Long before the big resorts, Puerto Vallarta was a quiet fishing village with cobblestone streets and almost nowhere to stay. A handful of the hotels that welcomed its first visitors are still open, and booking one is a great way to feel the town's history: you sleep where early travelers, Hollywood stars and generations of Mexican families stayed before you.
Below you'll find the story of how Vallarta learned to host visitors, a quick timeline, and six historic hotels in Puerto Vallarta with their founders, architecture and best anecdotes. We finish with a self-guided walk past all the downtown properties, so you can see them even if you stay elsewhere.
From Salt Port to Resort Town: The Story Behind the Hotels
Puerto Vallarta was founded on December 12, 1851, as Las Peñas de Santa María de Guadalupe. Its first job was supplying salt to the silver mines in the Sierra Madre, and after becoming a municipality in 1918 it lived for decades on fishing and seaborne trade. For the full story, read our Puerto Vallarta history.
There was no highway, so most visitors arrived by boat or small plane, and lodging was scarce. In the 1950s, Americans and Canadians began building homes on the north slope of the Cuale River, an area everyone came to call Gringo Gulch. Architect Fernando "Freddy" Romero arrived in 1952 and is credited with pioneering the "Vallarta style" you still see on the hillsides.
Then came the 1960s. In 1963, John Huston filmed The Night of the Iguana at Mismaloya with Richard Burton, Ava Gardner and Deborah Kerr; Elizabeth Taylor came along with Burton, though she wasn't in the film. Huston later joked that the set had more reporters than iguanas, and that press frenzy put Vallarta on the world map (read the full story in The Night of the Iguana in Puerto Vallarta). Infrastructure followed: in 1968 Vallarta officially became a city and funding went to the coastal highway and an airport, which opened in 1970. The Hotel Zone grew north toward it.
Los Arcos on the Malecón and the church's crown, a few blocks from the downtown hotels.
Timeline: Puerto Vallarta's Historic Hotels
- 1948: Hotel Rosita opens, considered the city's first formal hotel.
- 1952: Freddy Romero arrives and starts shaping the Vallarta style.
- Mid-1950s: Hotel Tropicana opens on Los Muertos Beach.
- 1963: The Night of the Iguana is filmed; Burton and Taylor settle into what is now Casa Kimberly.
- 1964: Burton builds the bridge linking the two houses on Calle Zaragoza.
- 1977: Burton gives his wife Susan the house that is now Hacienda San Ángel.
- 1979: The very first Fiesta Americana opens in Puerto Vallarta; Playa Los Arcos opens around the same time.
- 1990: Janice Chatterton buys Burton and Susan's house; it takes the name Hacienda San Ángel in 2003.
- 2015: Casa Kimberly reopens as a boutique hotel after years of restoration.
- 2025: Casa Kimberly and Hacienda San Ángel each earn a MICHELIN Key.
The Best Historic Hotels in Puerto Vallarta
Hotel Rosita (1948): The Malecón Pioneer
The story. Hotel Rosita was built in 1948 and is considered the city's first formal hotel. Founder Salvador González named it after his eldest daughter, Rosa, and his grandson still runs it today, so three generations of one family have looked after the same stretch of waterfront. It opened with just three rooms, before Vallarta was a tourist destination at all, and now has more than a hundred. Its heyday came in the 1960s and '70s: during the Night of the Iguana shoot, Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Ava Gardner and members of the crew used it as a home base. Local press marked its 75th anniversary in 2024.
The architecture. It's classic traditional Mexican design: whitewashed walls, red tile roofs and brick-framed archways. The lobby opens onto a big courtyard with arched walkways and pillars facing the sea, and murals show Vallarta as it looked in the 1950s. The year 1948 is still painted high on the facade.
What makes it special: it sits where the Malecón begins, next to Playa Camarones and steps from Hidalgo Park, the Naval Museum and the city's original lighthouse. There's an oceanfront pool and a restaurant, and the hotel runs a sea turtle release program.
Area: Downtown, at the north end of the Malecón (Paseo Díaz Ordaz).
Best for: travelers who want to walk everywhere, catch sunsets on the boardwalk and feel old Vallarta.
The year 1948 is still painted high on the Hotel Rosita facade.
Hotel Tropicana: A Los Muertos Beach Veteran
The story. The Tropicana opened in the mid-1950s, just as Vallarta was starting to draw beachgoers, making it one of the oldest hotels in the area. It was built in the Emiliano Zapata neighborhood long before anyone called it the Romantic Zone.
The architecture. Outside, white walls and terra-cotta tile; inside, a lobby with three-story ceilings and tall columns framing the ocean. A wrought-iron staircase leads down to reception, next to a rock pond that is home to a family of turtles. More than 200 rooms spread across nine floors, and every one has a balcony.
