We had a family reunion of sorts at the Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach. My parents purchased one of the timeshare units there and my family and my brother and his wife stayed in the hotel to help celebrate my Dad's 60th birthday.

My wife and I have stayed at nearly every level of hotel, from Motel 6 to the Waldorf=Astoria, so we have a pretty good idea of what to expect for a given number of stars. This hotel was probably one of the nicest places we have ever stayed at, even if it falls just a bit short of true 5 star world class quality. (If you believe in 6 and 7 star ratings, however, this would probably classify safely as a 5).

THINGS TO KNOW:
The hotel is located on a steep hillside on the pacific coast in Cabo San Lucas. This location defines many of the benefits, and downsides, of the hotel. The steep hillside means that every room has an unobstructed view of the ocean; however, it also means that you'll need to ride golf carts from location to location unless your seriously into hiking. The beach on the pacific side is long and beautiful, but rough surf means that swimming (or even wading) is forbidden.

Onsite facilities include a spa, four pools, several excellent restaurants, a cigar bar, chapel, and a few small stores.

POOLS
If your idea of a perfect vacation is having a drink while relaxing by the pool, this is definately the place for you. Each of the four "pools" is actually an entire pool complex. Since we were traveling with our three year old, we spent most of our time at the Villa 17 pool as it had a smaller 1.5ft deep "kiddie" pool that our son loved playing in. Next to it was a deeper, two level pool with a swim-in bar. In addition, there was an adults-only pool one level lower.

The other pool areas were equally elaborate. All had swim-in bars. The largest pool is beach side and has a bridge that crosses over it as well as a kiddy-area with a sloping entrance. All the pools are surrounded by chaise-lounges; only on one day was it crowded enough that we actually had to search out an available chair. There was a smaller pool complex near our room that we never made it to. We also never it to the sky pool, located on the top of the resort complex; my parents said the view was very nice. (This pool is probably 200-300 feet about beach level vertically).

Food and drink service is available at all of the pools. Waiters were generally available in the area to take orders. Options included casual items like chicken wings (very good), cheeseburgers, and tacquitos. Prices weren't cheap, but not excessive (about $8 for cheeseburger and fries).

FOOD
The resort has several restaurants on site. They include the more casual Bistro, the nicer La Nao, and the very upscale La Frida. The Bistro is a good place for breakfast (about $6 for pancakes) with nice views of the ocean. (Actually, pretty much every place on the resort has a nice view). We had a nice dinner there outside one night as well. La Nao is a bit more elegant. On several nights it has themed buffets. The Mexican Buffet ($30) on monday nights is really good; unlike many all-you-can eat buffets all of the food was hot, fresh, and really good. The desert selection (over a dozen different items) was amazing.

Our three year old was too young (8 an older only) for the very upscale La Frida, which is one of the few restaurants in town where you'd need to dress up. From the menu, prices were consistant with gourmet dining (entrees from $25-35 or so). The decor (we looked in one day, it's directly across from the Bistroe) is amazing, with lots of original artwork. My parents said that their dinner there was very impressive.

The restaurant has access to some impessive suppliers - from a wide variety of impressive local ingrediants to a worldwide network for everything else. Being a steak lover, I was impressed to notice that all of the beef on the property (even the poolside hamburgers) was imported USDA prime.

The deli and food store onsite are very, very pricey ($2 for a small container of OJ) - take a cab back from the city one day (about $12) and buy groceries there instead (espcially bottled water).

GROUNDS and LOBBY
The grounds of the hotel are nicely maintained and beautifully landscaped. There are lots of nice touches, including areas with flamingos and swans. There are fountains everywhere. There are beautiful views nearly everywhere you look.

The lobby is very impressive, with original artwork and sculptures. There is a balcony with an excellent view outside as well. The lobby is on the fifth floor of the main building, atlough you enter at this level when arriving at the property. The fourth level houses the Bistro and La Frida restaurants. The third level is the Golf Cart terminal; level 1 and 2 are just parking.

Outside of the main lobby is small courtyard (with a chapel available for weddings). This is currently the only area with wi-fi (it's free). They are expanding coverage to the rooms in the next year. It's a relaxing place to check email...

GOLF CARTS
The golf carts make or break this location. Fortunately, they work pretty well. The hillside is very steep, and it's a real hike from the beach to any of the rooms. The golf carts are pretty much the only way to get around. Fortunately, the service is generally pretty quick. I usually called before leaving the room and a cart would be there within a minute or two. The carts have comfortable seating and the drivers were generally friendly. They are, of necessity, industrail type gasoline powered carts (the hills are STEEP); this might annoy some. They were the highlight of the trip for our three-year-old, however. The grounds are criss-crossed with paths that just big enough for the carts to get around and the drivers are impressive at getting them arround the tight corners.

THE ROOM
Our room, a junior "suite", was a typical, if elegant, hotel room. The only exceptions being that it had a large shower instead of a more typical bathtub and a decorative table instead of the more typical desk. On the lower floor in one of the lower villas, it was probably one of the worst rooms in the complex. Not too worry as it was still excellent and had a great view of the ocean. The materials were generally excellent; even our bathroom door was as thick and nice as the front door of many houses, and there was lots of marble and other nice touches. (The room was outdone by my parent's unit, which had a seperate kitchen and living area, two full baths, and a giant outside deck with hottub. I believe this room is similiar to the more expensive suite options in the hotel).

The beds were comfortable, with a pillowtop surface. A variety of pillows were availble by request from the front desk as well.

