Fabulous week at Villa Serena

Guest: Josh (Park City, Utah)
Date of Stay: 07/27/11 Review Submitted: 08/08/11

Pictures do not do justice to this fabulous villa perched on a hillside at Garza Blanca Beach with a 270 degree view of Banderas Bay. Gorgeous living room, comfortable bedrooms with all the amenties, flawless wireless internet. Everything worked beautifully and the staff was attentive.The owners are a delight to work with. Our family had only one regret: we didn't stay longer.

Owner response:We hear it over and over, "We wish we stayed longer". We, the owners, and our friendly, helpful staff go out of our way to make your stay enjoyable. Relax and be Happy is our motto.

Recommended for:Families with teenagers, romantic getaway, sightseeing, age 55+.

Beautiful but not relaxing. Couldn't hear myself think.

Guest: KJ (Oregon)
Date of Stay: 04/24/11 Review Submitted: 08/08/11

First off, this place is gorgeous....really. The villa itself is pure luxury. Beds are amazing. Everything is very comfortable. The view is amazing. Now, the bad parts. It's EXTREMELY NOISY. It is located above the the main highway out of PV and the traffic noise travels right up to the villa, although this by itself is no big deal. However, second major noise was the beach 1/4 mile down the road. It has a big soundstage and they played very loud Mexican music (polka, top 40 in spanish and english, mexican top hits, etc) all day from 10:00am until 7:00 or 8:00pm. I don't know if it was because it was holiday week or what, but the music amplified off the water and was like the stage was right in front of you. 3rd noise was the jack hammer right below the villa on the road from Monday to Friday, all day long. They were fixing some sewer. 4th noise was the construction in the complex next door with the trucks beeping as they went into reverse (you know the sound). 5th noise was the screeching cat fights 3 nights in a row. It was all I could do to stand it. We left most days during the day just to escape it. Thank god it didn't go on into the night (except the cat fights). We were totally nerved out by the end of the day and as soon as the music would go off, my husband and I would look at eachother like...."ahh, Thank God." One other thing to note is the parking situation, it is apparantly not "assigned" as we assumed the spot in front of the villa was for our use. We were either blocked in or blocked out every other day. We had to go knock on doors to find who's car was blocking ours 3 times! So we eventually just parked down in the communal area and walked up. There are a lot of very steep stairs, which didn't bother us as we are in good shape but you should be aware. Take note that the office is often closed for short period when the manager goes to town (bank or whatever). We did use the cook twice and wished we hadn't. If there are 4 of you or more it might be a good price for what you get, but $90 for two people for a simple (although good) chicken meal seems like a lot to me. The restaurant across the street is less than that and VERY good. So, if you go with this place, I'd ask the owner about the noise before you go, particularly the music. The owners seem very nice and are available by phone if you need them ..We didn't contact the owner to do anything about the noise, because really, what could they do?

Recommended for:

So Beautiful!

Guest: JOANNE (Medford, NY)
Date of Stay: 05/19/11 Review Submitted: 05/23/11

I want to thank you again for renting us your beautiful Villa. We really enjoyed our stay, unfortunately however, much too short. Everything was perfect on arrival. We had the taxi take us directly to the Villa so we could drop our bags and were met almost immediately by a gentleman, ( I forgot his name), who took our bags for us into the villa, which was open as you said it would be, and then brought us the key. We were good to go and with so little time we just got right into enjoying our time. The Villa is just beautiful, great layout, tastefully decorated, and magnificent location of the bay and jungle. From every direction, inside or out you have beautiful views. We took a short walk around, to explore the neighborhood and then hurried back to the Villa to enjoy the day into night. It was so enjoyable we just couldn’t leave. On our second night we walked over to Blanca Blue and had a very nice dinner. I would have to say it was the best dinner we had in our 2 wk Puerto Vallarta vacation, and the competition was fierce. It was also Restaurant week. Still, again after dinner, we couldn’t wait to get back to the villa and take in the views from the pool and terrace. We could see fireworks in various locations along the bay and caught a cruise ship headed out to sea. When its time to call it a day you can take these views with you right into the bedroom. So very romantic. Our only disappointment was that we could not stay longer. I think that would always be our only disappointment no matter how long the stay, Thank you again for letting Su Casa be Mi Casa! Joanne & Steve

Recommended for:People with disabilities, tourists without a car, romantic getaway, adventure seekers, families with young children, sightseeing, age 55+.

Richard D.

