This is a revised posting. We stayed the week of Jan 22nd to the 29th. This hotel/resort is indeed worthy of a 5 star review. The grounds are impecable, elaborate tile and stone work everywhere, great pools, first class modern and well appointed rooms and a great location. I had to fault it ever so slightly for the most uncomfortable sofa/sofa bed they provide in the room and some low, pulsating noise that's seems to be constantly vibrating and I never could track down. Once you become aware of it it becomes very annoying. And there is no elevator from the main courtyard area up to the lobby and exits. There are 35 stairs with no handrails to navigate (believe me, I counted them) and a ramp to walk up. No big deal unless you're hauling luggage or golf clubs. They do offer you a chauffered golf cart ride up to the lobby whenever you need it.

The Room: We were in a luxury suite and it was very comfortable (except of course for the sofa). It has two nice, tiled bathrooms, plenty of towels, a seperate bedroom with king size bed, two TVs, a full kitchen with blender, toaster, microwave, coffee maker, oven and stove, full size refrigerator and plenty of hardware for cooking. There's an in-room safe ($100.00 deposit for the key), iron and ironing board. The bed was firm but comfortable and there are blackout curtains so we could enjoy sleeping in. There are 2 or 3 English speaking TV stations and International CNN. I noticed you could rent a VCR and videos up in the lobby. The hotel delivers a small English newspaper to your room every morning about 9:00am. Housekeeping is excellent and they'll turn your bed down in the evening.

The Pools: There are several pools all seemingly linked together at different levels and lots of padded lounge chairs. We never had any probblem finding a couple of pool chairs together ever. You can't swim in the ocean at the rear of the hotel because of the riptides. but the pools were never crowded. There's two nice hot tub type pools probably 25 feet across with jets around the seating area....I believe one is for adults only. We noticed very few kids around the hotel maybe because of the time of year.

Restaurants: There are two restaurants in the courtyard close to the pools that were better than average. There's a pretty decent breakfast buffet for $12.00 everyday. There are some theme nights too where the margaritas seem to flow pretty good. Everything settles down and it's quiet by 10:00pm. We ate at several nice places in town but were very happy with the Galeon, an Italian place 5 minutes walk from the hotel. Live on the edge and order a Mexican coffe there...it's a real production.

Location: It's about a 5 minute walk to the marina and another 10 or 15 minutes into town. From the hotel it's downhill for the first 1/4 mile or so and a leisurely stroll the rest of the way. Anyone should be able to walk it. Of course, you have a little uphill on the way back but it's really not bad. There's a lot of bicycle pedal carts around town and they'll haul you around for a small fee that I imagine is negotiable. And there are taxis all over...all minivan types.

The walk around the marina is fun with lots of activity. Roaming street vendors selling, uh.."silver" jewelry, pottery, paintings, hair braiding and whatever. And lots of permanent vendors selling fishing trips, water taxi rides, glass bottom boat rides and probably anything else you might want. For the most part, many of the locals take time to learn a little English. There are scores of places for a leisurely meal or a cocktail or just to sit down and watch the people go by. The cruise ships dock close and the area is very busy. The downtown area is about a block off the marina boardwalk.

Hotel Store: There is an adequate and convenient store off the hotel lobby for essentials like drinks, ice, coffee and hangover medicine.

Other Info:
You really don't need pesos there as everyone we dealt with readily accepted the dollar. I'd bring a lot of $1.00 and $5.00 bills for tipping and such. The front desk doesn't encourage changing $100 dollar bills unless you want pesos. I believe the exchange rate was a little over 10 to 1.

There's construction going on at the hotel but we hardly noticed it. A faint sound of a jackhammer in the distance is as bad as it gets. They were building some kind of high tech miniature golf course right off the lobby and it looks like fun when they finish it.

You'll be "greeted" by lots of time share people at the airport and they made it very difficult for us to get out of there without signing up for some kind of sales presentation. I'd suggest booking some transportation in advance or just getting a taxi when you get through customs and get on the road.

When you get to Playa Grande you'll sit with a hostess to kind of familiarize you with the hotel and, once again, offer you the timeshare bit. It was relatively painless and low key. Ask for Dulce when you get there. She was extremely helpful to us during our stay.

We programmed our cell phone for extended roaming before we left to Cabo and it worked perfectly there for both incoming and outgoing calls (Verizon).
Probably a better bet than phone cards or dealling with the Mexican phone company. Just dial 001, area code and number if you need to call home.

You could spend your whole vacation at the hotel and want for nothing. I would stay there again without hesitation. I'll leave my email address posted if anyone wants any other specific information I might be able to help with. That's all I have, have fun, spend money and enjoy.

