I stayed at the Hotel Finisterra in Aug 2007. Upon arrival, I was a little bit disapointed from the exterior of the building as it looked a little tired. I was comparing it to the last drop off though at Melia Hotel!
They check us in pretty quickly and the bel boys were there to help us with our suitcases (good job as the complex is up and down so many stair ways!!) Our hotel room was situated right at the back of the hotel facing inland even though we had requested a sea view room. Once inside the room we were highly disapointed. It had the worst damp smell possible and the room as really run down, you could only see the side of another hotel room from our window and the bathroom looked like it was something out of the 70's with its green physcadelic swirls! The hotel was the last hotel we were staying in from a 4 week tour of the west of the US and it was meant to be the place where we could relax and chill out and basically pamper and treat ourselves. It cost more to stay here than it did for our hotel room in Beverly Hills so I was expecting it to be more luxurious.
We complained about the smell in the room and asked if we could move to the newer side of the hotel. After much debate we eventually got what we asked for and was moved to the new part of the hotel with a sea view room. This was at an additional charge but it was well worth it! The view was amazing...

On our first day we went by the pool, suprisingly enough the weather was pretty cool and quite dull. We went into the lobby after lunch to buy magazines from the shop and to our amazment we saw a sign that said that a hurricane was on its way, due to hit the following morning. This did not worry us and the hotel staff were great throughout the whole time. After all the trouble we had getting the sea view room, we were a little upset when the ceiling started leaking and we were moved to a room at the back of the hotel instead. I was grateful as the wind was howling outside and we were told to keep away from the windows. At least at the back of the hotel you are sheltered away by the side of the mountain rock.

This all cleared up by the beginning of day 4 (so much for a chill out break!!) and we managed to enjoy the pool and the gorgeous weather again. The pool bar was pretty cheap for food and they do a happy hour on all cocktails during the afternoon. They are all wonderful, and very refreshing!!

We ate in the Whale Watcher restaurant up at the top of the hotel which was nice, but the food could have been better. As we were only self catering we ate out most nights anyway and the standards are much higher round the habour area.

It is only a 15min walk to the restaurants and bars in the harbour and definatley worth having a look round at all the expensive boats parked up. The Hard Rock Cafe is a must for there burgers and the service in there is great. If you want more traditional mexican food, then all the fish and mexican restaurants around the edge of the harbour and great and fantastic value.

There is a small shopping mall a bit further on up the road, with a few small shops, but really not worth visiting. The smaller market stalls by the side of the roads are a great place to pick up traditional souveniers and presents.

There are large hammocks on the beach which are great to chill out in as they are covered in the shade. The pools at the hotel were out of this world. They were so clean and fresh they were lovely. The pool closest to the beach had sunbeds submerged in the water which I thought was a good idea.

All in all, the hotel staff were very accomodating and helpful during the hurricane. We felt like they knew what they were doing which is good in a situation like that. The hotel is a little run down from the outside and the older part of the hotel, the rooms are shabby. I would recommend that you stay here if you are looking for somewhere cheap(ish) and clean. If you are looking for ultimate luxury stay at the Melia down the road, it looks gorgeous!

This was my first time in Cabo and I was nervous about where I was going to stay. I found that the Hotel Finisterra was a nice place for those visiting Cabo for the first time. It is very close to downtown (within walking distance) and very close to the Marina should you do any water activities. I booked a standard room and it was HUGE almost bigger than my own apartment. It had a nice view of the pool and the ocean. It also had a nice balcony. I found the hotel to be quiet and the staff to be reasonably nice. A word to the wise, buy your own water at a store downtown because the bottled water is very expensive at the hotel. Their tap water is purified but it still tastes a little funny. I liked that they had huge pools and a choice of pools for those who really wanted to swim, lounge, or play volleyball with the kids. They also have nice hammocks on the beach. What I did not like was that even though you had access to the beach and it was pretty, there was no swimming cause the water is too dangerous. Also in the lobby near the concierge, there is a desk with a representative for a time share. This person WOULD NOT LEAVE ME ALONE!! I found myself trying to use different exits to avoid them harrassing me to go on their "free breakfast". They make it sound like the deal of the century but TRUST ME, do not do it. IT WILL SUCK UP AN ENTIRE DAY AND RUIN PART OF YOUR TRIP!! Also the hotel is about 40 min to 90 min from the airport depending on transportation. PLEASE AVOID THE TIME SHARE AGENTS AT THE AIRPORT PROMISING YOU MONEY BACK AND A FREE SHUTTLE IF YOU GO TO THE PRESENTATION. THESE MEN WERE AGGRESSIVE, SCARY, AND SHOULD BE KICKED OUT OF THE AIRPORT. THEY ARE ESPECIALLY AGGRESSIVE WITH FEMALE TRAVELERS SO BEWARE. JUST KEEP SAYING NO AND WALK AWAY. TAKE THE SHUTTLE AND PAY 15 OR TAKE A CAB AND PAY $60, JUST STAY AWAY FROM THESE AGENTS, THEY ARE HORRIBLE AND A LITTLE SCARY. Other than that it is a decent hotel. I wouldn't stay there again just because I want to be able to swim on the beach where I stay but if you are into pools, you can stay there.

After reading a majority of pleasant reviews there were a few negative ones as well; which made me a little nervous but we got a great deal for this place on our anniversary so we went for it.

