My wife and I stayed at the Riu Sante Fe from March 15th-28th, 2008. My first impression of the place is that it is enormous! One of the workers told me that their were 1000 rooms on the property. Given the fact that we were there over spring break, and that their were probably 3000 vacationers on the site, many of them young students who are still too young to legally drink in America, the place got a little crazy from time to time! Security tolerated a lot, but there was a line that if you crossed you would be escorted off the property, or sent to jail. We saw 2 people being escorted off the property and heard of several others that were also turfed, one sent to jail for destroying property and passing out naked on a beach chair!
Food was above average, compared to other all-inclusives I've stayed at. The room was also above average, I had a great view of the "arch" from the balcony. My only complaints about the property were the line-ups in the restaurants, and the coffee had a chemical taste to it. If you got your coffee from one of the Cappacino makers it was more tolerable. My only other complaint about the resort is that they recommend that you don't swim in the ocean- seems strange to get an ocean front resort that you couldn't swim in the water. Some people still did go in the water, but I heard about one girl losing her bikini when a wave caught her, and I saw one guy wrench his knee or ankle trying to get out of the water. (they were warned. . .)
My other complaints, were a result of the people at the resort, and not the resort itself. This is a new resort that is still trying to get up to speed. I believe this will be a pretty good place to vacation at once they get their stride. They also need to control some of the rowdiness that woke us up every night between 1 and 4 a.m.
Cabo San Lucas is a great place to visit, but I don't believe that my wife and I will be returning to either the resort or the city again. It is just too crowded with too many things that we find locally. . .WalMart, Costco, Office/Max, etc, When I go to Mexico I want to experience Mexico. A little to touristy for me! But if you just want some sun, some booze, and some food for a week or two, you won't go wrong here! I'd give it an 87% out of 100!

We arrived at the Santa Fe Good Friday for the week during Easter, originally booked at Riu Santa Fe but due to overbooking (spring-breakers) we were upgraded to Riu Palace... the hotel said they would honor our reservation at the Santa Fe but thought we would be more comfortable at the RIU Palace with a free upgrade, we def lucked out! I would have no problem going back to Cabo and staying the the Riu Santa Fe, both properties were awesome!

Rooms and furnishings at all Rius are basically the same, and the Sante Fe as a new hotel is beautiful.. great layout, bldgs 1-6 garden/pool view, bldg 7 is located ocean front w/partial or ocean views. I preferred the gym better at the Santa Fe because it was air conditioned, people at the Palace gym kept opening the sliding glass doors too small and too hot directly in the sun. Santa Fe was also good for an early morning run, people jog either around the outside perimeter of the Santa Fe or inside the back center pool and garden area bldgs 1-5 (see map link or in pics). There are also a couple of treadmills in the gym!

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The other difference in resorts: Ala carte restaurants at Santa Fe, entree served, app/salad bar and dessert is buffet; Palace ala carte restaurants all courses are served except at Mexican restaurant where salad bar and dessert is serve yourself buffet style. Also top shelf liquor at Palace not at Santa Fe, and wine by the glass or bottle at Palace and self serve at Santa Fe. Dress code at restaurants is also more casual at the Santa Fe, the dress code was really only enforced at the 'Sir Lawrence' gourmet restaurant at the Palace. Buffets were basically the same at both hotels, gourmet & steakhouse (steak & half lobster tail) at the Palace was the best!

The only thing both hotels are lacking are bathrooms near the pool areas. I never found the bathroom at the Santa Fe; the 'one' at the Palace was near the steakhouse restaurant, right in between the pool areas and close to the beach.

If you are willing to spend the extra bucks stay at the Palace and take advantage of facilities at both; if I was concerned about my budget I'd have no problem staying at the Santa Fe, just not during Spring Break!

Riu Palace Review soon... Room 1141 - Room With A View!





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Just returned for the Riu Santa Fe after staying there from March 22 – 29.

Arrival: flew West Jet from Calgary in the evening arriving around 9:00. Customs was about 15 mins and trying to get by all the time share guys to get outside to our Sunquest Rep, was like trying to running back to return a kickoff. Your real reps are waiting outside by the busses.

Ride to the hotel took about an hour as we had to drop of some folks at another resort and the Sunquest rep on our bus stopped the bus for a couple minutes to buy beer which he sold to on the bus for $5 usd and probably made about $100, just not from me.

