If you are doing research on where to stay in Cabo and you want to be close to the action, have hip-hop music blaring by the pool and body shots poured by scantily-clad waitresses....THEN THIS IS NOT THE PLACE FOR YOU SO YOU CAN STOP READING!!!

If you are looking for a lovely small boutique hotel that is off the beaten path, is quiet and tranquil, has a great spa, has two great pools with lots of chairs, is romantic - AND you can whale watch from your room??? Then this IS the place for you...keep reading...(sorry in advance if I get long-winded!)

Okay! I did my normal month-long research on a quest to find a supremely relaxing vacation.

My criteria was this:
* Not an all-inclusive (I enjoy finding great places outside the hotel for dinner)
* NO KIDS (I love them, but I wanted a scream-free pool atmosphere)
* A great spa and mostly,
* A smaller hotel.

I believe that all of my research paid off and we were rewarded with a great vacation!!

My boyfriend Brian and I stayed at the Pacifica from February 17th to the 24th.

We got dropped last from the airport shuttle, which sucked, but at least we got a mini-tour of the city!!

Our first impression of the hotel was simplicity and relaxation. Nothing busy or annoying...just soft music and that lovely lavender scent that everyone talks about!

The bell boys were very friendly, as was the front desk. Check in is at 4:00 and when we arrived at about 1:15 they told us that our room was not ready, but they would do their best to have a room ready for us within the hour and to come back at 2:00 to see if they were ready.

(Brian did get ambushed right away by the time share people and we did do the presentation which I'll talk about later...)

We headed down to the pool to grab some lunch while we waited.

The pool staff was terrific! The tables were full so we had to wait - so we sat in lounge chairs and ordered a drink until someone left - which ended up being about a whole 5 minutes.

We ordered the tempura shrimp tacos and nachos - which were both very good (awesome guac!) but we LOVED the shrimp tacos and I believe we ate them every day that week!

Anyway, we told our waiter we were waiting for our room to be ready and he offered to go up and check on the status for us, and promptly came back down to let us know it was ready.

ROOM:
I think we were settled in our room by about 2:30! Absolutely no hassels whatsoever about checking in early! My travel agent had sent a note requesting a room on a higher floor so we had a better view and they complied...we were in room 1146 (the third number indicates your floor.)

We had a standard king room with an armoire (TV and fridge inside), a table and two chairs as well as a desk. The bath had a shower and separate toilet. Nothing fancy, but nice and clean. Certainly not large, but it worked for the two of us.

The bedding was a light tan color with white accents and the sheets were a soft cotton...no scratchy sheets here!! The bed itself was what i would consider on the medium to firmer side - not my preference, but Brian loved it. I have to say that though I prefer a softer mattress, I had no problems sleeping!

We also had a nice sized balcony with two cushioned chairs and a table. We spent lots of time on our balcony! I believe every room has an ocean and resort view - so you could see everything going on down at the pool and the beach. The best thing was that you could whale watch right from the comfort of your own balcony! The whales seemed to be most active in the morning and in the afternoon. Throughout the day you could see them spouting, and it was fun to watch the whale-watching tour boats race over to them, hoping for that big breach!!

There is a decent sized closet with a safe and robes. We often left out our watches, IPods, cameras and all sorts of stuff and NEVER had a problem with theft! But to be safe, I do suggest using the safe.

Our maid Rosa was good - we often had our "moon" (for do not disturb) on our door until late in the day so she would have to come back later to clean. She left us little towel animals on a few occassions - they were so cute!

There is a turndown service at night as well where they will give you clean towels and chocolates. Nice touch.

Don't forget to tip your maid!! You will typicallly have the same maid all week! Remember they don't make squat! So even $10 is very much appreciated!

