After our beloved and unique old Solmar on the Pacific ocean in Cabo San Lucas was destroyed to create "the Grand Solmar", making it more like the other built-for-timeshare sales and partying Americans, we sought a new sanctuary. Marbella Suites en la Playa looked like it might offer some of the calm quiet of Solmar. We stayed there for three nights, sharing a 2 bedroom unit with a friend. We all loved the place and will be back.
Marbella was built in descending levels from the highway level down the steep decline to the beach. It has many stairs but I spotted a number of ramps to facilitate transport of luggage and perhaps easier on those intimidated by the steps. If this is a concern, you may want to inquire... There is a little elevator that serves some levels. The charm of this place is that it is not updated with the stuff one leaves behind in the states...and the hustle and bustle of big resorts. We could read in quiet at the beach or in the "crows' nest " , walk the beach..etc and felt so relaxed and on vacation without encountering timesales people or peddlers of souvenirs etc.. We were usually one of at most three parties at meals on the open air balcony resturant with the nice view of the ocean..and the food was quite good as were the drinks. The beach level pool was similarly uncrowded...as was the perfect little beach. The staff was friendly and attentive and seemingly quite pleased to have us there. We took plenty of photos and spotted iguanas and seabirds and other creatures...every day. A bonus was that Mirabella is one of the closest accomodations to our favorite snorkel beach (5 minutes by car) enabling us to get there at the least crowded times...when the only earlier birds were the vultures perched on the palapas, unperturbed by our presence. The photos really say it all... If you love a nice quiet place, do not smoke or party or do not want to listen to a " boom box ", this is a place for you.There is a massage area under a palapa on the beach. You can have drinks by the pool or take them to your lounge on the beach. Its very casual here.

I'll agree with everyone else on this thread: Marbella is quite a find along The Corridor of condos and mega-resorts stretching from Cabo San Lucas to San Jose del Cabo. This was my first visit since 1977 and the first ever for my partner. Needless to say, things are a little different!
We were tempted by the larger properties including the Westin and Sheraton Hacienda (since we are avid SPG fans), but the Tripadvisor reviews and Marbella's website persuaded us to try this option. Overall, we're very happy we did.
Our first impression of Marbella, however, was rather disappointing given the rather uninspiring frontage that the hotel presents and the somewhat bleak surroundings on either side. Everything changed once we registered and started down the "infamous" set of stairs.
Marbella is a series of narrow buildings on both sides of a series of steps that meander down to the restaurant, pool and beach. As previously commented, there are a lot of them! Our room was #63, just steps from the reception area and at the end of the first building. Our "patio" was in reality the end of the hallway, and we were afforded a panoramic "partial" view of the ocean. We had similar views from the "dining room" and bedroom. For us going up and down the stairs presented no difficulty and, in fact, we actually enjoyed the extra bit of exercise!
Because Marbella did not seem to be anywhere close to full occupancy, everything around the property was quiet and relaxed. I was always the only one swimming (laps) in the pool, and the beach never seemed to have more than a handful of people. I'm sure all of the mega-resorts were quite different!
We did not have or need a car but used the very inexpensive and efficient public buses for trips to Cabo or San Jose.
Marbella offers excellent value. We will definitely return!

ROOMS:
Spacious and reasonably well equipped. A/C units are present but were not needed during our visit. Not sure how effective these are in peak summer heat. Furnishings are adequate and could use some updating. Refrigerator, microwave, and coffee maker were all fine. Bed was OK. Lighting could be improved with more table lamps to facilitate reading at night. Otherwise, lighting consists of rather harsh ceiling mounted lamps. As others have commented, rooms lining the stairs are dark and lack any views. In these cases, better interior lighting would be even more critical.

ACTIVITES:
Wonderful moderately large free form pool. I'm a lap swimmer, so I take note of a pool's length, and the Marbella pool had to be at least 25 yards long in its greatest dimension. I couldn't tell if it was heated, but it was quite comfortable for active swimming.
A small gym is barely functional consisting of some weights and two treadmills, only one of which was working. The treadmill was hard to program, but once started it did the job. I thought about jogging/running along the road but eventually concluded that this was too dangerous given traffic speed and lack of an adequate shoulder.
The poolside bar also has table tennis and a billiards table (which was a fun distraction at times).

SERVICES:
Complimentary wi-fi, which for the most part worked well throughout the property. We had some trouble getting a consistent, adequate signal in our room, but it was consistently strong on our patio and other public areas including the beach.
Restaurant with very good food and competitive prices (no better or worse than many establishments in Cabo or San Jose).
Friendly service from all staff.

Marbella is apparently owned by a "fraternity" and was going to close the entire month of March with a "private party." We were told they were expecting upwards of 150 guests at any one time. No idea if these are college-aged folks or what, but we imagine the atmosphere of the property will substantially change during this time.
We're looking forward to a repeat visit during the quiet times!

This was our third week-long stay at Marbella Suites. That says it all. We love this place! Our corner suite is perfect. We have requested this room since our first stay. The restaurant is great, the menu is varied, the food is delicious, and the portions are huge. The beach is lovely. It is not unusual to find that you are the only people on the beach. What could be better than reading on the beach and watching the whales play in the Sea of Cortez? Best of all are the folks that work at Marbella. From the front desk, to the gardener, to the housekeeping staff, to the waiters, everyone is friendly, helpful, and a joy to see each day. We plan to make Marbella an annual trip.

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Marbella Suites. The staff were very friendly, the accommodations were clean and comfortable and the price is great. We wanted to play tennis; while this property doesn't have tennis courts, Lillian was great at giving us options and we had no trouble finding close places to play at a reasonable cost. The beach is lovely and we had great whale watching! Highly recommended.