Grand Mayan Los Cabos- awesome!

[heathpack]

We're here now, any questions: fire away.

This place is swank-awesome. Upscale, peaceful. Yes, outrageously overpriced restaurants/bars ($55 lunch for 2 with drinks), but guess what? The food is really good, my double-sized happy hour drink was abundantly alcoholic & I dont feel completely ripped off. Crazy intense attempts to trick you into a sales pitch, that is pretty lame. But really fabulous quiet relaxing place. Nice unit, great ambience.

The pool which is famously "cold": perfect temp, I'd say 78-80 degrees. The hot tub is warm at (guess) 100-102. Easy 2 hour flight from LA.

H

[presley]

I want to go there so badly!!!! My husband will not go to Mexico under any circumstances. I even have a free week in a studio there and won't be able to use it.

So, my first question is, how can I make my husband go?

Actually, if you can post any pictures, I'd love to see the resort grounds and the beach. Thanks.

[heathpack]

Originally Posted by presley

I want to go there so badly!!!! My husband will not go to Mexico under any circumstances. I even have a free week in a studio there and won't be able to use it.

So, my first question is, how can I make my husband go?

Actually, if you can post any pictures, I'd love to see the resort grounds and the beach. Thanks.

[pittle]

I agree - it is a really nice place. We do want to return in a year or so.

Just walk up the beach to towards Cabo and stop at the pink massage place. Great massages for about $30 for 50 minutes.

Also, as you have probably discovered, there are some great restaurants withing walking distance. We walked to Mega to get breakfast stuff, snacks and beverages then took a taxi back for $5.

Enjoy your week.

[Keep Traveling]

Is the beach swimable

[heathpack]

Originally Posted by pittle

I agree - it is a really nice place. We do want to return in a year or so.

Just walk up the beach to towards Cabo and stop at the pink massage place. Great massages for about $30 for 50 minutes.

Also, as you have probably discovered, there are some great restaurants withing walking distance. We walked to Mega to get breakfast stuff, snacks and beverages then took a taxi back for $5.

Enjoy your week.

We walked to the Mega this AM, passed Cynthia's which is a good restaurant as I understand it. Any other walking distance reccs?

We are doing a daytrip to Cabo Pulmo on Tuesday and th art walk on Thursday, both with some LA friends who are at the Solmar his week. Any other reccs within walking distance?

H

[heathpack]

Originally Posted by Keep Traveling

Is the beach swimable

No. Rip tides. Beach is never swimmable.


H

[bankr63]

Originally Posted by heathpack

We walked to the Mega this AM, passed Cynthia's which is a good restaurant as I understand it. Any other walking distance reccs?

We are doing a daytrip to Cabo Pulmo on Tuesday and th art walk on Thursday, both with some LA friends who are at the Solmar his week. Any other reccs within walking distance?

H

We were there about a month ago. Ate out a lot, and found many great locations. Habanero's and Mi Ensalada are a quick walk north. Best dinner of the week was Jazmins, in the downtown core. Only about a 20 min walk from the resort.

[rpennisi]

Originally Posted by heathpack

We walked to the Mega this AM, passed Cynthia's which is a good restaurant as I understand it. Any other walking distance reccs?

We are doing a daytrip to Cabo Pulmo on Tuesday and th art walk on Thursday, both with some LA friends who are at the Solmar his week. Any other reccs within walking distance?

H

We liked Baja Blue on the same side of the road and just before Mega.
Toward SJD is Habanero's, not a long walk form the GM. In San Jose, we enjoyed El Herradero and Mi Tierra. The concierge can give you coupons for Habanero's and El Herradero.

[klpca]

Looks so awesome! Are you going to the Grand Mayan in Nuevo Vallarta too? (I thought I saw that in another thread).

Presley - do you own at the Donatello? We're going to Nuevo on the free deal in January. You need to keep working on your husband. Mexico is so awesome. My husband was skeptical too, but we had a fabulous time in January. It's going on the regular rotation now.

[heathpack]

Mayan snake heads, looking out over pools to ocean



Lounging area just outside lobby, resort is chock full of longing beds like this, never any trouble finding an open one, lots have shade canopies as well. This gives you a feel for the style of the place.



