Whenever we have a little time off and can’t decide on a destination, we almost always book a trip to New Orleans, Austin or San Antonio.
If we have enough time, however, it’s usually ultra-queer-friendly Puerto Vallarta and its surrounding magical towns that top our list for last-minute getaways (or planned-in-advance) a few times a year.
These are the go-to vacation spots we can’t get enough of.
In Puerto Vallarta over the past 20 years, we’ve stayed at vacation rental villas, small condos, intimate boutique hotels, men-only hotels, LGBTQ+ hotels, mega resorts and international chains. So, we truly have a broad understanding of the offerings available to the broad spectrum of queer travelers and more specifically, gay men like us.
So, for our second trip to PV this year so far, we accepted an invitation to check out the property at the highest point of Puerto Vallarta and Banderas Bay: Grand Miramar All Luxury Suites & Residences.
It’s close enough to build sandmen on the beach, too, this holiday season. (Our delicate sensibilities tend to keep us away from places where we can build people of snow. (Is that too woke for ya?)
As a member of Travel Gay, the resort makes a conscious effort to welcome LGBTQ+ people. During our stay, we met several gay men and lesbians traveling together as a group, which really made us feel at ease.
Before we get to the most significant selling point of all, we’ll walk you through our favorite aspects of this gorgeous compound.
After about 25 minutes in our Uber from the airport, we turned off the main highway and immediately began climbing steep, meandering cobblestone roads almost to the top of the cloud-capped mountain. The first drive up to Grand Miramar feels like a thrill ride, but with each subsequent rideshare—and we took many because it’s too steep to walk—we became used to the twists and turns and steep drop-offs toward the Pacific Ocean below.
We did walk down the hill each morning to the beach before the heat settled in, but we always booked an Uber back to the top. From the farthest points in the city’s charming Zona Romantica, it was typically never more than $3-$5 US for an Uber back.
And we found ourselves spending a surprising amount of time simply relaxing on the property, a welcome and unexpected bonus for being just far enough away from our usual afternoons getting into trouble at bars, drag brunches, and side-street massage joints.
Each suite at Grand Miramar features a spectacular ocean view, so whether you book the smallest or largest room in their portfolio, the views always wow. We were given a Grand Junior Suite as our luxurious home base for four nights.
It featured a kitchenette complete with stovetop, microwave, refrigerator and dishwasher, though we have no clue why anyone would go on vacation and cook in their hotel room. Tequila in the freezer and beer in the fridge? That we can get behind.
Our room featured a large, room-for-three-or-four-men shower, a jetted soaking tub, a sumptuous king-size bed and those majestic ocean views. Your room balcony would be an ideal place for sunset, but nowhere as good as the rooftop restaurant, Eugenia.
During the day, the rooftop deck is an adults-only pool retreat, but come 5:00 p.m., the pool closes, the white table cloths come out and the stage is set for casual fine dining with the best sunset views in all of Puerto Vallarta. We found ourselves there for dinner three nights in a row, something we never do on vacation, but it was way too perfect to not take full advantage of this unique culinary opportunity.
During sunset one night, our server came to take our photos and apologized for ruining our “romantic moment.” We didn’t have the heart to tell him we were window-shopping on Grindr, a different kind of romantic endeavor. Yet his thoughtfulness showcases this hotel’s much-welcome inclusivity, like Puerto Vallarta itself.
In addition to the rooftop infinity pool, the resort features three lower-level pools, including one with a swim-up bar and a giant hot tub for saoking up those same ocean vistas. We only wish the hot tub stayed open later than 9:00 p.m. for a little thermal relaxation under the stars.
Grand Miramar also features the full-service View Spa, a breakfast buffet restaurant, a well-equipped fitness center, an early morning coffee shop with talented baristas and a comprehensive concierge service.
If you’re really brave, there’s a steep staircase just behind the hotel that leads to a rustic path through the rainforest to an even more majestic view of the deep-blue Pacific and lush, surrounding jungles. The path gets very treacherous with even a little rain, plus our husband saw a snake slither by (and decided to wait until we were back in our suite to divulge this tidbit), but wow, the resulting panoramic views at Mirador Conchas Chinas were worth the risk.
At Grand Miramar, we felt extremely safe, too. With security guards staffing the front entrance 24 hours a day, they checked our name and room number at the lobby entrance each time we arrived or departed the property. You know, so they’d send a search party if we didn’t make it back from our snake-and-rain jungle adventure.
As for the biggest selling point we promised at the start of this story, you’re going to be blown away by the incredibly affordable prices at Grand Miramar. Our Grand Junior Suite runs an average of $200 US most nights in November and December and even less later in January. It jumps a bit from actual Christmas week leading up to New Year’s Eve, but everywhere in PV goes up then.
Holidays in PV exude romance and magic, so it’s worth the splurge.
So, if you’re looking to be above it all (literally and figuratively) on your next Puerto Vallarta vacay, we can’t recommend Grand Miramar All Luxury Suites & Residences highly enough. The quiet surroundings and unparalleled westward views more than make up for the cheap, convenient 10-minute Uber or taxi rides into the Zona Romantica.
Because the only thing we love more than a luxe getaway is an affordable luxe getaway.
Throw in hot men and we may never leave.
Grand Miramar All Luxury Suites & Residences
grandmiramar.comPhotos Courtesy of Grand Miramar
