Cabo San Lucas Area Resort?
Apr 3rd, 2007, 07:06 AM
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Just a general comment ... the CSL area has, percentage wise, far fewer AI resorts than other popular Mexican beach resorts, so you may find your choices pretty limited if you insist on going AI.
We've vacationed there many times but never at an AI. I didn't pay too much attention, but I can only remember one AI hotel there, though I'm sure there are others by now.
Bill
We've vacationed there many times but never at an AI. I didn't pay too much attention, but I can only remember one AI hotel there, though I'm sure there are others by now.
Bill
Apr 3rd, 2007, 08:16 AM
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<b>Would you recommend any hotels there?</b>
There are several different areas with hotels and each has advantages and disadvantages, depending on what you are looking for. Here's a map of the area ... http://www.loscabosguide.com/maps/cslmap.htm
In broad strokes, the area at the bottom of the land (Finisterra, Solmar, etc) is usually called the Pacific side (sometimes "Solmar beach"
and is isolated from downtown by a ridge but still close enough to walk to town in 15-20 easy minutes. You have more solitude on the beach here and the views are great at sunrise and sunset, but the beach gets the full swell from the Pacific and is dangerous for swimming. Every year sweeper waves roll in and suck someone out and they drown. We've stayed at the Sol-Mar once (didn't like it ... very annoying, constant time-share pitch) and Finisterra (liked it ... get a room up high) several times. This gives you good access to the fishing docks but is isolated from the hustle and bustle of Cabo.
On the other side of the ridge is the harbor area with a couple of hotels like Marina Fiesta (33 on the map) and Tegoro (which I think is the old Plaza Las Glorias ... 38). These are not on a beach but rather by the fishing boat harbor and are best suited for fishermen and people who want to drink heavily and still be able to walk/crawl back to their hotel. We stayed once at the PLG but it was far too noisy for us because of loud drinkers coming in late at night (we get up early to fish) and wouldn't return.
There are also some budget hotels in the marina area but back off the water. I've stayed at the Mar de Cortez a few times and would recommend it for anyone looking for a budget Colonial hotel. Used to be $33/night double (no doubt up a bit by now), nice restaurant, close to famous bars like Cabo Wabo and Giggling Marlin, close enough to the marina to walk, lots of fishermen and sufer dudes and dudettes around the pool. Good bargain hotel.
The next area is near the "Bahia de Cabo San Lucas" marking, this is Medano Beach and there are several nice resort hotels here, though we've never stayed here because it's a bit far from the harbor compared to say Finisterra. This is probably the most popular hotel area close to Cabo. You can walk to town from here and the beach is good for swimming and there are many activities like para-sailing and jet-ski rentals, but it's swarming with pesky vendors. This is a good area for most tourists to stay in.
In the upper right corner leading out of town is the road to San Jose and the "corridor" hotels and resorts. There are several resorts on this stretch, including many of the best ones, and the beaches tend to be more private with few or no vendors. We've stayed here several times at the Westin and there are others I'd recommend (Palmilla is great if you can afford it), depending on how much you want to spend. One problem here is access to Cabo as you'll either need a rental car or spend a lot on taxis and shuttles (meals at these hotels tend to be expensive so typically you'll go to SJdC or CSL to eat at least once or twice a day). But these tend to be the most exclusive properties and in my book the best choice for a relaxing get-away-from-it-all vacation.
So that's a brief rundown on the four main hotel areas.
The only AI hotel I knew about was in San Jose, I think it was the Intercontinental (something like that), well at the end of the beach near the start of the marsh. From what I heard most people didn't enjoy it because the beach isn't very nice and the food was not highly recommended. Maybe there are more AI spots in the corridor or near Medano Beach now, not sure. We were always up too early to get breakfast at the hotel and were always eating lunch from a bag on a boat, so didn't really scope out the AI options.
Hope this helps ... basically pick an area and decide on your budget and you'll quickly get it narrowed down to 2-4 places.