Fit and finish was just slightly sub-par by 5-star standards. The shower door didn't quite close right and there was a rusty screw holding it in. The towels were not very plush (atlough the maids did a wonderful job of folding them into new shapes every day). We saw an ant of the floor a couple of times. Other flaws were along these lines and would generally only be noticed by those who are picky.

Somewhat more serious, while the doors were thick, walls and floors were not. We could hear a bit of noise from the outside, including the golf carts going by. Not a huge deal, but could be annoying if you had a noisier neighbor. (In the hotel materials it actually stated that guest were not allowed to play portable stereos in the rooms and were to keep TV volumes to a reasonable level).

The TV was a traditional CRT with a limitted general selection and some pricey pay per view movies (due to some unavoidable issues with the local satelitte company they are now unable to show US TV networks). I doubt you'd want to go to this place to watch TV.

EXPENSIVE GOTCHAS
While dining was generally reasonably, there were a few things onsite that were grotesquely overpriced. Typical for high-end properties, but still annoying. This includes almost everything in the deli, the mini-bar, and phone service ($2 a minute to the US). Some normally free things were pricey, including the coffee for the in-room coffee maker, and basic hygeine stuff ($7 for dental floss anyone?).

SPA
The ladies on the trip all had a massage in the spa. It's very nice, very relaxing, and very pricey. (About $100 for 50 minutes). If you like this kind of thing and have money you'll do well here.

THE TIMESHARE THING
This is largely a time-share property. The pitch is more subtle and more polite than most, but it's still there. If this annoys you then don't go. The offer is pretty generous if your into freebies (and know how to say "no") - $250 in hotel credits, free food, whale watching tour, and more if you attend the informational tour and breakfast. We declined the offer for breakfast as my wife hates the hard sell routines. We were asked about 3 or 4 times durring out stay if we were interested in the breakfast, but after a firm no they generally went away.

THE SHUTTLE BUS
There is hourly shuttle bus service to Pueblo Bonito's sister hotels which are located downtown. This includes pool and towel service, so if you get bored with the four pools onsite you still have more choices. The other hotels are on Sea of Cortez side, and have beaches where swimming is permitted. The bus itself is comfortable. Reservations are required, but you can usually just stop by the concierage a few minutes before leaving to get them.

It's annoying that the shuttle service is not allowed to stop downtown, but apparently it's a local legal requirment (something with competing with the local taxis...)

DOWNTOWN CABO
The downtown area is a few minutes walk from the city (you'll pass quite a few timeshare and activities reps along the way). The harbor is in the center of town and is bordered by a pricey and very upscale shopping mall. The next "circle" of donwtain is the main tourist area, including the well known Squid Roe restaurant and night club, a large number of jewerly dealers, and more moderately priced restaurants. Even furthur out the prices go down even more, but the areas is a little less comfortable unless you know the language and your way around.

RESTAURANTS PICKS (in town)
All of the restaurants at the hotel are recommended; menus are out front so you can see what your getting into before going in. Avoid Margaritaville in the harbor area; try out the (much, much cheaper) Quesadillas across the street. The other marina side restaurants are also probably overpriced as well, but the view is certaintly nice. Mi Casa is also highly recommended (it's casual, fun, and the food is great).

ACTIVITES
Altough you'd probably pick this hotel mainly to relax, there are some local activities if your interested. The hotel can arrange them if you want; there are also lots of "activites reps" in the downtain area. (Or better yet, research on the net first). My brother and his wife went on a kayak and snorkling trip which they enjoyed quite a bit. The deep sea fishing is supposed to excellent; you could see the boat fleet out everyday from the resort. Whale watching trips are also very popular. (We could see whales in the distance from the resort). Horseback riding, golf, and scuba trips are also available in the area.

The resort itself has a few basic activities on site daily as well, but nothing that elaborate. Activites included beach and pool volleyball and mexican bingo. There are also kids activites, including full day care available for ages 4 and up.

GETTING THERE
The hotel is isolated on the pacific coast, and it's about an hour to the airport in San Jose del Cabo. Arrange ground transportation in advance; GrayLine shuttle service is $17 per person each way and is recommended. Our GrayLine voucher included a detailed map of the airport, with large red warnings of the areas where the time share reps lurk (DO NOT STOP). The reps can be openly deceptive and will trick you into thinking they are taxi companies or otherwise providing transportation. Be careful on your way out the airport...

SERVICE
Perhaps the hardest to judge is the service at the hotel. There are certaintly a lot of people working for you at this hotel, many of them largely out of site. By and large they are friendly and polite. However, it's probably a bit short of five-star service. The staff is mostly bi-lingual, but some speak English better than others. (A problem, since almost all guests are from the US or Canada). We had a bit of a hard time when calling into my parents before we arrived. The staff is generally helpful and friendly, but you wouldn't call them obsequious (you may or may not consider this a good thing).

CONCLUSION
This is a beautiful and relaxing hotel. If you are looking to get away from the world and lounge by the pool this is one of the best places anywhere to do so. It's not cheap, but there's a good chance I'd go back someday.

However, it's not for everyone. For those most interested in activites an all-inclusive club would certaintly be a better choice. If you have exclusively five-star standards, and the site of an ant or the gasoline smell of the golf carts would annoy you, it might not be quite right for you either. It's also not right for those that want to explore the local culture... the resort is isolated and a cab ride (or shuttle bus trip) is really the only way in or out.