Guest: Richard Darko (Nashville IN)
Date of Stay: 01/26/11 Review Submitted: 02/12/11

This is an excellent villa, owned by people who really care about their guests and will do anything to make your stay enjoyable. You have a 290 degree view of the entire Bay, the mountains and the jungle, from the huge living room and from the terrace and each of the bedrooms. When we walked on to the terrace, the view knocked our socks off. The villa is attractive, well supplied and very liveable. We used the cook 7 of the 10 nights we were there. For $ 40 she prepares appetizers and the best food you've ever enjoyed. We had the left overs for lunch the next day. There is an excellent 4 star restaurant a block away. However there is no shopping in the immediate area. We got used to that very fast. Plan to sit by your own pool, relax and enjoy the weather and the view.

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, age 55+.

The best

Guest: pts (Indianapolis, IN)
Date of Stay: 01/27/11 Review Submitted: 02/08/11

We just spent 10 wonderful days at this great casita. It is like a presidential suite--fabulous view, daily maid service, pool service, efficient office and we had a cook prepare our dinner every night. What more could you want? We loved it and we thank the owners for sharing it with us.

Recommended for:Girls getaway, tourists without a car, romantic getaway, age 55+.

Paradise!

Guest: LSG (Boulder, Colorado)
Date of Stay: 11/23/10 Review Submitted: 11/28/10

Everyone says they love Casa Serena so much that they'll come back someday - and we did! After a wonderful stay last March, we felt very lucky to find Thanksgiving week open this year. The photos don't even come close to doing justice to this beautiful villa. The open and fresh air from every room is incredible and very restorative to busy, stressed-out folks such as ourselves. The views are just awe inspiring and change so much we never get tired of gazing out from different rooms, chairs, sides of the villa. Our kids (8 and 10) are just in heaven playing in the pool all day and we can join them, watch from the sidelines or listen from inside the house without having to pack a bag for the pool. Both visits we've had Martha an English speaking cook who spoiled us rotten (and stayed to babysit one night while we went out on the town). We all have quite a few food allergies so explaining it all to Martha once and not having to think about it again all week made it such a relaxing trip for us - not having to explain to waiters in restaurants our special requirements at every meal. Our stays at Casa Serena were truly the most relaxing family vacations we've ever had. Thank you for your wonderful hospitality!

Recommended for:Girls getaway, tourists without a car, romantic getaway, adventure seekers, families with young children, sightseeing, age 55+.

Exceeded Our Expectations

Guest: Amy (Seattle, WA)
Date of Stay: 06/03/10 Review Submitted: 07/07/10

We had a girlfriends getaway with my sister, cousin and close friend to celebrate my 40th birthday. The villa and the views were stunning, we barely left the house! Everything about the place exceeded our expectations and we were planning our next trip before we left. Effie the chef was amazing and made us two meals. We also got in-house massages and facials from Toni which were pure bliss. I would definitely recommend staying at the villa!

Recommended for:Girls getaway, tourists without a car, romantic getaway, age 55+.

The best!

Guest: rongin3 (Stonewall, Ok USA)
Date of Stay: 04/05/10 Review Submitted: 04/18/10

Janet I just wanted to let you know how much we appreciated your villa. Ginger and I had the best trip we've had in years and really enjoyed "old town". The food, scenery, and the people all made for a very special time. Your villa is perfect in every way. The privacy, view, and amenities are not to be beat. Hope to meet y'all here or in Colorado sometime. Again Thanks Ron and Ginger Oklahoma, USA

Recommended for:Girls getaway, tourists without a car, romantic getaway, adventure seekers, families with young children, sightseeing, age 55+.

Guest: Fred & Jennifer Seale (-)
Date of Stay: 09/21/08 Review Submitted: 09/21/08

Hi Janet, I have been meaning to write to you to tell you how much we enjoyed your wonderful villa. Our family had such a great time and we firmly believe your place made the difference. It was perfect for us for so many reasons. And SOOOO beautiful. Thank you. We will definitely recommend it to others and maybe be back someday ourselves. The ended up using a chef 3 nights which turned out to be such a luxury!!! And your view is amazing. Thanks again. I've included a few photos of our family enjoying your piece of heaven. Jennifer Seale

Recommended for:

Guest: Steve & Gail Moore (-)
Date of Stay: 09/21/08 Review Submitted: 09/21/08

Janet, I just wanted to drop you an e-mail and let you know how much we enjoyed staying at your villa. We loved it and your villa is fantastic. Everyone was great from Elba to the pool man. Thanks again. We had a wonderful time. Below is a link that will take you to the website of the pictures we took in Puerto Vallarta. There are quite a few pictures of the villa and villa area. No sign-in or password required. I would suggest that you view the pictures using the slideshow option, but that is your choice. You can view or download any of the pictures. There are no restrictions. Hope you enjoy them and if you want to use any of them, feel free to do so

Recommended for: