Mexico Dreams from the UK: Feeling the Vibe in Puerto Vallarta Laura Chubb - Daily Mail
go to original August 28, 2014

Laid back vibe: People walk the streets barefoot and families crowd the Malecon at sunset

Until recently, Puerto Vallarta, this marvel of Mexico’s Pacific coast, was near inaccessible for British visitors, found only at the end of various connecting flights and dreary layovers.
 
But now, with the long-haul flying range of the Boeing Dreamliner, Puerto Vallarta is just a 12-hour direct flight from London or Manchester.
 
The town itself is a smart resort long popular with Americans and Canadians. It offers a more traditional slice of Mexican life than its rowdier counterparts on the Yucatán Peninsula (that would be you, Cancun).

Downtown, white-washed houses with terracotta-tiled rooftops are backed by green, palm-packed mountains, their slopes free of development.

In front, Banderas Bay is an arc of cerulean sea and golden shoreline, dotted with beachfront hotels.

A stroll along the Malecon (seafront promenade) takes me past laid-back scenes of everyday life.
 
Mexico is often portrayed as an anarchic warzone populated by drug lords (thank you, Hollywood). But the sight of two tourist police dressed in crisp-white shorts and T-shirts, relaxedly riding segways, reassures me there’s not much trouble for them to attend to in this town.
 
Young local men walk the streets barefoot, such is the warm, holiday vibe. Families crowd the Malecon at sunset.

On Sundays, you can even catch the townspeople dancing to traditional music in the main square, Plaza Principal.

I’m staying a ten-minute drive from Downtown at the beachfront Secrets Vallarta Bay, a new resort with an adults-only policy.

Guests range from twenty- to sixty-somethings, all smooching couples or grinning groups of friends, with as many six-pack-toting, board-short-clad young Americans as there are older, deeply bronzed Brits (they’ve obviously been quick to book those new flights).
 
The hotel lobby lacks a fourth wall, so you can gaze right out onto the swaying palms and crashing waves. Rooms are huge and come with deep baths that turn into hot tubs at the flick of a switch.
It seems too slick to be all-inclusive, but it is. Premium drinks flow freely, room service and mini bar carry no extra charge, and you can eat with abandon at any of the eight restaurants (my favourite is the breakfast buffet, where I load up every morning on freshly made guacamole, washed down with a mimosa, naturally).
 
There seems to be a wedding by romantic sunset on the beach every night.

It all sounds too luxurious to leave, and many don’t, spending their fortnight in the myriad swimming pools and getting pampered in the spa.
 
There are a few tours I would highly recommend, though, if you can lift yourself from your lounger.

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