This month I had the pleasure of visiting Puerto Vallarta with their Tourism Board and ENroute Communications! I had the most incredible week! I’d never been to Mexico before this trip and after my visit I definitely want to go back! We stayed at The Marriott Puerto Vallarta Resort & Spa for the week and they took SUCH good care of us! In this blog post I’m going to be sharing what we did each day, where we ate, fun photos & more.
I went on this trip with a fun group of blogger gals. The group included Stacey from Posh In Progress, Cait from Sophisticaition, Lizzie from Lizzie in Lace, and Ramona from Fab Everyday. We were accompanied by Rosanna from ENroute Communications and Xaviera, Sonya, and Manuel from the Puerto Vallarta Tourism Board.
For links to all of my outfits from this trip. Check out my What I Wore in Puerto Vallarta post!
Day 1 – Traveling to Puerto Vallarta
On Monday, Cait and I headed to O’Hare to catch a 7 a.m. flight to Mexico City! From there, we were scheduled for a bit of a delay in Mexico City before heading to Puerto Vallarta. During the “busy season” they have direct flights from Chicago to Puerto Vallarta. However, since we were traveling in August, which is technically “off-season” we needed to take a connecting flight. Unfortunately, our first flight was delayed, but we still made our connection and got to Puerto Vallarta safe and sound! I’m not going to lie, I was seriously concerned for a bit that we weren’t going to make it!
Once we landed, Xaviera and Manuel from the tourism board met us at airport. They brought us to the Marriott Puerto Vallarta Resort & Spa in the tourism van, which we’d use throughout the trip. When we got to the resort, we were greeted by Daniela, who runs Marriott PV’s social media! Their staff also met us with fresh hibiscus juice to sip on while we checked in. Then we headed up to our rooms!
I absolutely loved my suite! Not only did I have my own deck that looked out onto Bahía de Banderas, they also left welcome gifts. (Little surprises became a regular thing throughout this trip!) My bed had a custom pillowcase featuring the Bowtiful Life logo! On top of that, there was a tray of snacks and a colorful purse from a shop in the nearby marketplace!
After getting unpacked and settling into our rooms, Cait and I met back up for a quick shoot by the Presidential Suite. There were the most beautiful magenta flowers blooming along the walkway and the view was to die for. We shot towards the south side of the bay and got some pretty solid shots! (The photo at the top of this post is from that shoot!)
After shooting, we headed downstairs and meet the rest of our group for dinner and drinks at Las Casitas. It was the perfect spot for our first dinner in PV! We dined al fresco and got to watch the sunset on the water!
For dinner, I got the Poached Octopus with potatoes and tried some drinks from their cocktail menu. I ordered the Blue Hawaiian with blue curaçao, coconut rum, & pina colada mix and the Bahama Mama which was made with dark Bacardi rum, Kahlúa, pineapple juice, lemon juice, coconut cream. The octopus was incredible and the Bahama Mama was one of my favorite drinks I tried on this trip!
As the sun set, a few of us walked onto the beach and dipped our feet in the ocean. The water was the perfect temperature and the sunset was simply stunning. There’s seriously something magical about the sunsets in Puerto Vallarta… Each night the sun sets the sky on fire and the colors are to die for! I couldn’t have asked for a better start to the trip.
Day 2 – Art Tour, Ceviche Class, Shopping & Casa Kimberly
On day two, we started with breakfast at La Estancia at the Marriott, which is where we ate each morning. They had a great, expansive breakfast buffet with everything from omelettes, to pastries, juices, tamales and more. Most days I went for the egg whites with spinach, bacon, potatoes, some pastries and green juice. Now, I’m not typically a green juice fan, but theirs was SO good! I got it every morning. (Seriously, I need to shoot them a message and ask them for the recipe!)
Next, we met Xaviera and Manuel to head to the Malecon for an art tour with Memo from Vallarta 101. We also met Sonia for the first time that morning! She manages social media for Puerto Vallarta’s tourism board and was a HUGE help with snapping photos throughout the trip.
We started off our tour at “The Millennia” and walked around learning about sculptures and art throughout the area. Fun fact, almost all of the statues along the Malecon were donated to the city by the artists! My favorite statues that we saw besides “The Millennia” were “Search for Reason” and “Mother Nature.”
