Yes I know my entries are long but I do my research when I am traveling and appreciate when people write about their experiences. I will do the same. So here we go…

I traveled to Cabo for my Dad’s 50th birthday. We stayed at the Pueblo Bonito Blanco (PBB) from September 17th through the 24th. I left the husband at home for this trip so it was just me, Mom, and Dad. We were given a week at this hotel as a gift, so we didn’t pay. I saw a flyer at the front desk that said that when we were staying it was mid 200 per night.

Getting there: We arranged for Greyline to pick us up at the airport. I used cabosanlucastours.net for the arrangement. It was $31.50 per person. It was the cheapest I found. We had no problems and had to wait maybe 10 to 15 minutes for the bus but there was a Greyline employee always there to check our name off the list. When you get your confirmation online from the website they will warn you not to stop in a certain area of the airport because of timeshare people. We didn’t listen and stopped, well actually they said that our map that we had was incorrect and they said that’s where we were to check in at-WRONG. DON’T STOP, they are just timeshare people that hound you to go to their timeshares…really annoying. But, I would recommend Greyline, but they do drive fast (I think like all taxi people there). I am so glad we didn’t rent a car. Like I said the taxi people drive fast and aggressively. I wouldn’t have wanted to battle the busy roads with those people! The day before you return to the airport at the end of your trip you have to call Greyline and confirm your pickup time at the hotel. The concierge did that for us when we took our paperwork down at the PBB.

The Hotel and Grounds: PBB is right next door to its sister hotel, Pueblo Bonito Rose. They are both timeshare hotels. PBB is older than the Rose but I actually like the setup here better. Most rooms at the PBB have a great view of the ocean. At the Rose the majority of the rooms had views of the pool just because of the way the hotel was built. The grounds are pretty and well kept. The week we were there the pool was closed due to some construction so we weren’t able to use the PBB pool. We were able to use the Rose’s pool which was a very very short walk away. The pool didn’t look really big. It reminded me of a lazy river setup. Security is tight at the hotel. We came home late one night and walked on the beach. When we tried to walk up the stairs to the hotel there was a PBB guard that stopped us and asked us for our room number and name. I felt like that was a good security measure in keeping unwanted people out of our hotel. Taxi rides from the front door of the hotel to the Marina/Mall/Downtown area are $6 for up to 4 people. You can walk to the Marina from the hotel by beach or road but when it is night I would recommend a cab. There are a few mini markets a few blocks away but again if at night I would take a cab. There is a free shuttle to take you to the newest property Sunset Beach. It runs every half hour. You can go to the Sunset Beach hotel and use their facilities and beach. The beach there isn’t swimable. It has huge waves that would sweep you away into the ocean. The pools are nice and they have a good restaurant as well. I love looking at scenery so I enjoyed the ride over there too. It took maybe 15 minutes. At the hotel they have activities scheduled all day. The activities are Spanish lessons, Blackjack, volleyball, water aerobics and much more. I made a nice friend with one of the coordinators. His name was Juan Jose and he was very informative and said hello to us even when he saw us after work on the streets. He and another coordinator gave my dad a drink ticket and a slice of chocolate cake on his actual birthday. It was nice of the staff to go out of their way and surprise my dad on his 50th.

Our Room: We had a one bedroom suite on the fifth floor that had two doubles beds in the bedroom and a sleeper sofa that was nothing more than the bottom cushion of the sofa that pulled out. I wouldn’t recommend adults trying to sleep on the couch bed; I did two nights and my shoulder and back was sore. It’s not a mattress, just some foam that is very stiff. It would probably be okay for little ones though. The beds in the bedrooms were comfortable and had some featherbed topper on them. Pillows were puffy, almost a bit too puffy. The décor is exactly what it’s like in the pictures. It’s got a definite Mexico flare to it with the blues and yellows but also modern touches like in the bathrooms (lots of natural stone). They have a mini kitchen in the room that has almost everything you need to cook. We didn’t use the kitchen to its full potential because we were enjoying the local food. We did use the microwave, cups, plates and utensils to heat up our leftovers for lunch. The mini fridge was useful because we bought bottled water to drinks plus soda. (Groceries there are expensive!) The bathroom had plenty of towels and it came with some Neutrogena shampoo, lotion, and body wash. They also had bars of hand soap/shower soap. The water pressure was strong. In fact it had to be the strongest water pressure I’ve ever had in a hotel or even a house! Hot water was available right away with no wait. The AC gets the room really cold if you want. Sometimes we turned it too low and it was freezing when we came in for the night.

Eating: We ate about half our meals at the restaurants at the PBB and Rose. We ate one meal at Sunset Beach. They have decent restaurants but are pricier than they local places. My mom claims that the restaurant at the Rose has the best Fajitas EVER. We aren’t big seafood people but it’s popular and most of the guests said it was good. The one thing I disliked about the restaurant at the PBB was the breakfast buffet. It was $18 per person and the food wasn’t good at all. Better off sticking with ordering what you want so it is cooked fresh. We had pancakes one day that we ordered off the regular menu and then at the buffet had them but they were disgusting at the buffet. I wouldn’t recommend the buffet breakfast at all. Outside of the hotel we enjoyed the Las Quesadillas restaurant. We all had taco platters and it was good. My dad claims they have the best tacos! Our last night in Cabo we ate at a beach restaurant just a few minute walk from the hotel on the beach called the Mango Deck. It was a popular place. A little crowded but by the way our food came out you wouldn’t have guessed it, fast and hot. We all had wonderful meals here as well. The price is right, too. They have 2 for 1 drink specials and they’re in those big glasses so be ready! The best part of all was when the tide comes in the water will wash up under your table if you are close to the beach like we were. The first few rows will get wet so watch your belongings if they are on the ground! If you can make it to a mini mart outside of the hotel I would advise getting your snacks and soda for your stay. You can buy things from the mini marts they have at the hotels but you’ll pay more for your food. At the hotel we brought a bag of Gardettos for $6 and a can of Coke for $2.50!!! I guess that’s for the convince of not going off the hotel grounds for food.

