Ratings based on 448 Verified Reviews
4.3 Room cleanliness
4.6 Service & staff
3.8 Room comfort
3.6 Hotel condition
Expedia Verified Reviews
by A verified traveler from San Diego
Hotel Staff was Amazing!
Posted Jul 25, 2017
Pros: The staff, palms on the beach, walking distant to almost anyplace you wanted to go and very friendly atmosphere.
Cons: THE FOOD! They have a long ways to go with the food and chioces. When we were there we only had 4 choices, and all were so so.
Location: Location was good and was within walking distance to most things, long as you didnt mind walking a bit. 30 min walk mostly got you were you wanted .
The hotel was old and could use some rentavation. The food was so so at best. A couple of days the food was decent, but overall, just kept you fed. However, whatever you asked of the staff they were always happy to help and accomadate. LOTS of kids were here, so if you want an adult getaway, this isnt the place for you. Beautiful beach, lots of chairs and lounge chairs as well, with a few beds under a conopy that you could take a snooz on under the palms. Staff would always come out to the beach area and made sure you always had something to eat or drink. I couldnt say enough about the staff. They always went out of there way to make sure you were happy and needed anything. AAA plus for that! Overall, a good experience.
Recommended
for Everyoneby A verified traveler
great staff.
Posted Jul 11, 2017
Pros: close to town. can walk anywhere
Cons: matresses
Location: Take the city bus downtown. An experience!
great bar staff. Service on the beach is awesome.
Recommended
for Everyoneby A verified traveler from Seattle, WA
Friendly is the Perfect Name for this Place
Posted Jul 8, 20176 friends, in our mid-20s spent 4 amazing nights at the Friendly in June. Our experience was pretty flawless from start to end.
Arrival: We were greeted at our cab by a bus boy and a tray of drinks. Our bags magically found their way to our room and in 5 mins we were checked in and ready to enjoy the hotel.
Room: We had rooms on the 10th floor with a wonderful view of the ocean. The rooms were perfectly comfortable. A mini fridge, along with bottled water (replaced daily) cut down in trips to the lobby bar. The beds were a little on the small side, but comfy enough. We didn't have any trouble with noise, either in the morning or in the evening, with the exception of a slightly vocal peacock!!
Food: This is where (as in every AI place) things were less than impressive. The food was fine, but repetitive and we struggled to find a place where the 6 of us could sit together. We did dine at Frida one evening, and were very very impressed by the food there-simply delicious-is highly recommend it.
Service: Truly this is where the Friendly shines and what will have me go back. I was never without a drink, and the staff simply won't let our lift a finger. They make you feel so welcome - like old friends. I could go on and on, but really if you are torn between here and another similar place, the Friendly wins everytime.Special thanks to Braylon aka Brad Pitt for keeping us hydrated! Location/amenities:wonderful pools especially the adult only)and right on the beach-just to die for!
Recommended
for Everyoneby A verified traveler
Great AI option
Posted Jun 29, 2017Extremely hospitable staff as implied by the name. Great location. close to town as well as shopping options. Great food selection with ample amount of specialty restaurants as well as buffet and coffe bar.
by A verified traveler from Los Angeles
Not a great hotel.
Posted Jun 26, 2017I reserved a room with two double beds and was given a room with a queen bed. I called to the desk to let them know I didn't get what I reserved and was told they wouldn't do anything. They sent a rolling twin bed. The people at the front desk were pretty rude as were some of the hostesses.
The waiters and waitresses were GREAT!!! They always went out of their way to help me enjoy my time there. The two out out of five I gave the staff is because of them or else I'd give them the lowest score possible.
Recommended
for Couplesby A verified traveler from Los Angeles, CA
Posted Jun 25, 2017
Pros: Impression of friendly staffs
Cons: 1. Should safe box modernize in Room
2. Fitness Center, running machines(two machines not working of three running machines)
3. No locker keys
Location: Good
Bad Impression at fitness center
1. Should safe box modernize in Room
2. Fitness Center, running machines(two machines not working of three running machines)
3. No locker key(broken all lockers)
4. no towels in Sauna
5. no body lotions
6. not clean
Recommended
for Everyoneby A verified traveler
Very nice vacations
Posted Jun 23, 2017
Pros: Japanese restaurant, adults only pool.
Cons: Removed the resort.
Location: Great location to Vallarta Adventures.
Very good Price/ value ratio. Location close to many Vallarta Adventures activities.
Recommended
for Everyoneby A verified traveler from Cali
Nice stay and caught a deal before travel season.
Posted Jun 11, 2017
Pros: The overall experience was nice. If you wanted to buy anything as far as souvenirs, there are vendors walking up & down the beach everyday & all day.
Cons: I feel that everything is ran well and smooth.
Location: Downtown is a 10 minute taxi ride away for $5.00 one-way. There is a fabulous Choco-museo that any chocolate lover must go and try the Mayan hot choc
The stay was really a nice experience. The staff was very helpful and taxi service was quite fast. Check in was easy and quick. There was a little construction happening, but it didn't interfere with anything. There was entertainment every night including a mechanical bull, a live mariachi band, dancing, and a regular band with live instruments!
by A verified traveler from San Antonio
Cheap and barely cheerful
Posted Jun 9, 2017Aged hotel, poor food quality, minimal food variety, only one decent overbooked restaurant if you get tired of the usual buffets as we did! Friendly staff but did not blow us away based on our expectations from previous PV experiences.
Comment from Hotel Management
Jun 23, 2017 by Friendly Vallarta Team, Hotel Management
Dear Sam,
We are really surprised to hear that your vacations wasn´t what you expected. We working hardly every time to be better in acommodations and service. We hope to get and second chance i you can visit us next year. The hotel will be definititelly changed in some areas.
Recommended
for Everyoneby A verified traveler from Oregon
Good Location-Great Value
Posted Jun 8, 2017We really enjoyed our stay at Friendly. The hotel has a beautiful lobby and excellent pool and beach facilities. The service was good but most areas had a self service type set up.
Our room was a basic two double bed with ocean view on the 7th floor. The room was clean and beds were comfortable. We Loved the balcony but wished that it was a bit larger. (An inset safety rail makes the balcony quite a bit smaller than it appears in the photos.) The view from our floor was amazing!
The internet coverage was good in our room and throughout the grounds. The TV was nice to have but we only found 3 channels that were in English...39,40,41. When we asked the hotel staff gave us the wrong #'s. TV was not a big deal for us but a couple more options would have been nice.
We were totally satisfied with the food. Every day there were plenty of choices in the buffets, meats, salads, bread, sides, Mexican fare, and desserts. When we didn't feel like sitting down in a restaurant setting we just went down to the snack shack on the beach for pizza, burgers, fries, chicken wings, nachos and much more. The service was good.
The entertainment in the evenings was fun. We saw a magic show and enjoyed dancing on the beach.
Taxi rides are cheap but if you are willing to take a bumpy bus ride you can go downtown for just 7 pesos!! The bus comes every minute or two so it was no problem catching a ride back.