We stayed here for 1 week during Spring Break of 08-09. We were a family from MD and we drove to EWR for the the flight. The hotel was very nice, but we found the food options to be limiting and expensive. They have an ultra-expensive boutique place a short walk away and we ate their once. Short of a $10 burger by the pool bar, there is really nothing else reasonable. If you have kids and/or want to eat a lot, BOOK AN ALL INCLUSIVE! Last time, we stayed at the Riu in Cabo which was a much nicer hotel and was an inclusive. Cabo food/amenities are just at a huge premium over other vacation resorts.

The rooms were nice/staff were fine!

Be aware, internet is rare and expensive, there is no free access here. I suggest you think twice if access to the net is important to you because you will be killed on the cost.

The waves on the beach outside are huge and unsafe. If you have small kids, you must watch them vigilantly. The Mexican lifeguards were very incompetent and just sat and drank liquor on the beach and laughed/talked while kids were struggling in the waves and getting hammered by the surf. I saw many 10ft+ monsters during my stay. Head to Chileno bay nearby if you want a calm kid friendly beach. Hotel staff can give directions.

#1 - go to Cabo
#2 - stay at this hotel
#3 - pay no attention to those complaining of how expensive Cabo is, they either did not do their research, have a less than average grasp on geography - or both!

#1 - Cabo is stunning - the contrast from the desert moon scapes and the gorgeous ocean is incredible.

Weather is near perfect, though in January with the breeze it can be a bit coolish - especially if you are lanai dwellers like we are and not sun worshippers.

Between the strong currents and the cool water temps, it is not really a beach-goers destination, but that is fine with us.

You MUST take binoculars if you go during whale watching season. No need to go on one of the cruises. Just sit on the beach or on your balcony, sip a cool drink and watch the show.

Trans-Cabo is the easy way to get to your hotel from the airport, but sometimes you make lots of stops on the way. Costs about $20 per person each way, vs. $80 for a cab. Airport was new and efficient (flew Delta, some other airlines use the older terminal)

More on Cabo later.

#2 - The Sheraton is about as good a 4 star experience as you will find. Architecture and decor are Mexican colonial style and fits in well. Nice grounds, lots of pools and a great beach.

Very good food at all of the on-property options. Even the main pool bar/snack hut had some tasty fish tacos and other dishes.

The tequila bar will keep you busy, and toasted.

Pitahayas earns its 4 stars and the location/views are tremendous. Can't say enough good things about it.

Couple of great tips -- Starwood allows you to book a Suite at most Mexican resorts using your points - a 50% premium to a standard room. A call to the Guest Services Manager pre-arrival paid off handsomely with an upgrade to the next best-category of suite -- unbelievable. 905 square feet of total luxury. Oceanfront/view (you are about 50 feet from the sand), with a 1/2 covered lanai running the full frontage and a large balcony on the side of the bedroom. Lanai had two chaise loungers and table for 4 -- perfect for breakfast or candelit dinners.

Living room had table for 6, kitchenette, couch and 42" plasma for our Super Bowl watching pleasure. Bathroom as well.

Masterbath had a great tub and spacious shower.

Best of all, we had two massage tables on the lanai awaiting our arrival (had to be up at 5Am to catch the connection from the East Coast) for a jet-lag healing massage. All of the spa services were outstanding (we are in the biz - highly recommend the newly remodeled Cactus Spa). SPG gold and platinum members get 20% off all spa treatments on weekdays.

Very ample and modern fitness center too.

For golfers, the Sheraton is in the Cabo Del Sol development, which has one of the finest courses in the hemisphere - and certainly the best in Mexico - CDS Ocean, and the Desert Course is no slouch. Twilight rate is still a load of pesos, but if you go off by 2:30 you should finish by darkness.

Believe it or not, the on-premises shops are not the price-gouging tourist traps you would expect of resort retail. The purveyors of silver jewelry, resort attire and food staples have prices on par with anything we found in either San Jose or CSL - in some cases lower. Avoid the high-end jewelry store, you are better off buying in the US.

Sams Club/Walmart is a $50 round trip cab ride from the property, so if you are staying in the time share section (all the green buildings on the West half of the property) or have a kitchenette, you can stock up on all you need.

#3 - Cabo is expensive, but don't be surprised. Gas in Cabo cost as much as any major US city, so naturally your cab ride won't be some developing market bargain. What does a 12 mile cab ride cost you in LA? Cabo is about the same, and that is how far it is to either town from the hotel.

