Pueblo Bonito Emerald Bay Resort And Spa Vacations

It is a beautiful complex, however, I will share what needs to be improved, UNFORGIVABLE, the quality of some foods, they serve Nutrileche which is a milk type drink, their all inclusive does not include many cocktails, canned mushrooms, frozen food, and for the cost I It seems unacceptable, friendly staff, nice hotel, well-seasoned food, offensive ingredients

TERRIBLE reservation policies- READ THIS BEFORE YOU BOOK

Let me preface this review by saying that this is my first ever negative review, but I am inclined to share my cautionary experience regarding these two resorts- both owned and operated by one company (Emerald Bay and Pueblo Bonita Mazatlan Beach Resort).

My extended family stayed here in separate rooms for a much anticipated reunion. I stayed at both resorts, so I’m posting under each of them separately.

The Good: #1: By far and away, the staff were outstanding. They are all friendly, very attentive, frequently going out of their way to make sure that we felt welcome and had everything that we needed for an enjoyable experience. #2: Claudia and Miriam, massage therapists in the spa- two of the best massages my boyfriend and I have ever had- they are exceptional and I highly recommend them. 3: The spa was lovely, the rejuvenation area with the pools and saunas were very peaceful and truly a sanctuary, and their policy that you could come to use them at anytime during your stay if you had a booked any service was wonderful. They allowed us to reschedule services which was very helpful. #4: resort grounds, pools, and beaches were beautiful, loved the architecture. Rooms were clean, spacious, comfortable, great views, kitchenettes at Emerald Bay were very useful.

The Neutral: restaurants were so-so in terms of the food. Cilantros was the best. Casa 46 in town was good as well. Staff at all were wonderful.

The Ugly: (Reservation Practices are HORRIBLE and deserve NEGATIVE ZERO stars). I’ll preface this by saying that my boyfriend became able to join my extended family for the first 4 out of 7 nights after the original reservations were made.

#1: my boyfriend accidentally booked our room at Pueblo Bonita Beach Resort instead of Emerald Bay (where the rest of my family was staying). He realized his mistake literally 30 minutes after he booked, and IMMEDIATELY called to change the reservation to Emerald Bay. They refused, stating that it was non-refundable, even though he had just booked it, they could see my family’s existing reservations, and they had available rooms at Emerald Bay. We ate it and stayed at the Beach Resort for 4 nights, taking the shuttle back and forth between the two resorts frequently.
#2: I called to remove myself from my sister’s room to avoid paying double for my additional all-inclusive package that was attached to her room as well as my boyfriend’s room (I was originally staying with her on these same nights). They again refused, so I paid for 2 all-inclusive packages, each good for both resorts, for myself. #3 (THE WORST): THEY MISTAKENLY booked me for my own add’l separate room for these same 4 nights, at Emerald Bay, AND charged them to my father’s credit card. This was a third stand-alone separate room, with a third all-inclusive package, on the same night! When I discovered this, I immediately called them. They were literally charging me to be in 3 separate rooms, including one that I never even booked, for the same 4 nights! And THEY refused to remove ANY of the charges! I asked how I was even able to physically be in THREE rooms during the first 4 nights of my vacation (they had my name under all three rooms and refused to remove charges from ANY of them). They said I could have a “credit” for 3 nights for THEIR MISTAKE for booking me in the third room (yet were charging me for 4 nights), but this credit must be used within 1 year. THEY OVERCHARGED ME $2,880 (double-booked in an additional room by their mistake on same 4 nights, which I never needed/requested and instead offering me a “future credit” for 3 instead of 4 nights, unauthorized charges on my father’s credit card for the additional room for 4 nights, and THREE all inclusive packages (each $160, for same person on the same 4 days).

For these expensive and unethical reasons, I will NEVER stay with them again, and I caution you to triple check and ask them to repeat everything back to you before you actually book, as you may be double or triple charged like I was.

Rooms are dated, beds are smallish. The staff is fantastic, and I really enjoyed the spa. The food was really good too.

Membership sales a robbery. BE CAREFUL ⚠️! SCAM.

A place full of beauty, comfort and excellent service

Excellent service and pleasant atmosphere

Rooms and resort need to be updated and have matenience done.
Alejandro and Carlos took us on a tequila tasting tour that was phenomenal. Highly recommend looking them up at Kelly's bar.

Booking:
I went through Expedia to book my package and vacation, which was 6 days at the Emerald Estates Luxury Villas, part of the Pueblo Bonito Resorts properties, all-inclusive package. The booking was easy, straightforward, and left little to vague interpretation or fine print nonsense. The package was stated as an all inclusive package with access to the other resort property that was more activities-based and featured more restaurants to choose from.
These restaurants claim to be part of the all-inclusive package but beware of some items on the menu that will be out of pocket. Those are not itemized or disclosed in their entirety in its listing, booking, or disclosures, that I saw.
The airlines were included in the package, which was outstanding. However, please note that you will need to choose from the package flights available. Ours were two connections to Mazatlan, and three coming back, it was rough. Alternative flights would have cost us 500 dollars more per person.