Check-in was a breeze – only about 5 mins and we had our envelope and an extra key from the front desk; went to the bar had a drink and saw our luggage being loaded up and went to our room in building 7

ROOMS: we ended up with a top floor suite facing square onto the infinity pools and the ocean; this thanks no doubt to our travel agent in Calgary, Barb from Travelmasters, (and yes this is a plug for her as she treated us great and really came through overshooting our room expectations). This suite was nothing short of spectacular. I did see other rooms that we more modest and they are certainly beautiful. Bottom line: rooms are gorgeous and very clean.

BEACH/POOLS: The beach is HUGE with a very steep drop into the shoreline and, yes, this beach is dangerous. It is only for very strong swimmers and even then, huge waves appear without any notice and hammer the shore like thunder and anything or anyone in the way. When things were calm a few of us swam out past where the waves break and its fine there to swim/float around there. We did ride the waves in and out and I have to say again, the riptide here is extremely strong and dangerous. Some days it was calmer, but there is no way children or inexperienced/weaker swimmers should be anywhere near the shore alone.

My only complaint about the beach is the horse dung! Right in front of the resort did not seem bad at all, but as you walk to the right along the beach towards the marina, there is a lot of it, mainly closer to the land where the beach is flatter and easier for walking – for horses and people, and there in lies the problem. They really ought to have someone following behind picking this stuff up or at least have it cleaned. So yes, watch where you step.

And speaking of this, they really do need washrooms in the pool/beach area. There is lots of room for them. The walk to a washroom is not too bad, but I do wonder, like others, how those folks at the pool bars sit there all afternoon drinking and don’t seem to move. Maybe they have incredible bladders - but probably not – I ordered from the dry side.

The pools are phenomenally beautiful. Being in Building 7, you can exit there and never have to go to other areas of the resort except to maybe eat and see the shows. All the activities from the animation team happened at the pool in the main area of the resort, but we never spent any time at that pool, but from the little we did see, there seemed to be lots of room for everyone there too. And the "long walk" from buidling 7 to the lobby area takes maybe 5 mins or less; if it takes more than that a person is either overweight, disabled and drunk.

The view from the infinity pool is spectacular. This is a huge resort and there are a lot of people here, but we always found a lounger and shade. If we wanted preferred spots at the pool, one of us just went down earlier in the morning, around 7:30 – 8:00 and put towels out. There are 2 swim-up bars and one was certainly more crowded and rowdy than the other, but again, it’s a big enough area that if you wanted more quiet, you could find it.

FOOD: We did not do any of the so called a la carte restaurants because of poor reviews and the ludicrous system of booking these places daily as opposed to waiting in line once and getting it over with. We at breakfast each day at La Mission restaurant and it was very quiet – no long walks or waiting, plenty of selection and genuinely great food.

The selection was better at the main buffet, but we found lots of variety and fresh food at La Mision each morning and it was very quick, quiet and peaceful and they will prepare food fresh to your request.

We ate lunch each day at Torote beside the infinity pool and again the food selection was excellent and the food very good. They make the best salsa and guacamole here and some of the best fries I’ve eaten. Is this five star dining, no, but the food here is as good or better than other all-inclusives. People need to take small amounts of food, first and then go back and get what they like. If people spend 5 – 10 mins walking around and loading up their plate, don’t complain if gets cold – you are in an open air restaurant – or if you don’t like something on your plate – just find what you like and within a couple meals you will find really good food to you liking.

And ditto for the evening meals we ate at the main buffet – tremendous amount of selection and you could always find something appealing. I did not eat any salads here, but those who did thought they were great. We went into the Cabo Wabo for dinner one evening and would recommend this spot. It’s owned by Sammy Hagar (Van Halen) and if you’re lucky you might even get to see him perform on stage down stairs in the main bar later, which he apparently does from time to time.

Another evening we went to an Irish Pub just outside of Cabo up in the hills. It sounds crazy going to Mexico and going to an Irish restaurant, but I can guarantee you will not be sorry and the view of Cabo and the waterfront from here is spectacular as is the service and food. This new restaurant is set in a castle design with incredible stonework. The décor will make you assume a very expensive meal, but the prices a very reasonable and less than what we expected. Evenings here are quite chilly, especially up in the hills, so dress for it, but in case you don’t, they provide Mexican blankets to keep you warm, as it’s an open air place. Remember it, Brennan’s Irish Pub – well worth it.

Excursions – We did the Taste of Cabo, which is well worth the $60 and the steak served at lunch is Alberta black Angus beef and as good as any steak I’ve eaten outside of fillet.

Snorkeling was great too. Leave on a Catamaran and go to a nearby cove where the snorkeling is great because the fish are so plentiful. Grab some bananas to feed the fish and you will literally be swarmed by fish.You are fed a delicious sub sandwich with taco chips/salsa/ guacamole with an open bar. They do a quick tour of lands end/the
arch/etc. As well, the Sunquest reps here are very helpful and professional.

