Our family stayed at VDP April 9 through April 16th, and had a superb vacation. The service we recieved from the staff was excellent, our 2 rooms had great views and were always kept clean by the housekeeping staff, the food we ate was prepared well and priced as one should expect when travelling ( if I wanted McDonalds I would have stayed home!) the restaraunts suggested by the concierge ie: Mi casa. fish house, Villa Serena etc., were all Great!! If you are nice to the workers and attempt to speak even a little Spanish they will bend over backwords to help you. We would reccomend this resort to anyone, including those with a family.

This place is a huge rip off. I wouldn't have minded so much if they just left you alone. However, they continually push you to go on tours of their time shares -- must have been solicited 10+ times in a couple of days. Very high pressure.

Food was awful. Watch your bill when you check out -- all sorts of additional charges at the end. Stay away from this gringo tourist resort rip off.

We had a Blast!! 4/1/04-4/8/04. This website helped us to know what to expect and because of it, our trip worked out great. I would encourage you to read as many of these reviews as possible because they prepped us for what to expect...from getting off the airplane and the barrage of timeshare offers to the vendors selling items on the beach. All of the reviews were correct....Negative reviews: you have to ask yourself if the reviewer is complaining about the Resort, Mexico in general, or do they sound like someone that was upset about something and didn't get their way. The positive reviews seemed to mirror my response.
Remember that Mexican People, in general, are very kind and reserved.
If you show them respect, they show you respect. I witnessed some non respect given by both sides. My review: The resort is georgeous....well maintained, 10 year old resort. We stayed in room 2304 that has a view of the Sea, 2 queen size beds with a small couch and a balcony with a table and chairs. It also had a kitchen with a full size refridgerator and a 2 burner stove (no oven). The kitchen served our needs perfectly as we ate all of our breakfasts and most lunches in our room (our 2 year olds nap time). The resort staff was very helpful and are used to a different pace of life...ie it took awhile to get drinks, etc. but that was not a problem for us because we were on vacation so what's our hurry? I could see how this might bother somone expecting faster service. The Pizza is very good, they have a stone hearth fired oven that turns out very good pizza. We heard from other guests that the breakfasts offered by the resort were good. (We ate breakfast in our room) The rest of the food offered is not that great. I would recommend eating dinner out either down the beach or in town. We ate at Mi Casa and at Cabo Wabo and loved both places. Pretty cheap cab fare $7 to town for up to 4 people. Easy to get to and from. We bought grocieries both in town and at the resort. It's a little cheaper in town but not by much. The price of grociers can be strange....ie $16 for a case of diet coke cans...but a 2 liter bottle is $2. Other great things about the resort is the Maid staff is incredible. We tipped our cleaning person $2-$3 a day (I was told by a timeshare sales person that minimum wage is 30 cents an hour?) which may have made all the difference in the world. For example, she washed our dishes (clearly something that is not their responsibilty) tucked in our child's baby doll with all her stuffed animals, gave us extra towels, etc. They were very, very kind. The staff was a lot of fun. They made us feel very welcome. The downside of this resort is clearly the food and the timeshare sales pitch. You earn your Gold Card by attending a 1.5 hour (ours was 2.5hours) presentation where they give you breakfast and take you on a tour that ends up in a room that is clearly design to "close deals".
Expect the worst and you will probably not be disappointed by this tacky display of used car sales ettiquette. If you are the type that clips coupons then the Gold Card is absolutely something that you should get because it will save you a lot of money at the resort and in town at certain restaurants as well as for different activities. If you don't clip coupons, skip the pitch. Regarding Timeshares....I spoke with several "owners" at this resort who told me never to buy one direct...but rather to purchase on ebay or via the internet. We don't own one but do plan to look into it further. Enjoy this Resort as it is a really nice place to take a family.

The ocean views were breath taking...splendid views of the arch. We stayed in a junior suite. The grounds and rooms were spacious and well maintained, however we expected a "real" bed not a mattress on a cement slab in a 5 star resort. The poolside service was slow ... they needed more help. We ate at both of the onsite restaurants. Bella California (the poolside restaurant) had great breakfasts and the pricing was average ... great food, dining by the ocean with spectacular views what more could you ask for? The evening buffets and entertainment was average and expensive. If you want to try it once, fine but I would eat dinner at one of the many great restaurants in town. The resort is a ways from town --- approximately a 20-25 minute walk each way which I didn't mind as I walk 5+ miles daily but for anyone who doesn't enjoy walking it may be abit much... cab service is plentiful expect a $7.00 cab fare each way for up to 4 people. Also we found the resort noisy at night. It's suppose to be quiet hours after 11 P.M. however there was only 1 night during our week stay that we weren't woken up between 1A.M. and 4A.M. from the noise in the lobby the vibrates thru the resort due to the open lobby. Finally you should know in advance that this is a timeshare resort and they will request your presence for a 90 minute "tour" to try to sell you a timeshare. The 90 minute "tour" with your free breakfast is actually a 3 hour block of your precious vacation time. Jill our tour guide was very gracious and we were actually interested in a timeshare until we asked a question that she couldn't answer so she called her boss over to get us an answer and he turned and blasted her and then turned to us with the response "if these people can't appreciate the beauty of this property and it's views then we don't need them!!" The arrogant jerk blew a possible sale for Jill. Needless to say were no longer interested. We were embarrased for Jill and took our parting gifts (which were inadequate) and left. We think you could get better gifts by taking a tour thru the vendors at the airport or in town (there you can barter on the gifts) if your interested in looking at a timeshare . Cabo San Lucas is more expensive than the four other areas of Mexico (Cozumel, Playa del Carmen, Cancun & Puerto Vallarta) that we've traveled to. Plenty of fun activities (Whale watching, deep sea fishing, sun set cruises) great restaurants & fun bars. Also found there to be more vendors in Cabo San Lucas (including the beach in front of Villa del Palmar) than in other parts of Mexico (in all fairness there may have been less vendors at some of the other parts of Mexico because we stayed at all inclusive resorts in Playa del Carmen & Puerto Vallarta but we did spend time in town at both places & there weren't vendors in the restaurants & bars and at every turn like there were in Cabo San Lucas) -- always someone wanting you to take a "tour" or sell you something. Especially didn't like how the beautiful children are exploited to sell trinkets! If you would like any further info on restaurants, activities or Villa del Palmar just email me.