly basic hotel in an amazing location. I would highly recommend this hotel for young children the children's swim park was excellent. The staff was attentive, friendly and pleasant. I don't generally enjoy the food at hotel buffets but there were lots of choices so I could always find something to eat and there were lots of good fruit and vegetable choices which made me happy. I have learned I prefer the smaller hotels rather than the big resorts, it's so convenient to be close to everything and while a small older hotel has less flash it has more charm. I would definitely stay here again. [Details]

Arrival there was no complimentary drink offered like every other Hotel we have been to. Food was bland, repetive,we ate many meals off the kids side. Two days we had NO water in our room once because the guy turned a valve the wrong way , next time they had a leak, we couldn't even flush our toilet.No English channels whatsoever and evn the subtitles were in Spanish and could not be changed but if u were in the Lobby they had English Channels Go Figure and NO One knew how to fix it, just kept saying no channels . Nobody would ever answer the front desk phone nor the Concierge desk phone . We sat in the lobby while waiting on a cocktail and the phone would ring the guy stood there and never answered . Most of the staff at the desk NEVER spoke a word of English , always would have to find someone . Internet sucked hard to connect, No Tour you were on your own , never shown where the Night shows were but more then happy for you to join Time Share Breakys . When we were leaving we had Transfers and the guy stuck us in a Taxi to try to make us pay and the taxi guy drove away we had to make him back up and let us out meanwhile the Transfer guy had kept our Transfer papers Oh Sorry , sorry he says , Ya Not paying Buddy you have my papers . KIDS everywhere 100's of kids we've been to family resorts but not like this I would not Recommend this for a couple at all !! Would we return NO , We rate this place as a 2 Star Resort . [Details]

The Hotel was overall a great place with kids good game and daily activities for them and adults,
was not happy to find out the only hot tub was a adult only despite being in the middle of the grounds outside the room. the à la carte would keep making up reasons not to let me or my son in telling us it was the dress code they had as you could see other people in the same outfits or dressed in a swim outfits but had a see thu outfit on and they let them in with no problem. was 100% did not like the service for the à la carte. the Buffet Service was few to none most nights but the food was good and always changing. [Details]

Rooms need upgrade, changed rooms twice in less than 24hours of arrival, washroom and toilets didn't work, plugged and overflowing, [Details]

We stayed here for one week with our two toddlers. Our first impression when we checked in was "you get what you pay for" it was a bit of a shady check in process, and our room was not what we had thought, but in staying that our opinion completely changed over the week.
Staff: Amazing service from waiters, bell boys, concierge, dining room staff
Food: Hit and Miss. Breakfast was great! We ate the snack bar for lunch every day, which our kids loved, endless fries, nachos and hotdogs! We found it a bit repetitive but as long as kids were happy we were happy. Supper buffet wasnt the greatest. We loved the all three alacartes we visited. Italian was our fav! We booked using there QR scan code, but need to do it right at 9am to get preferred time.
Bars: The drinks were cold and good! Liked that they had a daily drink special to try posted. The bars were always busy. The lobby bar had really great staff and they would give us a bag of milk every day for our kids instead of use going back and forth to the bar for them.
Pools: Great! we spent alot of time at the kids splash pool, it was awesome. We also used two other pools while there, and took part in the aqua exercises one day which was great
Beach: Great, lots of seating, lots of vendors that would consciously come up to you but we didn't mind. We spend lots of time on the beach, and loved looking for shells with our kids.
Room: We stayed in room 105, at first we were disappointed by how small it was, but the location was so convenient with the kids, just a quick walk out to pool, buffet, lobby. It was a bit noisy but we also didn't mind either.

