Decameron Isla Coral

“Beds were very firm, lots of hot water and fresh clean towels everyday”

7 couples in total so 14 of us. Breakfast was always great, lunch okay and suppers iffy. You do not have to upgrade to Oceanview and pay extra as what you see is what you get. Very clean resort, only a select few speck English. The town is right outside the door, very safe & friendly. We mostly hun… Più

7 couples in total so 14 of us. Breakfast was always great, lunch okay and suppers iffy. You do not have to upgrade to Oceanview and pay extra as what you see is what you get. Very clean resort, only a select few speck English. The town is right outside the door, very safe & friendly. We mostly hung out by the beach, boogie boarded everyday and walked the beach. It was a very nice vacation to just relax. The peddlers did get annoying after a few days but we just kept saying no thank-you.

Meno

“Basic but Satisfactory”

We are from Canada and booked this resort very last minute (just a week before we left) for our “babymoon.” We paid $2,200 each for the week which was a bit pricey for what you get, but maybe you can find cheaper pricing if you book far enough in advance. I would say this resort is probably worth s… Più

We are from Canada and booked this resort very last minute (just a week before we left) for our “babymoon.” We paid $2,200 each for the week which was a bit pricey for what you get, but maybe you can find cheaper pricing if you book far enough in advance. I would say this resort is probably worth spending around $1,800 for the week. The hotel is about an hour and a half ride on the bus from the airport in PVR and is mostly on a windy road. If you get car sick, this drive won’t be a good idea for you. We were torn between which of the three resorts to choose from, and I’m glad we went with Isla Coral as it was the smallest resort and the beach area was the quietest. The Marina had the exact same layout. Los Cocos seems to be a different style/layout but is not on the beach (you have to walk across the street). Arrival: We didn’t realize that there was a time change from Puerto Vallarta - the time is an hour behind. Not a huge deal but good to know! Most of the staff don’t speak English, so there is a language barrier. We got checked in but nothing was explained to us. We were simply provided our ID, got our room keys and a brochure and were left to our own devices. Food: We checked out the buffets at all 3 locations and everything was the same. The only difference between the food at the different resorts (aside from the speciality restaurants) was that Los Cocos had an official snack bar - but you can get the same burgers etc at the buffets. Buffets were good, but pretty basic. The food was good quality and we didn’t get sick, it was just repetitive. We did have two Mexican themed nights which were the best. We tried to get into the steakhouse speciality restaurant but it seemed to be closed everyday. We now think that it was only opened on Fridays, maybe Saturdays? The problems were that 1) we weren’t advised at check in of the dates the speciality restaurants were open - it seems they weren’t all open everyday 2) you have to go to the front desk at 9am in the morning to reserve a speciality restaurant, which we weren’t told about. We just got lucky one day when I went to ask about the restaurant booking procedure as the Marina was open that evening and still had a spot open for the evening and they let us book it. We aren’t big seafood fans, so we only ended up trying one speciality restaurant at the Marina called the El Dorado (Mediterranean), which was decent enough. You get access to an app where you are supposed to be able to book the seafood restaurant at Los Isla but it didn’t work for us. I would venture out for some food as the buffet gets repetitive and boring. Also, the drip coffee at the buffet was pretty weak, and there is a cappuccino machine hiding in the back of the speciality restaurant area but was pretty nasty tasting coffee. Here are some off resort recommendations, all within 10 minutes walking distance from the resort: #1 Juan's Place - actually so good. You must go here. On the beach. Cash only. #2 Tonita - right beside the resort on the beach. Most authentic Mexican restaurant and also the guac is the best we’ve ever had. Cash only. #3 The Albatross - decent food, we had steak and salmon. It’s not a must go, but it’s another nice location on the beach. They accept credit cards. Coffee: #1 Cafe Nay - about 5 minutes from the resort. Great coffee. They accept credit cards. They aren’t consistently open though so check the hours on google. #2 - Coffee House - about a 10 minute walk from the resort. You have to cross the highway by the gas station. This is a modern/Mexican chain. Coffee is good and they also have sandwiches and pastries etc. They accept credit cards. There is also a convenience store a few steps away from the hotel for snacks/coffee etc. Rooms: You are technically getting an ocean view room, but the balconies are all facing the pool side so it’s noisy/uncomfortable sitting on your balcony because you don’t have any real privacy - we unfortunately didn’t use our balcony as a result. I’m not sure how you score the few rooms that are actually directly facing the ocean, but it may just be luck of the draw. Rooms are very basic. Beds and pillows are rock hard. I would suggest bringing your own pillow if you can (I slept with my airplane pillow). Sheets/linens are nice, although very thin - but it was hot so didn’t need anything more. We didn’t have face cloths on the first day but then they consistently brought us fresh ones everyday which was nice. They also provided us with fresh towels everyday, and one day when we needed extras we went to the front desk and they gave us some more no problem. It was also hit or miss when we would get a shower mat (hence we needed more towels). They have a mini split in the room so you can control the air conditioning which is great. They supply you with a big 1L of bottled water everyday, and you can ask the front desk if you need more. They also have a water cooler in the buffet area to fill up your water if needed. Beach/Pool: As all the reviews reflect, the beach is amazing and the resort is on the beach. It’s really nice because it’s easy to run back and forth to your hotel room. There was never an issue getting a chair on the beach, no matter what the time was. For some reason it was a common occurrence for many different groups of people to be blaring their own music which was frustrating when trying to relax/read. The buskers were very consistent on the beach and a bit annoying when you were trying to relax but they were nice and typically left when you said no without further pushing. The pool was decent, and even though it was shaded during the day, it was nice to escape the heat and go into for a quick cool down. In terms of the pool towels, do not panic about bringing your towel back before 6pm. You can just keep it in your room and exchange for a new towel whenever you would like. You can also exchange for your pool towel card at any point. We just turned in our towels at check out instead of our pool towel cards and we didn’t have any issues. Other: 1. There were bathrooms pool side/beside the buffet and a few steps up from the beach was great 2. We found the resort to be clean 4. Cash - this may be new, but US cash is not really accepted (we read that US cash was widely accepted in Puerto Vallarta area and because we booked last minute, we didn’t have time to get Pesos). The resort will only exchange Canadian currency and there are no banks within walking distance. 5. Market - there is a local market right by the resort on Monday. The town is also really close by and has lots of shops to explore. 6. The resort isn’t filled with your typical North American crowd. You have a lot of different cultures and locals which to us was a nice change. Overall, we enjoyed our stay although this resort wouldn’t have been a typical choice for us.

Meno