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The 11 Best Hotels in Puerto Vallarta

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The best hotels in Puerto Vallarta, according to the experts: the Forbes Travel Guide, the Michelin Guide, and The 50 have all weighed in, and their honors are what rank this list. Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita comes out on top.

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Naviva and Xinalani hold the next two places. The Michelin Guide shows up on more of this list than any other guide, with the Forbes Travel Guide next.

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  1. Waiters who wade into the surf to deliver drinks to guests mid-wave set the tone for this Forbes Five Star, Michelin two-key resort on its own quiet spit of coast above Puerto Vallarta. Fifty-two acres of jungle and white sand, two private beaches, and a range of pools give the place the feel of a small principality. Casitas, suites, and villas all face the water, and the beach-boho aesthetic is consistent enough that you won't feel shortchanged by your room tier.


  2. Fifteen tented villas spread across 48 acres of Pacific-facing jungle make the pitch here: total seclusion, no itinerary, no dress code for dinner. This adults-only, all-inclusive glamping resort sits beside a Four Seasons but deliberately leaves that world behind. A personal guide helps fill the days with snorkel safaris or agave tastings, and the tents themselves come with plunge pools and soaking tubs, which softens the roughing-it premise considerably. Forbes Four Star.


  3. Twelve miles down the coast from Puerto Vallarta and only reachable by boat, this eco-resort holds a Michelin 3 Keys designation and a serious commitment to making you put your phone down. The 33 open-air cabins have three walls by design, so the jungle and Banderas Bay fill the fourth. It bills itself as a yoga retreat, but the sweat lodge, spa, and beach club mean you can fill a week without ever attempting a Warrior pose.

    The awards


  4. All-inclusive resorts have a reputation, and Grand Velas has spent considerable energy dismantling it. This sprawling seaside resort sits on the northern edge of Banderas Bay, about 25 minutes from Puerto Vallarta, with suites that run large, a full-service spa, and several restaurants worth eating at on their own terms. Contemporary Mexican design and serious gardens do the heavy lifting on atmosphere. It holds a Forbes Four Star rating.

    The awards


  5. A long sweep of Pacific beach anchored the decision to build here, and everything at this luxury Auberge resort in Punta de Mita radiates outward from it. The terraced pools cascade toward the water, the spa runs almost absurdly large, and the restaurants work through the local coastal traditions rather than ignoring them. Sailing out to the nearby islands is easy to arrange, which gives the whole stay a convincing reason to leave the pool. The Michelin Guide awarded it two Keys.


  6. Tucked inside Marina Vallarta's golf course, Casa Velas is an adults-only, all-inclusive boutique resort that earns its Forbes Four Star by keeping the chaos firmly off-property. Koi ponds, botanical gardens, and a pool lined with Balinese beds set the tone, and guests get preferential access to Táu Beach Club nearby. The spa and the fine dining at Emiliano round out what is, by design, a place for honeymoons and anniversaries rather than anyone under eighteen.

    The awards


  7. Snow-white buildings rise from a tangle of palms and bougainvillea along two miles of Riviera Nayarit beach, with an infinity pool that seems to dissolve into the Sierra Madre beyond. This Forbes Four Star resort leans into local Huichol culture through shaman-led temazcal ceremonies and indigenous artwork in the rooms. Four restaurants, three bars, a kids club, and a Greg Norman golf course nearby mean there's no particular reason to leave, which is the whole point.

    The awards


  8. Seven rooms draped in antique furnishings sit a few blocks uphill from Banderas Bay in the neighborhood Puerto Vallarta locals have long called Gringo Gulch, which tells you everything and nothing about what this boutique hotel actually is. The sun sets straight out to sea from here, and the open-air restaurant serves contemporary Italian when you'd rather stay in. A Michelin Key acknowledges the place as singular, which in a city full of bigger, newer hotels, it is.

    The awards


  9. Two adjoining villas in the heart of Puerto Vallarta that once belonged to Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, connected by a sky bridge that tells you everything about how those two operated. It's a boutique hotel now, holding a Michelin Key, with individually decorated suites, a small spa, and an open-air restaurant and tequila bar overlooking the city and the bay. The whole place leans hard into the romance of it, and somehow gets away with it.

    The awards


  10. One of the villas here was Richard Burton's private residence, which tells you something about the caliber of guests this place has always attracted. A Michelin Key holder, Hacienda San Angel is a cluster of colonial townhouses stitched into a boutique hotel, each suite heavy on old-world atmosphere and light on modern fuss. There's no beach, but the pool views over Puerto Vallarta's rooftops make that trade feel generous.

    The awards


  11. Adults-only is the operative phrase at this boutique resort perched above the Garza Blanca Preserve, where the rooftop infinity pool overlooks the Pacific and no one under 18 has ever smeared anything on the gold-plated lobby surfaces. The 74 suites run to gold-tiled tubs, hammock terraces, and panoramic bay views, with a steakhouse, a Japanese restaurant, a spa, and several cocktail bars keeping everyone occupied. Selected by the Michelin Guide.

    The awards


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Eat Score

The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

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    Drink Score

    The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

      How we score →

      Stay Score

      Four fifths of the score is the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin Key outweighs a listicle. The last fifth is where it is: the ranked places to eat and things to do around it, and how safe the country is. When you sort by what's nearby, distance from you changes the order, never the score.

        How we score →

        Do Score

        The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

          How we score →

          Best Place Score

          The Best Place Score rates the area around a point, not any one place. The places are 60% of it: the best of what's within reach, weighed by distance. The setting is the other 40%: how life goes in that country (how people rate their own lives, how long and how well they live, how safe they are) and what it's like right there (the air, and the weather). If the score looks low, we probably haven't found enough critics out here yet.