We just got back from a full week at Pueblo Bonito at Sunset Beach, and we had a good time. We are a family of four in our early thirties with two young children, seven and five. After reading so many mostly negative reviews about the resort, we really just said that we’d make-up our own mind about the place and go from there. We really love this resort! It is so accommodating for both families and people without children. There are six pools, so you don’t have to wake-up at the crack of dawn to reserve a pool chair, and all the kids aren’t concentrated in one area to drive adults crazy! It’s one of the better ones we’ve stayed in, in our travels around the world. I wanted to share with everyone our experience and hopefully some tips that may help families or anyone really.
Main Lobby-is beautifully decorated with bold high ceilings with rich beams and colors. The ONLY thing I didn’t like about the lobby or pool area restrooms was the smell. I think they either burn incents or candles, or something, but the smell for me was very strong and overpowering. It’s hard for me to pin point the actual origin of scent but all I know is that it was too much for me. My husband and kids on the other hand didn’t really mind.
Golf Carts-were cool! Our kids really enjoyed riding in them. We used them all the time, even though our villa to the main lobby wasn’t too far of a walk. We NEVER waited longer than three or four minutes if that for a cart, and usually we never really waited at all even if there were quite a bit of people waiting to get on. There’s not just one cart, there are probably 10 or so all working to get you where you want to go. We didn’t tip our golf cart driver at all, only the ones who brought our luggage in and out of the hotel room. The drivers are courteous and if they see you walking or waiting, they’ll ask if you need a ride. A tip to keep in mind is that whenever we were about to leave the room in one or two minutes, I would call up to the golf carts (ext 8314) and just say that we needed a cart to our room. Again, they usually came within minutes of us calling. Even if you’re at the pool, use the house phone to call for a cart, it’s easy.
Villas-The resort is beautiful and big, but not overwhelming. We stayed in the junior suite in the 800s, which is right in the middle of the Main Pool on the bottom by the shore, and the Villa 17 pool by the lobby. The walk either way was not bad at all (the kids didn’t even complain). There are stairs and paths on the sides of the buildings that are shorter than walking the winding path the carts take. The room we were in was very nice with modern amenities, kitchen, and décor. Housekeeping comes in twice, to clean the room and then to turn down the beds in the evening. We tipped the housekeeper $2 USD a day with a little note saying, “Muchas Gracias or Thank You!” that’s another thing to keep in mind, tipping. It is customary to tip almost everyone. For us, our usual tip was $2 USD or 20 pesos, except in the restaurants, which was usually more. The ONLY complaint I had about my room were the tiny ants that were around the kitchen and the food that they leave for you to purchase. I called about three times for an exterminator to come out and spray, which they did, but it didn’t help. We didn’t use the kitchen area, so I just gave-up. Oh, and the paper thin walls that I read in other reviews, not so thin. We were on the second of three floors, and considering that the floors are beautiful stone and tile and occasionally you could hear walking or flushing, the good out weighs the bad. It’s just a little sound, not like you can hear anyone’s conversation. No big deal!
Pools-We visited all six pools, but the pool we spent most of our time at was the Villa 17 pool, where there’s the separate kids big round pool with two slides. Our kids didn’t want to go anywhere else. They met friends, played and swam for hours and hours each day. There are two big pools that are there too which was great for the adults, and a few steps down was the adult only pool. Again, like I said earlier, no need to wake-up at the crack of dawn to reserve a chair. Go when it fits into your schedule and wing it. 9 out of 10 times we found four chairs with an umbrella right near the kids’ pool (that’s where we wanted to be). The great thing about the resort are the number of pools to prevent over crowding and chair hogging, as well as noise control. There are fewer kids congested into one pool area. The main pool had a kids area and slide too, but my kids like the other pool better.
Food and drinks-at the resort were good. We ate at The Bistro twice and both times we were pleased. The price range was about $11-15 dollars on average, but the kids’ menu is very reasonable. The kid’s mac and cheese is sooo good. It’s not the kind from the box! Pool food and room service range in the same price and both were good too, but they pretty much have the same items found in The Bistro. The less expensive alternative for food was the deli. We had the pastrami sandwich which came with a choice of salad for $6.80 USD. Not bad at all and it was good too! The drinks by the pool are strong and yummy, but watch out for the margaritas because they're strong! Be sure to ask the front desk at check-in for the rotating happy hour schedule.
