Hotel Overview
This all-inclusive playground consists of hacienda-style architecture nestled amid coconut trees, palms, and bougainvillea, set upon a gorgeous stretch of white sand. Enjoy unlimited food and drink at three restaurants and three bars, and a variety of non-motorized water sports. The resort is privileged with three interconnecting pools, which form one of the largest swimming pools in the region.
Guests will enjoy a variety of activities including boogie boards, beach volleyball, aqua aerobics, water polo, soccer, and more. There is a supervised mini-club for ages 5-12. Nightly adult entertainment includes shows, theme nights, live music, and interactive activities.
Location
Riviera Nayarit - BeachProperty Information
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Hotel Details
General Policies & Fine Print
Check-in Policy:
Hotel requires a credit/debit card authorization or cash deposit upon check-in for incidentals; this will place a hold on your funds.
Convention Policy:
Individuals attending a convention cannot book this property for their stay. If found attending a convention, guests may be subject to higher room rates upon arrival.
Hotel Spring Break Policy:
While this hotel strongly discourages spring breakers, it cannot guarantee a spring-break-free environment.
Note: NO SPRING BREAK GROUPS ALLOWED.
Transfer Policy:
A price may display when children stay free, if your vacation includes transfer to your hotel.
General Information:
Room taxes and service fees are included in vacation price.
Minimum night stay restrictions may apply.
Reservation changes may not be permitted unless authorized by the hotel.
Customer Ratings & Reviews
TripAdvisor Traveler Rating
6011 reviews
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Dec 20, 2024Great staff but excessive lounge chair saving
I am winding down my stay. No issues with the room except maybe water not very hot. Enjoyed the staff. Salvador was great and had some fun with Juan. Mexican a la carte was in a nice setting. The Venezia was ok but the room lacked atmosphere. Buffet had some creative meals and I was pleased Make sure you get the rooms by the pool not the noisy backside. Although there are signs not to save chairs, this does not seem to be enforced. Towels on chairs at 7am! People gone for hours. Very discouraged by this. Needs a completed makeover maybe the new owner will do this. Too many large families for me. No language issues but I can converse in Spanish
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Dec 19, 2024
Great staff
Overall good experience, great food. I was a bit disappointed with my room, but when i asked my room was switched right away. The staff is outstanding ! They made my stay a lot better. A special thanks to Salvador, he is outstanding, very fun and charismatic! He did say he could sing at the karaoke night, but unfortunately I missed hearing him. ;)
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Dec 18, 2024In 10 Months this resort went from a 3.5 Star to a 2 Star
From a 3.5 star to 2 star in 10 months. The Samba Vallarta resort is basically a train wreck compared to our previous visit at the end of January 2024. We returned for our second visit December 10th 2024. The previous visit had kids area of the pool and an adult section separated. This visit was a free for all the whole pool open to anybody. Most children were supervised but a lot ran wildly on the wet pool deck. An accident waiting to happen. No rules here. I get if there’s a lot of children the resort must accommodate. The rooms are tired with mold in bathrooms, some with unkept linens. We changed rooms and looked at several before choosing and those others weren’t much different. The room we chose was what we paid for. A superior room with balcony. Within 2 hours of occupying this room it was filled with sewer gas. It came from an improperly plumbed sink in the kitchenette area. We plugged the drain with a towel and again asked to be moved to a different room. The Concierge (Mr. Excuses) said no more superior rooms were available. He then pulled up our previous booking from last January 2024 and said we hadn’t purchased the upgraded room and we would have to move to a standard room. I showed him the travel voucher from Air Canada with the upgraded room and he said I should take it up with them . I said either fix the drain or I will stay in the room with the towel blocking the drain. I wasn’t moving to a downgraded room. Within 2 hours a p trap was installed in the plumbing line. We stayed in that room. Others in the hotel complained of the same issue. I doubt anything was done. The Concierge is there to assist clients not throw them under the bus. The a lacart restaurants were not very good compared to a previous visit. Breakfast at the buffet was good . For other meals we ate basically salad, fruits and deserts. The lunch and dinner at the buffet was basically not edible as it contained mostly repurposed dishes from previous days. It reminded us of Cuba. The precise reason we’re no longer travelling there anymore.The pool, washrooms and common areas were always kept very clean. The employees were very friendly and provided excellent professional service every day. I would not say that so much about the front desk management.From arguing about bottled water not being delivered to the room to room quality we weren’t impressed. To top the whole trip off my wife’s Columbia winter jacket was taken from the room the Monday before we left. We never reported it. Why bother…. We won’t be back.