Bill
There are several different areas with hotels and each has advantages and disadvantages, depending on what you are looking for. Here's a map of the area ... http://www.loscabosguide.com/maps/cslmap.htm
In broad strokes, the area at the bottom of the land (Finisterra, Solmar, etc) is usually called the Pacific side (sometimes "Solmar beach"
and is isolated from downtown by a ridge but still close enough to walk to town in 15-20 easy minutes. You have more solitude on the beach here and the views are great at sunrise and sunset, but the beach gets the full swell from the Pacific and is dangerous for swimming. Every year sweeper waves roll in and suck someone out and they drown. We've stayed at the Sol-Mar once (didn't like it ... very annoying, constant time-share pitch) and Finisterra (liked it ... get a room up high) several times. This gives you good access to the fishing docks but is isolated from the hustle and bustle of Cabo.On the other side of the ridge is the harbor area with a couple of hotels like Marina Fiesta (33 on the map) and Tegoro (which I think is the old Plaza Las Glorias ... 38). These are not on a beach but rather by the fishing boat harbor and are best suited for fishermen and people who want to drink heavily and still be able to walk/crawl back to their hotel. We stayed once at the PLG but it was far too noisy for us because of loud drinkers coming in late at night (we get up early to fish) and wouldn't return.
There are also some budget hotels in the marina area but back off the water. I've stayed at the Mar de Cortez a few times and would recommend it for anyone looking for a budget Colonial hotel. Used to be $33/night double (no doubt up a bit by now), nice restaurant, close to famous bars like Cabo Wabo and Giggling Marlin, close enough to the marina to walk, lots of fishermen and sufer dudes and dudettes around the pool. Good bargain hotel.
The next area is near the "Bahia de Cabo San Lucas" marking, this is Medano Beach and there are several nice resort hotels here, though we've never stayed here because it's a bit far from the harbor compared to say Finisterra. This is probably the most popular hotel area close to Cabo. You can walk to town from here and the beach is good for swimming and there are many activities like para-sailing and jet-ski rentals, but it's swarming with pesky vendors. This is a good area for most tourists to stay in.
In the upper right corner leading out of town is the road to San Jose and the "corridor" hotels and resorts. There are several resorts on this stretch, including many of the best ones, and the beaches tend to be more private with few or no vendors. We've stayed here several times at the Westin and there are others I'd recommend (Palmilla is great if you can afford it), depending on how much you want to spend. One problem here is access to Cabo as you'll either need a rental car or spend a lot on taxis and shuttles (meals at these hotels tend to be expensive so typically you'll go to SJdC or CSL to eat at least once or twice a day). But these tend to be the most exclusive properties and in my book the best choice for a relaxing get-away-from-it-all vacation.
So that's a brief rundown on the four main hotel areas.
The only AI hotel I knew about was in San Jose, I think it was the Intercontinental (something like that), well at the end of the beach near the start of the marsh. From what I heard most people didn't enjoy it because the beach isn't very nice and the food was not highly recommended. Maybe there are more AI spots in the corridor or near Medano Beach now, not sure. We were always up too early to get breakfast at the hotel and were always eating lunch from a bag on a boat, so didn't really scope out the AI options.
Hope this helps ... basically pick an area and decide on your budget and you'll quickly get it narrowed down to 2-4 places.
Bill
Apr 3rd, 2007, 12:05 PM
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Tressa, out of curiosity I did a Google search on 'cabo all-inclusive' and came up with this web page, which lists several. http://www.loscabosguide.com/hotels/inclusive.htm
Most of these are in San Jose del Cabo instead of Cabo and a couple are rather tired old properties which appear to be searching for a new lease on life by switching to AI, but two new ones looked interesting ... there's one on Medano Beach (the 'swimming beach' near Cabo) called Hotel Riu Palace, and another in the corridor called Dreams Los Cabos.
Maybe one of these are what you are looking for. You can probably find reviews on TripAdvisor or maybe someone on this forum has been to one of them.
Bill
Most of these are in San Jose del Cabo instead of Cabo and a couple are rather tired old properties which appear to be searching for a new lease on life by switching to AI, but two new ones looked interesting ... there's one on Medano Beach (the 'swimming beach' near Cabo) called Hotel Riu Palace, and another in the corridor called Dreams Los Cabos.
Maybe one of these are what you are looking for. You can probably find reviews on TripAdvisor or maybe someone on this forum has been to one of them.
Bill
Apr 3rd, 2007, 12:20 PM
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Have stayed at the Melia Cabo Real several times. It's located on "the corridor", about 20km from Cabo San Lucas (10km from San Jose del Cabo). The rooms are so-so, but the food (by all-inclusive standards) and service is very good. The resort sits on one of just a few safe-swimming beaches in Los Cabos; the main reason we stay there. Tons of reviews on the MCR posted on Trip Advisor web-site.
