I want to write a long review that lets everybody know what to expect when you stay at Villa La Estancia with 2 children. We did do the all inclusive option called either the "gourmet eating plan" or the "premium meal plan". They were running a special that the kids stay and eat free. Let me just say there is NOT a huge choice for the children. If your kids are picky and not the age where they cannot eat off your plate they are required to eat off the childrens menu in the restaurants that are not buffet. The kids menu through out all the resorts (Arco, Palmar and Estancia) are basically the same. They can choose from quesadilla with chicken or steak with fries, grilled cheese, chicken fingers, fish strips, peanut butter and jelly sandwich and mini hamburgers. There are a few other things that I can't remember. I will say after 8 days and that menu 2 times a day got really old for the kids. We did attempt to do the buffet because of this at Palmar, however, we ran into 3 occasions that the kids could barely find anything that they liked. I even had a issue once that I didn't find anything I liked and I'm not picky. The buffet was hit or miss at Palmar. Either really good with a ton of choices or not good at all. Just depends on your individual taste.

As far as the room, we were in room 3203A. It was a 2 bedroom, 3 bath suite and it was beautiful! Everything I expected and more. I do not have any complaints about it. A great view of the sea and pool. Beautifully furnished, comfortable beds and pillows, always cleaned to perfection ( and I have a cleaning business so I really have an eye for finding dirt). The one thing that I did not like was the mosquitos! They somehow were in the suite when we arrived in each bathroom. Not a lot of them, just that they were there and my son is allergic to the bites. So we did deal with a bite that swelled up to the size of a golf ball that required us to go to the pharmacy at Palmar and buy a $14 tube of hydrocortizone (2.5% which requires a prescription in the u.s.) which worked great. Also, we were supplied with new towels, mints, shampoo, conditioner, lotion and soaps every day. Never an issue with not having them when we needed them in each bathroom.

The pools were great! Del Arco has the best and is heated and feels like bath water. It is so nice and you can swim at anytime and not have to adjust to the temp as it's perfect! Having said that we were not allowed to use the Del Arco pool. We didn't realize it until the end, so we obviously did it anyway. It's weird how they have it set up. If you stay at Estancia you can go to Palmar and use their pool, but you can't use Del Arco's pool. Del Arco and Palmar can not come to Estancia. The pool at Estanica was always quiet and relaxing. No noise and no activities. Occasionally (probably everyday, but I didn't notice because we were at other pools) they had water aerobics that looked fun. The only pool that did some minor games and activities was Palmar. Palmar was loud on occasion with children and adults and a water slide that was fun for the kids. The upper part of the pool is for adults only. We were approached and asked to move in a very nice way. With the pools you are certain to find one you like and there are comfortable chairs and plenty of room (at this time of year anyway, we went Jan. 23-30). They have pool towels that we brought with us from Estanica everyday to any of the pools. The jacuzzis are all over and they varie in temperature. Either really hot or slightly hot, but you are sure to find one that you love. I had quite a few. I think Estanica has 4 or 5? The waiters are good and bring you drinks to your chair. The way they have the all inclusive set up with different from other all inclusives if you are used to all inclusive. SInce there are people there that are NOT on the meal plan they require a signature and room # with every drink and food order. Can be annoying when you are trying to enjoy the pool. However, the least of my worries in such a beautiful environment :)

The beach was not the greatest, but given the other options around Cabo I hear it is one of the nicer ones in the area. If you are used to fine soft sand it is not. It has small rocks mixed with course sand and I don't even think you could build a sand castle? We didn't try, because we did not spend much time at all on the beach. The flag was always on red and it was not safe to swim. If you want to just lay in the sun on a chair, it certainly meets all of those expectations. Also, it is hard to walk in... although I did see quite a few people strolling down the beach.

The spa at Del Arco was disappointing. I would like to say it was probably that I just had a random experience which probably does not happen to most. They seem organized for the most part. They did not put down all of my services on my reservation and were not able to to accomodate all my requests. Also, they say if you want to enjoy the facilities (which you can only enjoy if you have a spa service) (saunas, whirlpools, plunge pool steam room) you need to be there a 1/2 hour early. I was there early, but they spent so much time trying to figure out my reservation that I was going to take a step into the whirlpool and it was time for my service. It was disappointing and they seemed unapologetic. One of my services was great and the other was so so. I did get to enjoy the facility after my services, but I felt like I would ruin what I had done by enjoying the entire facility. It was disappointing. They did say I could enjoy the spa the rest of the day, but since my service was done at 5:30 and the spa was only open until 8... it didn't seem like such a great deal. It would have been nice since they screwed up my experience that they would have allowed me to enjoy the facility the following day as well. I really only wanted to enjoy it for about an hour on my own.

I hope this gives everybody a accurate idea of what this resort is like. Please feel free to ask me questions if you would like to know anything.