My husband and I went to the Villa Del Palmar in Cabo San Lucas for our Honeymoon in December of 2006. I had read some reviews on this site before going and was prepared to face some problems. I soon learned that the bad reviews were correct. We waited at the front desk for quite a while before being helped by a woman who did not seem to eager to make our stay very comfortable. We were, of course, told we had to put a minimum of $500 on our credit card for "incidentals" and also because none of the restaurants at the hotel would take cash. This is a lie- they have no problem taking cash. From the moment we stepped in the lobby we were bothered by people trying to get us to listen to presentations. My husband and I had absolutely no interested in listening to their 3 and a half hour long "presentation" with the only purpose being to get us to spend more money on a timeshare and come back. There seemed to be no focus on the pleasantness of our current trip. The restaurants on the property were expensive and the food mediocre. There are many places in town with much better food and service! Our favorite was The Office- it is a pretty good walk down the beach, but the food is awesome and so is the setting. Our room was always cold and we were told that there was no heat. So the room was less than stellar, but at least it was clean. Our real problem began at checkout. My husband's mother had purchased us one more night at the resort that wasn't part of our package. As far as we knew, it had been paid for. However, the hotel charged us $400 for a room that was already taken care of- without our permission! No one was willing to help us AT ALL. They refused to even let us use a phone to try to get this figured out. It is now 2 months later and we are still trying to get this "situation" figured out. The bottom line is- HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE and DO NOT GIVE THEM YOUR CREDIT CARD INFO! I would never ever stay here again.

These reviews always start with people saying what they liked or didn’t like. I want to start by telling you what our values are and what we were looking for.

We visited Villa Palmar from Feburary 9 to February 15, 2007.

We are a family of 4 with two children 4 and 6 years old. The goal of our vacation was to find a resort that had enough pool activity and access to a beach that would entertain our children. For us, we wanted a relaxing vacation, not a party one.

We wanted a quiet apartment where we could do some simple cooking and get away from both the quality and cost of restaurant food. We wanted a bedroom and second bed separated from each other. We weren't interested in the view and asked to be moved away from the pool for the quiet.

We got a junior suite that had a kitchenette, bedroom, two baths and living/dining area. We booked through the Alaska Airlines travel site.

Pros: The hotel is a good family destination. There is an orca water slide at the main "kid" pool. The kid pool is separate from an adult pool meaning there are fewer annoyed adults there without kids. There is also a baby pool. There are at least two hot tubs, one adult only. All in all well laid out.

The pool staff is exceptional. In particular, there are young “Geo’s” who led pool activities who were fun, tolerant of kids and oldsters and exuded enthusiasm. They all truly seemed to enjoy their jobs.

The room (except for the bed) was everything we hoped for. It was modern, clean and had all the amenities we wanted. (Be sure to get a room away from the pool)

The beach is great for children. Although few people actually went in the ocean given the winter water temperature, if you're going in the ocean I'd rather be here than on the Pacific side with all the waves.

The hotel is within easy walking distance of Cabo without kids, but is a bit of a trek for a 4 year old. It's about 2 km from the hotel to the Marina. The bus stop is right in front of the hotel and costs sixty cents per person – children free. It takes you to the Marina downtown and is very convenient. Be sure you catch the return bus marked “Zona Hotelera” or you’ll get an interesting tour of the Cabo residents. It happened to us and was one of the more educational experiences we had.

Finally, the staff is very kid-friendly, and friendly overall, with the caveats below.

Cons: The hotel has done all it can to provide the bare minimum for the daily rate. If you stay within the narrow track of the hotel and pool, you are OK. Other than that, everything, but everything is extra.

If you've spent time in the 3rd world, you won't find the drill annoying. You will understand that this is how the staff survive; off the spiff's and incentives associated with up-selling the clientele. However, if you’re used to going to a hotel that offers less than it delivers, you need to mentally prepare yourself for a continual stream of people and activities that cost extra. Example: We asked for a checkout of noon instead of 11am. We were told that it would cost $100 for that extra hour. Example: We booked a junior suite, European plan. We expected that to include breakfast, but when we got there no one seemed to know what the European plan included.

