I Vacationed Like A Real Housewife — And Now You Can Too, Thanks To This Travel Company
Hi, Baby Gorgeous, I have some good news. Turns out you don’t need to quit your job, dump your boyfriend, or (most drastically of all) cut those bangs. You just need an amazing vacation. I mean a trip so bougie that it would live up to Lisa Barlow and Bronwyn Newport’s standards. Like, sorry to that one famous doctor, but an apple a day ain’t gonna cut it in 2025. No, I need several days’ worth of top-notch relaxation, and luckily, I had some excellent help finding it.
Some late-night googling led me to a company that has Housewives fans who love to travel covered. (And secures the best booking deals, just in case you’re strangely not a rich and famous reality star.) To find out where the Real Housewives stayed (and yes, I mean all of the Real Housewives, from every city, on every trip), I used The Real Hotels. The site was created by a bunch of “Bravo-loving hotel marketers” who did the Lord’s work by assembling a database of where our fave middle-aged mavens have traveled over the years. Their handy-dandy interactive map provides a global view of The Real Housewives international impact, leading to you booking links with episode recaps so you can remember exactly what Tom-foolery went down where.
The booking website guides bravoholics and professional chillaxers alike to secure the trip of their dreams — just like a Real Housewife! Because the only hard part of going on vacay should be picking the perfect destination where you can explore an iconic itinerary. With The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City’s Mexico trip itinerary calling my name, I had to head to Puerto Vallarta to see if living a long weekend like a Housewife was really worth it.
RHOSLC Mexico Trip: Hotel Details, Puerto Vallarta Filming Locations
Where did The RHOSLC stay in Mexico?
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City stayed at Vidanta Nuevo Nayarit-Vallarta in Puerto Vallarta. When I arrived on the property and was whisked away on a golf cart, I learned that there are several resort hotels within Vidanta’s seriously massive property (which is why they provide electric golf cart service and a Sky Gondola to get around).
Advert
The two RHOSLC villas were located in The Estates, so naturally, that’s where I had to stay to soak up the good weather. But after exploring every junglefied corner of VidantaWorld to determine which poolside sunbathing spot and creative craft cocktail would hit the hardest, I discovered that all of their PV hotel options, from The Grand Luxxe to The Grand Mayan, are a luxury treat worthy of whooping it up.
Legit, every guest I made obligatory vacation friends with was as smug as Whitney Rose with a secret about their accommodation, and that was because of two things. One: the rooms at Vidanta (though they vary in size depending on the resort of your choosing) would please even the RHOBH rich lady holy trinity (LVP, Adrienne Maloof, and Kathy Hilton, duh) with their high ceilings, ridiculously fluffy bedding, and sunny balconies, many of which come with a plunge pool. Notice we didn’t get a storyline about Meredith being pissed about the bath tub situation during the season 6 trip? That’s because Brooks’ muse had access to a jacuzzi tub with all the fixings that I wanted to (and might have) spend hours in.
Advert
Two: the service at Vidanta makes every guest feel like a Bravoleb. Whether it was the cleaning staff’s flawless turndown service (that left no room for any of Brittani’s so-called listening devices) or the wait staff’s 10/10 recs for food, I felt, for once, I could let someone else handle it (a priceless feeling as a single, jet-setting baddie).
What To Do In Puerto Vallarta
Advert
No matter where The Real Hotels sends you off to (glam squad not included), in order to really party like Ramona, you’ll need to take advantage of the hands-on hospitality most of these places have to offer (because otherwise, our girlies wouldn’t be staying there!). Cue: Vidanta’s concierge team, AKA an army of angels trained to make your trip ordaciously effortless, including helping you decide what to do during your stay. (And yes, my concierge offered to help me unpack, after which I nearly passed away.)
If you stay at Vidanta, the price tag includes plenty to do on-site: pro-golfing on their PGA courses, gyms for the overachievers, and spas for the queens who love lying down. On top of that, joy instructors plan activities for the guests, so I had to get in on the water aerobics, and Angie wasn’t lying when she said it was a workout.
Our concierge clocked in overtime to make our off-site excursions seamless, too, sharing the best local recommendations and arranging transportation to get there, a part of their service for every guest. We considered all that PV is known for (horseback riding, sailboating, tequila tasting, and that bonkers ATV experience across the famous Jorullo Bridge ATV), all of which were highlighted on the show.
Advert
My first stop was, OFC, to make it to the mecca of tequila and bar-top dancing: Andales. Vicki Gunvalson’s happy place is pretty much a perpetual spring break: specialty shots, t-shirt contests, and an open invitation to whoop it up all night long with spicy margs the size of your head. Trust me, take the taxi there, it’s worth it.
ATV Tour Over Puerto Vallarta Suspension Bridge
Advert
I also made the controversial yet brave choice to ATV like they did on the show. Every second I clung on for dear life (okay, slight exaggeration) during our Canopy River ATV and RZR Jorullo Bridge Experience through the dusty PV mountains, I kept mumbling to myself, “Meredith Marks, Lisa Barlow and Mary Cosby did this,” partially as an affirmation, partially as a rhetorical question. The wildest part? Riding over Jorullo isn’t the scary part (in fact, they take you to a cutesy cliffside bar to have a beer before you cruise the bridge). It’s the entire ride before that (sans a rest break at a waterfall) that is not for the weak. And, be warned, the excursion ends with an underwhelming stop at a tourist trap restaurant you can’t opt out of.
How To Get On A Yacht In Mexico
To my pleasant surprise, getting on the water is easy, even without a Todd (Ken, Bradley, or Kandi’s) funding my trip! There were a million reasonably priced (under $100) boat cruises with various lux add-ons (open bars, island dinners with fire dancers, and even whale watching) that our concierge helped me pick from. I met travelers from other hotels, took in the views, and nearly tried to steal the boat so I could run off into the Puerto Vallarta sunset for good.
Best Puero Vallarta Eats
If you’re staying at a resort, eating there is the key to maximizing the bang for your buck (even if it’s not all-inclusive, which Vidanta isn’t). My favorite foodie moment was becoming the ninth Lisa at Puerto Manjar, the scenic beachside restaurant where LB lunged at Whitney Rose in a black wig. If you’re a seafood lover, the PV food scene is for you because this spot’s octopus, shrimp, ceviche, lobster tail pasta, and scallops had me happy as a clam (see what I did there). I’m also pretty sure their teppanyaki experience at their restaurant, Gong, healed my inner child.
I planned to check out the international landmark where Angie threw shampoo across the table, and Heather decided to be diabolical as a treat. That restaurant is located in BON, Vidanta’s upcoming amusement park/resort combo, which is currently under construction, so catch me back there in 2026 to complete my RHOSLC eating tour.
Hopefully by then, the resorts will also be serving Vida Tequila (get it together, John Barlow!). Regardless, Vidanta’s drinks from the happy hour specials by the pools to the crazy creative cockys shaken by a tableside mixologist (!!!) healed my inner Marysol Patton.
Topics: Bravo, Real Housewives, Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, Travel
Marissa Dow