When my family and I first arrived at the highly anticipated Marival Residences Luxury Resort we were not disappointed. We were first greeted by Ismael the bell hop. We were greeted with a welcome home. We arrived at the hotel around 8 at night and the check in was quick and pain less which my wife and I was grateful for with three kids which one was a baby. Once we were checked in to the resort, we received our all-inclusive bracelets and went to check out our room. We stayed in a two-bedroom suite with an ocean view and the room was just like the pictures. We decided to do the family emotions package and some people think that it isn’t worth it. I can say that it was completely worth it for us with a 9-month-old. We didn’t know it that the filled the fridge with Gerber baby food and baby yogurt. The room was with are requested items for the baby which we pick out before our arrival date. We requested a highchair and a stroller for the baby. These items were on display when we entered the room. Before going to dinner, we went to the front desk to request a baby crib and it was waiting for us in the master bedroom when we return to the room. The first overall appearance of the resort was beautiful. The lobby isn’t a huge display of high ceilings. I have been to resort like this before and I can personal say that this lobby seem more personal then others.

The staff at the resort were amazing. We were able to know four staff very well during our stay there. Juan Carlos, Lamberto, Manuel, and Ismael. Juan Carlos, Lamberto and Manuel were the gentlemen that served us drinks and food at the pool each day. They were all amazing. Mr. Juan Carlos was service everyday with a smile. He was fast and always attentive to my whole family. Mr.Lamberto, was great. He loved my 9-month-old and when we were their on our last day he gave hugs and kiss and was so sad to see her leave. See left with a big smile on her face. He was very friendly and not just took care of my wife and I, but also my other two kids. He would bring them drinks as well surprising them with different types of drinks with a bottle of water in between the special drinks. Manuel was great. I’m not sure if he know as much English as the other two but he was fast a good at keep drinks by the pool for us to enjoy. Other staff around the hotel were all friendly and was all very helpful.

The food was amazing. Each meal that we had either by pool side or restaurant was delicious. No meal disappointed and my kids love the options that they had for the buffet. The tacos at the buffet for breakfast were amazing. Home made corn tortillas were some of the best that I have ever had. The Insu sky bar is great for having tapas and drinks at sunset. The staff at the bar was amazing. They have a dj at night who want to enjoy some tapas and drinks at night.

The person that truly made the trip special was Jennifer from the family emotions program. We didn’t meet Jennifer until the second day until because we arrived late at the resort. Jennifer took good care of us and took notes on the family needs for the room. She helped organized an excursion for the family to part take in swimming with a seal. My 9-month old and I watched as my wife and two older kids took advantage of the excursion. We were able to take advantage of other excursions but felt that the others were just to long for the baby. She organized a picnic and a photo shoot for use that was also apart of the family emotions program. She organized everything for the picnic and made dinner reservations for us after our photo shoot that we had on the beach. Jennifer was a true life saver during our stay at the resort. Hannibal the photographer was amazing. He took great photos and kept the whole family engaged during the 30 minutes of the photo shoot.

My family and I would like to say thank you to all of the staff here at the great resort and a very special thank you to those who help make our family vacation truly special. My kids said that this was the best vacation they ever had.

My wife and I have visited this resort a total of 3 times, this being the third. We were so excited to check out the new beach club on property, and it did not disappoint. The food was delicious, the view unreal and it has the only pool on the property that is cool enough to be refreshing.
So the first visit was 9 years ago when you had to head over to the sister resort to use the beach club. At that time the person who took such good care of us was Francisco. We returned 3 years later to the same beach club and lo and behold there was Francisco who remembered my wife and I not only by face, but by name! Jump ahead another 3 years and the first morning we checked out the new beach club, guess what? You got it, Francisco walks up and greets us by name with a wonderful and genuine hug. Unbelievable considering how many faces Francisco sees year in and year out.
Being retired from many years in the hospitality business no one knows better than I the importance of consistency at a resort, both the quality of dining and as important consistency in the employees. It is a very transient business where it is very seldom you see the same faces through the years. As a matter of fact, I must also mention that at our first dinner at Mozzo Mare at the beach, we were greeted, again by our first names, by one of the Captains of the servers Cesar, who we hadn't seen in as many years. Unreal!! It is this feeling of being a part of family that brings us back. We also now have a new friend Alma who was so engaging and welcoming to us. I bet she will remember us as well!
As long as Marival continues it's tradition of providing great service by such loyal and hard working people, we shall continue to use this resort as our home away from home in Nayarit.

