[nina107]

Has anyone stayed at the Vista Real for a pick-up trip?
Did it take a long time to make it for the 7:15 am appointment? Is there much to do around there?

Dawn

[angel_bayou]

I hope you get a response so I'm bumping because I would like to stay at a different hotel this time!

[mturner]

I have stayed at the Vista Real 3x. It is a beautiful hotel and the grounds are gorgeous. The staff is wonderful and very helpful. We stayed there for our son's pick up trip, 1 visit trip (Jan. 08) and recently this past Apr. for our daughters pick up trip. There is not a lot to do in the hotel ( I did love to walk around the hotel and just take in how beautiful it was) and not a lot of adoptive families stay there ( I do not know why). It is in a very safe area, it takes a little longer to get to the USE, but not a bad drive. We had an early appt. for our last 2 USE appts. and we left the hotel I think at maybe 6:30am. There is a small gift shop in the Vista that sells sodas, water, snacks, and gifts. The hotel also can get anything for you and put it on your hotel bill. There is another shop that I think sells jewelry (it was being renovated in Apr.), and a restaurant that has good food and the waiters are wonderful. If you stay there, the restaurant will make you chicken fingers (you will need to ask they are not on the menu) that are really good and they come with french fries. The restaurant will make things for you if they can, just ask. The breakfast buffet is yummy. I have to say I have stayed at the Marriott 3x and I liked the Vista better. I felt safer at the Vista since it in not a hotel known for adoptive families to stay at, and our attorney highly recommended the Vista for safety reasons and he felt it is also nicer. The rooms were always very clean, and the bathrooms are beautiful in all the rooms. The views from the hotel are incredible especially the one from the restaurant. Feel free to pm me with any questions about the Vista. Even though there were never a lot of other families staying at the Vista, we honestly spent most of our time sightseeing and out with our attorney and his family on all our trips.

Martina

[StacyD]

We stayed there in December and LOVED it! I agree with everything that mturner said. We would stay there again in a heartbeat!

Here's a link to a few pics from our trip:
Vista Real

[matthewsmom0505]

We, too, have stayed at the Vista Real 3 times. Each time was wonderful. Filipe was our waiter every morning and was great with our kids. Gabriella, who we dubbed "pancake maker extraordinare" was great too, and my 3 yr old DS still talks about her! The hotel shuttle will take you pretty much anywhere you want to go. The zoo, market, mall, etc. Eddie and Josh, both are great bell hops and will do anything you need! We ordered in pizza or Pollo Campero every night and the front desk took care of everything!

It's quiet there, but truly an amazing place to stay. Be sure to ask for the adoption rate to get free breakfast, a stoller, microwave, etc. included.

We left the hotel at 6:00am for our 7:15 appt., but that included a stop for her visa photo--we had plenty of time. If you want to see some pics, pm me with your email address and I'll send you my shutterfly link. Enjoy your pick up trip--wherever you stay, it will be amazing!

[w8ting4Thomas]

I posted on another Vista Real thread about our experience. LOVED LOVED LOVED it. You can to the mall easily too and there are good restaurants there too. Shuttles from the hotel go to the market, the zoo etc.
Was no problem making the embassy!

[lyssie]

We loved our stay there...once you stay there it will be hard to stay ANYWHERE else...IT's goregeous! It is a little bit of a drive and it is quiet there...not lots to do but there is a shuttle that will take you where you want to go. If you go over the hills away from the city it looks like so. California...a high end mall and lots of resturants. Hyper pais is there too. You are a little distance from the embassy but, not too far and definately worth it.

[LisaLuka]

I echo everyone else who has posted. I stayed at the Vista Real for my visit in April, and loved it. The grounds and the hotel are beautiful, and the staff was wonderful. My room was perfect--with a great bed, couch, little nook with a table, and whirlpool tub in the bathroom. At the time the adoption rate was really cheap for that room. The hotel was quiet, but very secure (I asked about security, and they have it everywhere--just "undercover.")

I stayed at the Westin for pickup because I was concerned about the distance. On night 1, I almost checked out and went back to the Vista Real. Apart from the Westin's pool, it doesn't hold a candle to the Vista in my opinion.

Good luck with your trip!