I just returned from the Melia Cabo Real All-Inclusive resort in the corridor of Cabo San Lucas. The good parts of this resort are the beautiful pool area, pretty landscaping, nice waiters, and pretty-to-look-at-but-not-pretty-for-swimming beach below the hotel. The activities staff is helpful & energetic. They seemed to be interested in the guests & enjoying themselves.

But this is definitely not a 4 star hotel, as it is rated on Expedia. The staff at the front desk and concierge are extremely unhelpful, and almost . . . rude. They gave us a "special upgraded ocean-front room" which would have been nice in theory, but was in fact the exact room we had already reserved and paid for. They gave us the key for the wrong room & we went right into someone else's room with their belongings sitting out . . . nice that they are so careful about protecting their guests property & privacy. The ocean front rooms, which run over $400 a night during high seaon have a beautiful view of the ocean, but don't expect anything beyond that. They are exactly the same rooms as the ocean-view & partial ocean-view rooms.

The rooms are nice - marble flooring, a small sitting area with a table & cable TV, but the bathrooms are in need of some TLC.The shower head fell off, the bathroom sink didn't drain, and the toilet overflowed. The mini-bar is "stocked" with 2 bottles of water, a coke, and a sprite.

The concierge was extremely unhelpful when it came to organizing anything off of the resort. The car that we rented at the resort was fine, but they tried to tell us that the gas was not all the way full when we returned the car- really the gas gauge was broken. The staff was extremely unhelpful in arranging transportation to the airport. . . even though airport shuttles leave the airport by the hundreds per day, they couldn't properly arrange for a shuttle to pick us up on the day of the departure. Of course, when the shuttle had not yet arrived 2 hours before the time of our departure, they were able to get a $32 taxi ride to us within a minute.

And just a word about the people in Cabo San Lucas in general. Everyone is trying to sell you something and many of the people are just flat-out rude. Very few people were helpful unless they thought they would make a couple of dollars off of you. We were constantly accosted by people trying to sell us time shares, cruises, etc. Small children come up to you at 10 or 11 o'clock at night trying to sell you candy or various little trinkets - even a Mexican child that could have been no more than 3 years old was out in the streets at night selling glass turtles - she already knew how to say "one dollar". The "information" booths are filled with nothing more than pushy sales people. Very few of the locals were pleasant or courteous despite the fact that their entire livelihood is based on the tourism industry.

I and the person I travelled with have been to Mexico before several times and we were both disappointed with the hotel and the area in general. I would not recommend the Melia Cabo Real to anyone. The Hilton next door is probably your best bet if you're expecting a more classy hotel, though the service may not be much different.

We just came back from our trip to Los Cabos. We were at Melia Cabo Real for 5 days and 4 nights.
We like to travel first class and never stay in anything less than a 4 star hotel. We were not disappointed with our hotel by any means--we were very pleased. The only reason I won't give the hotel an "excellent" rating is that the only beer served there is Pacifico and the restaurants are not open during all hours of the day--although room service is always available so that helps. It would be nice if Melia offered a choice of beers rather than just one type-although Pacifico is a very good beer. This bugged my husband a bit but we were quite content with our Sangrias, Margaritas and Pina Coladas (they will mix just about any drink for you). On our first day, we were famished because we had a flight delay that caused us to miss our lunch. It was 5:30 pm when we arrived and we waited until 6:00pm for the restaurant to open.
The food is good but not gourmet. Unless you make reservations for a la carte dining it will be buffet lunches and dinners. You can not expect gourmet meals when it is buffet style. The food was good but not excellent unless you request an omellette which is made on the spot with whatever fillings you choose. THey also have an excellent fajita bar with a selection of toppings. The dessert selections are plentiful--they made the best flan fresh every day and various cakes and pies including a delicious carrot cake topped with small carrots made of marzipan with arugula stems. The staff was very courteous and friendly. The front desk is always stocked with cool wet towels and a basketful of Mexican marzipan. The grounds are impeccably clean and nicely landscaped; I'd even say they are obsessive about sweeping the sand off of the cobblestone walkways since there was ALWAYS some guy outside sweeping the walkways and raking the sand. There are plenty of lounge chairs around the pool but you do have to claim a chair under an umbrella early in the morning if you'll be needing an umbrella. There are plenty of lounge chairs in the shade under "huts" on the sand on the beach which go unclaimed. The beach was difficult to swim in--there was either a red or black flag up at all times. We weren't too pleased with the spa. Although the staff were very respectful and friendly, the hotel management should consider a renovation of its spa facilities. Before going, I wasn't sure whether to book at the Hilton or at Melia. We went to the Hilton for dinner while we were in Los Cabos; their hotel is gorgeous but why wouldn't it be--it is fairly new. But it felt like a cookie cutter hotel--I couldn't tell whether I was in Mexico or Hawaii by looking at it. At the Melia I felt like I was in Mexico because the architechticure, interior design and landscaping were in tune with the surroundings of the Mexican desert and coast. I would recommend a stay at this resort but if you want spa treatments go to Las Ventanas which is right next door, they will spoil you while you are there. I would also recommend the Hilton's Fenicia restaurant for an exquisite gourmet dinner; but expect to pay a small fortune for it. The view from Melia Cabo Real's Palapa restaurant where you'll have great breakfasts will be better than the view from the Hilton restaurants because Melia's is closer to the beach. About housekeeping, they were very clean and accomodating and folded any dirty clothes we happened to leave on the floor or on a chair. We asked for an extra down pillow and they brought us 3. They also have a good social activities staff with something going on every hour. Some of the activities can get a little loud (water aerobics or water polo games)--they like to have fun here. Also, we didn't like the shuttle service but the bus stop is what everyone was using to go to Los Cabos so we tried it--just don't use it during peak times 8-9 am or 5-6 pm or it will take a while to get anywhere. As to the comments regarding the lack of English speakers; we found this to be true at Las Ventanas and the Hilton as well. Come on folks, Baja California Sur is one of the various states in the United States of MEXICO. Spanish is the naitonal language and a one hour Berlitz Spanish audio should help you out. But don't worry, you'll find that most of them speak enough English to help you get by.

