Totally wheelchair accessible options in Vallarta

Okay, so this post will have a lot of edits at time goes by. I want to talk about places that are totally wheelchair accessible for the clients of Beach Crossers Mobility Rentals in Puerto Vallarta and Nuevo Vallarta. I've asked a lot of people and there isn't anything out there. Please comment if you have something to add. This may seem like I'm rambling and disorganized, but perhaps in the future when I have these scribbles to look at I will put together something more organized. Hopefully, even in this rough form this will be helpful to locals and visitors of Vallarta who are using a wheelchair to get around. I'm also going to mention places that we've found that are NOT accessible. When I have a good compilation, I'll figure out some sort of organization.

Nuevo Vallarta/Bucerias and North

Resorts
I'll start with Paradise Village because it is my top recommendation in the entire bay. They have some beautiful, fully accessible, and fully ADA compliant rooms when there is no such thing here in Mexico. You can roll up to the sink in the kitchen and bathrooms, there is a roll in shower, the microwave is lowered, etc. It's the most accessible room I've seen in Vallarta and I've seen several of the resorts. . To add to this description, I'll mention that I have not seen another resort that has a ramp into the swimming pool. This is great, especially if you rent the Hippocampe or Sand Rider that can go into the water. There are definitely some things that could be better (like people park on the sidewalks or in front of the ramps, but ... what can you do?) The thing to note here is that no one made them comply with ADA standards. It is a philosophy. That's why they are my top recommendation.

The RIU Vallarta (according to our clients) has doors that are less than standard size. They had to take the wheels off of the Debug beach wheelchair in order to get it into the room. The rest of the resort is very accessible though. If you have a narrow chair this might be a good place. The lobby and common areas are accessible. The ramps to the pool and beach are located on each side of the lobby. It's not the most direct route to the pool, but they do have ramps and they are manageable. The elevators will be a challenge for large scooters.

The RIU Jalisco has very small and very slow elevators, but we have rented a variety of chairs to clients at this resort who have stayed without complaint. From our observation there are ramps and wide hallways and a very helpful staff (although the wait to get help can be lengthy). This is probably a good option.

RIU Palace, like the other RIU properties has very accessible common areas. I don't know about the rooms or pools.

The Hard Rock Nuevo Vallarta has very accessible grounds. The common areas are easily managed with any type of mobility aid. The rooms our clients stayed in have been large enough that they didn't need to reserve an accessible room.

Villa del Palmar Flamingos also has beautifully accessible grounds. The staff is helpful and the resort has a nice ambiance. Unfortunately, there is no ramp down to the beach. I don't know if all of the resorts have ramps, but I know that this one does not. The staff is eager to help get a beach wheelchair to the sand and back, but it is a bit of an inconvenience.

Marival Residence and Spa has accessible grounds. We rented a rollator to a guest there, but never saw the rooms. We've been around the grounds a bit and it seems to have mobility built in. I would need more information before making a recommendation.

Marival Resort has a ramp that has a sharp turn. Not all scooters will be able to make the corner without adjusting. The elevators are too small for most scooters, but wheelchairs should fit fine. The grounds are pretty open so getting around seems good. Some of the curbs are not accessible and ramps can be a distance away. As an all inclusive resort, be aware that not all of the restaurants and bars are accessible.

Dreams Villa Magna. We've had a couple of clients here, but only with rollators or walkers. I really don't know if there are ramps, accessible rooms, accessible common areas, restaurants, etc. This will have to wait for another day.

The Royal Decameron in Bucerias worked out well for our clients. The room was moderately accessible, but this client was able to transfer, stand, and walk a few steps. We've been around the grounds, which are pretty accessible. Getting to a ramp isn't always convenient, but it seems possible to get around by going just a little bit out of your way. It's pretty accessible and is a good choice in Bucerias. We did have a beach wheelchair on the beach there. There is a sidewalk along the beach so this is easy access once you get to that level. Just a word about Bucerias, there is a lot of cobblestone and the market has dirt streets.