Inside the faux Mayan temple. You enter the hotel from brightness outside to the cool darkness of this temple, creates an immediate sense of place- look to the upper right of this photo and you will see a glass railing defining where you walk in when you first arrive, lobby is the speck of light to the left of that.

[presley]

Gorgeous. Glad to hear you are enjoying yourselves.

[heathpack]

Originally Posted by klpca

Looks so awesome! Are you going to the Grand Mayan in Nuevo Vallarta too? (I thought I saw that in another thread).

No, but I am sending some honeymooners there in July, maybe I've mentioned that?

H

[klpca]

Originally Posted by heathpack

No, but I am sending some honeymooners there in July, maybe I've mentioned that?

H

That must have been it. Los Cabos looks wonderful. Have a great week.

[camiecat]

Hi there!

Thanks for the info...my boyfriend and I will be at the Grand Mayan in June, so I have a couple questions:

1) what size room are you in? If you are in a 1 bedroom, did it come with a coffee pot?
2) How did you end up at the Grand Mayan? We bought our stay through living social, so I'm hoping to find someone else who did the same to see if they had any issues with the $200 resort credit we are owed.
3) What floor are you on? If you requested a change or upper level floor, did the staff accommodate your request?

I think that is it for now! Thanks! Enjoy your stay!
~Camie

[pittle]

Originally Posted by camiecat

Hi there!

Thanks for the info...my boyfriend and I will be at the Grand Mayan in June, so I have a couple questions:

1) what size room are you in? If you are in a 1 bedroom, did it come with a coffee pot?
2) How did you end up at the Grand Mayan? We bought our stay through living social, so I'm hoping to find someone else who did the same to see if they had any issues with the $200 resort credit we are owed.
3) What floor are you on? If you requested a change or upper level floor, did the staff accommodate your request?

I think that is it for now! Thanks! Enjoy your stay!
~Camie

This is a really nice place. We are owners at Grand Mayan and went there in the fall 2009. Every unit has an ocean view room. The floors are stairstepped down. Yes, there is a coffeemaker. We have not bought a Living Social or Groupon to stay there, but have recieved credits with no problem when there have been special offers. Check the pictures on my link and look for Grand Mayan Cabo - October 2009.

[heathpack]

Originally Posted by camiecat

Hi there!

Thanks for the info...my boyfriend and I will be at the Grand Mayan in June, so I have a couple questions:

1) what size room are you in? If you are in a 1 bedroom, did it come with a coffee pot?
2) How did you end up at the Grand Mayan? We bought our stay through living social, so I'm hoping to find someone else who did the same to see if they had any issues with the $200 resort credit we are owed.
3) What floor are you on? If you requested a change or upper level floor, did the staff accommodate your request?

I think that is it for now! Thanks! Enjoy your stay!
~Camie

We are here on a timeshare exchange. We requested a high floor but were assigned a first floor and could not be moved. We exchanged using a timeshare company called SFX, supposedly this company gets access to the better rooms at the Grand Mayan resorts, but this does not appear to be the case for us. Our room has only a slight ocean view, we can catch just a glimpse through the landscaping. But our enjoyment is not diminished one iota, still a very lovely place and the unit is great.

They will really push you HARD to take a timeshare tour. Be warned and practice saying "no" before you leave home.

We are in a 1BR and yes, there is a coffee pot. Bring your own coffee, though.

H

[pacodemountainside]

A different perspective.

Toured property last January as one of few still offering $300 cash/bribe.

Very nice and in same top class as PBS where I was staying!

As far as owning there, a lot of purchase price would go for golf course I have no use for and in the desert consumes lots of water.

While I rent a car many do not(see thread on this) and if one has to pay cab to go to CABO where whale watching, sunset cruises, gambling, fishing boats, etc. are very expensive and inconvenient!

I exchange into Cabo via RCI or II and definately get impression exchangers get least desirable units although definately not case at PBS!. Also, blatant sales lie that RCI has 1/5 blanket rule. Some resorts do have 1/4 rule though!

OP: Salesman said it was owned by owner of Corona Brewery yet others said Wyndham had purchased as an investment but was not actively involved with. Said there was small sign at main entrance referring to Wyndham. Did you see?

