I just returned from a last minute 3 night trip to Los Cabos with my family! We had a nice, relaxing time, just as we hoped. My boys are 4 and 9, and my husband needed "decompression" time after and especially intense 2 months of working 7 days a week. He said "let's go!" 5 days ago, and I booked the trip on Expedia.com, and we went two days later!

At the airport, we didn't see any of the Expedia reps in those bright yellow shirts like in Puerto Vallarta, and we got sucked into those long white counters where the hawkers are. They make it sound like you can't get a taxi without them, but once I dragged my husband away and we muscled past them, we just said we wanted to go to the Royal Solaris, and a driver materialized. It was also $5 cheaper than the rate the hawker told us! It's still expensive ($40+), and made me think the Expedia vouchers for $20 each person round trip were in fact a good deal! Next time.

We stayed at the Royal Solaris, which was just fine, in spite of some pretty horrific reports I read earlier on this site. It's a smallish basic All Inclusive, (400 rooms?) and I was relieved when a Concierge-type whisked me out of the long Check-in line to a desk to check in because I booked with Expedia. We got our keys and wristbands and off we went. We had a street view, which is what we paid for, and except for a buzzy AC system, the noise was not a problem. There were showers (no tubs) in a well lit bathroom, a TV/dresser unit , a table and comfy chairs, and adequate closet space. A desk might have been nice, but we're on vacation, right! The boys got a kick out of watching Nickelodeon in English with Spanish or silent ads. Everyone spoke English and were lovely and helpful.

Royal Solaris has two "formal" restaurants, a snack bar and a few standard buffets in rotation. The restaurant food was good with spotty wait service, the buffet was pretty good caffeteria/buffet food. The room service is just Continental breakfast, and the bar drinks are plentiful and weak, which is what one expects at an All Inclusive. We didn't go to any of the shows, but the audience in the dinner theater seemed to be having a great time when we walked by. The hotel has a nice lobby with a bar and a nice view of the beach. Some of the public restrooms had powerful cleaning product smells and that heady dried-out floor drain odor, but were well maintained. As for the overall appeal, there are more intersting views of the beach at other resorts, but this was the best rate for two adjoining rooms, so who cares!

The pools were nice enough, a bit chilly for me but all the fellas loved it. Yes, there is a thin "oil slick" on the top of the water, but what do you expect in a public pool? There are several bathrooms around, and we train the boys not to drink the water in the pool. There is a warm, shallow wading pool attached to the main pool, with the obligatory bridge and swim-up bar. There was a Children's Club for 4 to 12s with their own pool, but we didn't use this service, so I can't comment on quality. Towel service was easy, and there are a few pool toys, but otherwise the "amenities" are few compared to some other places. We didn't miss all the extras, however.

We took a lunch/snorkel cruise through the Hotel's travel agency. The 4 year old was free, the rest of us were about $35 each. It was easy and the food was pretty good. We saw the arch and then went way out to a beach to snorkel and play on the sand and explore the rocks. Water taxis took us back to the ship, which the 4 year old thought was fabulous. There was a show which people seemed to love, but we were able to avoid it above decks and just look around. We went to Zippers restaurant and had a nice lobster and steak dinner on the beach, and ancient Mariachis serenaded us for $5 a song. The only other off-resort thing we did was I walked with the 4 year old to the Cactus Botanical Garden (30 pesos, 20 minute walk from the hotel, past a lovely cemeteryand many lizards). It was just fantastic, a nice modern raised bed design with some really interesting displays of cacti and succulents from around the world. There is a big central fountain with plenty of seating, a snack and gift shop for those who aren't plant fiends. We spent a solid hour looking at the plants and reading the names and discussing their colors and looking for flowers and deciding what they reminded us of. There is a cactus nursery next door, which I looked at longingly. Tour busses dumped people off every 15 minutes, but they were respectful and quiet. Oddly, we didn't get stabbed once, but I did scrape my knee on a stucco wall!

The Royal Solaris is a Time Share place, and apparently the best beach view rooms are those. I got no pressure to buy, though my husband said he got hit up twice. They were nice and backed down quicky, so it wasn't a big deal. Our flight was 7 hours after check-out, and the bellmen held our luggage. I stowed my purse in a locker in the Hospitality room, where we showered and changed for the flight. I failed to book the hotel shuttle 24 hours in advance, so another cab.

I did hear somone complain bitterly about the food. Then I saw the same person complaining about the pool. Then I saw the same person complaining about her room! Happiness comes from within, apparently! We got a great room and air rate at the last minute, were in clean, spacious rooms, and ate well. We were content and got a good value.

Happy traveling!