Vidanta. So, I hate to even add this information, but it must be said. We tried for 2 hours to deliver a wheelchair to a very nice man who was staying at the Grand Luxxe. He was 81 years young, a retired physician, and had fallen and hurt his leg. We chatted with them on the phone and headed to the Vidanta complex to deliver the chair. When we arrived at the gate, the security called the room and talked to the guests to confirm that they were expecting a wheelchair. They then informed the guests that they would need to come to the gate to get the wheelchair. Really? He needs a wheelchair, that's why we're here. Um, he's not able to come to the gate. The guests informed security that they would not be coming to the gate and that they needed to figure out how to get the chair to their suite. Well, we had 2 chair with us as we had no idea what size the gentleman was. Their first suggestion was that they would take the two chairs, collect the money and bring us back one chair and the rental fee. Well, that wasn't okay with us. We like to meet our clients and fit the chair to the rider and show them the features of each chair. So, after 45 minutes of trying to get permission for us to come on ground, the security guard apologized and sent us around to the employee entrance to see if we would have any luck there. By sent us around, I mean we had to go across the river to another state and back around to get to the employee entrance which was walking distance from our location. Anyway, when we got to the employee entrance a nice man met us who was under the impression that he was going to take the chair to the guest. He had no idea that there were two chairs and that we were not surrendering the chair to anyone other than the client. Another 45 minutes later we had a security escort (2 guards) put our chairs in the back of a golf cart, A concierge who brought us two wrist bands and took our driver's licenses and off we went. When we got to the guest the guards accompanied us into the room to oversee the entire interaction. It was a little awkward and the guests were completely embarrassed. We made arrangements to meet them at the airport to retrieve the chair so none of us would have to endure this again (yes, we were told it would be exactly the same the next time and that we would not be allowed onto the property). Well, they escorted us off the property, cut off our wrist bands and then HAD TO CALL FOR PERMISSION to give us back our driver's licenses. Seriously overdone. "Fort Vidanta" or "The Grand Jail" are common names for the property on social media and in conversations around town. The Grand Mayan, Grand Luxxe, Mayan Palace and Grand Bliss are inside this security gate. Guests have told us that it is just as difficult to get out. That they want to walk to the restaurant that they can see, but security will not let them leave the property without taking a taxi (that charges double the usual rate. I don't feel like I can remove this portion as the plan hasn't really changed. However, we have been successful delivering wheelchairs if the client is with us. We stayed at the resort and found that accessibility is not too bad. They have a couple of wheelchair transports that can take you and your power equipment from one place to another. It's important to note since the property is huge. If we are picking up clients, or dropping off clients we are allowed onto the property. If we are dropping of or picking up wheelchairs then there is no system in place for that. All of that aside, the property is beautiful, the restaurants we visited at the Grand Luxxe and around the pools were very accessible. I did not see any lifts or ramps in any of the pool areas, but the resort is large so I'm not going to say they don't exist.

Grand Velas doesn't get it's hotel rating for no reason. The grounds are beautiful and quite accessible. There is no access to the pool if you have limited mobility and I don't know about a ramp to the beach, but the grounds and rooms are manageable.






Shopping
Paradise Plaza is mostly wheelchair accessible. Not much handicapped parking, but there is a parking garage with an elevator. There are some nice restaurants fast food, and a grocery store. The grocery store isn't perfect because you have to enter through the exit, but it has wide isles once you get inside. Some of the boutiques are too stocked to allow a wheelchair access, but they are happy to bring items out for you to see. Again, not ideal, but pretty all around accessible.

Lago Real is another accessible option for Nuevo. Walmart is the anchor store. Not all of the stores are easily managed from a wheelchair or scooter, but overall it is accessible.

Restaurants

I'll have to work on this section. There are some accessible restaurants in 3.14. There are some restrooms in the center section of the building that are shared by all of the establishments. They are accessible. La Dolce Vita and Mr. Cream's are both accessible as is the yogurt place and other smaller restaurants.

Sonora grill has some accessibility, but you will not be able to order your own food because the first step of the process requires just that, a big step of it's own.

House Mama is accessible for the enclosed outdoor seating. They have a good breakfast and I've heard the dinners are good. The indoor seating is not accessible, but the outdoor seating is very nice, so it's not a negative.

D at Marival is accessible with outside seating shared with Nikkson.

Insu at Marival Residence is accessible and has a view that is worth the trip to the rooftop restaurant. The elevator will probably not accommodate a large scooter.

Fajita Republic was accessible. It has a dirt parking area, but is accessible.

Puerto Fish and Wings Army are accessible and have outdoor seating.

There are many more accessible restaurants in the area.

Outdoors
There is a fantastic path that is mostly finished that goes throughout the resort area. It is in the middle of the tree lined median with nice ramps to transition from each area. You could walk or roll the path for a few miles.

