TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

Tbh this place is not what I expected. Rooms were ugly, bathrooms are facing hallway so everyone walking down the hall hears your business. Shower sucks. Rooms have a musty smell. Buffet Food was average. The oriental food was really good. When we first walked in, front desk was not friendly. No one gave us a tour like other hotels I’ve been to. What made up for this sucky hotel is the entertainment staff. They were great, funny, I love their shows.

Sunwing Nightmare We booked through Sunwing who advertised Canto Del Sol as a 4 star all inclusive resort. When we arrived we were given a room in a different hotel across the street – the Villas Vallarta – check the Trip Advisor page (also listed as “canto del sol” but in lower case letters) for that hotel and you’ll see it’s ranked 13 of 14 all inclusive resorts in Puerto Vallarta. A quick google search will also show you that this property is a 2 star hotel. I’m not sure who would knowingly book a 2 star hotel in Mexico but it was not a good experience. Our room was filthy with stained and ripped bedding. Our pool or garden view was actually a roof top view of rusted A/C units and trash. Our deadbolt lock didn’t work and our key card reader was taped onto the door. The safe didn’t lock (maintenance did come and fix this). The bathroom had black mold. We immediately called Sunwing to ask to be moved and were told we would have to wait for their hotel representative to arrive the next morning. The next morning we spoke to the on site representative, Jesus, who talked to the manager Leticia who was very kind and showed us some other rooms but all seemed even worse than our original room. Many had a moldy, musty smell like laundry left in a washing machine for a week. All had stained bedding and one bed had a HUMAN FINGERNAIL (complete with pink nail polish) under the blanket when we pulled it back to check for bugs. We were horrified and asked to be transferred to another property. The hotel did agree to refund us. Jesus started a case for us and we were told someone would contact us. Needless to say I had to call Sunwing over 10 times, send multiple emails and contact them through social media. I was given a different answer each time and on the 3rd day they finally told me I could select 3 Sunwing hotels we were willing to be moved to which we did. The Sunwing Cares representative, Ana Martinez, told us only one was available and we agreed to move and even pay $500 additional to try to salvage our vacation. She then wrote back saying that hotel actually wasn’t available so I sent her 2 more hotels… unsurprisingly she wrote back they were not available (all 5 hotels had open rooms online and this was off season so this was not truthful). I asked Ana to let me know which hotels were available and she did not. I incurred over $100 in roaming charges trying to get ahold of someone who could help, only to be told in the end by their Instagram reps to file a claim for compensation when I got home. I did this and over a month later have had no contact from Sunwing – despite following up with them 3 times. The hotel is over 40 years old and in very poor condition. Rooms in the Villas Vallarta had towels soaked in water from leaking plumbing sitting and stinking up the hallways for days. Walking around the hotel we came across an open 3rd story elevator shaft which we notified the front desk of. The next day it was still wide open (someone could have fallen in and been injured or killed). The hotel is across the street from a seedy strip club and the lobby of the Villas Vallarta was abandoned with broken glass in the windows. Food at the buffet was mediocre at best with a very small selection. The a la carte restaurants were excellent. The staff at the hotel are really the only thing holding this place together. Do not book this hotel if you are expecting a 4 star.