Before I forget....there is a fridge which they call the mini-bar. To them, it is just that - a mini-bar....NOT A FRIDGE! Beware that if you take something out of the fridge to make room for your leftovers, you buy whatever you take out! Even if it's sitting there unopened...you buy it. So the trick is if you are going to do that at night - fine, but remember to take your food out before you leave for the day and put those items BACK IN there before the maid comes or you will be charged. We failed to read the notice on front of the fridge and were charged for two beers we didn't drink. (We put the warm ones back in and drank the cold ones - if we paid for them - we felt we may as well drink them!!)

POOL SCENE:
The Pools...both infinity and both lovely. AND WARM! The one that has is around Siempre and the pool restaurant and bar has a small swim-up bar and is much larger than the other pool. Both have lots of comfortable chairs around them and stands with towels all over the place. We never had a problem getting chairs...not once in 8 days. There are also a few chairs on the beach - which we never utilized because it was pretty windy while we were there.

The other cool option are the beds on the beach! So cool! I'm not sure of the cost (someone mentioned $100/day) but that got you the bed and they'll bring out chairs for you as well. You also get the use of an IPod while you're out there.

There is also a hot tub that is enclosed with I'd say about 20 or so chairs around it. It was a great place to sit on the days it was really, really windy! And even when it was 90 degrees, the hot tub felt good for a quick dip. I think it was considered "open" until 9 or 10 pm.

And I can't forget about the firepit, which is surrounded by cushioned benches....very cozy at night when it cools down!

There was the "holistic" area of the grounds that included the hut, the maze, an outdoor spa area and a little pool used for something - not sure what.

The grounds are lovely with lots of flowing water, beautiful rock gardens and plants.

The beach, as i'm sure you know, is not swimable. Fine with me. And yes it's true, if you try to walk to the left from the resort you will be stopped and asked to not go any further. They do say it's because of turtles nesting - which may be true - but it's also true that the owner of the resort (and the whole development) lives in the house at the end of the beach. For those people who are having a fit about not being able to walk down there...get over it! There is almost TWO MILES of beach to the right!!! Knock yourself out in that direction! And it's likely you may not even pass anyone while you're walking! The sand is soft and deep and not so easy to walk in. Brian ran it a few times and it's quite a workout!

DINING:
We ate at every location with the exception of the wine bar- but that doesn't really matter since Siempre services it anyway!

Internet Cafe & Deli - we often got breakfast from here. They make a pretty good latte and an egg & ham croissant sandwich that was tasty too! Also had breads and muffins, and then deli salads and sandwiches for lunch. This is also where you can buy sundries including medicine, magazines, suntan oil and snacks. Oh, and the computers are in the back for a cost of like $2 for 5 minutes.

Pool Bar - As I mentioned previously, we ate here every afternoon for lunch. GREAT shrimp tacos and even the sandwiches, burgers and fries are good too! The price at Siempre was fairly high and we opted to not spend our money there during the day.
Wait staff was usually pretty good - some are better than others. The drink of the day is always really good, but realize they are $14 a pop!! Beers are a more reasonable $4 or 5. Also to save some money - the water is all filtered so don't be nervous about asking for tap ice water. We drank it all week and neither of us got sick.

Siempre - We ate dinner here twice. Pretty spendy. We each got an appetizer/salad and a meal, plus wine and it was probably $200. I'd say I was very happy with my shrimp risotto. Brian said his surf-n-turf was okay. Eat here one night - and then get out and explore the restaurants downtown!

Wine Bar:
We only went in there one night when Brian was trying some top-shelf tequila. We were the only ones in there. Some nights there would be two people in there - and another night we walked past and all the tables were full! Small place, but has a full bar. Try a Chilean wine to save some $$ as opposed to paying an arm and a leg for California wine!

THE SPA!!
Brian got two massages and I got three. We wanted to just schedule one at first to see what we thought before we scheduled them for the week.

I was sooo pleasantly surprised! The facility smells wonderful and there is a nice relaxation room as well as a steam room with a hot tub and a cool tub. Another nice touch were the cool towels with cucumbers to sooth puffy eyes!!

