I stayed at the Casa Doradao for a full week in mid August. Here's a breakdown of our experience:

ROOMS: We booked a jr. suite. The room was surprisingly huge, with a sitting area, four person dining table, and kitchenette (complete with a fridge, microwave, and two-burner stove!). The king size bed was pretty comfortable, though a little firm for my own preference. Both the living room and bedroom area had flat panel TVs. The best part about the room was the balcony!! With a table and chairs and two loungers, it was great having breakfast outside or lounging there in the evening watching the sunset. All the rooms at the hotels have these balconies, by the way. Our room was on the eastern side of the hotel (closer to ME Cabo), but we faced the pool area. We never had any problem with nighttime noise like some of the other reviewers...couldn't hear a thing from ME Cabo, and never any loud music at Casa Dorada itself (our last night there was a Thursday, and though they did have a live band at the B Lounge that night, it was fine with our patio door shut).

FOOD: I was very surprised and pleased with the quality of the food at the hotel. We had several poolside lunches, and all were good. Tried the Boston-style hot dog, salads, nachos, vegetable sandwich, etc. Poolside drinks were good too, though inconsistent based on who was making it for you (as in, some days the margaritas were awesome, other days, just okay). Poolside service was excellent -- all the guys did a great job checking in on us to make sure we were okay, or if we needed water or anything like that. It was also really convenient to ask our pool server or the pool concierge about activities or to make a dinner reservation somewhere. Also, the prices for all the food and drinks were very reasonable, I thought.

If you get a chance, I would definitely recommend attending the Tequila Tasting at 12 Tribes (this was on a Wednesday evening). The Food & Beverage Director at the hotel hosts the event himself, and for thirty ($30!!!) USD, you get a 5 course meal and 5 tequila pairings to go with it. Some of the tequilas they were pouring were really interesting, and he gave a great lecture about tequila making in Mexico and the differences between all the spirits. For whatever reason, a lot of people bailed on their reservations the night we did this, so we got a one on one lecture and essentially a private dinner for two, looking over the ocean. Amazing. At any rate, the 12 Tribes restaurant has a diverse and interesting menu (albeit a little pricey), and you definitely can't beat the setting -- the view is gorgeous.

SERVICE/AMBIANCE: I thought service at the hotel was great. Any time we had an issue with something -- burned out light bulb, toilet clogging -- we called downstairs and maintenance came up right away. The grounds at the hotel are beautifully kept -- I noticed people gardening or wiping down surfaces all the time. The hotel itself was relaxing and beautifully decorated. Some reviewers said that they had trouble getting a chair by the pool, but we never had any problems. Also, I saw tons of people claim spots with a towel, then leave for hours on end and no one would touch their stuff, so that's definitely an option. The pool itself was very relaxing, though because of the hot summer air and sun, would tend to get really, really warm by the late afternoon...so don't worry about the water being too cold!

LOCATION: Super convenient. The marina is a 5 to 10 minute walk away, and though you walk down some random alleyways, is still very safe. There are plenty of other restaurants around the hotel itself (Mango Deck, The Office, CasaNova, and down the beach is TABASCO!!!), and if you want to do water sports or other activities, there are a ton of vendors just outside the hotel on the beach.

TIME SHARE: Okay, a word about time shares. Now, my gentleman friend and I weren't hassled too much about this once the staff found out we were both 24...apparently, they can't sell it to you if you're not at least 25 years old. I will say that after spending many mornings out by the pool, we saw tons of people going by on the tours and the salespeople all did seem nice. One guy at the hotel tried to offer us the sales pitch anyway (even though he knew we were "underage"), and said he'd give us a free breakfast at the Maydan Restaurant....well, I saw plenty of people having that "free breakfast" downstairs, and they were dining WITH the timeshare salespeople! So if you take them up on that, don't count on having a private meal or anything. My advice is that if you are going to take the sales pitch, try and at least haggle your way into something better than free breakfast (which, by the way, is the absolute cheapest thing they could give you) -- where are the free spa treatments??? :)

Staying right on Medano Beach wasn't necessarily the most relaxing or romantic choice, but it was still a lot of fun. In any case, if I chose to stay on Medano Beach again, I'd definitely stay at Casa Dorada.

The hotel has gone through its soft opening and is slow to correct the various bugs. During our visit, six of the eight elevators were out follow a rain storm. The A/C in the gym was out, making for very uncomfortable work outs. The pool was 20% drained due to work on faulty tile. The jacuzzi in the master suite was out. The front entrance was all tore up to redo the fountains and landscape due to irrigation or fountain leak. Towel racks in the bathroom were broken and the faucets were difficult to control hot or cold water. Etc. etc.

All that said, the staff was great, the room was fabulous, the view and location were superior.

Don't get me wrong, I am quite annoyed that management has not fixed the above problems after 6 months of being open. But the problems did not ruin the vacation.

the Pool area works fine, the beach area is good and the food was terrific.

Would I go again? I plan to. Will I check to see if these things are fixed before I go... you bet.

