Barcelo Puerto Vallarta – Quiet, quaint and good family fun

Written By: Jaime Valdes-Riench, owner of Travel & Events with Style

Image credits to:  Jorge from With Style Designs
Resort link: Barcelo Puerto Vallarta

Another trip, another FAM to open us up to new locations and resorts.  This last trip was to Puerto Vallarta and we stayed at the Barcelo Puerto Vallarta.

The Barcelo Puerto Vallarta is definitely a resort that will fit well with some and not others.  For us, as a family it was wonderful! We had the time of our lives and I would definitely recommend it to others.

The Barcelo is a little off the beating path from the other resorts.  It is one of the furthest resort South of the strip and a good 45mins from the aiport and downtown.  This makes for a great hideaway, but not for those who would rather be right in the city to walk and talk to the locals.

Personally, I love that we where far and away.  It was a perfect location for a retreat.  The kids program there was lacking if you wanted to drop them off at the kids club, but if you didn’t mind staying with the family then you really would love every minute.

We had the privilege of staying in the Presidential Suite.  Was it worth paying the upgrade? YES!  The deck was absolutely amazing as it wrapped around 3 sides of the ocean front building.  No disappointment there at all.  OK, maybe one.. we had to go home after the week and wanted to stay forever.

The cuisine had a lot of variety.  We tried the room service and they where attentive and the food was hot and cold as it should be.  No complaints.  I found the food very decedent and I think we may have eating our weight in avocados and papaya.  That alone would be an extra star rating in my heart.

As most resorts, there was a themed night every night and the entertainment was great.  Our stay landed on Carnival and the entertainment that night was outstanding! We where very happy over all with that.  Everything was off at the resort outside at 10pm.  To be honest, it wasn't bad.  You simply  just had to choose a place in doors to continue and it the kids sleep great.  There was not a night club on the property though and with the exception on a shack down the beach, there really wasn't anything near by either.

For wedding locations, it was quite nice, though I am not sure if I would recommend a beach ceremony in the month of March.  The tide is high that time of year, but I have heard it boasts long beaches as it get closer to the summer months. 

 The courtyard and deck around the pool where great locations to consider however for a wedding reception and the garden for a ceremony.  Both great alternatives and most (with the exception of the garden), looks out to the beautiful ocean.  One item to note for couples:  this resort does not allow wish lanterns.  If that is important to you, then this may not be the place for you.

If I had to rate it, I would give it is a solid 4.5 Stars.  There where a few items lacking, but it made up for it with the service and price.  Yes, the price, it was amazing! Great deal for sure.

Making life a Novel not Manual - Progress, Success, and Motivation:

Letter from the editor:  text by Jaime Valdes-Riench

I usually like to write something heart felt around New Year’s, but it took until now to feel compelled and inspired to write.  I feel this blog post is from my heart now that we are entering our 10 year business anniversary and welcoming all the new changes that will come with that.  So please enjoy! The words are from my heart.

With Love (and Style of course):
Jaime Valdes-Riench

It is interesting that we all can be creatures of habit.  If you are like me, you take a certain comfort when you can forecast and look ahead in order to anticipate what the next hurtle will be.  After all, that is 90% of what an event planner has to do, right?  We trouble shoot by nature; it’s deeply rooted within us. Now what happens when you start allow that to creep into daily to business life and even your personal life?  If we all forecast too often we start living life like a manual.  But life is a novel, not a manual. 

If you among that 2%, who is driven to be a leader and innovator, following your “manual” will just choke your inspiration and motivated spirit.  Do not fall victim to the comfort of the manual.

Not everyone will believe there is such a thing as your true destiny.  Yes, we make our own destiny.  I do believe however there is an infinite potential we all have when we follow through will all aspects of our passions to the maximum of our given talents.  How do we achieve success? Constant and consistent motivation; moving that momentum into progress; and following through until we reach success.  Now here is the kicker.. there is no end. If you want longevity of consistent success you have to continue even AFTER you reach your goal, OR you start the manual mode.  You also need to take comfort that you are making progress, even when it is not as apparent (i.e. challenging situations).  Make your personal and business life a novel, not a manual.  Allow ups and downs to occur, but do not let them strangle you.  It is developing an ear to listen to life when it is forcing you to your true potential.  It is seeing that your where not thrown into a “hard time”, but rather catapulted into something that makes you uncomfortable, and in turn.. makes you better.  Sometimes things have to happen to push us out of the “manual” mode so we get back to making a riveting novel that other want to actually read.  Make your novel inspiring to others.  That ensures your life continues, even after your life ends.  2013 taught me to throw away my manual.  2014 is all about writing a novel.  I encourage you to write yours, and get ready for an amazing harvest of the best years of your life.

Thanks for reading.