We loved Hotel Rosita. We had originally booked two nights only in case we didn't like it. We were given an ocean-view room just as we had booked and although the room decoration was basic, we had a great shower and huge, very comfortable bed. The sound of the waves at night was lovely and lulled us to sleep.

When we decided that we wanted to stay on for the remaining six nights that we had left in Puerto Vallarta, we were able to but unfortunately we had to change our room as it was already reserved. We were given a few options to look at and we chose a corner room that had balconies overlooking the Malecon and also the sea.

The room was larger and had been redecorated but the noise from the street side was deafening. Somehow we managed to live with it and really it was our only negative criticism.

The location is very central to shops and restaurants (and there are some very good ones in PV). Right across the street is an upstairs Thai restaurant called Talenta which is very nice and managed by a friendly French girl called Agnes. Its fun to have a table outside overlooking the street.

We loved walking the beach and seeing all the pelicans. However, if you are a swimmer this is not a good location as there is a very strong and dangerous undercurrent. Swimming is not recommended here.

If we are ever in Mexico again we would love to return to Puerto Vallarta and especially the Hotel Rosita. The staff are so friendly and helpful, the price is right and the location perfect. Just bring earplugs!

We stayed at the Rosita eight nights at the end of January. Our first room was streetside. The first two nights were week nights and we were able to sleep with earplugs, but the road cruising/party noise was outrageous on Friday and Saturday nights and lasted till near to dawn. We hoped we could deal with the noise following the weekend but were just too rattled by then to be able to relax, and eventually asked to move. We paid an extra $30/night for an ocean side room but it was sooo wonderful to hear those waves crashing all night long. Before we changed rooms we were trying to find a better, (and quieter) deal so we looked at a lot of old hotels in the Romantic Zone which were cheaper but couldn't bring ourselves to stay in them. They didn't seem to be very clean and that part of town had a lot of very loud music playing even on the week nights.
The Rosita was clean and had a lot of architectural character to it, but just watch out for the wool blankets you will find folded in your room. I propped up my knees on ours one night and got bug bites on the back of my legs, but didn't put it together until the next night when I slept underneath it and got a few more bites scattered all over me. We switched to pulling the bedspread from the other empty bed on top of our original bedspread and had no more trouble.
One feature I really liked was that you could go down to the lobby any time day or night and use the internet access for a very reasonable price. There is someone at the front desk plus a security guard all night long. I felt quite safe.
We found the staff to always be helpful, no problems switching rooms once we made that decision. There is a safe for passports or whatever valuables that you can use for free. We had an afternoon flight on our last day and fortunately the hotel provides a small locked room for suitcases so we didn't have to drag them around town after we checked out. That gave us the opportunity to spend the last morning shopping at the market.
The restaurant has a very pleasant setting, the food is OK, not quite as incredible as most of the others you will find around town, but the prices are comparable. I really don't recommend the buffet breakfast unless you are in just too much of a hurry to get somewhere better.
The location is great for walking the Malecon. I think the wristbands people were complaining about had something to do with parking, but as we didn't rent a car we don't know. We found getting around on the buses to be part of the fun of being in another culture, even taking them to the surrounding towns.
By the way, we found the lowest room rates by booking directly through the Rosita Hotel website not these hotel booking sites.

Rosita hotel is the ideal place to stay in Puerto Vallarta if you like being in the center of things. The hotel is situated on one end of the Malecon boardwalk. You have the ocean on one side and the shops on the other side of the street. It is also on the oceanfront so you can walk along the beach from your hotel and hear the ocean waves crashing onto the shore from your room. We stayed over a weekend and everyone in town descends on the Malecon boardwalk and the town square. There are bands, vendors, dancers, clowns, portrait painters, etc to amuse and entertain everyone. It is a great place to spend the evening. One thing I have to warn you about the Rosita Hotel, do not stay at room 105. The bathroom has no ventilation and there seems to be a sewer problem (old hotel) that causes odorous gases to seep into the bathroom which the maids are quick to spray everyday. But if you skip a day, I woke up to a nauseating smell that Imade me puke when I opened the bathroom door. We were moved to a smaller room, room 304, and the bathroom
had window slats that are open that keeps the bathroom ventilated. It had the view of the Malecon and the ocean. We were happy after that.

We are a couple and a teenage boy.
As always, we read the trip advisor reviews before booking at the Rosita Hotel.

The place is famous because was the Hotel that Richard Burton and the people of the movie "The night of the iguana" stayed here in the late fifties.

Maybe the building has not change much since then.
The common spaces at the basement and our room were simple, somehow basic (probably for cleaning reasons) but big and very clean.

Some details were a little strange like the plastic curtain as "door" for the WC in our room. Beside that it was big with a good shower and place to sit or relax there, good for older people.
The bathroom windows lead to the aisle which is not good, it doesn't bring the proper ventilation and privacy.
We had the feeling that our room was renovated years ago, we wouldn't say the same about the upper floor one.

The good thing about this Hotel is the location.
You are downtown, in the very middle of the big big Vallarta Bay and there aren't many Hotels in this area.
Is close to the sea, the malecon (check out the Hotel live web cam) and the center of the city so if you want to be close to shops, restaurant and bars, this is the place to stay.
To get to Marina Vallarta or Nuevo Vallarta to the north or to los Arcos and beaches to the south you'll need a taxi, a car or a bus.

The "big name" Hotels are far from this area to the north.
And yes, there are probably better Hotels near like Sheraton a few blocks away but are a little more expensive than this one.
We like to spend most of the day out so we picked the Rosita.
Also there are many "all inclusive" Hotels outside the area if you like this kind of choice, but you'll need a bus to get to this area.
We prefer to walk.

First we booked a room with a ocean view on the third floor but they made a mistake (probably) and gave us a room on the right wing of the basement, overlooking the sea for five minutes after "discovering" this was not what we had booked.
After comparing both rooms we paid the difference to stay at the basement one: it had air conditioned, a small patio and a wide glass sliding door with a nice view, the other one had a small door that lead to a narrow balcony and a fan.

The view was wonderful: pelicans and birds fly on the ocean and also many small boats which is nice to see.
The pool was 30 feet away from our window but we can't complain about noise.
The real noise came from the kitchen early in the morning which was near but (with a few exceptions) it wasn't so hard to complain about that too.

Yes, people passed running and jogging early in the morning, the Hotel guys cleaned the area but once again, no problem.

A galeon trip pass by around 9/9.30 on the malecon and make a little noise and throw a couple of fireworks, which is nice to see from the patio.
The same goes to the wonderful fireworks on Marina Vallarta at the same hour.

Definitely I wouldn't suggest to choose a room overlooking the street because it's a very busy one.
Take a look on Google earth and you'll see that buses and cars take this one that comes from Marina Vallarta and leads to the malecon, the cathedral, Playa de los Muertos.

We can't say anything about the breakfast and food because we didn't take both there.

There's a parking a block away, though we parked our car on the car next to the Hotel pool side and we didn't have a single problem.
Also there's a big supermarket on Mexico Ave four blocks away as well as many places to exchange money.

Hotel El Pescador belongs to the same owner but we feel we made the right choice by staying here.

The Hotel Rosita is not very big, so it wasn't crowdy or noisy for us.
The staff was very friendly and we enjoyed a lot our time in Vallarta due to its location.
It is somehow basic in some aspects but it's a good play to stay.