As a new time share owner, I have had my days of buyer's remorse. I visited Playa Grande for the second time February 5 to 12 and I know now that I can leave behind ALL feelings of remorse. I am truly delighted and honoured to be an owner at Playa Grande as I believe this property is the true "Jewel in the Crown" of Cabos San Lucas. Last year was my first time to visit as an owner and I travelled with my husband and two young girls, 11 and 13. This year I travelled with my 2 friends (no husbands or children) and I was astounded that the front desk people, as well as the women who work the concierge, remembered me. I was hugged and welcomed back as well as questioned as to where my two daughters and husband were. I was really taken aback. Pleasantly. As a student of the Spanish language, I was thrilled to converse with my new found friends in their language. I discovered that any attempt to speak Spanish is very welcomed, however, the fact that I am attending school just to learn Spanish really impresses them and their compliments made my heart swell with pride. This hotel is immacuately cleaned, dusted, shined, call it whatever you want, every day. You will not find a cleaner hotel nor people more proud of their place of employment. Any comments regarding incompetence and Playa Grande in the same sentence are simply delusions on that person's part. I would recommend this hotel to any vacationer, but to be an owner is where you really want to be. Ensure a wonderful holiday each year and know that you have a home away from home and that the wonderful, kind and polite Mexican resident is there to please you while you are on vacation. You will get back what you give out and more if you want to make that choice. 364 days will be the longest days of my life to wait until I can be back again. Glad to be part of it and if you want to know anything in particular, send me an email. El gusta es mio.

We just stayed at this location the first week of February. Living room, kitchen, and room were very comfortable, except the pillows. Bathrooms were excellent. Lots of water pressure. Restuarants on location were good. Swimming pool, gym, and jacuzzi were very good. Private beach is huge and scenic. Only problem is the ocean water, you cannot get in because of riptides and undertows. You can walk to the back of the famous arch. Beautiful rock formations that you can reach from the hotel. Super close to the marina. You can walk to the marina pedestrian walk way in five minutes and from there to Cabo San Lucas in ten minutes. Taxi's will cost about $6 each way for a 3 minute drive. Staff and people friendly. Try to avoid the timeshare pitches from the airport. They offer to pick up your taxi fare (approx. $60 us. each way) and give you some gifts (which are discounts at overpriced jewelry places) in exchange for your time. Overall, definitely would recommend unless you need to go into the ocean. Did not hear construction at all. It is going on in the morning through afternoon in the front of the resort and we were near the beach towards the back of resort.

Playa Grande was the perfect place to unwind and relax on an incredibly beautiful beach. The resort itself was grand, and the grounds well-kept. There was construction still taking place, and our room was close to the main lobby near where the construction is being done, but noise was never a distraction.

Our room was a one bedroom suite, with two bathrooms. There was such care given in the construction of Playa. Marble everywhere. Understated elegance. The bed and sofa were VERY FIRM. The maids were so good to come in and clean for us, even the kitchen. They also had a turndown service at night, complete with mints on the pillow. There are safes in each room available for securing valuable belongings.

You cannot swim in the ocean at Playa Grande because of the strong riptide. My preference is to swim in the ocean, and not pools, but I have to admit that the pools at Playa were a welcoming oasis from the hot sun. We did not detect any overpowering chlorine in the pools. Not sure what they use to keep them clean, but they were a wonderful place to swim and play. While at the pool, Miguel tended to all our food and beverage needs. He was prompt and considerate, and always had a kind smile for us. Try the Calima special from the beverage menu. MMMM good.

We ate at the casual poolside grill called Calima one night. The Latin fiesta was a fun night, with pretty good food and entertainment. Several nights for dinner we chose to walk to the resort next door called Hotel Finesterra. Very good food with reasonable prices. We went to the resort on the other side of Playa, at Solmar, for their Noche de Taco. We laughed about the name meaning "night of the taco" and wondered if it would come back to haunt us. We took a chance. Once there, we found they had cancelled the taco buffet night because not enough people had signed up for it, and ordered off their regular menu instead. The food was so-so, and we wouldn't go back, but their mariachi band was really good.

We strolled 15-20 minutes into town to LaTrattoria, which served italian cuisine. I use the term "cuisine" very loosely. I will say that the wait-staff tried very hard to please, and they have that going for them. I ordered lasagne, and it tasted something like Spaghettios. Filled up on the basket of bread that night. On the walk back to Playa Grande we discovered THE restaurant that keeps people coming back. It is nestled in along the harborfront, and looks unassuming. The service was great! Our young waiter laughed shyly as we ordered a "horny gorilla" drink. Their food is absolutely fabulous, from the foccacia bread baked in their wood-fired oven, right down to the fresh catch of the day. We only wished that we had discovered Captain Tony's on the first night in Cabo. We would not have gone anywhere else.

Can't wait to go back to Cabo and Playa Grande. Did I mention Captain Tony's?