We also walked onto The River Cuale Island to see a bunch of the little shops on the island.
We ended our tour at El Parque de los Azulejos, a beautiful tile-filled park that’s still a work in progress.
After our walking tour, we headed back to the hotel for Ceviche making class! I’m not typically much of a chef, but we learned how to make Caribbean Ceviche and it was SO good!
Before taking photos by the pool with Cait and Stacey, I headed back up to my room. I was surprised to find that housekeeping had turned my bed into a BOW! (So on-brand it hurts!) It was such a small thing, but even thinking about it now makes me smile because it was so thoughtful.
We shot some swimwear by the pool and on the beach while enjoying the sunshine and coconut water from Marriott’s Coco Station! Then, it was time to freshen up and change before heading out again for the night.
For the evening, our full group met up again for some shopping at the galleries and boutiques downtown. Then dinner at The Iguana Restaurant and Tequila Bar within Casa Kimberly. While we were shopping, I especially loved checking out Cassandra Shaw’s store in particular! Everything was organized by stone type and color and it was so visually pleasing to look at.
Casa Kimberly was one of my favorite spots that we visited during this trip! It was Elizabeth Taylor’s Puerto Vallarta home, right across the street from Richard Burton’s casita. In fact, he actually bought Casa Kimberly for Elizabeth during their long-lasting love affair! (They were married and divorced from each other TWICE!) We got a full tour of Casa Kimberly & took some photos on the famous Puente del Amor. The bridge was built to connect Burton’s and Taylor’s homes, over the street. Then, we sat down for dinner at The Iguana overlooking the city and the bay.
In addition to our breathtaking surroundings, dinner at The Iguana was delicious! They had an extensive array of margaritas to choose from, so I went with their Coconut Margarita. (Spoiler alert: it was very good… so, I had two.) For my entree, I ordered the Filet Angus which was wrapped in hoja santa leaves and served with dried chile sauce, baked potato, and baby carrots. Yum! I finished off the meal with Chocolate Mousse and left feeling happy and very full.
After being driven back through that evening’s thunderstorm, I headed back up to my room. I was excited to find macarons and chocolate covered strawberries waiting for me! I forgot how full I’d been and sat on my deck for a bit before bed to watch the storm. The macarons were the perfect pairing with the lightning show taking place over the bay. I just love summer storms!
Day 3 – Maiavé Spa, Chocomuseo Workshop, & Dinner at El Dorado
Day three started off with a rainbow over the hotel pool, thanks to the storm the night before. We had breakfast again at La Estancia before heading to the Sheraton Buganvilias to check out their Maiavé Spa. As we pulled up, we were surprised to see staff waiting with a sign spelling out “bienvenidos” in big letters. Needless to say, we felt VERY welcomed!
At Maiavé we started off with some heat and hydrotherapy. We used a steam room for ten minutes, took a cool shower to reset, & used the sauna for ten minutes before taking a cold plunge in the hydrotherapy area. From there, we enjoyed a full hydrotherapy experience. This included a foot bath + hydro reflexology, a Jacuzzi, a sensations pool and a relaxation pool.
My favorite part of the experience at Maiavé was my deep tissue massage. My massage therapist, Yubleni, did an incredible job on my back and shoulders. I have decent posture, but my shoulders are always super tense from being on the computer or my phone 24/7. After my massage I felt much lighter and so relaxed and refreshed.
After finishing up our spa experience, we got a tour of the newly renovated suites. Now, talk about a view!
From there, we headed back to the hotel for lunch and t0 hang out in the cabana reserved for us to shoot photos in. We got some food and drinks again from Casitas and I just have to say, their Lobster Tacos really good! Honestly I would also recommend their fries… which might sound weird… but they season them with lime salt and they were just perfect! They sort of reminded me of the fry version of Chipotle’s tortilla chips, because of the salt!
That evening, we headed back over to the Malecon and paid a visit to the Chocomuseo for a chocolate workshop! We were walked through the whole process of making chocolate – from the bean to the bar. Then, we made three different chocolate drinks. My personal favorite was the first one we made, cocoa tea.
We also made our own chocolates with our choice of flavor of ganache inside! I went with Kahlua for mine. After getting an arm workout from all the stirring and roasting and grinding, it was time to head to dinner!