Also definitely worth mentioning is the free tourist shuttle. It looks like a trolley car and has a wheelchair lift. It takes you from Paradise Plaza, past the Mayan properties where there are many restaurants and shopping (we'll have to explore, but there is at least a good attempt at accessibility). It goes past 3.14 and along Paseo de los Cocoteros, the street with all of the resorts on it's way back to Paradise Plaza. It's about a 40 minute route and they will let you off and pick you up most places along the way. It's a fun, accessible, free tour of the neighborhood.

Marina/Hotel zone

Beach Crossers often goes to the Marina for the Thursday market. It can get pretty crowded, but not a problem getting a wheelchair around. The sidewalks are a little bumpy, but passable. There are ramps that go up on the inland side of the marina. They get you into many stores and restaurants without any problem. We never did find an accessible restroom, but there may be one. Our best suggestion here would be to go into the Starbucks and use theirs. The door is wide enough to get a chair through and there are hand rails for support. More importantly, it is the only restroom I found that didn't have 5-10 steps to access.  I'll keep looking :)  There are a number of great restaurant choices here. Note that the accessibility comes from the inside walkway and not from the marina side.

Resorts

The Mayan Palace in the Marina is pretty accessible. The room doors are narrow and some areas have walkways that are also narrow that make turning around a challenge. The elevators are equally narrow. That being said, the grounds are pretty good and the room we were in, although not ADA was far more accessible than some other resorts.

We had a client (para) stay at the Westin without any complaints. The grounds were definitely accessible. The room was manageable, and he got around without problems.

Casa Magna Marriott seems accessible. We pushed a chair around and found ramps everywhere we went. We talked to some people who were using a wheelchair and they said they were not in an accessible room, but that the rooms were spacious so using a chair was not difficult. I'm not sure what the bath or kitchen are like. I know they have accessible rooms because this pair had stayed in the accessible room the year before and opted for a standard room this year.

Melia has beautiful accessible grounds. They have an accessible room (maybe more). We haven't seen the room for ourselves, but out clients said it was manageable.

We have a client at Villa Del Palmar that says the room is NOT very accessible. She is a para and has had some real challenges at that resort. In addition, they told the resort multiple times that they would need a wheelchair accessible van to go on the timeshare presentation and they showed up with a suburban expecting to lift her into a seat and her custom chair into the back. They didn't go on the tour. They did pass along the Beach Crossers information so maybe they would use our accessible van in the future. Who knows?

Canto del Sol is NOT accessible. A great staff and they certainly try to help, but the rooms are small and not accessible. The grounds are pretty accessible and again, the staff is wonderful, but probably not the place if you are using a wheelchair.

Pelicanos has beautiful grounds that are accessible. We did not see the wheelchair accessible rooms, but the room we saw had plenty of space. The hallways and doors were a good size. The elevator was kind of small, but we have certainly seen smaller. We would need further information before recommending this resort, but our friends that stayed her loved the small size and when we visited we didn't seen any major challenges for someone in a wheelchair.

Now Amber and Now Secrets were very disappointing. 700 rooms and only 2 accessible. For a newer build in the area that is very disappointing. In addition, the common areas are not fully accessible. There are a few places where there are small steps that could be a problem. We wouldn't recommend these properties for limited mobility clients.

Fiesta Americana has accessible common areas, but we don't know much about the rooms. We have had clients with power equipment that had no problems. I think there is only one accessible room, but the other rooms are roomier than other resorts.

Krystal is another resort that we don't know much about. We have had both beach wheelchairs and power chairs rented to clients who stayed there and heard nothing negative. Perhaps it is a good choice.

El Centro

To the North of the River Cuale there are some restaurants that have sidewalk level outdoor seating. The restaurants are not accessible, but there is accessible seating. There is a place called Day Off that has music and drinks. Unfortunately, the restrooms are not accessible.

The Malecon
This is pretty funny, because if you ask people they will tell you that the Malecon is completely accessible, but it is NOT. The 12 block beach walk is beautifully accessible, but very few of the businesses could you get into with a wheelchair. Where there are ramps, they are steep and sometimes have a 90 degree turn somewhere along the way. There are ramps down to the beach and to the restrooms, but they are for both coming and going and if someone is walking down or up, there is no way to get a chair through. People are good about waiting at the top or bottom so the chair can pass, but ...

