I've traveled abroad extensively, staying in everything from hostels to cheap hotels to bed and breakfasts to pricey resorts. I hate to give bad reviews. In fact, I've only feeled compelled to write one negative review in recent years for a dump of a place in New York. I have to say, unfortunately, that my experience at the Faro was horrible.

I spent hours researching the perfect - yet not too pricey - place to take my girlfriend for her birthday. I settled on Faro because it offered an all-inclusive package, a private beach and a somewhat remote location removed from the bustle of downtown Mazatlan. I agonized over the decision, as there were a couple negative reviews on this site. But there were a fair amount of positive reviews as well, so I chose the Faro.

Needless to say, I made the wrong decision. Big time.

A quick review:
-Open air hotel lobby is beautiful, so everything looked great to start with.
-Spent over an hour checking in. Only two people working the front desk, with about five people in line in front of me. We were discouraged and a little antsy, but we were still in good spirits.
-They tried to charge me about $50 more a night than they quoted me in an email. I had to go use their computer to find the email. But I couldn't print it out. So they had a very nice woman in their business office, the woman I corresponded with, confirm everything. That took another 30 minutes to sort out.
-Our room was dingy and dank, but the view from the balcony was awesome.
-We went down to the beach restaurant to get some food and a margarita. Flies everywhere. Food was embarassing. We didn't know what any of it was. Tasted terrible, but neither of us complained. Drinks were good and strong, but, as I said, flies everywhere.
-Went for a walk on their private beach. Rocks and seaweed everywhere. Muddy water and dark brown sand. Definitely not what you'd consider a nice beach, or even a decent beach. At this point I was starting to feel like I made a mistake.
-Left Faro to spend the night eating and exploring town. Had great time, with terrific food, and came back to Faro late. Noticed stains that appeared to be blood on the pillow cases. Totally grossed out but slept there anyway (without the pillows, of course).
-Woke up, went down to breakfast. Crowded, flies everywhere, dirty tables and, again, terrible food. I sooo just wanted to get out of there at this point.
-Went back to room to take shower, huge brown stain on my towel that was god-knows-what.
-Girlfriend and I decided to leave immediately. We debated asking for another room but were so turned off by the place.
-Hassled with the front desk to get a refund. They said they'd refund my card in a few weeks. I have never left a hotel in the middle of a stay...until now.
-We found another hotel I had researched (Playa Mazatlan) and got a room for the remaining three nights of our trip. It was wonderful. Best decision we made.
-Hasseled with Faro via email for several weeks before getting a refund for only like 75 percent of what I paid for the full reservation. Gave up trying to get the rest of my money.

We laugh about the Faro today. Maybe we just had a perfect storm of bad things happen and the Faro is normally better. But it certainly wasn't funny at the time, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. What you've read about the food is true. It is awful. And I eat - and like - almost everything. Seriously. One previous poster wrote that this is Mexico and that we shouldn't expect the food to be of the quality we're used to. I disagree strongly. Some of the best food I've ever had has been on road-side stands and tiny cheap restaurants in poorer countries. The Faro's food was just simply horrible.

Sorry to be so down. But I want to make sure others don't make the mistake I did....