Hotel Splash Inn Nuevo Vallarta

This is a straightforward hotel for a diving trip that also needs room for family, a car or a day away from the water. Hotel Splash Inn Nuevo Vallarta has 35 rooms, a restaurant, a bar, free Wi-Fi and pool facilities, so the essentials are close at hand rather than scattered around town.

The hotel team speaks English and Spanish, which makes the useful conversations easier: check-in, meals, excursions and the small practical questions that tend to appear once you are carrying wet kit and thinking about dinner. Families are welcome, and room categories cover solo travellers, couples and groups of up to four.

There is a garden and a terrace for sitting outside, plus a fitness area for anyone who still has energy after the day. For everyone else, the pool is a perfectly respectable place to stop moving.

The hotel is in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, at the entrance to Jarretaderas in Bahia de Banderas, on the Carr. Tepic–Vallarta road. Its address puts you on the road rather than in the centre of town, which is useful if you are travelling by car and less useful if your ideal evening involves wandering out on foot from a central square.

Puerto Vallarta city centre is 11 km away. The hotel is near the beach, while the address places it beside the main road through the area. Free on-site parking makes the location easier to use for road trips, rental cars and days spent exploring beyond the hotel.

The setting also works for a mixed group: one person can head out for an excursion, another can use the pool, and children have a play area and their own pool facility to keep them occupied.

The room choice is mainly about how much space and which practical extras you want. Solo travellers have a single standard option, while couples can choose a double room, including versions with a double bed, a balcony or a view. Family and group categories accommodate up to three or four people, making them the sensible direction when several bags and several people need to coexist without a complicated room plan.

The balcony rooms are the most useful choice for a diver who values a bit of personal outside space and wants the everyday kit close by. They combine air conditioning with a fan, a fridge, a private bathroom, a shower, towels, toiletries, a television, Wi-Fi and water. The fridge is the sort of detail that earns its keep when you return hot, thirsty and not especially interested in a treasure hunt for cold water.

Air conditioning and fans also appear in several double, triple and quadruple categories. Standard rooms have private bathrooms, and some include televisions. Room equipment varies by category, so check the individual room card carefully before choosing; the differences are practical rather than decorative. Room service is available when going downstairs feels like an unnecessary expedition.

Food is handled on site with a restaurant serving local cuisine, a bar for drinks and breakfast. After a full day out, that gives you the useful option of eating without immediately organising another journey, while the bar covers the less ambitious requirement of sitting down with something cold in front of you.

There is also a food vending machine for the moments when hunger arrives at an inconvenient hour or a full meal is not what you want. Room service is available as well, which can be handy when the day has run long and the bed is winning the argument.

Meal inclusion depends on the room offer you choose, so check the individual booking conditions rather than assuming breakfast or the restaurant is bundled into every stay. The practical point is simple: breakfast, a restaurant, a bar and room service are all available within the hotel.

The water facilities are the main reason to stay put for an afternoon. There is a swimming pool, an outdoor pool, a water park and a children’s pool, giving families more to do than simply wait for the next excursion. A children’s play area adds another useful outlet for younger guests.

For adults who want to move without turning the day into another expedition, the fitness area is on site. The garden and terrace offer quieter places to sit, while the pool gives you the classic post-dive decision: swim a little, or sit beside the water and claim that resting is part of the training plan.

The hotel can also assist with excursions and ticket arrangements. That leaves the day open to something beyond the pool, without requiring you to organise every detail alone.

Check-in runs from 15:00 to 22:30, with a 12:00 check-out. Reception is open around the clock, and express check-in and check-out are available, useful when travel plans do not fit neatly into hotel-office hours.

Free Wi-Fi and free on-site parking are available. The hotel also offers concierge assistance, excursion support, a wake-up service and ironing facilities. The accommodation is non-smoking, with designated smoking areas, and accessibility facilities include wheelchair access and an accessible restaurant.

Visa, Mastercard and American Express are accepted. Children over the age of three are treated as adults for the booking. The hotel has air conditioning throughout its general facilities, and the rooms with balconies include a fridge as well as air conditioning and a fan.