This was my very first vacation as a mom. My son had just turned one, and my husband and I decided we needed another all-inclusive resort experience to celebrate. Ok, so it maybe sounded more like a threat from an exhausted mom at the time, but the bottom line is we. were. going. I didn’t care how much crap we had to haul on a plane or if we never had the energy to leave the actual resort, Mom needed a break. One where there was no cooking, no cleaning, and the sound of ocean waves.
I hopped online looking for a resort in Mexico, since it was a place we hadn’t visited yet, and airfare was doable from Colorado, where we lived. I wanted a place that looked beautiful, had a variety of food, was well-reviewed, and not astronomical in price. And most importantly, CHILD CARE. Not that I wanted to dump my baby off the whole time, but being able to drop him off for a couple hours here and there would be PRICELESS. The Melia Puerto Vallarta fit the bill (they had nannies!!!), and I booked it without hesitation. I’ll spare you the details of that first flight with a colicky baby (I still have PTSD from that ordeal), and skip right to the good stuff. Again I will apologize in advance for the photo quality…this was in 2006 and while we did have a digital camera at the time, I was very new to snapping photos.
One thing to note is that this resort does not have a large beach. It has a small sandy area you can walk along, and a large pool overlooking the ocean, however. The resort grounds were well-kept and beautiful. It was very nice just to walk around the resort, looking at the tropical foliage and lizards! Here are some examples:
The view was especially pretty at night when you could see the lights come on along the coast. I got a few pics on our DATE NIGHT – THANK YOU NANNY SERVICE!
Our main goal this trip was relaxation, but we did leave the resort to explore a little bit. We visited the nearby marina and downtown Puerto Vallarta, which made for nice days out.
I would have no problem going back to this resort. Service and food were good, although my husband and son did get a 24-hour bug while we were there. That was a tad scary with a baby, but luckily he was fine by the next day and we didn’t have to deal with finding a doctor. Not sure if it was just being in a different country with different water, etc., but it was a little rough for 24-48 hours. Overall it was a great trip and very much needed. But the flight home? …Yeah um, let’s skip that again. 😬
One Mom's Travels 