One issue we had was we asked for our sheets to be changed one day due to our daughter having an accident and they said we would have to pay for that service. This was disappointing being it a family resort and with kids things happen. Also the cleaning of our room could of been a bit better. [Details]

Enjoyed the pools and the view from our balcony was amazing. The opportunity to eat at three of the restaurants was a nice change. [Details]

Great people. Great food and drinks. Room was nice. Water super. Lots of pools. Room between palapas on the beach. Loved it [Details]

The rooms were new clean and renovated, the beds were very comfortable.
The pools were nice and warm, my son loved them.
The beach was beautiful!
The snack bar was awesome, my son lived the burger and fries.
The buffet was ok, found food to eat. The service was awesome thought.
We only got into 1 a la carte, my steak was very good. My son didnt like the pizza and without us asking they replaced his meal. We were just going to take him to the buffet after. Fantastic service.
The location was awesome, we could walk most places. [Details]

We really enjoyed our stay. The complex was so clean and tidy. The service was impeccable. All the team were so accommodating and friendly.
Would definitely recommend this site [Details]

The front desk tried to scam my mom out of money. She was inquiring about a late check out.

If you didn't speak Spanish you didn't get as good of service as people who did.

Food was nothing special at all.

Overall I will not go back to this resort there are much better resorts out there than this one. [Details]

Great staff and service. Very decent food and loved the adult pool. Little sad that the Mexican family's come very cheap and take up most of the area with screaming kids on the weekend. We paid a lot to come here from Calgary and I find that was an annoying moment for us. Everything else was fine. [Details]

Definitely very kid friendly resort, the ocean is great, lots to do! More for younger children! [Details]

All in all it was a great vacation. Puerto Vallarta seems like a really beautiful place and we can't wait to visit again. [Details]

Had a great week away. Sun was shining every day, perfect. Lovely, clean, comfortable room with balcony. Lots of kids as it was March break, but so much there for them they were never an issue. Areas for adults if you feel the need to just get away. Very impressed with hotel and staff. Can walk off resort and experience many different places, always felt safe. Great hotel. [Details]

This resort was excellent and very accommodating. We went as a family of 4 plus 2 grandparents.
Check in was quick and easy. The grandparents were farther away but they were able to move rooms and be closer the next day.
The 3 a la cartes were amazing with the Japanese being our favorite.
Buffet was good and had different themes every evening.
Lots of pools to choose from which was great. One was warmer then the other and another was the kids play area pool with slides. The one pool was right on the beach so my kids went back and forth.
The kids club offered lot of activities throughout the day if the kids wanted to join.
My boy got stung by a jellyfish and the lifeguard was very helpful.
The only thing that bothered us a little bit was that there were a lot of locals visiting. They had an advantage because they spoke the language. Very minor, they were vacationing like we were but it was just something that we noticed. [Details]

room not cleaned the first day, air condition did not work well, doors hard to open, locks had to be jimmied to open, 3rd day room 1/2 cleaned had to ask for towels and coffee pot {request made in Edmonton for the pot] pot leaked coffee not replaced Had to ask for it Key quite working on 4th day had to go to lobby to have them redone. never left enough bottled water food not good in main hall and the fine dining was not good either kids where to only be there in the first hour, one cried thro dinner , we had a later sitting. Was suppose to be formal dress there where people right from beach in old cut off jeans [Details]

This was our first time visiting Crown Paradise Club , I had done a little research about this resort after making my travel reservation.
Most of the reviews I read where negative, had I done my research before I probably wouldn't have booked this resort. It was very disappointing when we walked in to our room, I booked a family room,the room was not in good condition it seemed quite run down,dark and dreary not something you want to experience on any vacation. Not to mention the cramped tiny balcony that over looked all the most deplorable conditions I have seen , a parking lot , construction down the way and all the electrical and plumbing for the resort was also back there, not the mention the noise from construction and the plumbing and air conditioning grid we where overlooking.
Shortly after I went to the front desk and started my concerns they where accommodating and agreed to change our room the next day, which unfortunately was a smaller room but with a better view and it was in also much better condition. [Details]

Very disappointed. Never enough loungers or chairs around the pools or the beach! Food was never hot and was tasteless. Best a la was French! Service staff were excellent everywhere. [Details]