What makes it special: it sits right on Los Muertos Beach, a few minutes' walk from the pier. Two tiered oceanfront pools (one a calmer infinity pool) and an open-air, tile-roofed restaurant round it out.
Area: Romantic Zone (Amapas Street).
Best for: travelers who want beach time and neighborhood life in one place. Get a feel for the area in our Romantic Zone guide.
Brick arches and wooden furniture at Hotel Rosita.
Casa Kimberly: Burton and Taylor's Hideaway
The story. High in Gringo Gulch, on Calle Zaragoza, stand the two houses where Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor lived during the Night of the Iguana shoot and through their happiest years. Burton's villa sits downhill and Taylor's across the street; in 1964 Burton built the famous "love bridge" between them, inspired by Venice's Bridge of Sighs. Taylor kept the house in their 1974 divorce, and it later fell into disrepair. After roughly five years of restoration, it reopened in late 2015 as a nine-suite boutique hotel.
The architecture. It keeps the arched portals of the open-air dining room, clay roof tiles, blue-and-white tile, columns, 19th-century antiques and fountain courtyards. A new building adds a gym and spa. The Elizabeth Taylor Suite has a private elevator, a terrace pool and a pink marble tub.
What makes it special: you sleep where one of Hollywood's most famous couples lived, and you can cross their bridge. It earned a MICHELIN Key in 2025, a status the guide still lists in 2026. Its restaurant and tequila bar are named for the film: The Iguana.
Area: Downtown, on Zaragoza Street, a few blocks from the main church.
Best for: couples and classic-film fans. Read the whole story in our Casa Kimberly guide.
A tiled staircase inside Casa Kimberly.
Hacienda San Ángel: The House Burton Gave Away
The story. Close to Casa Kimberly, on the steep streets behind the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe, is the house Richard Burton gave his wife Susan in 1977. According to the hotel it was a Valentine's Day gift, and the couple named it Casa Bur-Sus, after both of them. In 1990, American entrepreneur Janice Chatterton, known locally as "La Doña," bought it as a vacation home. After losing her son, she poured her grief into the place: she restored it, bought the neighboring villas and collected religious art from church sales across Mexico. It was first called Casa San Ángel and took its current name in 2003. Chatterton died in 2019, and her family carries on her work.
The architecture. Connected colonial houses with gardens in the style of an Italian country villa, hand-painted frescoes, carved wooden doors and three pools tucked among stonework and flowers. The twelve suites are named after angels and saints. Reportedly, a few old wine bottles and a decanter from Burton's day are still kept in the kitchen.
What makes it special: it's one of the few places tied to the Night of the Iguana era that is still open to the public. Its rooftop restaurant, which Chatterton created so she could dine with mariachi music, looks over the bay, the Sierra Madre and the church's crown. It also earned a MICHELIN Key in 2025.
Area: Downtown (Miramar Street), on the hill above the church.
Best for: a romantic getaway or a special celebration, with the historic center on foot.
Fiesta Americana Puerto Vallarta (1979): Where a Brand Was Born
The story. Grupo Posadas was founded in Mexico City in 1967 by Gastón Azcárraga Tamayo; its first project was the Fiesta Palace hotel. In 1979, the very first hotel under the Fiesta Americana name opened in Puerto Vallarta, and the company still runs it. In other words, one of Mexico's best-known hotel brands made its debut on Banderas Bay.
The architecture. Its signature is a soaring, multi-story palapa over the lobby that has become a classic Hotel Zone sight. The balconies borrow from local architecture.
What makes it special: a beach dotted with palapas and a classic Mexican-resort feel. Today it's all-inclusive, with eight restaurants and bars serving different cuisines and a spa renovated in late 2023.
Area: North Hotel Zone (Francisco Medina Ascencio Boulevard), a few minutes from downtown and the airport.
Best for: families and travelers who want everything in one place without being far from the Malecón.
Playa Los Arcos: A Romantic Zone Classic
The story. On Olas Altas Street, facing Playa del Sol (the name the city has tried to give Los Muertos Beach), Playa Los Arcos opened its doors in the late 1970s. Today it anchors a small family of hotels that also includes Casa Doña Susana and Los Arcos Suites.
The architecture. Mexican colonial style, with a courtyard pool, an infinity pool with a pool bar and a rooftop deck. It was recently refurbished.
What makes it special: beach, pool, and the Romantic Zone's restaurants and galleries all within walking distance. There's an oceanfront restaurant, a spa with beach views, and the pier is steps away.
Area: Romantic Zone (Olas Altas).
