Just came back from our trip/stay in Cabo at the Via La Estancia. This was our first time to Mexico and quickly realized how things were different. First, arriving at the Cabo airport you are sent to a customs line where your passports, ID's are checked. This was a slow process, no computers to make tasks any easier. After that you are on your own to find your shuttle (we booked a Gray Line shuttle) where you are instantly bombarded with hard sells for time shares. Beware! Not knowing this in advance may really scare you. Especially the thought of getting into a vehicle that may or may not be yours.

The drive to Cabo San Lucas is quite scary at first. You go through a very poor area and think - where the HELL am I! Grafitti, junk yards -- looks like what you see in the movies. But as you arrive to the hotels in the corridor you start seeing some modernization. Then it starts to look like Cabo.

Once at the hotel you instantly see that this hotel is one of the nicer ones in Cabo. Marble floors, new decor, immaculate grounds and the most amazing pool you'll ever see. This pool is perfect for kids - shallow but also good for adults because of the pool bar, food area and subdued lighting. Very nice.

The hotel rooms are nice but some details and service overall needs improvement. My wakeup call in the morning did not happen. Not good for this kind of hotel.

Also the restaurant choices are limited to two in the hotel. La Casona, the more expensive one, is way overpriced for what you get. I felt I got ripped off and had to walk to the convenience market located at the adjacent hotel for more food. I'll never eat there again.

If you don't have a car then you'll either have to pay for a $7 taxi ride one way or walk - pretty hard especially in the blazing heat. We walked to the Office (out door restaurant) but were so tired.

All in all we were satisfied and would go again.

eating tips below:

breakfast at the Office (near plaza bonita hotel) Great food/Great prices! If you wait until dinner to eat there you better have reservations. It's very popular.

Mocomba - mexican mariscos is located near the puerto paraiso mall. This place is reasonable and is AIR CONDITIONED. Love this place!

Have fun!!!

It is a beautiful property, but poorly managed. We were 5 people and had a 2 bedroom booked through expedia. We had a very difficult time getting housekeeping to come to our room. We also went 3 days with one toilet not working. They conveniently "had no record" of the first 2 complaints, even though maintenance had been to the room. They finally decided to fix it starting at 6:00 pm in the evening. At 10:40 pm we were offered a new room. We declined since there were 5 tired people with all their stuff unpacked and a refridgerator full of food. They would make no other compensation. Silly us... paying these prices and expecting a toilet to work!
Don't even think of ordering a drink at the swim up bar. The service was very slow (usually about 30 minutes to get a drink). We picked up some plastic glasses at the market and made our own drinks to bring down to the pool. Also, we were required to check out 2 hours before their posted check out time since the owner was coming. That is just wrong. It became clear why the time-share people try to catch people on their first day or so. After they stay a few days, they realize how bad the service is.
We would love to return to Cabo, but we'll check out one of the other luxury resorts.

My husband and I have just returned home from our honeymoon and I just felt the need to share our experience at Villa LaEstancia, especially pertaining to newlyweds that are looking to take a "romantic honeymoon." In our opinion, this is NOT the place to go. Maybe good for families with children, but not for couples who are trying to spend some quiet time together. We actually after 2 days of frustrating nights up and left and went to such an incredible place, The Marquis Hotel, that made this place seem like a distant memory and it made us fully appreciate "The Marquis" that much more!
First off, we arrived at Villa LaEstancia quite late at night and we had signed up for the all-inclusive package for 10 days, 9 nights. The concierge (not overly informative) checked us in, handed us a piece of paper that listed what was included in our "all-inclusive package." We were taken to our room-at first glance the room seemed quite nice...I then decided that after a long day of travel that hopping in the jacuzzi might be quite nice, only to find out that it was broken (which they did fix the next day). The next morning we woke up and walked outside on our patio to check it out because it was much too dark to see it the night before and we realized that we were sharing it with our "neighbors" and the only thing blocking our view from them was the minibar (apparently all of the rooms share a balcony unless you are in a studio-which is the smallest room they offer???)We went to breakfast, the view was beautiful, and later that day got a phone call telling us that we would have to pay for the breakfast because that restaurant was not included in our "all-inclusive" package-yet again we were never explained that only handed the piece of paper to figure it out for ourselves...honestly, without going on and on about all the "other things" that kept on happening (and believe me I could) we really tried to make the best of it and NEVER have we been on vacation that I wanted to get out of a place so fast and thankfully we did and the rest of our honeymoon was like a dream come true!! Cabo is beautiful and I would recommend it just NOT here! Also, be aware of the breakfast that they invite you to and at the bottom of the invitation it says "Not a Sales Presentation". We are timeshare owners and you couldn't have gotten more blatent, it was ridiculous!

This place was wonderful! We stayed there in July 2004 and was pleasant surprised when we arrived. The check-in was informal, making the place seem much more relaxed than a typical hotel. The "junior one-bedroom" was large and clean, and there is a good-sized patio as well. The property is nicely landscaped. The pool is a great spot to hang out and just relax. Overall, it was a great vacation stay for us - will come back again!