We booked this place as a last minute place through West Jet! Even though the last minute price wasn’t much cheaper than if you booked earlier. We were in a pinch because we had a voucher that was due to be expired and had to be used so we picked one of the cheapest we found. Please note*. You get what you pay for. We booked for 1 week. For the most part it was a nice resort, the ala carts are definitely way better than the buffet. The surf ‘n turf was our favorite. The food and atmosphere were perfect. We never tried the Cevicheria. We are used to going to 5* resorts. We choose this resort because we’ve heard that a 3* in Mexico is equivalent to a 5* in Cuba. Well, we can now confirm that this is not the case at all. No comparison. We should have gone to Cuba. Now we know the difference. Do not come here. They have no mercy! We were 5 minutes late for their ala cart at the Italian restaurant. (They would not let us in even though we could see the restaurant was empty.) Very disappointing as it was our 31st wedding anniversary celebration. It ruined our vacation! It was the one restaurant we were looking forward to the most but I can’t give them a good review as they wouldn’t let us in. So don’t know what the food was like. All we know is that the manager and hostess of that restaurant were not very friendly. My husband even went back a bit later to get the name of the manager but he was not around. The other manager on site offered us a table. What?! All of a sudden? Sheesh. By then we had already eaten at their gross buffet. We’ve gone to many All-inclusive In the past. For the last 20 years to be exact. Cuba, Jamaica, Dominican Republic. No other resort turns you away if you are 5 minutes late. It’s so crazy. In addition to this, at the buffet they won’t let you take your food out to eat at your pool loungers. Not sure why they won’t? There’s a snack bar in the pool area and the waiters even bring you food to your loungers. Originally, when I tried going to eat my food out to the pool they said I can’t cuz they thought I had a breakable plate. Little did they know that the plate I had was plastic which was given to me from the snack bar. After I told them it’s plastic, they came up with another excuse as to why I can’t take food out. They said if I do it everyone else will want too. Everyone was doing it anyways. Speaking of the buffet, we didn’t think it was that good. Same food all the time. No variety and definitely not authentic Mexican food. Their swim-up/pool bar service was not good. Only 1 type of gin, vodka, and rum. Their generic kind. Lobby bar had more of a selection though. The swim-up bar was a joke. Closed 2 days out of the 7 that we were there. No reason for it. Just closed. Never seen that before. We’ve been to at least 20 resort or more and no other resort has don’t this. Ever! Also, one morning we got into the pool and there was feces everywhere. There is a resort iguana there that is always by pool and sometimes even swimming in the pool so it’s possible it’s from the iguana. It was so disgusting. Who knows what type of deseases can come from that. Didn’t go into pool til after lunch cuz it wasn’t cleaned up til then. Maybe has nothing to do with this bit since we’ve been back from Mexico I’ve been very sick. I got sick the day we left and continue to be sick. 3weeks later. Maybe I caught a bug from the poop in the pool. Anyways, Mexico is way over rated. Beaches are gross and unswimmable. The Staff tries their best to be friendly but they are over worked so some of the staff always look mad and tired. So when you compare that to other places we’ve been I’d say we’d never go back to this resort. Cubans are one of the best and nicest people. They go out of their way to make your vacation a good one. Dominicans are just as great! Bend over backwards to please you. Funny how just one bad experience can leave a sore taste in your mouth despite all the good times you had at the resort. So there’s our review. Would we return? Absolutely not! The beds were so hard. Even after asking for a foam mattress topper it didn’t really help. No coffee machines in room, (even a 2* low budget motel has coffee in their rooms) had a kitchenette but no washcloths to wash dishes with. We booked the luxury 1 bedroom suite but there was nothing luxurious about it. Needless to say, we didn’t spend much time in the room anyways. The beach is unswimmable. Very rock and the whole time we were there they had a red flag indicating that it’s dangerous to go in. Their palapas were a joke. The ones at the beach are unusable cuz they are so low and are on an incline. Regardless of all this, Our last day was ruined by this experience with the staff and A’la cart reservation. Save your money and go elsewhere.

Traveled solo/ business 5 days excellent food service and atmosphere the food was really good honestly. Whenever you get excited for all 3 meals its a good resort lol. The beach wasn't packed, nor was the pool always had a chair always a spot on the beach. Entertainment is the hit though especially my friend Angel working hard to provide volleyball and other fun everyday. Marco in the Italian restaurant was very professional and attentive. Can't wait to come back!

We enjoyed our trip to the Canto...its been a few years since we stayed there. The staff, all of them were very pleasant and assisted us if we had any questions. We only went to one ala carte ..Surf and Turf...it was a good meal and attentive service. We would go back!