Spent a few days at Estrella Del Mar with the wife recently. We were fortunate to stay in the Villas Hotel and Spa portion of the resort and found everything the resort had to offer to be top notch.

The location is excellent if you are looking for a relaxing getaway. I felt like I was in on some sort of secret here, as I didn't see more than 10 other guests for the 3 days I was there. Also, the fact that you can land, clear customs, travel to the resort, and be on the 1st tee in less than 45 minutes is something to brag about.

The staff here is second to none. Everyone was very attentive (probably because they outnumbered the guests 2 to 1 the weekend we were there) and had a lot of good suggestions. We were always well taken care of at the small pool side cafe and restuarant that accompany the hotel.

The golf course is very well maintained, but the greens are dry and hard (or maybe my shots were to blame). It is hard to complain, however, when the backdrop to your struggling game is the blowing palm trees and soothing sounds of the ocean.

My only complaints: the rental clubs were not that impressive (but they are rentals, so I shouldn't have expected much more), the golf cart broke down on the 11th hole, and the beds were hard as rocks.

Other than that, we were very well taken care of for our weekend. I say the place will work for you because I always felt that the staff was working for me that weekend, and always had a friendly smile.

They will indeed show you Mexican Hospitality to the fullest.

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.