had a great time in cabo and at the resort! great beach.... clean.... prices all within reason...... services were all excellent.... right down from the best beaches and close to downtown.... only drawbacks were the stay was too short.... and nightlife at this hotel is non-existant..... but it is close by!!!

Let me start by saying that I research everything to the nth degree so before staying at Pueblo Bonito Rose (July 31 - Aug 7), I read one year's worth of traveler's reviews on tripadvisor.com so I was prepared. We are a family of 4 with 2 children (ages 6 and 4) who do not go overboard with our vacation budget. Staying here was part of a timeshare exchange through RCI. This is a full-service resort where people open doors for you and your bed is turned down with a candy on your pillow each night. Based on other people's comments and our experience, here is my review...

Check In/Out -
I do not know how they do it considering that most people check in and out on Mondays, but there was never a line at the front desk. It was very smooth and the people were nice.

Welcome Packet/Time Share -
Yes, there will be a lady or two eager to give you a welcome packet the minute you check in. They want you to pay $20 in order to reserve a spot at a buffet breakfast at the sister property Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach. Following the breakfast is a "90 minute" (really THREE hour) tour and timeshare presentation. The first offer was $150 room credit (can only be used to pay for food and drinks from the bars or restaurants at any of the 3 Pueblo Bonito properties and doesn't include tips or food/drinks purchased from the deli or gift shops), but when we hesitated about handing over $20 (which we were promised to get back and we did get back), they added 4 glass bottom boat ride tickets worth $12 per person (boat ride to Arch, tour of rock formations, let us off at Lover's Beach and picked us up 1 hour later) were added to sweeten the deal. BE SURE TO HESITATE!

I would recommend going to the Cabo Villas timeshare presentation as well. Their tour only lasted 75 minutes (including a much better breakfast than Sunset Beach's buffet) and we were able to get $250 worth of activites for $30 (4 tickets on the Buccaneer Queen Pirate Snorkeling Trip and 2 double wave runners for 30 minutes. BE SURE TO HESITATE!

Sister Hotels -
BLANCO (aka Los Cabos) is right next door and you can also use their pool. It's an older property and even though the pool was a little warmer, it was also a gross green color so we visited for a few minutes and never returned.

SUNSET BEACH is a shuttle ride away. The shuttle (very nice Mercedes bus with AC and reclining seats) leaves the Rose on the half hour and leaves Sunset Beach on the hour from 10 am to 10 pm. Get a reservation ticket from the conceirge since the shuttle does fill us fast. This was a nice resort to visit, but I wouldn't want to stay there. Since it's built on a hill, you have to rely on golf carts to take you everywhere which means some waiting. The beach is pretty, but too rough. The best parts are the 5 pools and the beautiful sunset from the beach. Since there are 5, none are super crowded and there is a nice variety depending on if you are with kids (go to the lower pool or the kid's club pool) or just wanting to read a book in silence.

Activities -
All 4 of us did the Tio's Glass Bottom Boat Tour, Buccaneer Queen Pirate Ship Snokeling Tour and JT's Wave Runners and would highly recommend all three of those activities. Our children went into the Pueblo Bonito Rose's Kid's Club one day and had a great time. The cost is $15 for the day per child (10-12, 2 - 4:30) or $8 for the morning or afternoon session only (3 activities) and includes 6 activites plus the babysitting. We also walked to the Plaza Paraiso Mall and walked around the Marina. A lot of our time was spent around the huge beautiful pool.

Meals -
I would recommend going to City Club (just like Costco/Sam's) when you arrive to buy anything you need. There is a $2 daily membership charge, but keep in mind that you have to carry back (unless you hire a taxi) everything you purchase. The 5 minute walk always seemed a lot farther on the way back to the hotel with our arms loaded down. There is also a Costco, but it is further and would require a car or taxi.

We ate dinners at Mango Deck, Ricazon, Senor Greenburg's, and Cabo Wabo and would recommend all 4 of those especially if you are looking for child friendly meals.

Airport Transporation -
Booking a van on the resort website will cost you $17 per person when you arrive and $16 per person to return to the airport (there was a HUGE line on checkout day for people to get shuttles to take them back to the airport). BE CAREFUL when you arrive since there will be lots of people in your face trying to get you to go with them. Only look for CAPE TRAVEL shirts and signs if you book on the website. Imposters will say they are with Cape Travel, but they are not.

We rented an economy car from Payless (right down the street from the resort) for $60 for 30 hours and drove ourselves back to the airport. Avis (in the resort) quoted $62 for 24 hours. It was less money than the shuttle plus we were able to drive to Todos Santos (DO NOT GO THERE ON A SUNDAY since everything is closing or already closed) and San Jose Cabo.

Misc. -
Happy Hour is 2 for 1 drinks from 3 - 5 pm from the pool bar, but beware that if you order 2 different drinks (beer and margarita) then the waiter will bring you 2 of each type.

Bring blow up pool toys if you are traveling with children. They are sold by the pool (for a highly increased price) and lots of kids have them.

Kids will be happy to know that the TV gets Cartoon Network and Nickolodean. HBO had some kid type movies in the mornings.

Vendors are right on the beach in swarms. They can be intimidating in the beginning, but they will respect you and are still nice even if you do not want to buy anything. Don't be afraid to negociate. I paid $22 for my daughter to get just the top of her head braided while another mom paid another vendor $25 for the entire head. I'm not a good negociator.

$50 in one dollar bills was just enough for tipping

The beds are SUPER comfortable and the rooms get very dark. You could easily sleep your entire vacation away. Even with the AC turned to the warmest mode, there were times we had to turn it off since the room got too cold. We were on the ground floor which was very convenient for coming and going from the pool. The items on our patio were completely safe.

The showers take a long time to warm up and smell a bit like mildew, but we did not experience the vast temperature changes like other people have written about.

Ask for a late checkout and they can extend the checkout time to 11 am. If you have a later flight, they will hold your bags for you and let you use the showers in the spa which is great if your last few hours are spend at the beach or pool.

The maids came into our room twice per day. Once for the full cleaning and once to empty trash and to turn down our beds.

The Internet Cafe charges $5 for up to 30 minutes of usage. The computers are fast and there should be a little timer on the bottom of your screen so you know exactly how much time you are using.

We had a wonderful week and will definitely return to the Pueblo Bonito Rose.

Pueblo Bonito is a good hotel other than the time share folks hounding you all the time. The grounds are kept clean and the rooms are good. The beds are more comfortable than most of the ones in Mexico, despite only having double beds available. The location is good and the food is good, but expensive. Concerigre did a great job, go east on the beach to Tabasco's for a neat little beach bar.

You cant go wrong perfect location perfect hotel. Everything is great. The food is expensive and its expenisve at every great resort around the world. They have dollar tacos down the street. You can't go wrong with this place. This is a timeshare place but if you want to make a couple of hundreed buck go to the presentation. This place is as good as it gets and its hard to beat the views anywhere in the world. The rooms are kept really clean. I highly recommend this place