My husband and I were celebrating my 60th birthday with another couple and chose this resort because it fell within our budget and the flight times were amazing for all of us. But. The rooms are less than "good". We were assigned a third floor (2 floors up plus an additional spiral staircase up another floor) in the Club building - which has NO elevator. It was exhausting climbing up to our room after each meal, especially after spending several hours outside in the sun.

The room had 2 double beds, they were hard but we actually slept quite well. The bathroom was so poorly lit that I had to put my makeup on and fix my hair in the main room. But it was kept clean by the maid, no complaints there.

The pool areas are beautiful, the restaurants are mediocre - the best was Bella Vista (Italian) and the worst was Las Palomas (Mexican if you can believe that). It really wasn't difficult to make reservations for dinner, just make sure you get in line at 8 am to make them - they allow you to make them only 3 days ahead.

The timeshare people at the airport are horrible - they really should limit the amount of people allowed to accost each traveler. We did decide to sit for a "90 minute" presentation on our first full day there, but it was probably the most high-pressured pitch we've ever experienced. Just when you think you finally convinced the representative that you really mean NO, they bring in another person to make the pitch all over again - we suffered through 5 people before we finally got our "freebies". We took the City Tour for 6-1/2 hours, which stopped at a jewelry store in Puerto Vallarta (which we didn't need), then the Flea Market (lots of junk and plenty of people pushing their wares), then a ride into the hills to a pricey restaurant (again, not someplace we would have chosen given a choice), and finally a tequila manufacturing demonstration.

The bartenders don't smile often, but are usually cooperative with your requests - like bringing your own drink container to be filled. We bought tall plastic covered bottles and had margaritas by the pool all day. Sometimes the crowds get pretty big in the pool areas, the wait can seem like eternity at times.

It's very much appreciated if you leave $2-3 dollars for tips - at bars, restaurants and daily for your housekeeper. We brought $50 in ones with and were very glad, they were all gone when it was time to leave. The attendants at the restaurants, especially at Casa Bella (the buffet) are very attentive and we felt they deserved a tip. We were so disappointed with nachos served at Portofino (pool restaurant) - thick and tough and overdone - but some of the foods were delicious - especially the french fries amazingly.

The best rating we can honestly give this resort is 3 stars. But we still had a great time.

We purchased our inclusive stay through selloffvacations.com - it was our second year doing it and after a great first experience while staying at that Grand Bahia Principe in Jamaica in 2007, we trusted their star ratings. This hotel was rated both a 4.5 (website and a 5 (conquest vacations). The stay at the Marival should not have even rated higher than a 3 1/2 star. We requested a king size bed and receive two small doubles (and we weren't the only couple stuck in that situation) and when we requested the king (as my fiance is 6'4), they did everything NOT to accomodate us.
The food - many choices to eat but nothing very edible. I heard great things about the Italian restaurant, but unfortunately didn't get to try it as it was always booked up. The buffet was horrible and the "snack bar" which is open all day up until 130AM often ran out of food leaving hungry patrons waiting for a slice of pizza. They even ran out of guacamole early in the afternoon and said that was it for the day! The hotel was full so it wasn't due to lack of bodies in the restaurants.
We did get pulled over by the "timeshare people" at the airport and boy were we glad we ever were. We landed on a flexible timeshare membership program and they upgraded us to their hotel down the road at the Villa del Palmar Flamingos - now that is a 5 star right down to the service and food. The ambiance and the general air of happiness was present whereas at the Marival- there was an air of tension everywhere you went, people (employees and guests) just weren't happy.
I am surprised at the positive reviews this hotel is getting on this website - not sure at the travel experience these people have. But believe me when I say that it was not a great stay and unless you are getting it at a dirt cheap price and can stand to live on less than ideal food, then yes, it is by the beach - it is sunny and yes it could pass. But for the price we paid, we expected more and no we didn't get it dirt cheap and we even booked at last minute.

I had selected to stay at this resort due to the wedding packages they offered. To start things off, I'll tell you that communication with the hotel is hard to recieve. Due to that fact that I planned to get married here occassionally I had questions. The wedding planners seemed to constantly be replaced by someone new. I could not reach them and get a reply by email, then I tried by phone at a expensive rate was put on hold. Eventually my husband got ahold of someone and would not be told to hold or try back later but after talking to see a confirmation by email. Which once again took forever. Ok so finally the time came to take our vacation. Upon trying to check in we were greeted by Wendy, she was great and very useful for information. We did not get harrassed to attend any timeshare what so ever. Apple vacations who we booked thru on the other hand had slimy tactics to get you to go talk to them. We loved the food, the Itallion restraurant being the best! The Mexican one would be the one I would not bother with next time, could've been poor service due to a wedding held inside the restraurant at that time. If you love steak that is great they have a snack bar that serves it daily, and the battered fish was great also but gone very quickly. Loved the breakfast buffet must get the cappichino. Pool is the ideal tempurature, however my daughter like the hot tub better. Speaking of daughter she enjoyed the kids club. The rooms could use updating but other then showering and changing we were not there to hang out in the rooms. We did gather and hang out in the lobby bar, beautiful. As for the wedding I liked the ease but when it came to the day, I had no idea what was going on, but in the end I got my dream wedding, couldnt of wished for better. Also the photographer was awesome, get the sunset photo . In total we had 14 people stay at this resort for our wedding and I believe they all had a great time. Do book your dinner reservations in advance. We were able to book the Mexican and Mediteraian once at the resort. I also thought them to be great for allowing us to have larger dinner reservations for 10 plus people

