We returned on July 4 2004 after a week at the Villa Del palmar. The whole place is set up to sell timeshares! The minute after you go through customs the timeshare weasels are all over you lying to you by pretending to help you to your resort or any other resort in the area to try to give you some sort of "welcome package." They are terrible if you do not know about it. We are not experience travelers and were not prepared for all the timeshare crap. I would go somewhere else just because of this. Walk through them and go outside to find your shuttle.
At the resort avoid the "Welcome package" they will try to "give" you. The concierge is another timeshare salesperson. They are not there to help you. Going to the sales presentation is not worth the "Gold Card." The whole thing is a setup designed to sell and close the deal. I would rather spend the difference than subject myself to the sales presentation. It seems that the resort is set up to sell timeshares. You can go and have a good time, but just know that you are going to have to be rude and say "leave me alone." So why not go somewhere else.
By the way, Mexico does have a 5 day grace period that you can get out of the timeshare deal. They won't tell you that.

We just got back from our trip to Cabo San Lucas on July 3rd. Once you step into the airport after customs, you are bombarded by time share people who will lie to you and tell you they are from your resort and have your shuttle to take you to the resort. Ignore them and continue outside to the right where your shuttle or a taxi will be waiting. I had booked a shuttle for $30.00 per person round trip through the resort. The Villa Del Palmar is a beautiful resort. We had a very quiet one bedroom room. We avoided the time share people and were not hounded at the resort after the first evening. We did not want to give up any vacation time to attend a 3 hour presentation to get a gold card to get discounts at the resort. The food and drinks are rather expensive there(around $5.00 each). We went to the beach party on Wednesday night. It is 29.00 per person. Very well worth the money, as it is all you can eat and drink. I didn't think the alcoholic beverages would flow as quickly as they did. We definitly had all we wanted to drink! The food was also very good. We got a few groceries at the store at the resort. Don't use the honor bar in your room. We ate the breakfast buffet a couple of mornings which was very good for about $13.00 each. The pizza is also very good that you can order at the bar. We did most of our eating up town and up the beach. We loved the Mango deck which was a walk up the beach. They had excellent food, great service, and 2 for 1 drinks all the time. The Office is right next door. Food was more expensive and they had 2 for 1's for 3 hours in the late afternoon. We ate at Mi Casa's uptown which had the best food we ate in Cabo San Lucas. Atmosphere was wonderful also. We ate at the Hard Rock Cafe and at the Cabo Wabo. The Cabo Wabo has fabulous bacon cheese burgers. Drinking in the popular establishments (Squid Roe, Giggling Marlin, Cabo Wabo, etc.) will cost generally $5.00 a drink for beer, more for some mixed drinks. Beware the shot people coming around offering shots. You are charged for them! We went to a few smaller places and got drinks much cheaper. We went for a sunset cruise one night which included all you could drink and snacks. I think it was $36.00 per person. This is the cruise from the resort on Thursday which includes transportation to the marina. Any other cruise you book, you will have to take a taxi to the marina for $7.00 or walk it. The cruise was very beautiful and worth the money. It does get a little chilly out on the ocean. We also went on a horse ride along the beach. We probably wouldn't do that again (saddles are very uncomfortable and the horses could use some better care), but it was an experience that won't be happening for much longer there, as a new resort is being built and does not want the horses walking through. I can see why not since there are horse droppings all along the beach through that area. We got the price down to $25.00 per person for the ride. We also went to the glass factory. Very interesting and worth the trip. The vendors on the beach can be a pain. You can't even glance at them and they are trying to get you to look at their things. We had planned to go snorkeling and even took our gear, but decided not to after talking to someone who had gone. It definitly is not the Carribean! The resort charges you $3.50 each day for tips for workers who do not generally get tipped. You can argue this and get it taken off your bill it says on the bill. Employees supposedly are only paid $5.00 a day and we are expected to tip them continuously to help them earn a good wage. Most of the waiters are probably making a lot more money than I do. I really do not like this system where resort owners get richer while vacationers pay their employees wages. All in all Cabo is much more expensive than Playa Del Carmen. Make sure you take a lot of money so you can eat and drink and maybe buy a few things.

I have been to Cabo numerous times from Fiesta American to Villa del Palmar and I would rate the Villa del Palmar a 5 star resort. I absolutley loved it the people were nice and the service was great. the beds were comfortable and the rooms were homey. they had something fun to do every night and they had fun thing to do all day rather if in the pool or on the beach. and if you want to just relax them they have a different pool they also have a slide for kids and a kid room. I went with 7 other people who also loved it and we bought a time share which we are using july 24 so any one who puts this resort down must have not really been there because it is great and i would recommend it to any one who wants to have fun or just relax. Ohh and did i mention the spa it is awsome you should also do a spa day it will be the best day you have EVER had. So if you want to stay any where elegant and relaxing but fun for the kids or a day out stay here you'll absolutley fall in love but remember: LOVE AND BE LOVED!!

We had the best time here! There are so many activities to do all the time. We went after my husband graduated from grad school. If you are not a drinker it is a little difficult to get used to the amount of booze, but we HIGHLY reccomend going to the hotel fiesta and beach party...all you can eat and drink! I have read all of the reviews and here are some suggestions.. unplug your phone and sleep on the pull out couch..the bed is really hard. Everyone is so willing to help and friendly. When walking downtown try to ignore all the people wanting you to buy a fishing trip or other activities. You can book everything through the hotels! Oh, and the red flag at the beach is REAL. If it shows a RED FLAG..it means stay on the shore! Use lots of sunscreen the water washes it off. Lovers beach is OK but you have to take a water taxi and the water was really rough. We suggest that if you go, don't be expecting to snorkel, but just to enjoy the view. We also highly suggest the Buccaneer Queen...we did the snorkel and the sunset cruise and had a blast. If you want to use the waverunners, do it on a day that the cruise ship is NOT in port. We went out with about 100 other people and the water was too choppy and not enough room to really have fun on the water. Villa Del Palmar is just a great hotel. One last thing..when you get out of the baggage area at the airport, head straight for the shuttle area and say NO to everyone unless you want to get snagged into a timeshare presentation.