We ate right on the beach that night at El Dorado. The restaurant is located right on Playa de Los Muertos and we got to watch the sunset on the Bay. It was seriously the perfect evening and so cool to eat right on the beach, literally in the sand!
As a part of the dinner, they brought over a bunch of different herb-oriented margaritas. I tried one made with passionfruit and basil and it was actually really good! Once the sun set, I walked inside and realized the music we’d been hearing that evening was actually a live guitarist! So cool.
In keeping with the theme of surprises, I came back that evening to find a decorated wooden turtle waiting! A very cute little surprise to end to a great day
Day 4 – Vallarta Adventures Yacht Excursion, Snorkeling, Tequila Tasting, & Dinner at La Estancia
Thursday was our last full day in paradise and it started off quite early! We had a yacht cruise planned with Vallarta Adventures, so we were up and about before the sun was out! We left the dock and headed out to Playa Majahuitas across the bay.
The morning started off strong, even though it was early. We all ordered piña coladas and enjoyed the music onboard. They were playing classic party jams as well as current top hits including “Old Town Road”. It was a little cloudy this morning, but it honestly felt just right. It wasn’t too hot and we were able to get good photos before the sun came out full force.
Up first on the agenda for our adventure was snorkeling a bit out from the beach! I’d never been snorkeling before and it was so much fun! The water was insanely salty and I’ll admit that I accidentally inhaled more water through my snorkel than expected.
Once we all finished snorkeling we headed over to the beach! Vallarta Adventures had a bunch of different things for us to do. I ended up going on the Banana Boat twice in addition to some some paddle boarding. I actually managed to stand up on my board on my first try! After spending some time by beach, it was time to head back across the Bay again. They served our lunch in little bento boxes and the shrimp cocktail was SO good! It was significantly sunnier on the way back and I got the majority of my “sun” from this boat ride. I might’ve been a little lobster-ish when I got back to the hotel that afternoon!
When we returned to the Marriott we opened the doors of our van to find the front walkway lined with Marriott employees clapping and welcoming us back from our adventure! That’s when I realized that our trip was really coming to an end. Our yacht experience was our final excursion! I thought it was super cute how they all welcomed us back. But, it’s definitely not the sort of thing I’m used to, so it was a very different experience!
That night we had our last dinner in Mexico! We sat in the tasting room at La Estancia for dinner and a tequila tasting of Marriott’s in-house brand, Casamagna. The table was decked out with hydrangeas and personalized napkins with all of our logos on them.
I already like tequila, but I’m not incredibly particular on brand or type, so I learned a lot during our tasting! We tried Casamagna’s Blanco, Reposado and Anejo types. The Blanco was very smooth and I was shocked by the fact that there wasn’t much of a burn to it. The Reposado had a sweet and almost floral taste to it, which is why it was my favorite! Last, we tried the Anejo which was made in an oak barrel and had a much stronger taste to it. They actually gifted each of us a bottle of the Reposado and it’s sitting on my bar cart now!
After the tasting was over, we had a 7 course dinner, which was absolutely AMAZING. We had a few people with dietary restrictions within our group. The chef, Mauricio, and staff did an incredible job of making sure that everyone’s needs were taken care of!
For dinner we had Tamale with Atole, Del Tuito Salad, La crema del Rancho, Zarandeado Fish, Sorbet Jalisco Style, Birria from los Altos, and Yelapa Duo.
Our dinner ended with personalized desserts with all of our blog logos made out of sugar! It was such a sweet (literally) and thoughtful end to a truly incredible trip.
Day 5 – Flying Back to Chicago
On Friday, it was time to head home. Cait and I flew through Mexico City again, and luckily didn’t have to deal with any unexpected delays! We had a bit of a layover, which gave me plenty of time to go through all of the photos from the trip and think back over all of the incredible experiences that were packed into the past few days. From there, we headed back to sweet home Chicago.
I am so grateful to have had this experience! Puerto Vallarta was truly incredible and I had the best time! A HUGE thank you to The Puerto Vallarta Tourism Board & ENroute Communications for sponsoring this trip and blog post! I consider myself so incredibly lucky to have had this experience. Another destination added to the #BowtifulTravels list… where to next?