We were here for a week in April. Usually when we travel, we walk to other resorts and say "Next time, let's stay there". But this hotel in my opinion is the best choice while still staying in a reasonable price range. Going back, we wouldn't hesitate to stay here again.
The check-in process was relatively painless. They tell you they are NOT a time-share property, but instead a private residence that offers fractional ownership. We thought that was funny. We did get offered to join them for breakfast for a presentation, they offered all the discounts that other reviewers mention and put the "gold card" on the table. We simply said no thanks, and that was the end of it. We did hear later from a woman who had attended the presentation that it was very high pressure, and not a pleasant experience. Declining the breakfast (and the gold card) wasn't difficult.
Two restaurants on the property, one is open for a breakfast buffet that costs somewhere around $22 per person. However, there is a small grocery store at the property next door (open to guests of the resort only) about 100 yards away that we visited our first day to stock up on PopTarts, cereal, milk, bagels, cream cheese, and we avoided the expensive breakfast buffet.
The location is wonderful. The view from the beach, amazing. $7 cab ride to Cabo Wabo, Squid Roe, and the rest of the town area. About a 15-20 minute beach walk to Mango Desk and the Office (the sand is a bit coarse, think about bringing shoes).
Pool is great. Two swim-up bars (one in the lower pool, one in the upper pool). The pool was never crowded, we always found chairs for three people, even at mid-day. Pool scene is quiet enough to relax, but enough activity to make new friends if you desire. The crowd was mixed, some people with kids, some couples and groups in their 30s. A few spring breakers, although the season had mostly passed.
Even though there are only two restaurants on the property, you can use the restaurants and most of the pools at the properties on either side of the Estancia. The restaurants are good, they have basic menus, pizza, burgers, salads, etc... They were nice for a change of scenery. Walking through the other properties, we realized that ours was the nicest of the three.
Water taxis to Lover's Beach from the beach are easy to catch. They wait out at the beach all day. I might recommend purchasing a water taxi from the hotel's activities tent on the beach (walk onto the beach, turn left and there is an activities tent about 100 yards down) rather than the water taxi pilots directly. It's the same price, but seems more organized as far as pick up times to come back to the hotel.
We also visited Rancho Carisuva for the ATV tour. Highly recommended.
In conclusion, this is a great hotel, and if (when) we return to Cabo, I wouldn't hesitate for a moment to stay here again.