Caltex08

We (my significant other and I) arrived at Casa Dorada and were impressed with the look and feel of the hotel. The Lobby overlooks the B Bar, pool, and Medrano Beach. The man who helped us at the front desk tried to get us to upgrade our room for $100 per night. We declined. He then asked if we wanted a jacuzzi in our room. We both replied yes, but didn't want to pay for any upgrades. I glanced at the room number we had been assigned 302. Then he said that if we gave him a tip he'd put us in a room with a jacuzzi. We booked a JR. Suite http://casadorada.com/suite_junior.php but were upgraded to a One Bedroom Suite http://casadorada.com/suite_onebed.php
The pictures on the website do not do the rooms justice. They truly are beautiful rooms. Our room had a kitchenette which included a two burner electric stove, microwave, toaster, blender, and mini fridge. As well as utensils, dinnerware, cups, pots and pans, and glasses. This was all a major plus... as we wanted to save money on eating out.

The location is great! Right on Medrano Beach next to The Office, Mango Bar, and Billigans. As well as a close proximity to town and major touristy things. The beach is swimable although it has a pretty swift undertow. The view of the hills leading to Lovers Beach and Lands End is stunning. The pool is warm and the little cabanas are cozy. There is an endless supply of fresh pool towels.

Now for the down side... this is a timeshare hotel. They will offer you free massages, dinners, breakfasts, activities, etc. to go sit in on their 75min pressure talk into buying a timeshare. I guess it's not a bad thing if it's something that you're looking for. We agreed to go listen so that we could get discounts on water activities ($60 for two people to go snorkeling, all you can eat & drink, rather than $130!). That savings alone was worth it. BUT... when we slept though our original 'meeting' with them they called us 4times and let the phone ring and ring, then came knocking on our door. When we walked through the lobby to go explore the town we were stopped and questioned about why we didn't go. They tried to make us feel guilty and then told us it was a $10 fee to reschedule. We said NO. They said okay that they would wave the fee if we came back the next day. We agreed, ONLY for the discounted prices. The next poor experience we had was while we were making dinner in the room one night. We kept the do not disturb sign on the door because, they previously had walked into the room while we were in there because the sign was not on the door. So we were making dinner and the sign was on the door, they began knocking, when we didn't answer they began calling. The sign said do not disturb... that means don't knock or call!
The walls in the hotel were very thin, we could hear our neighbors walking around above us and moving the dining room chairs. We could also hear the neighbors to the right of us and all the guests they had at their parties.


Beautiful place... but when we spend $2,500 (7nights +flight) privacy is very important!


I highly reccomend using Grayline transportation www.graylineloscabos.com

The $10 per person water taxi ride to Lovers Beach, Lands End, and The Arch is beautiful!

The Office has excellent food but is very expensive, $100 for two people (2 dinners & 2 non-upgraded margaritas).

If you're going to be in Cabo San Lucas, then this is the location of all locations. You are sitting right in front of (the swimmable) Medano Beach. You are a short walk away from the nightlife, the harbor and Puerto Paraiso Mall. Plus, there are plenty of nearby dining options: Mango Deck, The Office, and Gardenia.

The resort is very new, but by this point they've worked out most of the kinks. Aside from fixtures being attached crooked, everything else was in tip-top shape. We stayed in a deluxe room (on the west side away from ME Cabo), which was surprisingly very large. The two LCD TVs were a nice touch. The AC ran super cold and relatively quiet. The rooms were very clean. The bed was comfortable. The water pressure was great (although it ran murky at times). The view from our room was spectacular! We could hear/see the fireworks, but none of the partying at ME. My only one complaint is that there aren't screens to the deck and we inadvertantly let in a mosquito or two (resulting in a couple of bites). Next time, I'll just know better not to leave the deck door open.

The front desk staff, concierges and bell hops are all extremely friendly. Our bell hop Juan was particularly helpful in pointing us to the right activities and giving us a heads up on which tours to avoid.

While the concierges here are also their front line for timeshare sales, they aren't very pushy. In fact, one polite 'no, thank you' was all it took. We didn't get any follow-up phone calls, nor were we ever asked again. :)

If you're a pool person or someone who likes to lay out in the sun, then you are going to have a great time at Casa Dorada. The pool is set to a perfect temperature and looks out to the open sea. There are plenty of available mini-cabanas and lounge chairs surrounding the pool. Best of all, there's a swim-up bar/restaurant.

We dined at the Maydan restaurant on their property twice. It isn't anything to write home about. It wasn't bad, it wasn't good. For lunch time Mexican food, try Gardenia down the street. If you're by Tesoro, swing on over to the Crazy Lobster for some very inexpensive (yet, tasty) seafood.

In conclusion, Casa Dorada is a great resort/hotel to stay at. However, as another reviewer pointed out... there are much better places to vacation than Cabo San Lucas. The prices are what you'd expect to pay in the United States. The exchange rate is horrible (10:1). Airfare to Mexico is expensive. Comparable food can be found in America. It's not particularly scenic or culturally stimulating. As for the nightlife, unless you recently turned 18, watered down drinks and sexual position contests just don't cut it.