We just got back from a week at Marival Residences. Esthetically, the resort is immaculate - we saw gardeners hard at work daily to ensure the grounds were pristine. We stayed with our four kids ages 14, 11, 8, and 3 in a 2-bdrm penthouse suite. The room was OK. The layout was super odd - zero privacy in the master bathroom because there was a wide open space where the soaking tub was - yet they put a door on the bathroom entry, why? Still scratching my head on that one. We had a full kitchen that we never used. Do in-room kitchens get used at an all-inclusive resort? Puzzling. The beds were terribly hard and very uncomfortable. So uncomfortable that there was no salvaging it with the extensive pillow menu. We had a/c issues while there as well as hot water issues... Maintenance came to try to resolve it, but only half-fixed the issues. Basically all six of us ended up using one shower. Also, the location of our room made it super inconvenient to access the elevator with a stroller - we either had to carry it up some steps first, or go out of our way to the other side of the building where there was a ramp before we got to where the elevator was. We were considering a villa over the penthouse, and in hindsight, that would have been a better pick for private pool and lots of space.

We had the family emotion add-on, which I was a little bit let down by. What I was most looking forward to were the in-room snacks for my kids, but I felt like it was a bit sparse - and not to their tastes. Not everyone likes barbecue-flavored potato chips. But there was no option to choose any of the nibbles that appeared in our room. And no snacks or kids milks were ever replenished without asking.
Family Emotion came with a photo session which is something I would never have done on my own, because kids. Our photographer did a great job though, it was only slightly inconvenient to have to go to the other resort to view the pics. The included excursions my 2 older kids enjoyed immensely. But if you have young kids, it's not worth it. Most of the excursions are geared towards an older set, or adults.
The beach picnic was by far the highlight of the family emotion add-on. Simple, perfect. Jennifer was our family concierge and she checked in daily but I would have appreciated more effort going towards helping me take care of a lot of the planning and decisions ahead of our arrival. An email or phone call a week out would have saved me the stress and time when I was on vacation. I mentioned this, but they claimed to not have my email because we booked through a travel agent. I feel fairly confident the resort could have easily tracked down some contact info, but it was probably easier for them to wait until we got there.

We did go to the sister resort for one show and to check out the kiddie pool with slides. Whoa, that place is a madhouse. Consider yourself warned. If you are going for relaxing and quiet - don't go there. Stay at the residences. The shuttle back and forth from each resort is interesting. Priority is clearly given to the people leaving the Residences. If you're waiting at Marival Emotion, you might have to phone a friend back at the residences and ask him or her to hop on a shuttle just so you can come back.

Food: It's OK. Not the best, not the worst. The important thing is they try to make you happy. I applaud them trying to take on so many various cuisines.

Other things we enjoyed: The gym is really nicely equipped for this size of resort. My kids and I enjoyed playing tennis. The beach cabanas were awesome and cozy. We usually didn't have to fight for a pool chair. Basically everyone serving drinks at every bar were super friendly and accommodating and just cheerful and pleasant to us the whole time. The beach butlers were top notch. I loved how all the pools had a zero entry for small kids or for those that only like dip a toe. The resort is not too rowdy.

Other things we didn't like: Premium liquors were still an extra charge. There was only one breakfast option unless you're a diamond member or timeshare owner or whatever. Room service came with an extra charge. Wifi isn't great.

Overall the resort was fine, but for the money, I'd look elsewhere before revisiting.