Now Resorts & Spas offer vibrant beachfront settings in Mexico and the Caribbean. Their tagline Unlimited-Luxury for reconnecting every generation says it all! The Now resorts are perfect for multigenerational travel. It promises that guests will enjoy a family-friendly modern vacation experience where play and party are just steps away from peace and quiet.
The Now Amber Puerto Vallarta offered the Unlimited Luxury option which I chose to do. I wanted our first Mexico trip to be stress and hassle free. I didn’t want to worry about every little detail. Getting Unlimited Luxury gave my husband and me limitless access to gourmet a la carte dining without reservations required in addition to unlimited international and domestic top-shelf spirits (this definitely sold me even though I am a non-drinker), natural fruit juices and soft drinks. We also enjoyed having our mini bar refreshed daily. We had daily maid service, 24 hour room and concierge services, and pool and beach wait service (which I love!)
I also had the choice to book our stay at Now’s sister property, Secrets— which is the sophisticated adults-only AMResorts property. It was just my husband and I during this trip and I could have very well considered an adults-only resort but –I really didn’t mind staying in a family friendly place.
After deciding that I want to sign up for Unlimited Luxury, I now have to decide what type of room I want. Now Amber offers rooms that have the ocean view, the garden view or swim out option. I always want the ocean or beach view when I go on a beach vacation so of course I chose the room with an ocean view.
The Now Amber also has what you call a Preferred Club, which provides guests a higher level of luxury and personal service. Some of the Preferred Club privileges include: upgraded mini bar service and upgraded bath amenities, a pillow menu and access to the Private Preferred Club lounge that has daily continental breakfast service, afternoon hot & cold hors d’oeuvres, desserts and fine liquors, access to Nespresso coffee machines and concierge service to help you make dinner, activity and tour reservations. All these sound wonderful to me so I went for the Preferred Club Junior Suite with Ocean View!
Now Amber Puerto Vallarta provided a bus service from the airport to the hotel. On our day of arrival at Puerto Vallarta, as soon as we cleared customs and escaped what they call the “shark tank”, I immediately looked for the bus outside the terminal. I was told to look for the Amstar personnel who will be wearing a bright blue flowered shirt. My husband spotted them and after checking in with the Amstar personnel we are ushered to the bus to be excitedly on our way to the resort.
We got to the resort in about 30 minutes but had to wait for our room to be ready. I didn’t really mind waiting as it gave us the opportunity to find a place and sample our first restaurant on the property for a late lunch. We wanted something quick and casual and stumbled upon the Carnival that had a lunch buffet. After a quick lunch, we went back to our Private Preferred Club lounge to learn that we can now go up to our room
Sunset at Puerto Vallarta
The Now Amber Puerto Vallarta kept us well fed with the different restaurant options available on-site. In addition to the Carnival which became our staple and favorite place for our daily breakfast, the resort also has the following dining options: Capers, an adults-only Italian restaurant, a seafood restaurant called Castaways that is also the perfect spot for dinner if you want to witness the Puerto Vallarta sunset, Tamarindo if you are craving some Mexican cuisine and Himitsu for some Pan-Asian Fusion delicacies and Hibachi. For coffee and after dinner snacks, Coco Café is open 24 hours and of course Barefoot Grill where you can order and get your food and drinks while lounging poolside!
Guests of the next door Now Amber’s sister property Secrets, had access to our restaurants but also had their own restaurants that only Secrets guests can go to. Because we were Preferred Club members we were able to make reservations and try their French restaurant, Bordeaux one night for dinner.
In addition to all these wonderful restaurants, Now Amber Puerto Vallarta also has Casino 52 for guests who want to gamble a bit, the Manatee swim up bar which is always fun and Moments, the open lobby bar which we found to frequent every night after dinner where we listen to the live bands scheduled that night. There is also a different show every night that we loved to watch iif we can at the Showtime outdoor theater bar. There definitely is not a shortage of things to do and see at Now Amber.
Show at Showtime Theater
Show at Showtime Theater
My husband and I love to eat so you can be assured that we were in heaven while vacationing at Now Amber Puerto Vallarta. Our room had a scale (which did not help as we continue to eat and stuff ourselves) which I used to weigh myself the first few days and quickly learned to ignore by day 2! Of course when we’re not enoying the food, you can find us by the pool or at the beach getting our tan on and enjoying the pool activities, whether it was watching people doing water aerobics or the resort staff putting on a show to watching a water or sand volleybal match— we enjoyed every minute of the day during our Puerto Vallarta stay!
We also booked some activities with the help of Amstar. We did a bus and walking tour of downtown Puerto Vallarta to see and visit the sites, shopped at the local stores, stopped by a jewelry shop to check out some authentic silver jewelry, did some tequila tasting and did a day excursion one day to Las Caletas. We also had the chance to try the food and enjoy the live entertainment at a Mexican restaurant next door to where we did our tequila tasting.
Enjoying our welcome champagne at Cafe Des Artistes
My husband and I were also able to try some fine dining outside our resort. My hairdresser, who loves Puerto Vallarta, told me to not leave Puerto Vallarta without trying Café de Artistes (by Thierry Blouet, who is the Chef and Founder). So I made a reservation and made sure to go try this restaurant out. I was not disappointed and loved the food, atmosphere and experience at this exquisite place.
Our first trip to Mexico was definitely a trip to remember. After a few pounds, full tummy and happy fond memories, our vacation has come to an end. I loved every minute of our vacation and truly enjoyed this experience.
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