I’ve spent a lot of time in hotels in my life, but all of them have been, well, built when I got there. With walls and bathroom fixtures and everything. So when I got the opportunity to visit the new Hilton Puerto Vallarta Resort to do some pre-urban exploration Mexico. Before it was finished, I decided it would be a perfect opportunity for a website with the word “unfinished” in the title, but has a shortage of articles about unfinished things.
The Hilton Puerto Vallarta Resort is just five minutes south of Gustavo Diaz Ordaz International Airport (PVR) and a ten minute drive from Puerto Vallarta’s city center. It’s right in the middle of the city’s large hotel zone, so its close to all the malls, shopping, and dining in the area. Apparently it will have a buffet and a la carte gourmet dining, limitless beverages, 24-hour room service, daytime activities, recreational amenities, and live nightly entertainment. And this is all on the beach.
As you can see, I’m holding plans and diagrams for the finished product. Also, that water in the pool? That’s not supposed to be there. That’s rain water.
When I was there, the resort was supposed to open in three week, and be finished in two. And it still pretty much looked like this.
When it’s done, the resort will have 257 luxury rooms. Hopefully, they will all have cool bathtubs like this.
What is this?
The workers taking a break. They had a lot of work ahead of them.
My man Juan just finished this bathtub. Look at how cool the outside of it is. It looks like a game of Galaga.
This will be a great view of the beach when it is done. This tub is going to get so much action.
This guy took off his hard hat to clean the pool. I have to believe he won a coin toss to get this job.
From above, the place looks ready to go. Those palm trees are getting antsy. They are prepared for game time.
I wanted to jump in the pool. But I was told, repeatedly, that it wasn’t ready yet.
I dipped my toe in here. It was hot.
I felt important walking around the site. I kept nodding at things in approval and telling people that they were doing a great job.
This seems precarious. Good thing that guy at the bottom was holding this.
There were a few times I realized just how much art and craftwork goes into the construction of a place like this. This was one of those times.
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This place is going to be really big.
I will never again be in a women’s bathroom, with this many women around, with a camera. This is the one and only time.
There’s a lot of work left to do, but everyone seemed very focused and committed to finishing the job. I have no doubt they will be ready to open the resort in three weeks.
It’s hard to imagine that very soon people will be relaxing here in beautiful rooms, using the free wifi and looking out over the ocean. It will seem to them like this place has always existed. They will not see the tremendous the amount of work that went into it and the many hardworking people who poured their sweat into creating this place. There will be meetings and banquets where there were piles of sheetrock and tools just a few weeks before. The staff will be wearing crisp uniforms. Everything will be perfect. And nobody will see what it was like before. I feel like I got a tour through a Hollywood set, and saw the actress before her makeup or coffee, as well as the many people doing the thankless job of making her look like a star.
Are you not done reading about weird stuff in Mexico?
Try Shamans, Spas, and Mel Gibson: Spiritual Tourism in Mexico, Mexico, Beyond the Border and the Hype: Adventure Travel in Veracruz, Cenotes – Underground Sinkhole Exploration for Dummies, or Pre-Urban Exploration Mexico: Hilton Puerto Vallarta Resort