Further, there is the constant request that you take the timeshare tour. We just wanted to relax and had no interest, but by all indications it saves you a lot: an $80 taxi to the airport, 20% off purchases at the resort and other advantages.

However, if you don’t want to take the tour, as we didn’t, you not only have to continually politely refuse the offer, you eventually see the resentment in the staff’s face that you aren’t allowing them to earn money by doing so. Once again, it’s understandable as this is how a lot of them survive.

You’ll see the same thing at the restaurants. We didn’t order wine and generally had light meals. You could feel the disappointment and resentment once they realized it wasn’t going to be a $200 meal.

It was hard to eat well. Understand we’re not vegans or anything, but we would have liked healthier choices. The best meal we had was at “The Office”, and that was the Sopa de Pollo, which was a meal in itself.

Finally, the worst of the hotel was the beds and pillows. Both my wife and I left with hurting backs from the rock hard main and pullout beds. The pillows are slabs of foam covered by pillowcase.

I stayed here because it was the best rate I could find.I did read the reviews and decided to try it.The room had a musty smell,there was to much noise anything that happened you heard,even at 2am!!I called the front desk to complain and nothing happened.The"party"continued on.It was only a 20min walk into town,so that was not bad.The spa is not a quality spa.They do not have robes or soft towels.Also if you go shopping at City Club for food beware you can only buy in bulk!Over all this trip was a total waste of money and vacation time.

It was a girls vacation week (just 2 of us - age = late 40's) and we arrived November 25/06-December 2/06. We were told that it was the perfect time - right after Thanksgiving. The week before was chaos at the Villa Del Palmar and everywhere else in town. My second visit to Cabo thru a timeshare exchange.! Had a 1 bedroom with a view of the upper pool. The front desk was very accomodative when I asked for a pool/ocean view. (what a nice change!!)We were shown the room and asked if it was "okay". DO NOT CONSIDER PURCHASING the all inclusive because it's not worth the $.
Internet cafe on the grounds is great, but cheaper in town and the bistro cafe serves good sandwiches and pasta salads for lunch. Yes, the market is expensive, but what did you expect? You're staying at a resort and they're ALL the same anywhere you go.. So don't whine about it, just be smart! Go to the grocery store in town and purchase some breakfast stuff, beverages etc. and stock it in your refrigerator.
Two tennis courts on site which are in great shape. The spa/gym area is small but useable. current size = 12K sq. feet. New facilities opening Feb/07 (if they're on schedule) which will be 36K sq. feet. We purchased a spa package $160.00 for the two of us (1 50 minute massage each , free gym useage every day as well as use of the showers, whirlpool, steam shower. Good deal. ) Daily charge for the gym alone = $8.00-$12.00 daily (sorry can't remember exact $). The water temp in the pools was a bit cool, but manageable. Upper pool is quieter. The whale slide entrance is at this level and goes in to the pool below (all of the exercise classes are held in the lower pool and all children are in that one or the other small kids pool). The bed was great with no complaints., yes the "safe" in the room is very small and their pull out beds are horrid just like in most USA timeshares . (my children have used them in the past) The best pullout beds are at Mayan Palaces because they're heavy duty foam. Try not to book directly with Villa Del Pal Mar because it's way too expensive. Try a web site where you can rent a timeshare. You can walk into town via the road (1 mile walk), take a cab, catch a bus. It's really convenient because it's the last place to stay on the old beach road where the bus stops. (outside of the main property gate). We did a couple of timeshare presentations, received a lot of "free" stuff that we negotiated and had a busy week. Strolling around the marina area is nice and comfortable in the early/late evening. Ruth Chris's food was great, the service was a bit slow, but... You can find a lot of great restaurants by chatting with people. Mi Casa is a usual favorite by the old town square. If you're cordial, have an open mind, you'll get all of your questions answered and make new friends. Most of the locals are very friendly and helpful and a lot of fun. Cabo has grown in the last 2 1/2 years and the trend is continuing. It seems that one has to continuously stay in newer hotels/timeshares because of better amenities (I guess we US and Canadian travellers are just spoiled)