The property:
Wow!! that's all I have to say. Exactly as advertised. We saw a three bedroom four bath, private pool and hottub, on the property, and part of the all-inclusive package. All in 5,400 dollars for the week (property, flights, all-inclusive), even with the final charges (as I'll detail later) we didn't bust our budget of 6,000 dollars US.
There is a 4 dollar room service charge every time they go out. We mostly got room service and averaged about three times a day resulting in about 60 dollars for the week (4x3x5). This was explained when we checked in, not in the package listing online.

The amenities:
We had our own hot tub and pool so we did stay on the property most of the time
The beach at the Villas property was very rocky and dangerous in terms of playing in the surf. There are very few excursions or activities at the location and if you want that, I recommend booking at the sister location, plenty of beach related activities, jet skis, parasailing, volleyball, bingo, etc. To transfer to these other resort locations you have to book a shuttle that goes about every 4 hours. I've stayed at Sandals which has much more frequent shuttles to their other locations.
The restaurants at the Villas location are all subpar. It's whatever and seems to be an extension of "resort food" which is definitely a thing, especially all inclusive resorts. However, Cilantros at the sister resort was outstanding. Of course, you'll be stuck there for 4 hours if you decide that it's not as good as I am conveying.

SAFETY!!
There were no sprinklers, smoke detectors, or anything resembling fire safety devices anywhere on the property. They did have a fire extinguisher (that looked like a converted SUBA tank) in the washroom.
The electrical outlets and lamps were totally sketchy, the bulbs in two of the lamps were hanging from their wires, and there were at least two outlets that looked so mangled I didn't want to even attempt to use them for fear of shorting it out.

The Value:
All in all I'm happy with the value offering. We had 1800 square ft of luxury. No butler service, that I was aware of, but we still felt that we were special and pampered by the staff.
One more thing to note, though. We only had select options, in terms of flights, when we booked. We got into Mazatlan at 12:30 AM, so we burned through our first day of fun at the resort. We also had to get on the shuttle on day 6 at 9:00 AM so that's another day that's burned.

Bottom Line:
When I went to St. Lucia, it cost me 15 thousand for 10 days but after ten days I had enough of the vacation. I was more than ready to go home and back to work.
Mazatlan was less than half the price and our property was at least three times the value. There is a trade off of expectations in terms of what is included but the property was just as nice, if not a bit nicer in Mazatlan. I will probably go to the same property again if I can get a similar deal, no question.

P.S. I ordered the "American Breakfast" once and for the sausages I got a hot dog cut in half LOL, see pic

Loved my quite week here

The best hotel in Mazatlan is undoubtedly this one. The service, the rooms, cleanliness, food, everything is great! I highly recommend taking the all-inclusive plan since it is completely worth it whether you go as a family or as a couple. My family and I love it!!️☀️

Poor organization in terms of customer service, there was no daily cleaning, in one of the restaurants a waiter refused to bring me coffee for breakfast. The availability of golf carts was terrible, it took almost 1 hour for them to get around

Simply beautiful place!!

Just bury me here behind the Villas when I die. We love this place.

Although the beach is not very pretty, the facilities and service are excellent, the waiters at Le Cordeliere leave a little to be desired.

This resort is beautiful and huge !!! We stayed for a day and it was a great experience. Kelly's bar is a good spot, and it has history behind it.
The resort is luxurious with colonial architectural vibes. If you stay here on all Inc., you'll have many things to do to keep you busy throughout the vacation.

The not so good, it's about 30 mins away from Mazatlan strip and all the live places. So only stay here if you are planning to stay at the resort. If you are an out n about person, probably find a different resort in the downtown area or the strip itself.

Came with an invitation but because we weren't living at the same address they refused our invitation. My passport was not enough ID. With threats of calling the authorities to have us leave, we were offered transportation back to town but had to pay for it. This is a really first class joint. RCI be ashamed. I'm sticking with VI.

It is a beautiful hotel, the gardens, heated pool, rooms, restaurants and facilities in general are very nice, the staff is extremely friendly and the food is excellent. We went on an “all inclusive” family plan and had the opportunity to also visit Pueblo Bonito Mazatlán, using the courtesy transportation offered at the hotel. Honestly it was the best option for vacationing and relaxing with the family, I highly recommend it and without a doubt the best hotel in Mazatlán.

Very extensive vacation club, clean, safe, several pools, beach, golf course, development with different occupancy options, very attractive member required

This place is absolutely amazing. The resort was super clean, the food was amazing, staff was great and the strawberry margaritas were fantastic!!!

nice place, disappointed in no entertainment.