Apr 4th, 2007, 11:56 AM
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<b>Bill_H - did you by chance just get back from a cruise in March in Mexico on the NCL Star??</b>
Nope, must be a different guy ... my last trip was two weeks in the Serengeti in late January ... 170 lion sightings, 20 cheetahs, half a million wildebeests
Bill
Nope, must be a different guy ... my last trip was two weeks in the Serengeti in late January ... 170 lion sightings, 20 cheetahs, half a million wildebeests
Bill
Apr 13th, 2007, 03:43 PM
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We stayed at the Riu Palace last year and are going back this year. Beautiful resort. We took our kids (mid teens) and they thought the buffets were great, we actually liked them better than the restaurants. The place was very clean and well kept.
Aug 30th, 2007, 07:26 PM
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i would recommend AGAINST the presidente inter continental. my husband & i found it very disappointing. the service was poor. we waited at the airport for a long time for transport (b/c we had to wait for people on another flight that were delayed even though the driver was there). and they say "all-inclusive" but really, if you want steak or lobster for dinner, you have to pay more. and it's rather far from the city...and to go into the city you have to pay $20 or $30 for a cab. so even though the price is a little lower than some of the others, once you get there, you'll know why.
Aug 31st, 2007, 06:24 AM
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ared, this is pretty much what I'd heard from the few people I know who stayed there, especially about the food and location ...
You wrote <b>"we waited at the airport for a long time for transport (b/c we had to wait for people on another flight that were delayed even though the driver was there)."</b>
This is why I always recommend to people that they just grab a cab or shuttle from the airport at the Los Cabos airport.
Bill
You wrote <b>"we waited at the airport for a long time for transport (b/c we had to wait for people on another flight that were delayed even though the driver was there)."</b>
This is why I always recommend to people that they just grab a cab or shuttle from the airport at the Los Cabos airport.
Bill
Oct 7th, 2007, 08:01 PM
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Tesoro Los Cabos Hotel (recently renovated / formerly the Costa Real Cabo Resort) is located in Cabo San Lucas on the Marina and is within easy walking distance to everything in town. All inclusive package prices are reasonable. Not beach front, but I actually prefer the location on the marina and in town. They have a pool and you can walk around to the other side of the marina to access beach. No corridor travel hassles or rental car needed.
Nov 12th, 2007, 12:39 PM
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I go to CSL every winter for sun and Marlin fishing.
As far as "all-inclusive" I can give you one suggestion.
We stay at the Villa Del Palmar on Medano Beach every year. It is close enough to downtown that it isn't expensive to get there but far enough that you are away from it. It has controlled access. It is a $8 cab ride to Cabo Wabo (i.e. the heart of downtown CSL). It is a 25 minute walk to the Porto Perusio Mall if you can stand the bombardment of timeshare hawks as you pass by all the beach resorts walking down the road. You can also walk to the marina via the beach but it is a long walk in the sand and you will need a drink when you get there! The best kept secret is that you can take a local bus for $6 pesos which is like 55 cents that will take you from the gate at the hotel to the mall. We used this during the day and taxis at night. The bus will be 99% local workers getting a ride from the hotels to their homes but it is safe.
Villa Del Palmar (VDP) is a timeshare resort but people that do not own can rent from owners or reserve direct like any hotel. They sell excess capacity off like a hotel after the owners have made their reservations. You will pay much more to reserve direct with VDP than you will buy going on Timeshares Only or some other site and renting from an owner.
As far as the "all-inclusive", well VDP offers a "meal plan" that is seperate from the rental but basically covers everything you eat and drink for $72/pp/day. That sounds like a lot at first glance but when you really add it up, if you eat Breakfast at $10pp, Lunch at $13pp and do the dinner shows ($30pp) at the resort you are at $53 right there. Throw in 4 umbrella drinks at $6-$7 each and you are making money...
So if you really plan on hanging out at the hotel, soaking up the sun by the pools and beach and eating/drinking there you could easily run up $100/day in drink and food bills. I can wipe out 10 Margarhitas in a day easy so there is $60 right there!
VDP is "active" during the afternoon with one pool having drinking games and music, then the dinner shows can be listened to from the balcony or in the rooms but they end at 9pm sharp and then it is "quiet time" and it is strictly enforced.