The rooms are nice and private with all the state of the art equipment. Brian and I were in the couples massage room our last day and that had it's own shower, steam room and hot tub!

My first treatment was a neck, back and foot massage and my massage therapist was Rosa. She was awesome! It was so good I scheduled the same massage the other two times and requested her...and they complied.

Brian got a personalized massage both times and his first one was fine, but he said the second therapist did not focus on the spots he requested (he wanted his legs done and she mostly worked on his back.) You fill out a form before you go in showing the areas you want them to focus on so there is no confusion.

After his massage he complained to the front spa desk and they told him to come back later when the manager would be there. He did, and they credited the massage charge back to our room - so we were thought that was great customer service.

Again, don't forget to tip your massage therapist! There is a "service charge" of 12% added to your bill. My first therapy I just signed the bill and assumed that that was gratuity, but on my second visit I asked and found out that only about 6% actually goes to the therapist. You do the math! $6 on a $100!! YIKES! But anything you do leave extra does go to the therapist. Personally I like to give them tips directly to make sure.

The one thing I think left a thorn in my side was the $10/day, per person charge if you wanted to use the fitness room. Ridiculous.
You do get to use the room for free if you get a spa treatment - but if you just want to go work out - they charge you $10. I know several people who said they had treatments that day and just walked in. I think when you are paying the money we paid, to charge another $10 to work out is crazy. Hopefully they'll come around and eliminate that charge.

BUT, I must say the fitness room was pretty nice. All the cardio equipment has it's own TV and there are bikes, treadmills, step machines and then weight machines. The only thing I can complain about was that a few days it got very warm in there. Then again, you're in there to sweat so why not sweat a little more!!

The shuttle service:
I can't comment on this because we only used the shuttle to go up to the timeshare presentation. Some people said it was easy - others said it was putsy and just easier to spend the $10 to take a cab.

TIME SHARE!
Okay! The topic of much debate on this hotel!
We opted to take the tour because of the freebies - and because I was a bit curious.
We got $200 in spa credits, $50 in food credits and a boat tour to the Arch in town...all totalled to be around $300. We thought it was worth the time.

I was actually VERY impressed. The views are stunning and the properties were very well done...down to the granite countertops, stainless appliances and plasma TV's. Really, really nice. The amenities at the resort were outstanding and everything looked like it was supposed to be there. Definitely impressive.

It got to the point that I was thinking more seriously about purchasing a property and we were asking lots of questions, asking for more info, etc. They showed us the price - then showed us the "SPECIAL PRESENTATION PRICE" and we were basically told we had about 10 minutes to make a decision. I told them that we'd like a little more time and our sales guy decided it was time to bring in the big guns to try and close us. I again told him I wanted more time and could we take home the literature and the cost sheets and think about if for a few more days and they could contact us then? NO! Absolutely not! Then the rude was turned on...We were told that this wasn't "rocket science" and that we could afford it and we were foolish to not jump in now. The guy then told us he couldn't convince to do this and he slammed his book shut and got up and walked away. I was stunned. I was actually very interested and that's how they treated us because we wouldn't make the decision NOW! I'm going to write a letter to SOMEBODY and complain...it was crazy!

During the presentation we were told that they built the Pacifica to get people to come to the timeshare presentations. Interesting. We were also told that in a few years no one would be able to even get past that first gate as once this sells out it will bbe ultra exclusive. The rumor is they are building a Mandarin Oriental on one side and a Ritz on the other. Jack Nickalaus has signed on to design the golf course that will boast ocean views from all holes. Sounds lovely. But their sales guys are rude.

Enough of that!

Outside the hotel...
If you want to go elsewhere...We at at Nick San (sushi) one evening and that was good (also expensive), "C" (Charlie Trotters) at the One and Only Pamilla which was very good, but also very expensive!

