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Published: March 1st 2014
Iguana Claws
This one is around 60 years old...The hotel keeps three of them as pets, and they run free around the pool area.Our six hour bus ride here passed quickly..lots of room on the bus....only $40 for the two of us in first class...
We arrived right in the old part of PV, where our hotel is located, and found the place quickly, after asking for directions once. It's part of a very large hotel complex, but the Dona Susana is small and older, and on a dead-end street....
An old friend from my Paris days is staying here too. We have been traveling to the same places for years, but never at exactly the same time...so we are spending time together for the first time in over 35 years!
PV can only be described as over-the-top....crowds everywhere, with a mix of young/old, gay/straight...and everything in between. Few Mexicans....It's a big city, but the only interesting part is the Old Town, where bars, coffee shops, restaurants, hotels, high end shops, and street vendors vie for space...beaches are covered with umbrellas and chairs right to the water's edge in places (and when I ran this am at high tide, chairs were actually in the water!)
The energy is great fun, as is a taste of resort life...we have access to
the pools and beach chairs at the Los Arcos Hotel across the street, as well as our own hotel's roof-top pool. People watching is superb...as is iguana watching!
We took a taxi ride to Sayulita on Friday, but were disappointed...the former fishing town turned surferville once had charm, but there is none left..,overpriced and crowded now.
Friday evening brought folkdancing to the new plaza a block from our hotel...really good performances, plus a chance to witness a grifter at work. They had a woman pass the hat for donations at intermission, and eventually a guy wearing a T-shirt from the arts organization came down our row passing a hat. As I fumbled for pesos, I realized that he was moving very quickly down the row, and didn't wait for me to get my money out...as we watched, he and the hat full of money jumped down from the stands, and ran into the parking garage...never to be seen again...
We are staying here an extra two days and the heading north to Lo De Marcos for more small town time....and then probably home.
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Carol McClain
non-member comment
Benidorm of Mexico
Omigosh! Are we the only people you know who have actually been in Benidorm?? We have friends who live in Alfaz del Pie and we took a bus from Valencia which landed in Benidorm. From there we drove to Alfaz. But the Miami area image is quite clear. Disappointing that Puerto Vallarta is the Mexican Benidorm. Carol and Martin