Hotel: I must say that my boyfriend and I only have nice things to say about this hotel. Everyone was friendly and were there to assist you with what you needed. We were looking for a quiet hotel to relax in since it was our anniversary. If we wanted the more crazy scene we would go seek it out elsewhere! It is definetly not the place for you if you want a party-club scene hotel. The driveway is a rather large hill. We walked up it once and thought we were big shots...but took the free shuttle every single time afterwards. It runs 24-7. You can't swim on the beach in front of the hotel. The pacific ocean is roaring and it is for your safety.

Room: The room looked exactly like the photos. It was spacious VERY clean and large. (We stayed in an ocean view room in the newer section). Neither of us would consider the decor 'dated' in any way.

Pools & Blue Marlin: Pools are beautiful! There are many pools and many hot tubs so it never seemed crowded. Swim up bars and the palapa where you can order food are very cool. We ate at the blue marlin or bfast every morning, and dinner for a few of our nights before we discovered other places. It has good food, the dinner can add up pretty quick. For two our average dinner there ran to $70 (we didn't even order drinks).

Location Location Location!!: Walking distance to marina! You can walk to the marina which has some places to eat and drink at. Many of our activities and the sunset cruises took off from that location. We wanted to go to the beach so we took a water taxi $3 per person from the marina to Medano beach where we lounged on the chairs at either Mango Deck or Billigans and ordered lunch/drinks for the afternoon. Beware and be prepared to say "no, no no no no no" to vendors on the beach they are everywhere. There is a mercado (super market) down the street.

Remember it isn't all inclusive, everything adds up: The only negative I would say (about the general area) is that it should be expected that everyone wants a tip for everything and it is hard when you are on vacation and are spending $$ left and right. We would have loved Finisterra even more (and would have been way more generous with tips everywhere) if it were all-inclusive because meals/cabs/water taxis/drinks at the pool and bottles of water all add up to a lot; it freaked us out how many times we has to visit the ATM. Oh, actually one more negative: there is no fridge in the room!! If there was, we would have gone to the market and purchased fruit/cereal/milk/water bottles and saved some $$. We saved some $$ because we did a time share tour. If we were married we would have qualified to get free activities (keep that in mind of you are married.)

We liked eating at Mango Deck (at Medano beach) for lunch as well as dinner. They moved our table wherever we wanted to sit and they have some fun entertainment. We tried to eat at the office but it was a bit pricey and Mango Deck has the same idea going on for much much less; the service is awesome. Romeo & Juliet is a great italian restaraunt (right down the street from finisterra). There is also an italian restaraunt at the bottom of the driveway of the hotel which was nice.

We did parasailing, horseback riding, atv's (go in the morning it might take forever to get back to the hotel and it gets hot), glass bottom boat (very rocky, almost got sea sick, but it was cool!)

I would say over all for the price, it was an awesome stay. No complaints about service or cleanliness. We met some very nice people. But, we might go for all-inclusive next time...nothing the hotel did wrong though! This was definetly a memorable anniversary vacation. I will post a few photos soon.

The Finisterra is a great location in Cabo if not the best! You have everything at your doorstep! This is our 5th trip to Mexico and our 1st to Cabo. We definatly would go back to Cabo due to not one day of rain! Be prepared to get hot and sunburned. We all have such bad sunburns, that we spent one day out of the sun. Even my husband who has olive skin blistered!
THE HOTEL: Nice hotel, friendly staff but we did not feel "spoiled" like we had at other places (Westin, Riu palace ). I do agree the pool area could be kept cleaner and our first day the pool side service was none. However, 2nd day service was much better. Food was mostly great. I would not recommend this hotel for families with teens however. Our son is very outgoing and connected with a lot of (older) people (he OWNED the pool vollyball games) but in the 9 days we stayed, he only met one other 16 yr old boy. I also agree with previous reviews that this is not a good hotel for singles. It is great for families with young kids and older couples. The one negative thing to share is when it came to the "cruise ship" visitors. We actually had fun with some families from the Disney cruise. But where it went bad was when they let some of the staff from one of the boats come and spend the day. They were young (20-25) which is okay, but they took over the activity pool and were loud and drunk. I understand that it was there 1st day off in weeks, but I did not spend MY money on a family vacation to listen to them scream and yell and take over the pool we had been occupying for days. One other hotel guest had to ask them to move so she and her friends could get into the pool. Beware of the timeshare ladies greeting you after check in with their "Welcoming" package. Saying no after a few days and they will leave you alone. The timeshare people are everywhere, but just say no and they will reduce their greeting to a "Good morning beautiful family".
MISC: Food is great everywhere! We loved Mia Casa (hard to find-take a bike taxi then walk back to hotel), Alexanders,Ponchos, Wamongo and Senior Sweets for breakfast and dessert. I did not care too much for Cabo Wabo. Main dish was great, but sides were very bland and needed bread with my Tequila shirmp to soak up all the yummy sauce. My drink was too strong and I had to send it back. Menu is very limited. As far as shopping, everything is right there on the marina! The art and crafts market is great for deals if you know what you want. However, the next day we went back to get another braclet I wanted and they would not budge on the price-Carnival Cruise ship was in. Market is to the right of the hotel on the boardwalk.
The only activity we booked was the Sunrider sunset cruise and it was awesome! Good food, beautiful views and super fun staff. We researched the ATV's but heard that they can be somewhat dangerous driving very close to the cliffs. We had done the Pirate boat cruise on a visit to P.V., but this one looked smaller and not as fun.
All in all, the Finisterra is a great location, great hotel but do to our son's age, we would either bring a friend or look at another hotel in the same area. The location cannot be beat! Oh, one last ramble- some people have complained about the "climb" up the hill to the hotel, we actually enjoyed it, but we are an active family. However, the hotel does offer shuttle service up and down the hill.
Have a great stay in Cabo!!