Our family spent a week in one of the phase 1 condos and could not have had a better time. First and foremost the staff throughout the resort was awesome. . . so friendly and helpful. The resort is only 10 minutes from the airport. We were in our room 45 minutes after landing (with customs). From Colorado, I don't think you can be at a Mexican beach resort any quicker or more conveniently. We had a 2 bedroom condo on the ground floor just steps from a spacious, beautiful infinity pool. 20 yards from there was our own private beach. Excellent sand castle making sand and perfect waves for boogie-boarding. The condo set up was perfect for our family of 5 (kids aged 13, 9, and 7). Having breakfast and lunch in the condo allowed us to enjoy the pool and beach more but we couldn't resist going to the restaurants for our dinners. The food was top quality and again, interacting with the staff was a true pleasure.
Activities I recommend:
- Definitely golf as the Robert Trent Jones course is kept in immaculate condition and there are multiple holes that go right up to the beach.
- Go into the small town of Villa Union for the market and dinner at Cuchapettas (sp). Awesome fish.
- Stone Island on a Sunday. . . excellent beach bars for lunch and people watching.
- Turtle preserve. . . . this is actually on the resort itself. Make sure you spend some time with the curator there, she explained everything they do and how many sea turtles they are saving each year. Nice to know a resort like this is in tune with the local wildlife.
- Check out all the iquanas sunning themselves on the stone walls.
- Great beach jogging.
- Make sure you are sitting by the pool or on the beach at as many sunsets as possible. Or my favorite. . . . on the porch at the clubhouse restaurant with one of their margaritas in hand. And I emphasize the margaritas!

If you are looking for a super relaxing, very easy getaway, I highly recommend this resort.

Everything was top notch. The rooms are very comfortable, clean and a great size. Our room was overlooking the beach, which was spectacular. The food and service was great at all the outlets.
We enjoyed lovely walks on the very private beach, and the turtle preserve.
I would highly recommend this hotel to everyone, and especially for golfers, as the course is wonderful.

We stayed in the hotel here for a week and enjoyed the peacefulness of the resort with it's long private beach and golf course. The staff throughout the resort were courteous and helpful. One drawback for us was that it's a 45 min taxi ride to the city each way if you want to go sightseeing, shopping, or try different restaurants. Lastly, the bathroom in our room had a really bad smell the entire week - not sure what that was about.

I came to Estrella for a break away from the stress, the cold, the sheer length of the British winter. I found peace, a lovely apartment, fantastic pool with horizon view out to sea, dolphins swimming only a few hundred yards off shore, palm trees to provide shade in the heat of the day, a gorgeous sunset in the early evening and a picturesque golf course for those who are into hitting gutta percha. In addition, an amazing turtle sanctuary which harvests the eggs laid in the sand, nurses the babies and, when they're strong enough, releases them into the sea - magical. All it lacks is a better-equipped on-site shop for the self-catering apartments and a credit card/phonecard phone at the hotel for people whose cells don't work.
It's great for the airport (15 mins from Mazatlan) but a longer drive into the town.