We began coming to this resort when our Grandchildren were wee, and continue returning twice a year mainly because we always know exactly what to expect. The staff that we have gotten to know through all these years have become our Dear Friends and that is truly the reason for our returns. The beach vendors are very special as well, just love love visiting with them! We have our all time favourite block of rooms , location to the beach is the Best! See you all again very soon! [Details]

Staff were extremly friendly and helpful. Hotel accomodated us when our flight home was cancelled. Great kids programs and good food [Details]

We were there for vacation with my son , as we really wanted to have some time to relax and escape the cold , Weather was exceptional and beach and sea was wonderful [Details]

good for kids, cleaner than expected, food mediocre [Details]

Safe place for kids and family. staffs are very honest and friendly.
Food is ok.
Night shows are entertaining.
Kids love the drinks.
The only thing that can improve is the kids club. My kids found the activities are bored. [Details]

Pretty much everything was as expected.

Its a kid friendly resort, so you have to expect it to be kind of noisy. Its pretty cheap, so don't expect fine dining. And its pretty tough at this price level to have a pristine beach clear of vendors.

With that in mind, we were happy. Everything felt clean enough, safe enough, and staff were helpful. The meals got repetitive and heavily slanted towards north American preferences (pasta/hamburgers/hot dogs). We tried some of the a la carte restaurants but were generally disappointed and just stayed with the main buffet and could usually find something respectable to eat from the local cuisine.

There is a supermarket very close by that has pretty much everything you need for reasonable prices as bottled water supply through the hotel was sparse. Surrounding town felt safe, we took a cab downtown (approx. USD$ 5) and there is a flea market with local crafts and lots of restaurants.

Come here for the daycare (<4yrs old) and Kids Club (4 ) where there are lots of fun things to keep kids entertained (movies, shows, disco) while you go off to do something else (put your feet up at the beach). [Details]

Great place to stay with kids, lots for them here; the trade-offs are in not so great food and an older hotel. [Details]

found beach area dirty housekeeping coming at 5pm to clean the unit unacceptable [Details]

The staff: They were so friendly and great with my kids (age 1 and 3). They went out of their way to connect with my kids. They would give high fives, wipe their noses when I was carrying my baby, have conversations with them, cheer them up and make them laugh when they were grumpy, my daughter even got hugs in baby club. The staff were an absolute joy.

Rooms: Some are great and renovated with a nice view and glass doors on shower and toilet and some are old and icky. The newer rooms have comfortable beds and old rooms have uncomfortable beds. The pillows suck so bring your own (you have been warned). I had an old room at first and got a transfer to a new room with very little difficulty and no extra charge. It seems as tho they are renovating but it's not complete yet.

Beach: Great, decent waves, nice sand, the vendors will ask you to buy stuff but are very polite and leave as soon as you say no thank you. You can easily barter with them on prices.

Pools:Fabulous. My only complaint is we could not go on the slides in the kids pool. My kids are 1 and 3 so too young for the bigger slides and I was shocked we couldn't go down with them. This is why we chose this resort so a bit disappointing, however my kids enjoyed the tiny frog slide and just floating around.

Food: Smaller buffet then what I'm used to. It was hit and miss. Some food was great but most was not. Go for the fresh stuff that they make right in front of you such a pasta, omelettes, fish and they have a smoothie bar for breakfast which is nice. Their juices were fab as they were real juice. Papaya, and passion fruit, pineapple and cantaloupe juices were great! They have a lower buffet with kids food too.

Baby Club: Great. They are amazing with kids!! My kids went a few times and enjoyed themselves. You get a pager and off you go.

Hotel: not super fancy but nice and staff work hard to clean it.

Al la carts: soso not the best, again food here was hit and miss but I still enjoyed it as did my in laws. [Details]

Had a great week in Puerto Vallarta! My only issues were the birds from having food allowed out of building and the drinks......but saying that it is most likely a good thing the drinks sucked because it is more a family resort so it keeps the drunk moments under control. The rooms were nice and staff very friendly. [Details]