Being a Starbucks fan I'll say that we took Mom in her wheelchair to the Starbucks near the main plaza many times. It appears to be inaccessible, but through the entrance to the East of the store is a side entrance with a ramp. In addition, there is a restroom in that same area that, although difficult to get into, is open enough inside for a wheelchair to maneuver. I don't believe there are any hand rails however.

Beach Crossers took a walk of the Malecon from Starbucks to Starbucks. Recently restaurants have moved tables down to the pedestrian area. This makes many of the restaurants that are not accessible a good option. I don't know if this will be a permanent move, but as of now they have tables that any wheelchair can scoot right up to. We also found an ice cream place with a ramp and room to get in and out with a wheelchair. There was only one souvenir store that a wheelchair could get into and only part of the store had aisles wide enough to maneuver. There is a flea market like area just south of McDonalds that has a ramp and the stores there are mostly accessible.

Romantic Zone and South
My best experience with an accessible place in downtown is V 399. It's a long story how we ended up staying in this very upscale condo complex, but we did. The room was accessible, the building accessible, and the rooftop terrace accessible. In addition, the neighborhood right around this building has mostly improved sidewalks with realistic ramps and wide sidewalks. You know sometimes in Vallarta there is a ramp that has a pole right in the middle of it? That would be a whole different blog. LOL.

Andale's Dance and Dinner
Our clients started at the North end of the Malecon looking for somewhere to have a drink and listen to music. They ended up all the way south in the romantic zone at Andele's before they found someplace where she could get her chair inside. They wanted to do some dancing. There are some other places along the way that maybe they missed, but for a place to dance without a cover charge they ended up at Andale's.  There are definitely other places to have a drink and listen to music.

Daiquiri Dick's is fully accessible. You have to go outside to move from the upper inside seating to the lower outdoor seating, but it is possible to get there. The restrooms are fully accessible.

La Fuente del Puente is on the river. You can roll right in. It has pretty authentic Mexican food.

Pipi's restaurant is worth stopping by if you can take a step or two. They have a ramp up to the restaurant and then there is a step to get inside. They will lift even the heaviest scooter to get you inside and are used to doing so. It's not the most authentic and I would even call it Cal-Mex, but the guacamole made fresh at your table and the entertainment is fantastic.

Gaby's restaurant has authentic Mexican, but it is far from accessible.

Roberto's in the romantic zone does not appear to be accessible, but according to Roberto himself, he has a ramp he uses when someone needs it. It may be the same with other restaurants in the area. There is just a small step and maybe they have a small ramp.

We stopped by Los Arcos with a scooter just to see how it would go. We were not able to get the scooter into a bathroom in the lobby area. The staff showed us two different bathrooms that we could try, but it just didn't work. Kudos to them for a good effort.

Villas Mediterraneos has to be mentioned because we stayed there. There is NOTHING about this place that is accessible. Stairs up, stairs down, stairs up again. It's beautiful, but if stairs are an obstacle then this place is an obstacle course.

Garza Blanca.  We had some clients stay there and there were definite challenges. The room they had reserved was on the upside of the road. There is a shuttle that runs, but the shuttle is not wheelchair accessible. Fine if you can transfer, but impossible if not. The part of the resort that is on the ocean side of the road. is mostly accessible, with the exception of some small single steps here and there. They have a ramp that they built for our clients that is now available if you ask. They worked very hard to accommodate.

Today we retrieved a beach wheelchair from Suzie at Hyatt Ziva on the south side of the bay. She is a para staying in a non-accessible room. She told us that although the room was not classified as accessible that it was great. The resort is all inclusive, so there is no kitchen, but the bathroom was large and manageable. There are two towers in the complex. According to Suzie, one is very accessible and the other not so much. All but one of the restaurants (Asian) are in the accessible tower so they were happy with their choices. She did say some of the ramps were quite steep. We only made it to the lobby, but the ramps were wide and not too steep. The common areas appeared to be wide and without unnecessary obstacles. It looked like a good choice for an all inclusive on the south shore.

Other areas

One of my favorite restaurants is very accessible. It is a bit out of the way, but worth the drive. Just about 15 minutes East of Las Juntas in El Colorado. It is owned by a Martha who uses all of her mother and grandmother's recipes, uses natural ingredients and is bilingual. The restaurant has a flat parking area, wide areas between tables, and accessible restrooms. Well worth the drive.