We also ate at Mi Casa, which is right at the bottom of the hill on your way to town. Great authentic Mexican place that's fun with crazy decor. Good food and reasonable prices.

But the most amazing meal we had was at the Restaurant at Las Ventanas. Did I say AMAZING? Unbelievably beautiful atmosphere - we didn't want to leave!

If you want to try one of these other restaurants, be sure to make reservations - we had the concierge make all of our reservations for us. Taking taxis to these places will cost you ($40-50 each way!) We rented a car for a few days so we could drive ourselves, plus stop in town to do some shopping, which came in handy.

We can't forget about Cabo Wabo (eh, so-so) and the many othe little places you can stop in for a CHEAP beer!

Anyhoo...we completely enjoyed our stay at the Pacifica! I'm not sure where the bad reviews are coming from! If you are considering staying here - don't let a few (and there are only a few) bad reviews scare you away. It really is a lovely place to go if you are looking to get away from it all. Both Brian and I agreed it was the most relaxing vacation both of us have ever taken!

I will definitely recommend this hotel to my friends and I do hope to get back before everything becomes untouchable out there.

If you have any questions, feel free to send me an email.
Happy Travels!
Lisa

I stayed at the Pueblo Bonito Pacifica from 2/19-2/24. I won’t repeat what many others have said, but I’ll just underscore a few points.

Pros: The décor is modern, minimalist and clean. The hotel is outside the downtown area so it is more quiet and relaxing. Also seems a bit more upscale than many of the other resorts we visited in town (although some in the Corridor are no doubt nicer). Staff was fine and fairly friendly but nothing to write home about.

Cons: Housekeeping is indeed spotty. They didn’t seem to follow any sort of pattern (some days the floors were cleaned, some days not) and the turndown service was infrequent. Everything was really overpriced. I definitely felt like they were trying to milk every last cent out of me here. Charging me for using the refrigerator space is ridiculous; why not reimburse me for turning off all the lights they keep leaving on in my room and save the electricity that way? Packets of coffee at $3? Silly charges at a nice resort only make it seem cheap.

By far, the biggest con and the sole reason I would NOT recommend this hotel was the time-share pitch. From the moment we walked in to the moment we left the “90 minute breakfast,” we were harassed constantly and with unbelievable aggression. I understand that going to the breakfast was our choice ultimately, but the amount of pressure they put on you to go is almost unbearable (some of you may be more immune to this type of peer-pressure). Once you do go, it is even worse. We had TWO salesmen spend almost THREE HOURS with us at the Sunset. I’ve had more pleasurable experiences buying used cars. Seriously, I do quite a bit of work in PR and marketing: this was serious pressure and manipulation. My advice if you have no interest in buying into a timeshare: DO NOT GO, IT IS NOT WORTH THE CREDIT. We used our credit at La Freida Restaurant at the Sunset and it was the worst meal (and most expensive) we’ve had in a long time.

Bottom line: this place cheapens itself by over-charging and by the cheesy and sleezy time-share pitch.

We just returned from a wonderful stay at the Pacifica from Feb 23-27. We choose this hotel due to the previous reviews on how wonderful it was and we were certainly not disapointed.

From the moment we stepped foot in the doors it was a wonderful experience, the service is great, the hotel is extreamly clean and the views are amazing. This is the hotel to stay at if you want to have a tranquil and relaxing vacation. We were lucky to not have been bothered about the time share, they asked us if we were under 28- and we are so they did not mention it and so we just kept on walking to our room. However, the Sunset where they do the presentation is literally right next door (you have to pass the entrance to get to the pacifica) so if you have the time people said to go for the added perks of food and spa credit.