My husband and I had an absolutely wonderful time at Marvial in Nuevo Vallarta! We are a married couple in our late 20s. We had booked through Funjet, which I would recommend if you are looking for someone to deal with the details. We had a shuttle from the airport through Traifictours and a rep at the hotel every day to help with questions on the hotel, the surrounding area and any excursions we wanted to look into.

We were greeted at the resort by staff who brought us a drink and explained the facilities. They invite you to come to a presentation on the condo program the following morning. They offer a free stay as an inticement, so if that's your thing, it's there. We just said no thank you and that was the last we heard of it.

Rooms:
Our room overlooked part of the beach and shuffle board area. Very quiet with great sounds of the ocean. Rooms were super clean and well maintained. The maid service was very good!!

Activities/Grounds:
There were plenty of planned activities if you like group stuff and many things to do on your own timeline (shuffle board, tennis, bocce, gym/yoga). They also have boogie boards & kayaks to check out, as well as a half hour sailing around the beach with a guide to take you or on your own. The pool areas were very nice and clean as was the beach area. We never had any problem finding a chair at the pools or on the beach at any time of the day. There were a variety of night time activities/entertainment options. The martini bar has a wonderful woman who plays the piano while you enjoy the view of the sunset. For a little more lively entertainment choice, there is the Vollare bar which has live cover band music or the nightly variety shows in the theatre. We went to two of these and they were fun. The Mexican themed night was nice as it gave you a flavor of different styles of dance in the regions surrounding Puerto Vallarta. They also have a "club" for dancing. We did this one night and had fun "dancing as if no one were watching."

Staff:
The staff at Marival are great! Hands down. They are very friendly and always trying to please. Even though tips are included, my husband and I felt that many staff members went above and beyond and we tipped on our own, which the staff appreciated and were even more eager to please. We were always greeted with a smile and Hola wherever we were on the grounds.

Food:
The food was very good. Get ready to over-indulge, but that's kind of the point of all-inclusive, right? The buffet offered a wide variety, including fresh options in the fruit/salad buffet, which was a nice alternative to snack bars for lunch. Just have to wear cover ups in the buffet. Many people tried to come off the beach in suits, dripping wet. Common sense would say not acceptable, but these people would actually get angry when turned away to dry/cover up. If you don't want to cover up there are two outdoor snack bars with many choices that you can go straight from the pool. The reservation restaurants were good. La Bama was nice for outdoor dining, close to the beach for sunset. Bella Vista had a nice view of sunset and good food as well. We suggest bringing some nicer clothing for these restaurants. Nothing formal but skirt/dress capris for women and maybe khakis/polos for men. It definitely adds to the atmosphere and classes it up when everyone is looking dressed as requested by the resort. The cutest was the little kids dressed if their floral dresses or their Hawaiian shirts enjoying a nice meal.

Excursions:
The excursions were great. We did the Marietas snorkeling tour and the Canopy Tour. The snorkeling was great. We went to an area off a protected island. We were able to see many different fish/sea life including three types of whales, which was interesting given it was late in the season. We also went to a private beach for some afternoon sun/fun. A great day out in the water!
The Canopy Tour was great! The staff up in the Sierra Madres was AWESOME. Tons of fun. They were able to get those in the group who were scared to calm down and enjoy the zip lines. If you do not like hieghts, this may not be for you, but they have a couple of trial runs to see if you can handle the higher and faster ones. If not, there is a bar to sit and enjoy the views while the rest of the group finishes. We absolutely recommend this!! There was a tequila lesson afterwards where they teach you how tequila is made and then you do some tasting. They are tastey!! Bring a little extra $ if you'd like to buy a local tequila. You can also arrange to pay at your hotel if you do not want to take $ up into the mountain.
As I mentioned, there was a TraficTour staff member at the Marival to answer questions & help plan/reserve the excursions you'd like to do as well as help you set up transportation to pick up sites for the excursions. Took any worry out of setting up excursions.

Overall, wonderful experience for any age. Many options for families, younger couples/groups, and older couples/groups. We highly recommend Marival!!!!!