We went to PV last Aug when our little one was 7 months old. It was his first plane trip and he was actually quite the relaxed little bugger even in the summer heat. It was the 3.5 y/o daughter that whined every single day and refused to sleep on the plane even though she even said she was tired. She had flown a handful of times before too so it wasn't like it was her first time flying.
Anyway, we stayed at a 4.5 star AI with direct access to the beach. The place was called Sunset Plaza (
https://www.hotelsunsetplaza.com/en) and was a newly renovated facility right in the heart of PV (not north into Nuevo Vallarta). Within walking distance to everything too! The building itself was only some 12 stories tall with some 8 units per floor (all with full kitchens but we opted for the AI package) so fairly small resort, and 100% of the rooms directly faced the ocean. Our 10th floor suite had better views than even our honeymoon suite some 8 yrs ago to St. Lucia and for less money! The food was absolutely amazing too (before kids, we were self-proclaimed foodies). The best part, FREE (no hidden costs) room service!!! I did tip well though. We had many meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) directly on our balcony while watching the beach festivities either starting up or watching the sunset directly in front of us. We stayed in a full suite, which costed about $5,000 (taxes in) for all flights, full AI, on our full week there. But they had the standard rooms (still directly ocean front) for $3,500 taxes in. Keep in mind, there were 3 flight tickets for us, so OP I'm sure you can easily get under your $1,500/person all in price. Now that I'm reminded of it, I think I might start looking into returning for another trip there! By the way, we met a few families there who were there on their 3rd, even up to 5th trip to the same place (and these are ones WITHOUT a timeshare)!
Here are a photos from the balcony:
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