Things to do there: LAY OUT ON THE BEACH! I have never enjoyed lying out on a lounge chair under my own little cabana so much! I had a great time just enjoying the ocean and scenery. We did travel downtown some and looked in some of the local stores. Some of the things were the same things they were trying to sell on the beach but for much less. We bought a few t-shirts that were 2 for $11. They were actually nice ones that we will wear again; they did not scream “CABO SAN LUCAS”-although there are tons of those kinds if you want. We also went on the famous Buccaneer pirate ship night cruise. We didn’t pre plan so we paid full price for the tickets at the concierge. It was nice to go see the arc but it would have been cheaper just to take a different boat out and see it. The crew does a show and involves the guests. They have an open bar but just like any cheap booze cruise it is cheap alcohol. If you ask for a pina colada it is over ice, not blended. My parents couldn’t drink them. I only had one then I stuck to sprite and water. They then put out chips and guacamole, pretzels, and some cheese/ham/hot dog slices on a toothpick. Yes, I said hot dog slices. They weren’t chilled; they were a bit warm so I only ate one. I ended up getting sick that night and so I have a feeling that warm hot dogs might not have been ideal for a snack…be careful. Another activity we did was get massages on the beach under a cabana. It was a short walk down the beach (walk out from the PBB onto the beach and it’s on your left). It was a place called Massages by “____” -I can’t remember the name exactly but it was a girl’s name. They advertise a free 10 minute trial. Or if you want they make your half hour massage 40 minutes. We did this and got a 40 min massage for $20 plus tip! I had a Mexican lady massage me, her name was something like CiCi or Cecile and she could do a deep tissue massage!!! They even give you bottled water after your massage. Our last day there the PBB did have the jellyfish flag out. We did not swim that day since we figured why take a chance. Kids were finding jellyfish that got swept on shore but we didn’t see any guests get stung. We did see our little activities friend Juan Jose get stung on the shoulder and leg though. He said it was painful. I believe him.

Timeshares: Everyone jokes about the timeshare presentations here in Cabo since timeshares are such a big role in the hotel business. We did do the Sunset Beach timeshare (a sister hotel of PBB). I read other reviews about the Sunset Beach timeshare not being too pushy. They were right. Upon check in they will direct to you to a table where two ladies will be sitting. They will give each person a free drink ticket and then ask if you would like to go to the Sunset Beach property for a timeshare presentation the next morning. We agreed because they will give you a $200 food and/or beverage credit to use at ANY of the Pueblo Bonito restaurants and then we got $100 gift certificates to the spa for only $50. The next morning you will get up and go to the bus that will take you to the Sunset Beach. You will get a personal time share presenter and they will feed you a good breakfast then you will take an hour to an hour and a half tour of the hotel. It is a beautiful place, it is way bigger than you would imagine. They then try to get you to purchase a timeshare but we politely said no thank you at this time and there were no hard feelings. The presenter was still nice and thanked us for coming. Then they validate your restaurant credit and spa credits. Then you can stay there at the hotel for the afternoon and they pay for your personal cab ride back to PBB. I hadn’t been to a timeshare before but this one was actually entertaining and we got some free food and spa services so I would say GO FOR IT with the Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach timeshare.

Spa: The PBB doesn’t have its own spa but right next door the Rose does and it is a very nice place. With out $100 certificates my mom and I each got a scrub. I had the Tropical Scrub and she had the Jamaican. I liked my smell better because it was coconut and mango. My moms smelled tropical but it was different. (Just ask the ladies to smell the lotions before you commit to one. They sell them right there in the spa so there are samples you can try.) A scrub means that they will scrub your entire body (except face) with a rough scrub then rinse it off in a special table, then do a light massage with lotion. Scrubs are $100 plus 10% tax and a 12% service fee, which I asked if that was the tip and she shook her head yes, but I tipped more because I felt that 12% wasn’t enough. More or less the minimum the scrub will cost you is $122. So that’s where the $50 spa credit worked out nice! We also went early and used the Jacuzzi, steam room and showers. They have cucumbers and cool towels for your face. The spa is a pricey but for my mom and I to have a girly half day together it was worth it.

Overall: I would recommend this hotel to anyone traveling to Cabo. It has a great location, great rooms, and great staff. I would like to go back to this hotel again when I visit in a few years. You will be treated like royalty here. The doors are always being opened, napkins always placed on your lap, people always saying hello or goodnight. I must give a big thumbs up to the staff at PBB and their sister properties. I have never seen people WANTING to be so helpful. They must be doing something right to keep all of their employees smiling. Even the people that you don’t tip always are going out of their way to make your stay wonderful. I will be e-mailing PBB to tell them what a nice stay we had as well. So if you are thinking of staying at the PBB I’d say GO FOR IT!