I did 4 scuba dives with TIO which is found aboout a 10 mins walk down the beach. They are very professional and the dives were awesome. Talk with Gregor or ask for Mamo. Terrific guys. I arranged my dives with Truan Lynch through Caboticket.com.

ENTERTAINMENT: did not see much of the evening shows, but the rock band after one show for 45 mins or so, was great. From what I did see, some of it is just fun stuff, but surely can’t be taken too seriously and I don’t think it’s meant to be. Other shows were lip-synched, but had fantastic dancers.

STAFF: Very friendly and willingly to do anything to help. From the management to front desk staff to the gardeners, they were great. Your mini-fridge is stalked every other day with 6 Coronas, soft drinks and hard liquor, but as you will go through 6 beers pretty quickly, if you find the guy who stalks the booze and give him a few bucks he’ll put a dozen beers in there anytime you want. Maids to a great job and I strongly suggest if you leave money tips that you put it under the pillow. More on why in a moment. Bartenders are excellent too. Tipping definitely helps and you may have to push/ask for more alcohol in your drinks as sometimes they come back pretty weak – again tipping helps.

THEFT: heard a lot about this from previous reviews and thankfully did not experience it or talk to anyone who did. I even forgot my safe open for 20mins one day and ran back and everything was there. The way things work here, is at least 3 different staff enter your room each day; the towel guy who also takes out most of the garbage, the beer guy and the maid in that order.

On our last day there, one big American guy left a carry-on bag on his bed while he checked out with the rest of his luggage. When he returned it was gone so he angrily confronted the towel guy who denied stealing it, so he searched his cart and found his bag and other stuff stolen from guests. I assume this guy is fired and hopefully charged, but who knows. If you go here or anywhere for that matter, LOCK UP you valuables.

Overall, this is an excellent resort where the bugs are clearly being worked out, but some remain. It is more of a 4* to 4.5 *, but I do recommend it, especially if the price is right.

Message me if you have any questions.

We were 2 women, 30 and 27 looking for a relaxing week away from our jobs, husbands and the cold weather. Both of us are worry warts and we read everything we could about the Santa Fe before going. Totally needless. Everything was fantastic!

There were some time share reps at the airport but a polite no thank you sufficed. Our bus was outside and 45 minutes later we were at the hotel. We arrived late at night so no problems with the rooms being ready. Check in was fast and simple. One tip...skip the bellhop service if you arrive by bus and are not afraid of a little exercise. We waited over an hour for our bags and would have preferred to just lug them up the stairs ourselves to get settled in quickly.

Our room was very clean and fully stocked. We stayed in building 2 which overlooks the vacant lot next door. Not the greatest view but we got our vacation for a steal so we weren't complaining. Besides, who stays in their room?

The grounds were immaculate. We were there for the tail end of spring break. Lots of partying going on but we never saw any vomit or urine that other reviewers complained about. In fact we were up early every morning around 7 am and all evidence of partying the night before was gone.

Food at the buffet was better than expected, a few things repeated but nothing you wouldn't do in your own home. BTW I took the kitchen tour behind the scenes. I have worked in major US/Canadian restaurant chains for 10 years and the Santa Fe kitchen puts them to shame. It was positively spotless and I know how to look for hidden dirt.

Since we were looking for a relaxing time we stayed at the family pool or on the beach. The Infinity pool was definitely the hard core party pool and that was fine by us. It was nice for people with different wants to have seperate places to hang out. This was the biggest positive about the resort's large size.

Animation crew was wonderful and we are still missing them since we have returned. Thanks to Chava, Didi, Jessie, Carlo and Jerry for making us laugh each and every day.

Walk to town was rough. We decided to walk via the beach to save money. The beach is on a very steep angle which made it difficult and the sand is very coarse. If I did it again I would shell out for a taxi or take the water taxis there.

Weather was perfect for us. I actually preferred that it was cool at night. It allowed us to sleep with the patio door open and not wake up sweaty. Also quite nice to come back from the beach and have a hot shower and do your hair and makeup and not instantly wilt as soon as you step outside. I only needed a jean jacket but I am from Winnipeg so take that for what it's worth ;)

The only thing I disliked was the small handful of guests who were whining and complaining the whole time. If you are looking for a spotless and friendly hotel where you can have anything you want if you're not afraid of self serve, then this is the place for you. If you like to be waited on then I would suggest the Palace next door.

Enjoy the Santa Fe. I know I will be back.