All-Inclusive Resorts in Hotel Zone

The Zona Hotelera runs north from the Malecón along Playa Las Glorias and Playa Los Tules — a flat, continuous stretch of sand with resorts lined up along it and shopping malls, pharmacies and supermarkets across the boulevard. This is where the city's all-inclusive industry started in the seventies and it is still the densest cluster on the Jalisco side of the bay.

What you get here is balance. You are ten to fifteen minutes from the Malecón, twenty from the airport, and a bus that costs almost nothing passes every few minutes. You are also on a working beach in a real city, so expect vendors, jet skis and parasails rather than the manicured stillness of Nuevo Vallarta.

The beach

Long, walkable and gently sloped, with surf that picks up in summer. Playa Camarones and Playa Las Glorias join into one continuous stroll that will take you all the way to the Malecón if you have an hour. Sand is grey-gold rather than white — that is volcanic geology, not pollution.

What is nearby

Galerías Vallarta and Plaza Caracol malls, the Sam's Club and Costco cluster, a dozen good stand-alone restaurants, and the marina fifteen minutes north. If you plan to leave the resort more than twice, this zone makes it easy.