Iberostar Selection​ Playa Mita Makan Malam

The day usually starts at El Nopal, the lobby level buffet running from fruit and pastries through live cooking stations. By dinner, the same room turns into a themed gala on certain nights, with pasta, meat, sustainably caught fish, and Mexican plates.

If you're going to do steak on vacation, do it here. Bahía's menu leans into USDA Choice cuts, a surf and turf for two, and an appetizer bar that doesn't treat itself as an afterthought. Show cooking opens the kitchen up near the pool.

El Cuate Pancho earns the most second visits. Traditional Mexican, à la carte, with tortilla soup that tastes like somebody's grandmother made it, fajitas and enchiladas done right, and a tequila tres leches cake worth ending the night on.

If you want one meal that feels like a proper night out, Pacific Express is the one. The French inspired menu pays tribute to the Orient Express, with escargots de Bourgogne, shrimp thermidor, beef tartare, and a tarte tatin worth ordering.

If you've never had teppanyaki served by the chef who just cooked it, Tsuba is the place for you. The Asian tasting menu pulls from Japanese and Thai cooking, the fish is sustainably caught, and the kids' menu means the whole table sits down together.

Star Café is open round the clock, which makes it the answer to most snack related problems. Homemade pastries, freshly made sandwiches, and healthy options for the morning after, paired with a coffee and tea menu for whenever you need a pick me up.

Most evenings start the same way at Wirikuta: a signature cocktail in hand, the Pacific turning gold, and the mountains catching the last light. From December through March, the view sometimes includes humpback whales passing through Banderas Bay.

Adelita takes its name from the women who marched alongside soldiers in the Mexican Revolution. The lobby bar that wears it stays open through coffee in the morning and cocktails into the early evening, with a beverage menu deep enough for both crowds.

Marea is the pool bar that doesn't make you choose between the water and the drink. One side is built in the pool for swim-up service, the other handles the loungers. The caipirinha, made with proper cachaça, is the drink to order first.

If a drink can't come to you on the sand, La Duna is the next best thing. The beach bar sits a few steps from the loungers and the water, with snacks and a full drink menu under a roof when the sun gets too sharp.

Sea Soul sits on a terrace looking out at the Pacific, with cocktails running from the late afternoon through 11:00PM. The kind of bar that catches guests on the way to somewhere else and ends up keeping them longer than they planned.

La Tabla turns guests into the kind of people who stay out past 2:00AM on vacation. The discotheque opens at 10:30PM with an international playlist, runs the bar through to 3:00AM, and keeps the dance floor open the whole time. Adults only.

If you're catching the nightly show, the Litibú Theatre Bar is the one to know about. It sits inside the theater, runs from 9:30PM to 11:00PM, and keeps the drink menu within easy reach of the seats. Adults 18 and up only.

Tucked away from the louder venues, the Smoking Lounge pairs a cigar selection with a whiskey list and the kind of low-volume room that lets both speak for themselves. Open from 5:00PM to 1:00AM, adults 18 and up only.