We stayed 5/1 to 5/8, in a garden view room, all inclusive. It was great. Our experience was much like the people who took $80 in $1 bills, and we had a similar experience. The room was a little less than what we pictured; a little more worn than expected, but not bad at all. (We think after seeing the Melia in Hua Hin, Thailand, we expected soemthing palacial, and it is not quite that, but very nice.) The rates, i believe, include all tips, but if you spread around $1 and $2 tips, the staff will go out of their way to help you. (They were very helpful anyway, but much more friendly and quicker service if you give even such small rewards. Breakfast and lunch were excellent, dinner not wuite so great. You have to remember, this is Mexico, and they don't charge all that much at this hotel for the all inclusive. It's a great deal. Our price came in well below Apple & Expedia prices by going thru Frontier Airliones, so if you are in a Frontier city, check 'em out. One day, it dropped $500 below the others, so we jumped on it.

We had dinner 3 times at the "a la carte restr" (La Terraza) - the "fancy one". Some of the web sites said that this was not part of the all inclusive package, but it is. They limit the number of reservations at this location, so plan ahead. The "cafeteria" style restr, El Quezel, was not much to write home about. The best meals, and most fun, were the Fiesta nights at the pool restr, the beach party dinner, and another fiesta night at the pool restr. Wandering Mariachi's, a Mexican trio, etc. Tip them and choose your songs.

Not much to do in Cabo unless you go out on boat rides, fishing, or play golf. we mainly sat around the pool and enjoyed the weather, the cerveza, and the all inclusive drinks. We went to relax, and so we did. If you want perfect service, perfect food, etc., go to the Westin or the Hilton and pay for it. If you want fun and relaxation, we recommend the Melia Cabo Real (note: there are three Melia's in Los Cabos, but this is the only all inclusive among them.)
Travel tips: When you get to the airport, it's hard - maybe impossible - to avoid the time-share sales people. If your package includes transportation, make sure you get your designated transfer - the other will lie to you in hopes of getting your luggage in their car / van, and then they have you as a hostage. You may get free transportation, but you'll have trouble avoiding an appointment to view their time share and sales pitch. There is a bus / taxi ticket window just past immigration; if you need transportation, pay for it there, and go to that service after the luggage screening. Your own transfer will preobably also try to hook you into a time-share presentation.
Before you deplane, ask your airline which terminial is the right one for departure. Our cab driver didn't know, and dropped us at the wrong one; very difficult to get from terminial one to three - a cop helped us by flagging down a rental car shuttle van.

Me and my wife stayed at the Melia Cabo Real the week of April 18-24. We had the best experience ever. The people in the U.S. could learn alot about service from the employees at the Melia. I read all the reviews after booking the trip and some of them had us quite concerned. The fact is that the people that complained must have been, or thought, that they were royality. The employees generally speak decent english. If you want to go someplace where everyone speaks perfect english, then stay in the U.S. I beleive that Mexico was not made solely for complaining Americans to have a warm place to go. Should people in Mexico expect everyone to speak fluent spanish when the come to the U.S? Every employee that we encountered waited on us hand foot. The hotel was kept in perfectly immaculate condition at all times. The food was always great. They not only have the buffet at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but they also have chefs that will make items for you while you wait. The "high end" restuarant that you have to make reservations at is not all that. We enjoyed the other dinner spot much more. I will say that we booked our trip through Expedia and found that it is very well respected in Mexico. We did not have one problem. Just note that if you are going to arrange trips, i.e. 4-wheeling, they are alot cheaper to purchase when you get there. The Melia has a person in the lobby that arranges all extra excursions for you. I will agree that tipping the employees will make you very well respected around the hotel. Word spreads very fast. I took $80 in $1 bills and just tipped $1 or $2 as we went. It lasted all week and the employees were very apreciative. The Melia is about 10 minutes from Cabo San Lucas, which we liked. Its nice to be able to get away from town and just relax after a hard night out. As other people stated there is a bus that runs right in front of the Hotel for $1, but we took the taxis to town. They say that they cost $25, but like everything else in Mexico, thats very negotiable. In fact, we never paid even close to that. One good peice of advice we received from a local in town is that if there is a cruise ship in town, wait to buy suveniers after it leaves. He stated that prices triple when the boats are there. Its very easy to know when there is a boat in town, just look out in the harbor. Rather than go on about the things that are fun to do, I'll just say this, they are all fun. Especially the BOOZE CRUISE. All the clubs that we went to in Cabo were very fun in thier own way, but like most I would have to say Giggly Marlin was the funnest. If you do not know where you are going in Cabo, be careful. There are "tourist information stations" on alot of corners. Some are true stations that are through the city, but there are also alot that make themselves look likt one, but are actually time share sales. You will be stuck there for some time and may still not get directions. Finally, if you buy anything and pay the price that they are asking, you are crazy. We have huge family, 5 kids, and only paid about 30-35% of what they were asking. Sometimes as little as 10%. If the vender won't budge to the price you want to pay, don't sweat it. There will be a store fairly close that will have the same thing and will deal. That is if the original vendor doesn't chase you down first and give it to you at the price you set. In closing, every complaint that people had on this web site about Melia Cabo Real, I found to be unfounded and quite frankly, just petty. Our stay was the truely a first class experience.