We stayed at VDA for 10 days recently. Overall there are some very, very nice aspects of the hotel, and some that we thought needed some improvement.

For the great parts...
The pool/beach scene- We did not spend too much time at the beach, but it is nice, with beach chairs and umbrellas, and it is cordoned off so that the beach vendors can't bother you too much. The water is swimmable and blue, but still a rough surf and undertow even on Medano beach.

The pools are all very nice, relaxing, beautifully laid out. The waiters surrounding the pool are attentive and after ten days and some tips, got to know us and were very nice guys. We went during a relatively off season, so there were no problems with poolside chairs. There are definitely some families and kids around, but it was not overrun with children running around.

The location-Nice, close to Cabo ($7 cab ride each way) with a beautiful view of the arch and daily cruise ships coming in. We did not walk to Cabo (they don't reccomend walking at night on the beach), but we did see lots of people walking into town, day and night, and it seems perfectly safe (I'd probably walk in a bigger group at night).

Our room- We had a perfect room, all are new, very clean, the maid staff kept our place impeccable for our entire stay. We had a one bedroom unit, with a nice large porch which directly overlooked the Sea of Cortez. Made for beautiful sunrises every day.

The OK:
The restuarant- Decent food, probably a little on the expensive side (although average for hotels). We did the all inclusive, and if you eat every meal there every day (we certainly didn't) it could get boring. Breakfast (they have a menu option and a buffet option) was pretty good.

The construction- The place is, as previously mentioned, still undergoing lots of construction all day. In truth, it really is not distracting. On a number of occasions I didn't even notice the noise, even though it's there. Overall I wouldn't let the concern over construction keep you from going.

The bad:
The management- The front desk/operator/management staff needs some training, I think. We arrived having payed for the all inclusive before arriving. They tried to offer me the all inclusive on arriving and it took a minute for them to realize that I had already payed for it. I went to the desk one day to ask how to mail an item to the US, and where I could get postage, etc. They had absolutely NO idea what I meant or how to help me. They had me call the "premium services desk", which was the hotel operator who had no idea how to help me either. I finally figured out on my own that they sell stamps in the little gift shop 50 feet from the desk. The front desk staff had no idea. When I checked out they tried to charge me for the all inclusive again until I went and straightened it out. The hotel directory in the room is filled with misspellings (it spoke to me about the level of professionalism). Finally on checking out, we had to wait at the front desk while they sent housekeeping to the room to make sure that the room was OK before we left.

Timeshare- There is a definite timeshare atmosphere here. When you check in you are forced to meet with a "concierge" who is sweet and nice and then tries to get you to go to the "welcome breakfast", which at one point we were told was 75 minutes then another time 90 minutes. When we said no, she tried to talk us into it, but she did stop after three or four nos. The next day we were approached by someone at the pool, again trying to sell us on the welcome breakfast. We had to say no four times again. Apparently the "gold card" that they give you if you go gives some decent deals. We saw a great number of people on these tours each morning (my guess is that there are 30-40 groups a day), and overheard a lot of the conversations. My impression is that the pitch is relatively low pressure, but still some pressure.

The all-inclusive must be relatively new, because a lot of the wait staff were unsure of exactly what was included, they kept trying to give us two for one happy hour drinks when they were all free anyway, etc.

Overall we enjoyed our stay here. We felt extremely safe here. I did get the feeling that I needed to be on guard financially, check everything twice in terms of bills and charges. I sometimes got the feeling from the hotel, and a little bit from all of Cabo, that they were trying to get some extra money out of us, and I felt that it was/could be somewhat difficult to fix problems with the bills if they came up.

There's a lot more I could say, feel free to email if there are particular questions.

We stayed in del Arco for 7 days in August 2006. We had a really good 1 bedroom suite with jacuzzi, full kitchen, 2 baths, two tV's. The resort pools are splendid (so none of us really needed the jacuzzi). We enjoyed hanging out by the poolside a lot. The hotel restaurant is very classy with very "classy price". I didn't mind paying more than usual for my food but the servings they give are much less than expected for the price tag of the items in the menu. But in fairness to the restaurant, it is worth dining there at least once during your stay because it is really a wonderful restaurant over-looking the Sea of Cortez. If you get really lucky, you'd view the moon shine gloriously over the sea while having your dinner.
The service is alright. Many of the concierge staff are fluent in English. Housekeeping service is basically ok, many of them are not really fluent in English. The concierge staff are courteous but slow because they are not technically advanced (compared to our hotels here inUS).
Overall, my stay in this hotel better than average.

Just returned from a 5 day stay at the Villa del Arco, Aug 25 - 30. We used info from Trip Advisor in making our decision to stay at VDA, and we were WELL pleased.

The entire resort is beautiful and will be even better when completed. Our room (2 bdrm suite) was spectacular, as you can see in the photos. The suite was actually a one bedroom suite and a studio with adjoining doors, on the 7th floor. All of the rooms really do have at least a partial ocean view - beautiful. The huge rocks leading out to the arch are a tremendous site. The rooms are well appointed and so clean. The one bdrm had a full kitchen with mini-bar, and the studio had a mini-fridge, sink, microwave. House-keepers quick and thorough.

Checking in was easy, but be aware of the strategy they will use to lure you into taking the time-share tour. They will send you over to see a "concierge" who has a "welcome package" for you. Part of this will include signing you up for the tour. They will give the Gold Card that others have mentioned, with is of moderate value, and will save you a little money in discounts at the resort and around Cabo. They'll throw in a bottle of tequila and a Mexican blanket (the "Mexican Package"), and a water taxi ride over to Lover's Beach near the arch. Overall, the tour is fairly low pressure...the resort basically sells itself, if you are a time-share kind of preson (we're not & didn't buy). They only take 90 minutes and give you a free breakfast.

The rest of the trip was wonderful. The 3 pools are great, although none are over four feet deep; there are two hot tubs nearby. Really cool waterfalls and landscaping, though. There is construction, as every other review has commented on. However, we barely noticed it. Sure, there are hammers banging and saws occasionally, but we thought it was very unobtrusive overall. They play music down by the pools that drown out most of it. Fresh towels available all the time down by the pools. The pool-side waiters are very attentive.

The beach is large and usually, there are many chairs and umbrellas to be had (note that we were there in the "off-season"). For those not accustomed to Pacific beaches...the sand is really small rocks, with much larger rocks mixed in. Much different than the gulf coast beaches we were used to, but no big deal.

We tried several area restaurants...the Crazy Lobster, a good local place for some quality, no-frills seafood. The on site restaurant La Perla was of course expensive, but OK for breakfast. The Office is really cool - the dining room is the beach, good food. Cabo Wabo fun atmosphere, OK food. Other meals we tried to eat in; bought groceries at City Club.

We rented a car from Thrifty and found that driving in the city was not too bad; fairly easy to find parking spots, but again, this was the off-season.

Took several boat tours - one a romantic dinner cruise and the other a snorkeling tour. Both were with a guy named Eduardo Padilla on his boat Rissalena. I highly recommend these tours, and his info can be easily found on the net - just google Rissalena.

There are tons of other activities to do at the resort...the usual beach stuff - jet skis, parasail, etc. We chose to just relax on the beach or by the pool.

Overall, we were VERY satisfied with our stay at VDA; it is top notch in every respect, and one of the best rooms we have ever stayed in. Brand new and beautiful. You won't be dissappointed.