My wife and I are grand mayan owners in our early 30s and did an RCI split exchange to be within walking distance of the marina and all the timeshare selling, chiclette offering, offshore fishing guide people that go with it. WHOOO CABO!!!!

The resort itself is nice and we were given a 1 BR suite that overlooked the pool and ocean. I was extremely happy considering all the reviews i read that said most rci exchanges overlooked the marina. The cleaning service was great and top notch... Thanks Senorita Francis!

After getting checked in at the front desk, we had to go to get our towel cards from the "welcoming committee". This is the spot where they ask you to come for a free breakfast so that you can waste a day and part of your savings on a timeshare. The breakfast is only $15/pp. we said no to the breakfast, and that was almost it. We were only hit up one more time while staying at the resort by the "welcoming committee" manager, when he came up to our room and asked why we didn't want the free breakfast. I said, that i was cool with paying for my own breakfast. He then offered me a "deal i couldn't refuse".... I refused and that was it. I read that there are timeshare sharks everywhere at this resort. I didn't have any problems other than the dude coming to my room. Most were actually down in the marina area. They do try to get you to come to some late afternoon owners cocktail hour, but if you fall into that trap, it's your own fault.

The breakfast buffet was good the first day, then as the week passed it became very average. Also looked like all the fruit on the buffet was cut nicely the first day and organized, then as the week passed, it was scooped out of the "left overs" container and thrown into its spot. By the end of the week the fruit looked a bit old. Funny thing was, a professional photography company was there taking pictures of breakfast buffet that looked ransacked and undesirable. I just laughed out loud again. I should have taken a picture of them taking a picture of the ransacked fruit bar to post it for anyone that needed a good laugh. I'm thinking there will probably be a breakfast bar reshoot in the near future. Lunch by the pool was good. They had a sushi special on two of the days. It was great. We never ate dinner at the resort, just marched our way to the marina or downtown to eat. Any restaurant is good. We did Mi Casa in the town square, Lorinzillio's, Alexander, Pocho's, and Baja Cantina. Everything is within walking distance unless your super old, super fat, or super lazy.

The resort at night was very quiet. Like a ghost town. It was great just to sit on our balcony in the evening and hear the ocean. I read something about construction. ??? If there was construction going on, they hid it very well. I never heard or saw anything.

The pool at the resort was great. There were plenty of places to sit because the resort was pretty much empty. They had a couple large hot tubs and the water in the pool was refreshing. The pool side service from Joel (top pool) was EXCELLENT. I was a bit bummed he had the day off on my last day there. Happy hour was two for one, and if you don't mind dosxx beer, that's two for one all day other than happy hour, which we would switch to sol. Try the cerveza cubana Another great thing is that they do have an adults pool at this resort. That's where all the smokers hung out and it was a long way from where i was. There was very little smoking going on by the kids/upper pool if any. I think i saw one lady smoking next to a baby. That kind of stuff kills me. All of the people where we sat every day were extremely considerate and friendly which was a huge bonus. There were a few kids running around, but nothing crazy. Most were in the 8-13 range. It seemed that if you had kids, they could get bored very easy here. Not a lot of stuff to keep kids heavily entertained. I might just be spoiled by what grand mayan has to offer my three year old. Good thing she didn't make this trip.

The beach was big and not safe for swimming. I knew this going in. Lover's beach is right down the way, about a half mile walk on the beach and over some rocks. Climbing the rocks was a great experience, I was itching to do this since we arrived. I went with a few newly met friends from cali i met at the pool. We abandoned our wives and off we went. We got ripped off when we took a water taxi back to the marina. watch out for this. a water taxi should only cost you about $3/pp. Some dude took our money, we hopped on the boat then the water taxi dude wanted money when we got to the marina. One of the guys gave him $5 and said go find the guy who took your money. I think it was a two way scam though. You haven't been to mexico unless you've been scammed right? It's part of the experience.

They also have this 9 hole putt putt course. Very fun for a late afternoon or early morning activity. My wife kicked my butt and is still talking about it.

Airport transportation is a problem they are having down there it seems, although we had no problems. There's some sort of strike or law/agreement by the unions that is presenting problems. we hired cabo tours for our transportation to our resort from the airport, it was $15/pp and also avoided the crazy timeshare/taxi service people at the airport. Playa Grande has a shuttle/taxi service that runs $17/pp back to the airport, but you have scheduled times. I saw where people were getting charged around $60-$80 for a ride back to the airport.

All in all, it was a nice resort with a friendly staff, even the timeshare guy who came to our room. The owners at the resort were very friendly and very proud of their resort, as they should be. It's definitely no grand mayan (probably why i turned down the offer i couldn't refuse), but it was a nice easy exchange and met our expectations as well as needs.

I'm not sure who in the travel world gives this a 3 star rating, but it's definitely above that. Maybe it's time for them to go back and visit Playa Grande again.

Have stayed at this hotel twice in a penthouse suite and enjoyed the room. The hotel was being expanded and the noise rather loud, but overall the swimming pools are nice and the restuarants are very good, but expensive. It might be nice to be closer to town if you have teenagers.

Recently stayed at Playa Grande and want to share my thoughts. This is truly a beautiful, luxurious resort. We went on an RCI exchange and were given a lovely ocean view suite. The accommodations were large and clean but were a little worn.
The location is great as you can walk to town, the marina (where all the activities are), restaurants, etc.
The people are very friendly and helpful, everywhere. Even when you don't want to buy their stuff.
I wasn't prepared for the barrage of sales people, both at the airport and then at the hotel. It was impossible to get past them politely. Fortunately, they seemed to be out in full force only on the weekends, when all the tourists arrive.
The restaurants at the resort seem to have odd hours (or none at all). It was very hard to figure out when they were open for dinner. And the main enclosed one seemed only to be for sales events.
The food and service around the pools was great during the day.
I would not hesitate to recommend this place or go back myself.

We just got back from our 6th visit to Playa Grande. It's spectacular and spotlessly clean with daily maid service. Very friendly employees, but this time I noticed the poolside service was less impressive than previous years. (We were here at a different time this year, so maybe staff changes????) All bathrooms are marble, towels in the room are plush and the pool configurations are the best we've ever seen.There's a spot for everyone....an adult pool, kiddy pool, swim up bar, 2 hot tubs, etc. New this year are tables around the pools and adirondack chairs facing the ocean. GREAT additions! I highly recommend their brunches M-Sat., but don't go on Sunday! The quality/choices aren't the same on Sunday, so don't waste your money!!!! I heard from chatter around the pool that one lady from Arizona was very disappointed because there isn't level ground around the resort or when walking to the harbor. She wished she would've known this before she booked her vacation. She admitted that "everything in Arizona is flat." I couldn't help but notice she was morbidly obese, so I would imagine walking anywhere would be a challenge for her. We are in our mid-50's and the short walk to town/harbor is a piece of cake for us. We love Playa Grande and can't wait to book another vacation. *Remember, this is a private beach...no peddlers, EVER! It's private & quiet. There is no swimming due to strong undertow at the resort, but snorkel Chileno Bay, it's very good.