One&Only Mandarina

This was our first experience at an O&O and it was spectacular!! The location is very unique how they built the resort into the jungle and everything felt very private. We were a group of 6 friends and shared a 2 bedroom Ocean View Villa Banderas, which was more than enough space for everyone!! The villa had two large bedrooms, a full size living and dining room, 3 full bathrooms and our own private plunge pool. Breakfast was wonderful at Alma everyday, and you had the option of buffet items and ordering from the menu. Dinner at Allora was amazing on a deck right on the beach. We had the place literally to ourselves with a full staff taking care of us. Lunch at the Jetty was also delicious and the views from all the pools/restaurants is outstanding. Carao was a little disappointing as the service was slow and not up to par with how we were treated at every other location. The food also missed the mark here which was unfortunate, it was expensive and just not the flavors/quality we were expecting from the "best" restaurant on the property. What really made our trip special and set this resort over the top was the service and attention we received from our butler Tomas. He was always available to help with anything that we needed and made our stay so memorable. We have already booked a return trip for next year and will absolutely request to have Tomas take care of us!

The rooms with stunning views, the incredibly kind and accommodating staff, the food, pool snd beach club services - this resort has it all for couples looking for a gorgeous, relaxed holiday in the sun! It is our second time. First in a Premier Panoramic Cliff Villa snd this time on the other side of the property in a stunning Premier Panoramic Ocean Treehouse. We will definitely return again!

This fantastic property is very expensive, but it has stunning villsa, excellent service, fantastic restaurants, a beautiful setting, and incredibly nice and accommodating staff. The gym and yoga classes are first-class. All movement around the resort pretty much requires that you call for golf cart transportation. Once you become comfortable with the routine, it works well. A truly beautiful property.

Service! Setting! Wow The setting is just spectacular but more than that is the authentic and warm service. Everyone is just there to please—from Ivan at the ocean to Fernando at breakfast — warm and wonderful service. The spa is spectacular with amazing massage and mud bath. The food and drinks are top notch too.

My partner and I spent three nights in the Ocean Treehouse room at Mandarina. Overall, we had a lovely stay. The property, setting, grounds and room are all incredible. The food was varied and delicious, and the amenities (and in particular, the spa) were great. This property had some issues to work through, but it could definitely be a 5/5. The good: -The room was perfect. Perched in the cliff overlooking the coastline, every detail was great. We loved spending time in it, especially the balcony and hot pool -We loved all the restaurants and each was different and delicious. In particular, lunch at Jetty Beach was a highlight along with Alma & Carou for dinner -The grounds, set in a lush jungle on the cliff, were very well maintained and the setting was incredible -The beach club, Canalan, was very special and highly recommend checking it out. It’s set on a remote beach with great Italian food, a pool right on the sand, and good service -They did a great job on the spa and we loved our massages The bad: -The golf cart (buggy) system is by far the worst part of the hotel. We came on a holiday weekend, in which the hotel was at full occupancy, and we had to wait an average of 30-40 min the first two days. This only changed after we complained to management -The two pools have nowhere near enough chairs for the 100 rooms. We couldn’t even go to the pool the first two days due to capacity issues -They don’t have enough tables at the two breakfast options and we had to wait 20-30 min the first two morning before we could get a table Overall, it was a great property but I wouldn’t recommend visiting on a holiday week/weekend or at peak times like Christmas.

I was in O&O last weekend with my husband celebrating our anniversary. The place is truly gorgeous but our experience was soured by a number of occurrences that you just don’t expect happening in a place where the going rate is over $2,000usd per night. 1. Flawed payment system and abusive exchange rate - I booked this hotel early January and received a link for 2-day deposit upfront payment. We tried several cards but hotel payment system didn’t work as we kept getting “try again later” messages. We called reservations and they first told us it was our card, we called our bank and the card worked just fine. Then they sent us details to make a bank transfer. The hotel quotes in US dollars but conveniently their system couldn’t process dollar payments and we were forced to pay in pesos at an exchange rate of 1 peso higher than the official rate, an extra way for the hotel to do skimming of approx. 6% on exchange rate. For a Mexican citizen it’s quite offensive and foreigners will see higher amounts on their credit cards because of this double conversion. 2. Lack of communication post reservations and poor attention from guest experience. Once we sent the payment confirmation to the hotel Reservations we were told that we would get confirmation when the accounting department receives the payment. We never did. In two days I sent an email inquiring on airport transportation options. Next day I got a reply referring me to @Luis Daniel Serna De Luna from “guest experience” who was supposed to be in touch and address all our needs within 24-48 hours due to “high volume of emails”. One week later we received no word from Luis Serna so I had to send another email inquiring on the status of our reservations and transfer information. I got a reply 3 days later saying that all agents are attending January requests first and once they are done they will commence with February (like if it was a crappy limited service hotel) and again they referred me to Luis Serna who never actually answered the chain of emails. 10 days before our trip I decided to call the hotel directly as email communication seemed pointless. I spent 20 minutes with a lady from “guest experience” inquiring about hotel transfer options and making dinner reservations for our trip. She told me she will send me confirmations by email. One week has passed and no confirmations was received. I had to call again and this time I got the “famous” Luis Serna on the phone who notified me that he didn’t see any dinner reservations in the system. At this point I got furious as this is not something you expect from a hotel that charges $2,000+ a night. 3. Carao restaurant overrated and forgot our special occasion - on the day of our anniversary we had a reservation in Carao restaurant of the famous Enrique Olivera, chef of Pujol in Mexico City. It seems that the staff was not aware of our anniversary as we got seated at a table facing each other instead of next to each other and next to a table w

