Let me start off by thanking everyone for their reviews of the Solmar and Cabo San Lucas. The reviews, good and bad made our trip so much more enjoyable knowing the best and worst of things.

Solmar hotel was a very pleasant experience for us. As stated in previous reviews the hotel is older but very well maintained. Every time you looked around someone was cleaning something. Our room (1108) was very clean and in good condition for its age. For us though a room is just a place to sleep and do a little relaxing before heading out to the next activity. The only one real problem we had with the room was the hot water heater was leaking water on to the bathroom floor. We called the front desk and within 10 minutes the maintenance crew was there to install a brand new water heater. We went to eat and came back and they were done. My only other complaint about the hotel was the pool. The bottom and sides felt a little slimy, maybe a little more chlorine in the water may have solved this. We also discovered there is no direct view of the sunset from the Solmar at least not in May when we were there. That is it as far as my complaints go. The food was good, not the best, but good at the restaurant in the hotel. The half grilled chicken was my favorite, oh and the appetizer of ribs and fries was surprisingly good. The rooms that sit facing the beach are totally awesome. The waves at night sounded like thunder. One night the waves were so big it sound like hearing explosions going off in the distance. The hotel even looks good at night. They light up all the trees and the rock mountain behind the hotel. Checking in to the hotel went very smooth. We already knew about the time share thing they were going to try get us to go to, so we told the lady that offered us the “welcome package” we were very tired and to check with us the next day. Well our phone ring several different times while there but we never answered. We just checked for messages everyday instead. The night before we left they finally caught up to us but told them it was too late we are leaving tomorrow. As for the time share people in town we were never approached once. The only place they got to us was at the airport.

We did visit the Solmar’s sister hotel Playa Grande. It is about a 5 minute walk by beach and is a very nice place. We ate dinner and breakfast there one day. Food was pretty good. They have a nice lobby bar there (try the almond joy, yum!). So we made several of these hot walks to the Playa only to find out on our last day they have a shuttle that goes between the two for $1. Oh well we need the exercise I suppose.

The night life was very good in Cabo. Cabo Wabo was our favorite. El Squid roe was also entertaining and Giggling Marlin was fun. We also went to a place called the Zoo it was more like a night club you would expect in the states but nice. The shopping mall next to the marina was very nice also. Go to the top of the mall for a great view of the marina. I would also highly recommend the boat called the Spin Doctor for the snorkeling tour! It takes about 3 ½ hours. You get lunch, snorkeling gear and open bar. They take you to Santa Maria Bay to snorkel. After that they put up the sails and take you for a great ride on the Pacific. This crew knows how to cater to their passengers. The Jungle Booze Cruise was also a blast! You get 2 hours of open bar and cruising in Cabo San Lucas bay. This crew was also very good to their passengers. They cruise you by El Arco and to see the sea lions. Great picture taking from this cruise. Last but by far not least is the parasailing. OH MY GOD! How great was this. You’re about two or three hundred feet in the air just floating and all you can hear is the wind. I took a camera up with me and got some great shots. Hint: Take a disposable camera just in case you drop it.

Sorry for such a long review but I had a lot to tell you about. I posted some pictures. If you would like to see more of the pictures I took just go to this link:

http://community.webshots.com/album/550575623ugvlts

Great hotel. I can't complain about a thing .... but some suggestions to make a stay better:

1) Ask for an upgrade to Ocean View room.... it's probably worth it.

2) There is no internet available [the one the hotel claims they have never works] ... so since I needed to get some things done I had to go 2 hotels over to the Playa Something to get online ... had I known I would've just paid extra to be at that place.