We ate at Simpre (the main restaurant) and the pool bar and thought they were both pretty good. Going into town was very important to us so it was wonderful that they have cabs waiting outside all day long for $10-$12 a trip (which is a bargin for us bc we live in downtown Chicago) and it was a quick 10 min ride. We had dinner downtown at MiCasa (which was good for atmosphere, but not great for food) and Sunset di Mona Lisa (which was amazing- it had views of the ocean on all 3 sides and wonderful food- however the cab ride is $20 per way but to us it was more than worth it). We also tried scuba diving with Manta scuba diving. We did the intro course in which you go down 40 ft- we really enjoyed it and would highly recommend it if you are not scuba certified and would like a morning with a little adventure! Also the couples massage was great!

The only negative that we encountered was with the airport transportation. We booked it through the hotel and I never recieved the voucher you need when you get there (i did not know we needed this until we were at the airport). The people at the airport are like sharks and they are all trying to tell you that you booked with them and that you have not payed yet...finally we spoke with a company called Cape Travel and they were very helpful and fixed everything....I would suggest just booking directly through Cape Travel or Transcabo- it's $35 for two people one way- a cab will cost you $60-$80 for a one way trip to the Pacifica. The only other comment is that the waiters at the hotel and everywhere else are slow, we just decided that we are so used to Chicago and everything being go go go that it's just not the lifestyle in cabo- so once we took it easy and relaxed it was no big deal.

Overall this was a fantastic vacation and the pacifica was a wonderful hotel! Our room was on the 4th floor and it was a decent size...all of the rooms have very deep balconies and I loved coming home and sitting out there looking at the ocean. Cabo in general is an expensive area so be prepared to spend some extra money- if you want the spring break happy hour party hotel than the pacifica is not for you. If you want a fun, relaxing, and beautiful enviornment than you won't go wrong staying here! We would go back in a heartbeat!

After staying here in late February, my wife and I agreed, it is very nice, not 5 star.

Checked in and we were given a 1st floor room, requested higher floor, not available..."would you like to upgrade to a suite for $120 per night more?" I dont think so. attached pics of a ground floor room, still ok.

The nice stuff....Grounds are, as previously stated, very nice and exactly as expected for a holistic resort. Pool is beautiful and clean. Quality of food by the pool is above average. Beds are comfortable. All staff encountered was friendly and helpful. No screaming kids, adults only is a great idea. Location away from the hustle and bustle is great, even if you do have to trek into downtown. The hotel is quiet and provides a good environment to relax.

The Bad....Non swimmable beach, I knew that when i booked the place, but it is hard to look at the ocean all day and not be able to swim in it. Rooms are really not large enough, the bathroom is tiny, two people is nearly impossible. Room towels are just like the motel 6. Seriously, a bottle of water in your room for $13? Thats just plain wrong. A holistic resort and you want me to pay $30 for my wife and I to attend a 20 min. yoga session? Other than the grounds, not that much "holistic about it." I can find a spa at any resort. Service at the pool is hit and miss. Most servers did not understand simple english other than words from the menu. I asked to hold on to the menu to order later, she told me "No, its O.K." Way too many calls from front desk, housekeeping bell staff asking...On the day of our arrival...would you like to book transportation to the airport for your return? (I just got there!!!!!) Housekeeping and front desk called 3 times to see if everything was ok....for the love of #@!$, I will call YOU when something is wrong, stop calling me and let me relax. I never returned to our room without having some message from the staff. annoying.

From reading some reviews on this site, some people are excited about the hotel because they went to a timeshare presentation and in turn saved some money. Thats not my idea of a vacation. For the price I paid (booked on expedia) I felt the hotel is nice,, definitly not a 5 star.

My Tip is bring lots of small bills, forget the bills.
At the pool, when i paid cash, they did not understand the concept of change. How many times did I have to chase after the waitstaff for my change, I guess they felt a 45% tip was resonable. Seriously, do they really think, a $21 bill, paid with 2 twentys means the rest is a tip? When I asked for my change, I ended up just getting both twentys back?????

Would I return? No, rooms are too small for price, I realize if I book a hotel on the beach, I want to be able to swim in the ocean, but thats just me.