Club Regina Puerto Vallarta

Raintree’s Club Regina is a large, colorful beachfront resort in the Marina Vallarta section of Puerto Vallarta. Known to locals just as Club Regina, Raintree Vacation Club is the brand that owns the resort, which is 100 percent time-share. It's next door to the sprawling Westin hotel, and guests may notice that the buildings and the pool look almost identical. Well, the property used to be the combined Westin Regina, but several years ago it split into two, and Club Regina became the time-share side while the Westin is a regular hotel. Also, Westin falls into the upscale category, while Regina is upper-middle-range.The buildings and hallways are painted in a bright, tropical pink color. The grounds of the hotel are beautifully kept, with lots of tropical plants and palm trees. The large property includes the sprawling pool, three restaurants, an outdoor bar, a beach volleyball area, and a small beach. Contemporary and traditional Mexican artwork is displayed throughout the lobby and corridors of the hotel, including a large abstract art piece constructed of plastic children’s toys and dolls painted in a bright pink color that matches the hotel’s exterior. The atmosphere alternates between laid-back and lively, and clientele is a mix of families, couples, and friends. For example, in the main activity center of the pool, loud music may be blasting with games going on, but other parts of the pool can be calm and quiet. 

Club Regina is located in the Marina Vallarta section of Puerto Vallarta, an area filled with many hotels and resorts, just north of the Hotel Zone. There are a handful of restaurants and shops, including a Starbucks, within walking distance of the resort. The back of the resort faces onto the large marina with many boats, and the front is directly on a small, protected portion of beach on Banderas Bay. It’s pretty far from the main downtown area of Puerto Vallarta compared to other resorts, about 25 minutes by taxi from the Malecon, which is a lovely oceanfront promenade with weekly live music. The best part about this location is that you can’t get much closer to the airport: It takes less than 10 minutes by car or taxi to get to the terminal.

There 222 rooms include hotel rooms, Club Suites, and Grand Suites. The Club Suites have one bedroom, a sofa bed in the living room, and two full baths. The Grand Suites offer two bedrooms, two baths, and a living room. While all suites include both a fully equipped kitchen and a private balcony with a jetted hot tub for two, the hotel rooms give the options of either a kitchen or a hot tub – but not both.The modern, updated kitchens have granite countertops and are equipped with a two-burner stovetop, microwave, blender, coffeemaker, and even a dishwasher. Overall, the decor is contemporary, featuring light colors, like lots of whites and beiges, and light wood furniture. Every room has a nice flat-screen TVs and air-conditioning. The bathrooms are decent, but certain areas such as the showers have older tile and could use some updating. Some rooms have sweeping views of the beach from the private balconies.

Club Regina’s standout feature is the excellent, sprawling pool area. The huge free-form pool has many sections of different depths that wind around the property, including some shallow areas for kids, some quiet nooks for tranquility seekers, and others areas that are full of activity. Shallow lounge seats are built right into the pool in some places and there’s a large hot tub in a central area. Many nice, padded lounge chairs line the edges of the pool all around, providing plenty of seating, and there’s lots of shade.There’s a swim-up bar that’s part of the Tenampa Pool Bar, open during the day for lunch and lighter fare. The resort’s main restaurant is called Restaurant Inizio, a more formal setting with indoor and outdoor seating areas. It’s open for dinner and breakfast, offering an above-average breakfast buffet, with lovely pastries, fresh fruits, hot breakfast items, and Mexican dishes. Next door Bar Vajra is opening only in the evenings, an outdoor lounge area with large fountains and lovely views down to the ocean and beach. The last dining option is La Cevicheria, a small, casual bar and cafe in the sand, featuring tacos and seafood.Other amenities include a large deli and convenience store in the lobby that sells coffee, wine, snacks, medicines, and other essentials. There’s also a jewelry shop and activities and tour-booking desks in the large lobby complex. There’s a kids' club near the pool that does arts and crafts and other activities. Next to the main restaurant, there’s a business center with several computers. Wi-Fi is available around the hotel for an extra daily fee. Guests are offered free access to the fitness center next door at the Westin (though use of the sauna and steam room will incur a fee).

The beach at Club Regina is relatively small and enclosed – it’s not a place to take long walks on the beach. There are man-made jetties on each side that help break the waves for swimming. There are dozens of lounge chairs provided (though very close together) and many umbrellas – yet it’s still quite crowded and it might be hard to find a spot in peak season. This area of beach sees lots of vendors wandering around, selling everything from sarongs to jewelry to hair braiding. Nearby inside the hotel’s grounds, there are a beach volleyball court, a ping-pong table, and an activity hut that books tours and offers kayaks for rent.