Food and drink are pricey too. But look at the map. Cabo is at the END of the baja peninsula -- hence the name of the rock formation, Land's End. It is a 2 day drive from San Diego and has no rail service and minimal port facilities. It is also in a desert. Nothing grows there! So where do you think the food and drink have to come from? Stocking Cabo is like trying to stock a resort in Alaska, except 90% of it has to be driven (see gas price comment above) on the only highway (and I use the term loosely, 2 lanes, closer to 1.75 in width and in poor condition) on the peninsula.

Back to Cabo...

Couple of excursions to recommend.

First ,the sunset jazz cruise on the Tropi-Cat, Cabo's largest catamaran. for $50, you get open bar, lots of so-so finger food, and a 2 hour tour of Lands End, with close-up view of the creatures that inhabit it, a 30 minute sail up the pacific coast - the whales are as close as you would find on a whale seeking outing, another reason to skip that -- and then you headback right before sunset. XM Radio pumps out fun jazz for the duration.

Second - and this is not for the faint of heart - is a day trip to Todos Santos. We rented a jeep, but even with a lifetime of experience driving in Latin America I had a few white knuckles. Semis bear down on you in both directions - at speed - they know the twists and turns like the back of their hands and have no regard for the solid or dotted yellow line. But the destination is worth the grey hairs.

Charming little town with great shops and galleries. Agua Y Sol has great jewelry from Mexican designers at good prices.

Several ex-pat gringo and gringa artists have galleries in town, the best of the bunch being Jill Logan gallery (http://www.jilllogan.com/Gallery.htm).

Hotel California has a great restaurant and shop as well.

Finally, since the car rental is 24 hours, we took in dinner in San Jose. A nice change of pace from CSL - nice selection of quieter restaurants and a little more authentic Mexico. Tequila restaurant was a great setting, with delicious food and - you guessed it - a great tequila list.

Were led to believe that this hotel was a 4-5 star resort, but found it to be very average. As others have written, beach is unusable for all but the most daring. If you want a little quiet, make sure you request a room in the new hotel section, above the first floor and away from the elevator and maintenance closet. I was awakened the first night by an employee doing something in the maintenance room at 4 a.m. We chose this hotel in lieu of an all inclusive because we wanted to have a better shot at decent food, but found the hotel's food to be average at best - and extremely expensive, but that's evidently common for Cabo. Pools were not very clean, even though they worked on them every morning. Much refuse on bottom of the pools which seemed to build the longer we were there. The facility looked nice, but all in all, an underwhelming experience.

We stayed at Hacienda Del Mar in summer of 2006. There was not one thing about Hacienda we didn't love. The service was wonderful! We got in early and we were put into our room right away.

-Our conceirge Fausto took care of everything for us. We made sure to tip him well so he stuck with us for the 10 days we were there which was nice. Everyone else was great also, but Fausto was our buddy
-Our room, a two bedroom, was gorgeous! Probably one of the nicest resorts I've ever been to. I have yet to find something to top Hacienda's rooms. We had a ton of space so we didn't even have to see one another if we didn't want to, which was nice because people tend to get on your nerves after a few days hahaha. And the rooms were clean, clean, clean!
-Room service was incredible and took care of everything within fifteen minutes. They cleaned every single day and replenished at least once if not twice a day. We nevr had a problem with them as they were on top of everything.
-The pools are beautiful and very clean and we never felt crowded, as with most resorts. Kids have their own pool so it was never an issue of it being too loud or anything. We stayed at the pool a lot more than we'd planned to just because of how nice it was.
-Service at the pool was awesome. They had a cart that sprayed you with water, put on your lotion and cleaned your glasses and another woman who gave massages. Food/drink service came around often and you were served promtly. The food and drinks were very good but a little expensive, wait til Happy Hour (1:00) to buy your drinks.
- Girasoles restaurant has awesome food and a great view. They have a really fun band that plays during dinner and their pricing is reasonable for a resort. Pitahaya's was okay. I think I just ordered the wrong food but for the price I wasn't happy with what I got. I'd much rather have gone back to Girasoles. We mostly breakfast at timeshare presentations and lunch in our room but dinner was out every night.
-We did the timeshare presentation which was really great. They were kind and quick, compared to some of the others who were just plain rude. They also got us all of our activities for free. In the end we did end up buying a timeshare so we could go back as often as we'd like. With our other timeshare it took us a couple years to actually get to Mexico and that just wasn't acceptable when we love it so much!

Overall I cannot find anything that we were not pleased with at Hacienda. We love it, we love the people and we love the service. I'm convinced it doesn't get any better than Hacienda Del Mar!