Samba Vallarta All Inclusive

The hotel and hotel room was nothing like the pictures and what was advertised. Dark, worn out and dirty hotel room. The staff assigned me the wrong room type and had to complain to actually the get the room I reserved. The state and cleanliness of the balcony room was on the same level as the previous room.

Air Canada Vacations advertises this as a 4 star resort online, but it's a 2.5 to 3 max.  While the staff are cordial and very helpful, and the amenities inside and out (ie pool, buffet dining area, etc) are decent, the accommodations are extremely run down and dated and we had multiple issues during our stay.  Even the outside facade of the building and roofing are falling apart. If you do choose to stay here, AVOID the bottom floor rooms.  We were placed in one originally, and it was horrible.  The sliding door lock was broken and wouldn't actually lock (loose handle and latch) and stay closed.  Maintenance showed up and rigged it to close, but it could still be forced open from the outside.  You could tell humidity had ravaged this room and likely countless others in the complex.  The bathroom especially was heavily rusted over and there was black mold around the edges of the mirror.  The exposed fuse box in the bathroom made the place feel more like a Motel 6 than a resort. The grout of the room floor tiling had turned black from the ground in dirt and grime.  No matter how much the maids mopped, it wasn't going to get clean.  We couldn't even walk around barefoot in our room because the bottoms of our feet turned black. Eventually we were moved to a fouth floor room that was more clean overall, but still had the rundown look.  The walls weren't well insulated, so we could hear kids shouting from down the hall outside.  And the air gap around the door leading to the hallway just welcomed bugs to come in.  We had ants and cockroaches. At one point the flush chain in the toilet broke which required replacing.  That sort of stuff happens and it was fixed.  The issue was while the maintenance staff was there, we told them the hot water knob in the bathroom was leaking when turned on.  We showed them this leak and they acknowledged it.  But then did absolutely nothing about it.  Instead of calling them back again to take up more time from our trip, we just put a towel there to catch the water. The food at the buffet was decent most days, but on more than one occasion the AC wasn't working right so it was like a sauna in there.  The outside eating area by the pool just had simple food like hotdogs, nachos, and burgers.  Ok for what it was.  We only tried the Italian à la carte restaurant which was pretty good. One recurring hurdle we ran into during our stay was the lack of English spoken by the majority of the staff.  We understand we're in Mexico, and it's not their native language.  But you would think there would be some basic English understood.  For example, during dinner one evening my wife asked for red wine.  The server just stared at her like she was speaking Swahili.  This lack of bilingualism extended to the front desk staff.  Thank goodness for Google Translate.   On the plus side our kid did love the pirate ship and it was nice we could see him from wherever we were in the pool area.  And the greeters went above and beyon

This is a great resort for a small group. We went during “rainy season” and had nothing but sun for the week we went (lucky more than anything) The staff is amazing, they are always ready to help when needed. The food was great with and good selection every meal. The resort itself is on the smaller side but for a family of 3, it was great and not too spread out. The kids slide was what made us choose this resort as my son just wanted to have fun, mission accomplished. The wait staff during meals were always welcoming and friendly, especially Carlos and Salvador with both of them always willing to talk to you suggesting new drinks to try and answer questions if needed. The pools are great, being maintained, cleaned daily, and life guards on site every time of the day, we had no worry about anything at all. I would recommend this resort to all families looking for something less busy and just for a good time. This will be our new resort going forward when vacationing to Mexico

Amazing service from the staff, everyone is so friendly!! The food at the buffet was delicious and the waiters were also very helpful. The resort is very family oriented, and as guests from Canada, we enjoyed the cheerful atmosphere of all the Mexicans around us! The only downside at this resort is the staff do not speak very much English. The beach was out-of-this-world!! Although the hotel itself is a little outdated, they keep it very tidy and clean. Highly recommend this resort!

Salvador in the Hacienda restaurant and bar was always energetic, sincere, and hardworking. It made our time at Samba Vallarta incredible. Great food. Service is awesome. Lots of drinks delivered ahead of the thirst. We will be back . Low season is the best!

Hotel room: The beds are great and comfortable. Refill of free drinks stocked in the fridge. However, the cleanliness could be improved. Resort: beautiful and many open bars with great bartenders. The beach is directly beside the pool and very clean. I like that there were two places with fixed menus and one buffet. So lots of food to choose from. However, there was no room service. Staff: 10/10 everyone is so kind and accommodating. Many people spoke English as well.

This was my first vacation outside of Canada and the USA and it was everything I could’ve asked for. Samba was incredibly safe, welcoming, and homey. The property itself is amazing with an older charm and smaller size than most that I preferred over a modern large resort. The size of the resort was a huge factor in how amazing our stay was we got to know other guests and staff easily and we basically just walked out of our room onto the pool. Never any huge lines at the bar or buffet and even if there were the staff worked effortlessly at keeping the pace steady and mood high. I could go on and on about how amazing the staff were but some key points were how attentive, friendly, and enthusiastic they all were. Salvador and all other staff that was working alongside made our morning breakfast each morning perfect. They would ensure no mess was in our way, that the birds stayed away from our plates, and would just have some laughs with us. Bruno and every other bartender were great they accommodated our very poor Spanish skills and always did so with a smile. Gus and Diana, who are the activities staff were the highlight of our stay. The most friendly people with contagious energy made everyday more enjoyable wether it was through activities such as water aerobics or bingo or even just a conversation. Overall Samba is clean, enjoyable, safe and I’d recommend a stay there a thousand times over!

Very friendly staff throughout the resort, they all worked so hard to make our experience the best it could be. The food is excellent and the beds are very comfortable. It's an older resort but well maintained and very clean. Thank you to Salvador!! From the 3 Js from BC Canada!!

We are canadians and have been to mexico more times than we can count on one hand, Samba has been the best and we plan on coming back next year. The staff is amazing all around. Rooms are clean, there is entertainment every night, pool activities, 3 restaurants on the property (one buffet 2 reserve ahead of time) Berenice in the buffet dining area made us feel like family. Thank you for helping make my 2nd birthday celebrated in mexico that much better!