Cabo Dolphins-was the only activity we wanted to do besides laying by the pool. My son and I did the dolphin swim which is one hour and boy, what a memorable swim and experience. My son’s seven and he wasn’t afraid at all. We’re in a group of six with a dolphin and trainer. We each got to dance, sing, touch, and get kisses from Olin the dolphin. We also each got to swim with her as we held on to her top fin. The facility is clean, new and up-to-date. The dolphins are trained and well mannered and the trainers are good too. It was a wonderful opportunity to just be able to swim with a dolphin so close. The down side to Cabo Dolphins is their way of extorting your money. My husband and daughter did not swim, but they were able to sit and watch us up close, but NO ONE is allowed to video or take pictures (they make you sign something before going in). That’s how they make their money. Of course we wanted pictures and we paid $80 USD for 8 pictures on a CD (that seemed to be the least expensive alternative for us). Great experience…try it!
Dining in Cabo-was good but expensive for us. An average of $50-60 USD for a meal is not what we typically do everyday at home. Nevertheless, the food we had was good and here is some information about the restaurants we went to in Cabo.
Mi Casa-for dinner was a Mexican delight. We didn’t have reservations but we were seated immediately. Reservations are recommended. This is about $$$ but the Poblano Chicken Mole and BEST freshly made tortillas were well worth it.
The Office-for breakfast/lunch was tasty too. This place is on the beach and about $$. The banana pancakes are a must have and the carne asada tacos and chips and salsa are one of the best we’ve had. GOOD eats!
The Sand Bar- for breakfast and dinner was a more affordable and tasty treat on the beach. Following a local’s recommendation that the Sand Bar for breakfast was good and more affordable than The Office, so we tried it, and we’re glad we did. Breakfast is $ and the Mexican omelets and hotcakes are pretty good, not to mention the carne dish. We liked it so much we went back for a nice dinner too. Dinner’s about $$, but worth it. The Mexican platter which had a nice piece of grilled flank steak was yummy and worth the $16 USD. My husband had the surf and turf for $27 USD with lobster and flank steak too. The chicken fingers for the kids were big enough for my kids to split one order, and they were real chicken fingers, not the processed fast food stuff.
Mocambos-for a seafood dinner was delicious too. It’s about $$ and service is great. Order seafood, not the beef fajitas. They’re not really good with beef. The kid’s chicken quesadilla’s were great too and again, big enough for my kids to share one.
Eateries we want to try next time that we heard were good and affordable as we were leaving Cabo: Pepe’s Tacos for tacos, Zapata for Mexican food, Café Mazatlan for seafood, and the Golden Chicken for chicken. All we were told were in close range to each other.
Time share-vultures will attack as you exit the airport, but unless you want to waste your time on BS, say, “No, thank you” and move along to outside the airport where you REALLY find the transportation. The vultures will say they can help you and they know your driver, but DON’T fall for it. It’s BS to get you to go to their thing. They are NOT part of Pueblo Bonito at Sunset Beach! They will say they are, but no they’re not and this was confirmed to us by the people at Sunset Beach. We did sign-up and go to the Sunset Beach timeshare presentation. They gave us a great deal for the dolphin swim (half-off), and $200 for food at the Sunset Beach. The guy we had was cool and knew we were just in it for the stuff. We spent our 90 minutes and we were off, no hard feelings or attitude!
Transportation-There is a free shuttle to the Rose’ and we would walk to the beach eateries from there. Not a far walk and it’s right on Mendano Beach with all the activities and vendors. Do not try to walk from the Rose' to the Marina, especially with little kids because it’s too far. Take a water taxi to Cabo Dolphins or the Marina! We took a taxi a couple of times from Sunset Beach to downtown Cabo, which was about $10 USD one way. We recommend reserving your transportation from the airport to the hotel before arriving in Cabo. We used Cape Travel and they were efficient and there were many drivers so there was no wait time.
We hope this helps because I wanted to know as much as I could before going to Cabo. Have a great time…we did!


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