Where to stay in Puerto Vallarta depends on one trade-off: how much you want to walk to restaurants and the beach, against how much space, view and privacy you want at the villa. The town runs along the eastern edge of Banderas Bay, with the old centre and the Romantic Zone in the middle, the hotel zone and marina to the north, and the steep, green South Shore running south to the end of the road at Boca de Tomatlán. Almost all of the private villas are in the centre and to the south.
The short answer
To walk everywhere: the Romantic Zone and Amapas. For the best bay views a short taxi from town: Conchas Chinas. For space, privacy and oceanfront villas: the South Shore, from Punta Negra to Mismaloya. For a large group in the old town: the hillsides of Alta Vista and Old Town. For somewhere with no road at all: the boat-only villages beyond Boca de Tomatlán.
The Romantic Zone (Zona Romántica)
The Romantic Zone, south of the Cuale River, is Vallarta’s most walkable neighbourhood: cobbled streets, most of the town’s best-known restaurants and bars, Los Muertos beach and the pier where water taxis leave for the south shore. It is lively at night and is the centre of Vallarta’s LGBTQ+ scene. The trade-off is noise, and villas here tend to be smaller, with views rather than grounds.
Villa Iris, with nine bedrooms, is our villa in the Romantic Zone.
Old Town and Alta Vista
The hillsides above the historic centre and the Malecón hold some of Vallarta’s largest houses, built for families and groups, with the cathedral and the town below. Villa Savana, on the hillside of Alta Vista, has 15 bedrooms and sleeps up to 38, overlooking the Romantic Zone and the bay. Casa Yvonneka, with 14 bedrooms, sits on the hillside above Old Town about a 10-minute walk from the beach. Both are hillside homes rather than beach houses.
Amapas
Amapas is the hillside just south of Los Muertos, where the Romantic Zone meets the start of the coast. It combines walkability with real views: you can walk down to Los Muertos and into town, then come back to a quiet terrace above the water. Villa Estrella Mar, an eight-bedroom Spanish colonial estate on the waterfront, has direct access to a secluded beach and is about a 10-minute walk from the Romantic Zone. See all our Amapas villas.
Conchas Chinas
Conchas Chinas begins where Amapas ends, about two miles south of downtown, and rises steeply from a small beach with natural rock pools. It is the neighbourhood most people mean when they talk about villas in Puerto Vallarta: large homes on the hill with views across the whole bay, a few minutes by taxi from the Romantic Zone.
We have 16 villas in Conchas Chinas. Villa Verde (six bedrooms) is directly on Conchas Chinas beach. Upper Conchas Chinas has the larger estates, such as Villa Montecito (12 bedrooms), Hacienda de las Flores (ten bedrooms) and Villa Santa Cruz (eight bedrooms). The higher you go, the wider the view and the less practical walking to town becomes.
The South Shore
South of Conchas Chinas, the coastal highway winds past Punta Negra, Garza Blanca and Mismaloya toward Boca de Tomatlán. This is where the villas get bigger and more private, many of them oceanfront on the rocks, with downtown 10 to 20 minutes away by car. It suits families and groups who plan to spend most of their time at the villa.
Our South Shore villas include Casa Peregrina (ten bedrooms, oceanfront, just past Garza Blanca), Casa Peña del Mar (six bedrooms, in the gated community of Sierra del Mar at Los Arcos), Villa Padre and Villa Magnifico in Mismaloya, and Villa Mandarinas, our largest at 16 bedrooms.
Beyond the road: Quimixto and the boat-only coast
Past Boca de Tomatlán there is no road, only water taxis to beaches and villages such as Las Ánimas, Quimixto and Yelapa. Staying here means arriving by boat and accepting that a dinner in town is a trip. Villa Mixto is on the beach in Quimixto, with six bedrooms, a yoga studio, kayaks and paddleboards.
North of town: the Hotel Zone, Marina and Nuevo Vallarta
North of the centre are the Hotel Zone, Marina Vallarta and, across the state line in Nayarit, Nuevo Vallarta: flatter, closer to the airport, and built around resorts and condos rather than private villas. If you want a villa on the north side of the bay, look instead at Punta Mita, about 45 minutes from the airport at the bay’s northern tip, a gated peninsula of oceanfront villas with its own beaches and golf.
How to choose
Start with your group and how you want to spend the days. Couples and small groups who want restaurants on foot do best in the Romantic Zone or Amapas. Families who want a pool and a view, with the town a short taxi away, usually choose Conchas Chinas. Large groups and anyone planning to stay put choose the South Shore. Our guides to Puerto Vallarta beaches and the best time to visit Puerto Vallarta cover the rest, or browse all Puerto Vallarta villas.
Send us your dates and group size, and we will shortlist the villas that fit.
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