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Dec 15, 2024A Vacation at our Mexican Home
We stayed at the Samba for a 2 week vacation in November 20-December 4, 2024 for our tenth time at this resort. It is a small resort and the staff really makes the difference and that is the main reason we continue to come and have booked another 2 week vacation in February 2025. All the staff are so friendly and helpful but there are some I really want to acknowledge. We have known Genaro for over 10 years and he provides excellent service in the Buffet restaurant. Other servers in the buffet and around the pool who are wonderful are Victor, Salvador, Carlos (Pinky), and Giberto and Angel in the Mexican a la carte restaurant. Actually all the servers are excellent; it is just that we have gotten to know these servers over the past years. All staff are very helpful including the Bell Boys, the staff at the Front Desk and of course the outstanding concierge, Bernardo. In all the resorts that we have stayed at through the years, I have not seen such a keen interest by other concierges in the hotel guests that Bernardo consistently displays. He can be seen walking around the resort asking the guests if their stay is going well etc and he is so willing to assists guest where he can. There is another person I want to acknowledge and that is Norma, on the housekeeping staff. She always has such a warm smile and friendly "Hola" greeting. As mentioned, in previous reviews the rooms especially the bathrooms are starting to show their age, but they were immaculately cleaned every day with plenty of towels and other supplies replaced and lots of hot water for showering and everything was in good working order. The rooms are also cleaned thoroughly everyday and the beds and pillows are very comfortable. The air conditioner in our room worked very well and we enjoyed our Balcony in the early morning and later in the evening. We enjoyed all of our meals. The buffet provides a wide selection of hot food, fresh fruit and salads, wonderful bread and buns, good selection of desserts and a soft ice cream dispenser. We ate at both a la carte restaurants and the food was excellent, but especially enjoyed the ambiance more at the Mexican a la carte watching the sunset over the ocean. Because the resort is smaller (185) rooms, one does not have to deal with the crowds and the distance to various locations at the resort that we have encountered at other large resorts. One can always find a lounge chair at the beach under a palapa or around the pool. We spend almost all of our time at the beach enjoying watching the water activity and the ocean breeze. There is family entertainment every evening at 9pm. We especially enjoyed the Michael Jackson show, the Magic Show and the Fire Show. We did not go to the Karaoke nor the Bingo nights. One really feels that one is in Mexico when staying at this resort, however, the staff makes us feel so comfortable that we feel like we come home each time we arrive at the resort.
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Dec 15, 2024
Overall great stay
So I felt the need to leave a review potentially in response to some other reviews that were negative. We stayed for a week at the Samba and here are my comments Many reviews have mentioned the resort is an older resort, and that is true. The rooms were more than adequate and the beds were comfortable. In fact, more comfortable than many other resorts I’ve stayed at in the past. The king size bed in our room mattress was better than the one I have at home. The furniture in the room was dated for sure, but I don’t know about you I don’t go to a resort for fancy furniture. This is the first resort I have ever stayed at where I have not had any issues with shower or bath water being cold. In fact, almost every time I took anThis is the first resort I have ever stayed at where I have not had any issues with shower or bath water being cold. In fact almost every time I took a shower the water could get hot enough to be too hot. Any issues we had during our stay were dealt with in a quick and efficient manner and my thanks to the staff of the hotel for helping in any regard. The resort is smaller than many I have stayed at, and I quite enjoyed that not having to hunt for people or search for multiple buffets that just serve the same food this small resort allow you to enjoy the facilities without getting lost. The food is very typical for Mexico buffet, however, I enjoyed the selection and different days at the buffet granted various different themes. The barbeque at the buffet was by far the meal not to miss as the smell and taste of the barbeque chorizo sausage was so good. The snack bar was one of my favourite places to go for lunch as I found their burger and fries to be quite good with lots of toppings to put on to make a very nice burger or nachos. The Mexican à la carte was good. My favourite thing was the tostadas would very much recommend those as an appetizer. The Italian à la carte was also pretty good. I had the Osso Buco I would recommend the meat was very tender and the gravy excellent. I do definitely have to agree with so many of the reviews that I read the staff are by far the jem here yes, some don’t understand English fluently however, we are in their country, so why would we expect them to speak perfect English. It’s not a terrible idea to learn a little Spanish. Special mention to Salvatore and Genora who often took care of me for breakfast in the buffet restaurant, and definitely made my experience better. Also a special mention for Jose who made our Mexican a la crate experience memorable and who encouraged us to come back on other nights. Carlos and Salvatore(again) who served us poolside. Our maid was amazing and kept our room clean and always had a smile on her face when we saw her sadly, I can’t remember her name. Belinda maybe or something similar. Overall, our stay was filled with sunshine and good times. I would definitely come back to this resort in the future.
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