3) Cabo is a Timeshare selling frenzy. The ladies at the front [much like the folks in town] will hound you to attend a timeshare presentation at the Playa something next door ... just be aware that the going rate for sitting through a timeshare presentation in Baja is about $200 USD ... so if they offer you $100 USD ... feel free to hold out for more if you're willing to putup with a 90 minute sales pitch. My wife signed us up for a timeshare presentation for a measly $100 food discount, and I traded that to an other timeshare selling presentation for $210 Cash + 2 Massages + Mexican Blanket + 2 pairs of Earings + Tequila Bottle ... if you're going to put up with the presentation get paid for it!! But be careful, it could cost you $10k if you end up falling for their unique offer which will expire as soon as you leave the room ;-)

4) The Sol Mar is a great quiet simple vacation hotel. The Playa whatever next door is newer, higher end, nicer looking, has more pools and is waaayy more crowded ... so it's a choice, simple with no crowds at the Sol Mar, or nicer and crowded at the Playa Whatever next door ... they share the same owner and you can share the facilities ...

5) Phone calls are a rip-off ... buy yoursefl some phone card that works in Mexico before leaving home ... and make phone calls from the lobby phone to avoid a $2.50 per call connection charge ... my mexican purchased phone card had 22 minutes ... but after leaving 1 voice-mail it only had 14 minutes left .... and that wasn't a long vmail !!!

The Sol Mar is a great hotel ..... provided you don't need to get any phone calls or internet done [and that should be what Vacation is all about]...

What a romantic spot. A charming, spotless, restful and beautiful older Mexican hotel. It also has a a great location on a beautiful beach. Secure, no Mexican salesmen/women on this beach. Great food and owned by the same people who run Playa Grande. You can take the free hotel shuttle to Playa Grande and use all of their facilities if you want (We never wanted to!) You don't have to rent a car because you can walk to town and the beautiful marina. Sol Mar has three pools and a small work out room. They can hook you up for fishing on a boat or you can fish off the beach. You can't swim at the beach because of the currents, but there are other places to swim in the area like Santa Maria Bay and Medano beach. Nice restaurant overlooking the beach and pool- where you can eat on the patio or inside. They also have a list of other restaurants that their corporation owns and they are wonderful and located on your walk into town. Everything we ate in Cabo was great.

I made the mistake of venturing to a destination besides Cabo/Sol Mar this year and I regret it! Sol Mar is a great resort on the best spot of beach in Cabo. Guests are minutes away from night spots El Squid Roe, Giggling Marlin, Cabo Wabo, and Roxx; close to great restaurants like Romeo y Julieta, La Dolce, and Las Quesadillasss; and have the privilege of waking up to sunshine and crashing waves on the Pacific side of Cabo. The staff is friendly and fun, and the size of the resort almost makes you feel like part of the family. Happy hour at the poolside bars is great -- who can resist two-for-one pina coladas? The accommodations are nice enough (I'm easily grossed out by mediocre hotels, but these are nice enough that I'd gladly come back to Sol Mar), but they certainly aren't like the marble-floored mega-resorts. The location makes Sol Mar worth the slight drop in luxury. Order the nachos from room service -- they are delicious!
My group's favorite spots were: El Squid Roe and Love Shack for nightlife (Cabo Wabo didn't live up to the hype), La Dolce and Las Quesadillasss for dining, Puerto Paraiso for shopping, American dining and the Internet cafe, and the glass bottom boat tour for recreation. You can choose to go to Lover's Beach or stay on the boat and check out El Arco, sea lions, a neat little cave, Scooby Rock, and other fun things. Getting into and out of those glass bottom boats is tough stuff, so we just stayed in the boat and were glad we did. If you're staying at Sol Mar, you have the best beach in Cabo at your doorstep -- who needs Lover's Beach? Giggling Marlin is fun, too, but once you've been there once, you've seen all there is to offer. They were doing the same little show both years I've been there, and walking by it I could tell that they do they same thing every night. If you're going there, don't wear a skirt. You can get hung upside down and take some sort of special shot for a photo op, but it's a bad idea in a dress. And if they tell you they will help you hold the dress up, they are lying.
The typical travelers at Sol Mar are families and couples, but I've stayed there twice on girls' trips with my twenty-something girlfriends and had a blast. This certainly isn't an MTV spring break style resort (thank goodness), so if you're looking for a relaxing, grown-up vacation, this is the spot. And if you happen to spot a seagull with a half/peg leg, we named him Petey. Say hello and give him some goldfish crackers. He loves that stuff.