The Emperador is a stylish, mid-range boutique hotel in a great location on Los Muertos Beach, right on the cusp of the charming cobblestone streets of the Romantic Zone. It has a beachfront locale with ocean views and is a short walk from several restaurants, sidewalk cafes, and shops. While the suites are spacious and include a kitchenette, the Standard Rooms are tiny and the bathrooms are all rather dated and uninspiring. There’s no pool and few amenities, but the restaurant and bar downstairs (separately owned) leads right out onto the sand.

The Tropicana is a large, traditional Mexican-styled beachfront hotel at the edge of the Romantic Zone in downtown Puerto Vallarta. It enjoys an excellent beachfront location and many of the 203 rooms feature a balcony with great ocean views, though the rooms themselves are bland and somewhat dated. Updates to the rooms are also not uniform, and many still sport dingy tile or old tube TVs. Still, this family-friendly property offers two pools, a bar, and restaurant, amounting to a rather typical, low-key mid-range property that’s popular with Mexican families and tourists alike. A smaller, more intimate option could be the Hotel Posada de Roger.