We were here for one night last Saturday. It is not clean and the people were not nice. The mattress was stained. No blow dryer. You only get two bottled waters per room, after that you pay! I would never stay here again!

Stayed at the Canto in March. Staff made the stay very enjoyable, with their attentiveness, professionalism and humour. Hipolito, Ramirez, Jorge (beach waiter) were all excellent.

Laundry service was good and our room was equipped with fridge, Microwave, etc.

We had ocean view and pool view which was nice.

Massage service across the road was professional and reasonable (1.5 hours for $25.00). Internet service available across the road as well, and there were numerous shops and services there as well.

Saw the whales from the hotel in the morning, as well as all the cruise ships coming in which was nice.

Downtown to the Malecon, bars etc. by bus is only 60 cents. Buca Rios, Punta Mita and other cool small towns are only 1 dollar by bus, bus stops in front of hotel.

Only caveats are that the beach was small and somewhat rocky and the buffet was nothing to write home about.

** Highly recommend the Canto **

Went down to Canto from April 26th to May 3rd. The hotel is clean and majority of the staff can speak acceptable amount of english. Listed out below are the likes and dislikes about this resort:
Liked:
-Location- only 20 min walk or 5$ cab ride to the strip.
-Animation team- they kept a lot of people busy, and had nightlife events planned out for guests.
-Small size of the resort complex-didnt have to walk 15-20 mins to get to rooms like some other resorts I've been to.
Disliked:
-Small pool-almost no room to just relax and swim.. its actually impossible to swim in the pool.. you can probably only walk around.
-Food - after day 3 or 4 it was almost unbearable. No food after 10:30. I dont think they had room service either(I didn't see any menus in the room). Snack bar was better.. but only open from 12 to 6 and had lineups all the time. Also, they had very limited tables by the snack bar. No booze after midnight too!!!
-Beach-horrible beach.. i guess its normal in P.V. But the beach was only good to look at, not to swim/hang out in. So many big rocks and its really salty. The beach is NOT the resorts fault.

Bottom line: This resort has all the basics no doubt. Its clean, has food and has activities to keep people entertained. But it doesn't really excel in any category. For people who are not picky this resort is perfect because you will save money. But for people are picky about food, shows, amount of english employees know etc etc will not be satisfied.

Also, try to get rooms that are numbered on the lower end... For example 204, 205,104,304. They are better as they have a fridge, alarm clock and microwave/stove. Our friends had room 238 and they did not have a fridge in the room to keep their water cold. No alarm clock either. I know you don't "need" an alarm clock on vacation, but its nice to know the time so you can plan things out.

We had a great week at the Canto Del Sol. The staff was amazing and very responsive to all of our needs. Checking in and out was a breeze. Tip your waiters a buck or two regularly and before you know it they have drinks in your hand before you even know you wanted one - all week long (not watered down at all by the way)!!! The hotel is older but our room and all of the common areas were very clean and well maintained, great ocean view too. The beach is a bit rocky but, during our stay the maintenance staff was out with shovels and wheel barrels doing there best to clean up some of the rocks. The buffet got to be repetitive pretty quickly but with all of the great restaurants in Puerto Vallarta, why would you want to eat at the hotel everyday? Try Morgan's at the marina for one of the best fillet mignion’s in town, but watch out because the manager will try to sell you on a timeshare presentation. Pipi's is a bit touristy but the margaritas and fajitas/
chimichangas are amazing. All in all, the hotel and staff are great; remember you didn’t pay for a 5 star resort so don’t expect one. Just relax and enjoy!!!