It is a complete mix of people from families with small kids, to couples to retires to college kids, but the latter are the minority with the exception of Spring Break and Christmas times.
Frankly I can't see myself staying anywhere else when we go to Cabo.
As far as "all-inclusive" I can give you one suggestion.
We stay at the Villa Del Palmar on Medano Beach every year. It is close enough to downtown that it isn't expensive to get there but far enough that you are away from it. It has controlled access. It is a $8 cab ride to Cabo Wabo (i.e. the heart of downtown CSL). It is a 25 minute walk to the Porto Perusio Mall if you can stand the bombardment of timeshare hawks as you pass by all the beach resorts walking down the road. You can also walk to the marina via the beach but it is a long walk in the sand and you will need a drink when you get there!
The best kept secret is that you can take a local bus for $6 pesos which is like 55 cents that will take you from the gate at the hotel to the mall. We used this during the day and taxis at night. The bus will be 99% local workers getting a ride from the hotels to their homes but it is safe.Villa Del Palmar (VDP) is a timeshare resort but people that do not own can rent from owners or reserve direct like any hotel. They sell excess capacity off like a hotel after the owners have made their reservations. You will pay much more to reserve direct with VDP than you will buy going on Timeshares Only or some other site and renting from an owner.
As far as the "all-inclusive", well VDP offers a "meal plan" that is seperate from the rental but basically covers everything you eat and drink for $72/pp/day. That sounds like a lot at first glance but when you really add it up, if you eat Breakfast at $10pp, Lunch at $13pp and do the dinner shows ($30pp) at the resort you are at $53 right there. Throw in 4 umbrella drinks at $6-$7 each and you are making money...
So if you really plan on hanging out at the hotel, soaking up the sun by the pools and beach and eating/drinking there you could easily run up $100/day in drink and food bills. I can wipe out 10 Margarhitas in a day easy so there is $60 right there!
VDP is "active" during the afternoon with one pool having drinking games and music, then the dinner shows can be listened to from the balcony or in the rooms but they end at 9pm sharp and then it is "quiet time" and it is strictly enforced.
It is a complete mix of people from families with small kids, to couples to retires to college kids, but the latter are the minority with the exception of Spring Break and Christmas times.
Frankly I can't see myself staying anywhere else when we go to Cabo.
Nov 12th, 2007, 12:51 PM
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I should add that the check-in can be painfully slow, especially on Saturdays, but then that is pretty much Mexico...they have their own pace. Once you get checked in the staff is very eager to please you.
They will want you to listen to their timeshare presentation and if you are not thin-skinned, tell them you will be ask what they will give you as "incentives" and if they don't cough up at least $200 worth of activities like Tropicat Sunset Jazz Cruise / Wave Runner Rentals/ Zipline tours, Panga Fishing ect tell them to forget it. They want to give you a "Gold Card" that offer discounts and it is nice, but you can get a lot more than that if you play hardball. We got $400 US in CASH to listen to another resorts pitch in San Jose Del Cabo but that is the extreme...don't expect that but it gives you something to shoot for LOL!
And as Bill says, I never bother waiting for pre-arranged rides. If there is four of us we arrange a private shuttle from the fleet of shuttle vans at the airport for $85 ($22.25 each) or if there is two we bite the bullet and take a cab for about $70. You can save a few bucks on a shared shuttle but you will have to wait while they find other riders and make stops at various hotels and it is about the same as a cab for two people.
Hope that helps.
They will want you to listen to their timeshare presentation and if you are not thin-skinned, tell them you will be ask what they will give you as "incentives" and if they don't cough up at least $200 worth of activities like Tropicat Sunset Jazz Cruise / Wave Runner Rentals/ Zipline tours, Panga Fishing ect tell them to forget it. They want to give you a "Gold Card" that offer discounts and it is nice, but you can get a lot more than that if you play hardball. We got $400 US in CASH to listen to another resorts pitch in San Jose Del Cabo but that is the extreme...don't expect that but it gives you something to shoot for LOL!
And as Bill says, I never bother waiting for pre-arranged rides. If there is four of us we arrange a private shuttle from the fleet of shuttle vans at the airport for $85 ($22.25 each) or if there is two we bite the bullet and take a cab for about $70. You can save a few bucks on a shared shuttle but you will have to wait while they find other riders and make stops at various hotels and it is about the same as a cab for two people.
Hope that helps.