Ultimate question, would I come back? I liked the jungle atmosphere and the beautiful pool and spa amenities, my husband prefers a laid back beachy vibe so from an atmosphere perspective it would be a yes for me and a no for him. However, what takes me from a yes to a no is perhaps the lack of communication on property amenities/activities available and overall service. If I spend $12k for a 4 night vacation my expectation is that yes baseline room is beautiful and food is good but service and experiences need to be special. Unfortunately, this was my first One and Only stay so I feel less inclined in trying the others or spending my money to give it another go. If I want to try this area again I will probably try the Rosewood opening up down the road. Setting - The location of this property makes this hotel pretty unique when I think about options for 5 star Mexican resorts. It’s set on the hillside, and built into the jungle. In someways, it reminds me of staying at Ventana in Big Sur. Remote, very green, lots of wildlife and limited in some amenities and culinary options due to remoteness. It is quite a distance between rooms and amenities so there is lots of hilly walking or gold carts to drive you. I don’t mind it because I love walking but if you don’t or want to wear heels you will have to rely on golf carts. They have plenty but plan to text your host 10 min in advance to get picked up. Room - we opted for the ocean cliff villa. The design is modern and brutalist, very tasteful with lots of storage space and plenty of room if you had a kid with you. The bathroom lighting is dim so if you prefer more light for makeup I would pack a small mirror with light or ask for one when you arrive. In reflection I would probably have gone for a treehouse with an ocean view personally, while not as private I think our view was subpar compared to what looked like the ocean view you could get from a treehouse room. You could also get a panoramic ocean villa if you utilize the small room pool. I would also ask for a room in the 200s as you are closer to the gym and spa as well as Carao and adult only pool. Food - the food we ate poolside at the adult pool and Carao was our favorite. Great service and food. Alma breakfast was good but quite often we found ourselves asking a few times for things that were forgotten. We ate at Allora the first night, while food was good and backdrop beautiful the service was extremely slow so we didn’t go back. They also played Christmas music which wasn’t really the vibe in Feb. Allora isn’t a part of the O&O though so that could explain the slow service. The frustrating part is that we found out later that you could eat at Carao for breakfast some mornings, the Jetty had dinner, and you could eat at Chukkar another restaurant in Mandarina. We wish these options were made clear at the beginning of our stay so we didn’t have to eat at the same places during our 4 night stay. Host / concierge - I think this is the ar

We stayed in 2bd Tortuga villa with 2 kids. Excellent new property, unique jungle. Very good service, fast, smart, attentive, enough trained personnel that became rare even in top luxury hotels after the pandemic. We were concerned about big waves in the ocean (which is common in these types of resorts) but a special pier makes waves small and very comfortable. Also buggies are an advantage as they are very convenient and there are 100 villas that are far from each other so you have the unique feeling that you are alone on the hill. General Manager Serge Ditesheim and his team are doing a great job to deliver extraordinary experience. Highly recommend visiting before there is a direct flight to Puerto Vallarta from Europe as it will raise demand and prices.

We just finished a wonderful 4 days at the One&Only in Narayit. Some impressions: the 75 minute ride from the airport is worth it! The setting is about 100 rooms carved into the volcanic hill side / cliffs of Mandarina. All the rooms seem to be outstanding, private, ultra cool treehouses on stilts. As good as any we have started in anywhere. The panoramic ocean view definitely worth the splurge. We were lucky to call Room 324 our home. A staff favorite for good reason. Food was generally excellent. Alma the lesser of three three choices. Cárao the best dining experience with more local flare. Allora great on the beach Italian choice. The staff were uniformly excellent. Whatever wrinkles were referenced seem to have been ironed out. The biggest star is the setting. Truly unique. Nothing quite like it anywhere. Singita’s lodges can compare. To have something this exotic so close is a joy! So why four stars? The One&Only charge a service fee of 20% (!!) on top room and board and taxes. Payable before you arrive. The hotel says you can leave your wallet in your room as gratuities are included. The problem is that the service fee (which came in at ~$1,500), covered exactly nothing. Suggested gratuities, starting at 18%, are printed on every bill you get. From restaurants to the Spa to the beach bar. Add 20% to your 20%. It all felt a bit deceitful. Overall, a spectacular stay, despite the gouging.