My wife and I had the pleasure of staying at Hyatt Ziva Puerto Vallarta for a wedding, and since…read morethe accommodations were already chosen for us, I didn't read any reviews beforehand. But after seeing some of the mixed feedback now, I was honestly surprised. It seems like this place can be very hit or miss. Thankfully for us, it was definitely a hit.
We were there for three nights, and overall had a great experience. Our main complaint would be the food, which we found to be mediocre overall, though there were definitely a couple of standouts. Next time, I'd skip the buffet except for the freshly made stations, which were the only part consistently worth it. We really enjoyed the teppanyaki at Tamari, and the fish and shrimp tacos from Blaze were so good we had them twice during our stay. On the other hand, dinner at Blaze was unremarkable and we were disappointed with the pizza and zeppole from Melanzane, though we didn't get to try anything else there. I do wish we had stayed an extra night or two to explore more of the dining options, though based on what we experienced, we may not have missed out on too much.
Every staff member we encountered was friendly and helpful. Special shoutout to Rafael at the club lounge bar and Lizbeth at reception - both were a pleasure and made our stay even more enjoyable.
I was also surprised by the size of the gym and the variety of equipment. I made sure to get at least one workout in and really appreciated the incredible ocean views while doing so.
We visited in February and never felt like the resort was overcrowded. In fact, some restaurants seemed surprisingly empty at times. One thing worth noting: they have pickleball courts and a basketball court, which we didn't see advertised anywhere. We would've packed our pickleball gear had we known, but fortunately they provide equipment you can borrow. They also offer activities throughout the day - we mostly enjoyed the evening bar shows. I'd definitely recommend downloading their app to keep track of the schedule and access other helpful hotel information like menus.
Overall, this was a very enjoyable stay and a strong positive experience for us. I'm giving it 4 stars instead of 5 because the dining experience didn't quite match the rest of the resort. While the food could be more consistent, the friendly staff, beautiful setting, amenities, and relaxed atmosphere made it a memorable stay.