I just returned from spending 2 weeks at Holiday Inn. The hotel was awesome: most comfortable beds ever w 5 pillows each. The food was good. The entertainment was awesome. The grounds were beautiful complete with cactus gardens. It was so nice to have the estuary right next door and to be within walking distance to San Jose. The staff was friendly and lovely. But you cannot swim in the ocean due to dangerous currents. It was o so cold some evenings. Never before have I worn so many warrm clothes while vacationing in MX! I was sad that the beach vendors were not allowed near the hotel. Ask at the front desk for a schedule of hotel activities. Eat salsa and guac at the snack bar, dance at the Cantina and drink dirty monkies. Yum!

Our overall impression of this resort was very good. The place was spotless. We stayed for a one week all inclusive and attempted an upgrade of the room. The cost quotedwas an additional $275 per night. That was a deal breaker because for a week, that would have been an extra $1650 plus taxes. So we put up with a second floor room with a garden view.As it was, Three of us paid a sum total of $2160 or $720 each. So to upgrade for that much was too steep for a hotel that was less than 60 % occupied.
One of the annoying aspects of our stay was the late arrival of guests after midnight and they roll their luggage past your room waking you up with the clackety clack of the wheels on the ceramic floor tiles.
Generally speaking, the beach was Ok but not too great for swimming. Forget about that nice moonlight walk with your sweetheart because the beach has lots of Horse plops. They do not clean up after the horses drop their bundles so you never know where or what you step in at night. I think the hotels should get together and insist that the beaches be cleaned of all this manure.
The other complaint I have is the smoking. You can smoke anywhere you want and we found it rather annoying that at games night for example, you end up leaving the games because the person sitting next to you lights up without concern for anyone else. Same went for the swimming pool, which beside being too cold,and no hot tub, you had to choose a spot away from smoking.For this reason alone, we probably will not go back to that resort.
Unlike what others have said about the time-share hawks, we were not bothered a single time during our stay.... great!
The tours sold at the hotel, you basically get what you pay for. Our experience with the city/snorkelling tour ws disappointing. The area was inundated with some kind of stinging jellyfish like Portugese Man-o-War.. We did however see some whales.
Overall, a good family resort without a swimming beach.

first i would like to say, i just got home about 2 hrs ago.it was very hard to leave such a beautiful place.
I would recommend this resort.
the pluses; very clean ..no bugs
the staff was awesome. yolanda (our maid) was just super. santiago at the front desk so very nice. we were in bldg 6 ..very quiet. the food- was very good. always an assortment. i had forgot to bring a toothbrush and they supplied me with one, which i thought was nice. communication, was limited but they (and us) did the best we could to understand each other. the porters, always ready to assist you, if you need a taxi, np, one was right there. everyone friendly, saying hi. i like the idea of bringing in vendors for fiesta nite. Jesus was by far the best and most friendly seller there.go see him, he has very good prices. i loved the fact they had wifi all over the hotel. even in the rooms.
the minuses: long walks to everything, to eat , the pool, took abit to get used to the pattern of the buildings. the food lay-out seemed out of order, meaning , desserts first, then salads, then main courses. the towel book was disorganized. no rhyme or reason to how then do the distribution and returns of the towels. the food sometimes needs to be cooked just alittle bit longer, like french fries, their cheeseburgers are out of this world. try not to forget the necessities,like tan lotion, super expensive everywhere.
take american or canadian money with you, do not exchange it there,i had cdn funds and wanted american, well they have to switch it to pesos, then they give u the american money for the amount of the pesos u get. for 100.00 cdn i got 78.00 american, i lost 22.00. supposed to be new government rule. overall, our group had a great time. thank you holiday inn!!!

6 of stayed Jan 31st through Feb 7th...We had a ball, the weather was fabulous the drinks were cold the rooms are good, my bed was softer than other resorts I've stayed in! We tipped our housekeeper 50 pesos everyday and got great service. We tipped our servers between 20 and 50 pesos at meals and don't forget your bartenders because they are AMAZING...shout out to Mario in the snack bar..totally amazing!!
Ok...so now to the food...if I had an icon with a thumbs down I would use it for most meals except lunch in the Napa restaurant...that gets a thumbs up big time..lots of fresh veggies, salad and fish! The snack bar has the best burgers and fries (ask for the fries extra done or they are very undercooked). Love the salsa and chips! All in all you won't go hungry and there is something for everyone.
The staff are great, the resort is fine, the beach is big and oh...this is the first resort that we have stayed at that we didn't have to get up by 6-7 am to save a spot around the pool or on the beach!
If you don't want 2 double beds make sure you request a King size when making your reservations..we got a king only after my husband got a little angry ( he later went and apologized to the desk clerk) we can't understand why these hotels don't go to 2 Queens instead of doubles..who sleeps in doubles anymore???
We ate out at local restaurants a few times and had great meals everywhere we went! We will return :)