Best for: travelers who want to be on the sand by day and walk to dinner at night.
We recommend confirming hours and availability directly with each property.
Vallarta Style: How to Spot Historic Architecture
The Vallarta style that Freddy Romero championed from the 1950s blends Mexican colonial forms with tropical touches: adobe, clay tile, local ceramics, gardens and wrought iron. Engineers Guillermo Wulff and Luis Favela Icaza helped design homes that follow the slope of the hills, which is why the downtown hillside is full of stairways and white houses with ocean views.
What to look for:
- Red clay tile roofs.
- Arches and porticos that give shade and let the breeze through, like those at the Rosita.
- Tilework on staircases and fountains.
- Wrought iron on balconies, railings and stairs, like the Tropicana's lobby staircase.
- Palm-thatched palapas, scaled up dramatically at the Fiesta Americana.
Best Time to Stay
Puerto Vallarta has a tropical wet-and-dry climate. High season runs from late November through March, and February through April usually has the clearest skies. The rainy season lasts from mid-June to mid-October, with August the wettest month; in exchange, the ocean is warmer and crowds are thinner. Boutique hotels with only a few suites fill up fast in high season and around December 12, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, when downtown fills with processions.
Self-Guided Walk: A Day Among Historic Hotels
This walk runs north to south past the five downtown and Romantic Zone hotels (about 1.5 miles, with some climbs):
- Morning at Hotel Rosita. Start in front of the 1948 facade.
- Malecón to Los Arcos. Stroll the boardwalk to the Los Arcos amphitheater and the main square.
- Climb to the church and Gringo Gulch. Take Miramar and Zaragoza streets. You can see Casa Kimberly's bridge from the street.
- Cross the Cuale River. Head down to Isla Cuale and into the Romantic Zone.
- Afternoon on Olas Altas. Pass Playa Los Arcos and follow the beach to the Tropicana.
- Sunset at Los Muertos Pier. Finish at the end of the pier, under its lit-up sail.
For food stops along the way, see our Puerto Vallarta food guide.
Explore Historic Vallarta With Riviera Tours & Transfers
A guided walk is one of the best ways to understand the town's story. Our Vallarta City Tour runs every day, lasts about 7 hours and is offered in English and Spanish. It includes:
- A guided walk through downtown Puerto Vallarta
- A visit to a traditional jewelry shop
- Free time for shopping
- A tequila stop
- A visit to a regional-cuisine restaurant (meal not included)
Want lunch included? The Vallarta Plus City Tour adds a distillery tour, a tequila tasting and a meal at a regional-cuisine restaurant.
See dates and book the Vallarta City Tour →
To plan your own walk, check our guides to the Malecón and Old Town and things to do in Puerto Vallarta.
Tips for Staying in a Historic Hotel
- Ask about room types. In older buildings, rooms can vary a lot from one to the next.
- Check accessibility. Downtown hillside homes sit on steep, cobbled streets, and some have lots of stairs.
- Pack comfortable shoes, a hat, sunscreen and water: the climb from the Malecón to Gringo Gulch is steep and the sun is strong.
- Book early in high season, especially at boutique hotels with only a few suites.
- Budget: options range from traditional beachfront hotels to luxury boutique villas; all-inclusive resorts roll most costs into one rate.
- Be a good neighbor. Gringo Gulch is residential: keep voices down, don't block stairways or driveways, and don't wander into hotels without a reservation or permission.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the oldest hotel in Puerto Vallarta? Hotel Rosita, built in 1948 where the Malecón begins, is considered the city's first formal hotel, and it's still run by the founding family.
Can I visit Casa Kimberly or Hacienda San Ángel without staying there? Both have restaurants. Check directly with each hotel whether they welcome outside guests and what reservation is needed. Casa Kimberly's bridge is visible from Calle Zaragoza.
Where did Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton stay in Puerto Vallarta? They lived in the houses that now make up Casa Kimberly, and members of the Night of the Iguana cast and crew used Hotel Rosita as a home base. The house Burton gave Susan in 1977 is now Hacienda San Ángel.
Which Puerto Vallarta hotels have a MICHELIN Key? Among the historic hotels on this list, Casa Kimberly and Hacienda San Ángel each earned a MICHELIN Key in 2025.
Which area is best if I'm interested in history? Downtown and Gringo Gulch for 1950s and '60s Vallarta, or the Romantic Zone for beach and neighborhood life. For more options there, see our Romantic Zone hotels.
When is the best time to go? Late November through April is drier and livelier; June through October brings more rain but fewer crowds.
Do Riviera tours pick up at these hotels? Ask about the meeting point or pickup when you book, and we'll confirm the closest option to your hotel.
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