Casa Doña Susana (formerly Los Arcos Vallarta) Category 4 stars

I just spent another vacation at this hotel. It was made extra enjoyable by some of their employees: Martha, Carlos, Rodrigo, Miguel and Jesus were very competent, nice, and accomodating to me. I have stayed at all three of the Los Arcos hotels over the years, but usually like to stay at this one. I am still not used to the new name.

This is the sister hotel to the Los Arcos Suites across the street and Playa Los Arcos a half block away on Olas Altos. I chose this adults only hotel due to it's price, Romantic Zone location, roof top pool and basic amenities which include phone, refrigerator, A/C, TV, and in-room safety deposit box. You can also have room service which is available from the restaurant at the "Playa." When I checked in, I was informed that the roof top pool was under going construction since it was leaking water into the rooms below and that it would be another 2 weeks before it would reopen. I was told that I could use the other pools at the sister properties. More on this later. I was given a key card to open the room door and a card which allowed you to check out large beach towels at the "Playa." This is an older 5 story hotel and is in the shape of a rectangle with an open courtyard in the middle. There is also an elevator. I was initially assigned to room 104 which had a large window with drapes facing the courtyard and a small window facing the outside except you couldn't see through the window. The room was dark, somewhat claustrophobic and had a smell which was foreign to me. The next day I checked out other vacant rooms and found that most of the other rooms had windows which you could not see out except for the top floor rooms and those facing the street with balconies. I asked the front desk if I could upgrade to a room with balcony and 10 minutes later I was in balcony room 205. The room was large, bright and had 2 floor to ceiling arched windows with a glass door which opened to the balcony and terrace which was approximately 6' by 12' and had a small table and 4 chairs. Looking across the street you could see into the windows and balconies of the "Suites" and looking west you could see the ocean about a block way. The room also had a small kitchenette with a sink, coffee maker, toaster, 2 burner hot plates and utensils but no microwave oven. The wall mounted A/C looked new and was operated by a remote. It was very efficient and quiet. The mattress, as usual, was hard as a rock. Are there any soft mattresses in PV?

I prefer sunning by the pool rather than the beach to avoid the vendors so I checked out the "Playa's" pool. A nice pool but this time of year it gets no direct sun light. The pool across the street at the "Suites" did get a lot of direct sun so I used that pool exclusively.

The hotel was very noisy during the day due the pool construction, lots of banging and hammering noises, but was reasonably quiet at night. I found the hotel staff to be very accommodating during my visit.

I hope this review helps those who are considering staying at this hotel.

We stayed at the Los Arcos Vallarta and loved our stay in PV. We've been to PV several times and this hotel was a great place for us and our two small kids. A rooftop pool and access to the Playa Los Arcos pools and beachfront make this place a great compromise. The first room we had was prison-like, the windows were smoked and we couldn't open them. Then we moved into a kitchenette with a balcony and it was ideal, with a view of streetlife and fresh air.