We booked a garden view room using my finance's Starwood points. Prior to our stay, he corresponded with the hotel direct to inquire about upgrading to an ocean front room. Upon his initial contact, there were none available. When he tried back at a later date, they informed him there would be a $40 upgrade charge. We decided to play it by ear.

When the bus arrived to drop us off, we were absolutely stunned by the beauty of the architecture as well as the grounds - it was truly lovely!

Upon check-in, we asked the front desk clerk if the upgrade was still available. He spent a moment checking and told us that it would be $80 plus 13% tax. When we asked about the $40 rate he told us that this room was right there in the main building directly overlooking the ocean - that it was "the best". We took it. When we went out to meet the Bellman, we were immediately intercepted by another gentleman who informed us that the room we'd been sold was just given to another couple! We began to head back to the front desk when he offered us an even "better" room. We figured we may as well check it out. It was very close to the water and pool - great view so we were satisfied.

We asked about their shuttle service as a taxi to town is $20 each way. The shuttle was $5.00 per person each way but only ran every hour and a half. We later discovered that they simply slap a Sheraton sticker upon the next taxi and send people on their way. One particular day, they told us we had to purchase roundtrip tickets and when we didn't use the return (the last one comes back at 9pm) it took us 3 days to convince them to give us credit for another ride. They kept sending us back and forth to different staff members until we finally asserted ourselves and were accomodated.

We dined in one of the restaurants our first night and the food was pretty good but not worth the pricing in my opinion. $9.00 for a bowl of soup is a little out there! The burgers by the pool were good - $14.00. Room service was fast and friendly and they didn't mark it up from the restaurant pricing (thank goodness). The very best value is the breakfast buffet - $25.00 which includes mimosas and bloody marys.

Overall, I would say the property itself was very, very nice. The bed was great and the shower was huge with awesome water pressure. The houskeeping staff was very friendly and efficient. The pools were clean and beautiful. You could drink the water in your room and in the restaurants which was nice.

One suggestion, since they're contracting with taxi drivers to provide "shuttle" service, they should offer a flat price and it should run hourly. Maybe charge each guest $50 per week. They'd most likely profit in the end!

Cabo itself is exorbitantly costly - very sad really! While it's common in Mexico to be scammed a bit, I didn't really expect it at the hotel - not at a Starwood resort. We were having a good time so we pretty much let it go. In the future, our room rate/type will be solidified prior to arrival.

This was our 5th time visiting Cabo, there is no other place to vacation.

We stayed 2 weeks on this trip, our first week this time was at the Hacienda Del Mar.

The place is absolutely gorgeous, we have stayed at several different locations in the past. As compared to other 4 and 5 star places in Cabo, I would rate Hacienda Del Mar as "good" overall.
My only hassle here; were the other guests.

As a young couple with no children, we simply want to relax. We did just that, the staff was excellent, the food was excellent and you could not ask for a more beautifully manicured resort in Cabo.
Amongst the desert, the 1 mile entry to Hacienda makes it feel like a private oasis. The resort itself has every amenity you could want. Staff, service, food, room service and drinks were all excellent and expedient! The resort has several pool areas and for the most part, they are segregated in the fact that the familys seemed to stick to the main lower pool, and the office does an excellent job of keeping the "singles", "couples" and "familys" accomodated in the appropriate separate building and pool areas.

Being a young couple wanting peace and quite, we found just that; the one and only frustration we found while there, was simply that the majority of guests were in their late 30's and up. Being in our late 20's, we felt a small sense of being out of place. The staff loved us, paid great attention to us and seemed refreshed to see young faces!

Being a luxury resort; we met a couple of celebreties and NBA players, which was really fun!

We are not 'partiers' by any means...and my only disappointment with staying here were the other guests, we had the feeling the entire time that they were dismayed with us being there- despite the fact that we never went to bed later than 8pm!

We are relaxation vacationers, just like the other crowd-despite our age.

Just found the place to be a little uppety- due only 100% to the other guests.

Stayed just 2 nights. Lovely grounds, very well maintained. Lots of pink architecture. A little bit like an adult Disneyland. Apart from the front desk staff, all were friendly.
Complimentary bottled water (2) on 1st night only, never replaced.
Had to argue about extra unwarranted mini bar charges on checkout.
DO NOT use the room phone for calls to the US! My cell phone had no reception and I needed to call my wife.
I was told in heavy accented 'Spanglish' that the cost for the call would be $6.00.
What they meant was $6.00 per minute! To call a US area code??
My stay was funded by a company, but I would not return, regardless of who was paying.

We stayed with our 2 children ages 9 & 7 in 2 connecting oceanfront rooms. This is a stunning resort with amazing pools and restaurants.

We found check-in very difficult because the staff have very limited english and they come across quite rude. Our check-in took 4 hours! We originally booked "ocean view" rooms but were very dissapointed with the view. We overlooked a pile of dirt and couldn't see much ocean. We travelled so far (Australia) and we wanted to have a nice view for our 7 nights. Be warned - most of the ocean view rooms only have ocean glimpses. We returned to reception and asked to pay extra for ocean front rooms. It all went downhill from there. 4 hours of waiting & argueing. They just didn't care that we were unhappy. We will not return to this resort because of the reception staff.

The other big negative is the cost of food & beverage. The restaurants are amazing and the food is wonderful, but just be prepared for huge prices.

During our visit the beach had a yellow flag which means safe to swim. We are extremely strong swimmers and found the waves to be very dangerous. Swimming should not be allowed in this water at all. Lucky the pools are inviting.

We had a lot of trouble communicating with most of the staff. They seem to only understand english when it suits them. We asked housekeeping to do something, which she replied "I don't speak english". We then heard her speaking english to her workmate outside.

Minor problems, but annoying.
The interior of the rooms are lovely and clean.