[pittle]

I forgot to add - do not waste a day taking the tour. It is not worth the hassle. I absolutley love the resorts - own 6 weeks - but do not take the tour and buy from them. I have bought from them and on eBay and see absolutely no difference in what we got - except for $$$ saved by buying resale.

[hellolani]

We're scheduled at the Welk Sirena del Mar for July 21-28 and thinking about adding a week at Grand Mayan to extend our stay either before or after. Last year we were in Bucerias in Riviera Nayarit north of PV in early August and found the 30+ degree days to be fine - any comments on temperature and humidity in Cabo in July / August compared to PV?

Having memberships in II and RCI, we've shortlisted our 2nd resort choices to Grand Mayan, Club Casa Dorada (at the hilton) and Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach for RCI, and Grand Solmar, Casa Dorada (MBE) and Monarch Cabo Azul (MZ1).

Not sure what our chances are of securing any of those, but would love commentary on how you would rank those if you had a choice and what our chances are of getting any of them in July / August.

Thank you!

[heathpack]

Originally Posted by hellolani

We're scheduled at the Welk Sirena del Mar for July 21-28 and thinking about adding a week at Grand Mayan to extend our stay either before or after. Last year we were in Bucerias in Riviera Nayarit north of PV in early August and found the 30+ degree days to be fine - any comments on temperature and humidity in Cabo in July / August compared to PV?

Having memberships in II and RCI, we've shortlisted our 2nd resort choices to Grand Mayan, Club Casa Dorada (at the hilton) and Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach for RCI, and Grand Solmar, Casa Dorada (MBE) and Monarch Cabo Azul (MZ1).

Not sure what our chances are of securing any of those, but would love commentary on how you would rank those if you had a choice and what our chances are of getting any of them in July / August.

Thank you!

No idea on July weather, we've never been here before- interestingly our 2nd week is at the Sirena del Mar, we must have similar tastes in resorts.

The Grand Mayan is in San Jose del Cabo, and is very sedate, upscale & relaxing. Cabo Azul is immediately next door, we walked over there this evening and that looked pretty darn swell also- a bit more lushly landscaped & lively, but also more crowded. We would have been pleased as punch to trade into the Grand Solmar or Casa Dorado, both in Cabo proper. Don't know anything about RCI. I would imagine you could get one of these for July/Aug, but don't really know.

H

[Karen G]

Originally Posted by pacodemountainside

golf course I have no use for and in the desert consumes lots of water.

Just a note about the golf courses using a lot of water: I think many of the golf courses and resorts have desalination plants to get all the water they need from the ocean. At least that's what we were told about the new Diamante course on the Pacific side.

[Karen G]

Originally Posted by hellolani

- any comments on temperature and humidity in Cabo in July / August compared to PV? . . .

Having memberships in II and RCI, we've shortlisted our 2nd resort choices to Grand Mayan, Club Casa Dorada (at the hilton) and Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach for RCI, and Grand Solmar, Casa Dorada (MBE) and Monarch Cabo Azul (MZ1).

There will definitely be less humidity in Cabo than in PV since it is a desert climate. If I had a choice, I'd pick early July rather than August. Our fixed week in Cabo is mid-August and it is very warm then. When we bought our week we lived in Seattle and it didn't seem that humid to us. But now that we live in the desert, we did notice the humidity more than we did previously. But, it's nothing compared to PV in the summer time.

Of the resorts you mentioned, I'd pick the Pueblo Bonito, Grand Solmar, and Casa Dorado on Medano Beach. You might enjoy being right on Medano Beach where you can safely swim and easily walk into town. The Pueblo Bonito Rose and PB Blanco next door are good choices for that location. The Blanco is listed as the Pueblo Bonito Los Cabos in RCI. PB Sunset Beach is a great place, too.

[pacodemountainside]

Originally Posted by Karen G

Just a note about the golf courses using a lot of water: I think many of the golf courses and resorts have desalination plants to get all the water they need from the ocean. At least that's what we were told about the new Diamante course on the Pacific side.

That is exactly what I have been told at every resort I stayed at. Being a desert area, you just can't drill a well and that's it.

The local tax base could not afford a commerical public water system.

A resort must provide all of its own water to get building permits. And no dynamite allowed as it might topple the ARCH!

Converting ocean water to drinking water is very expensive from infrastructure to maintaining.

The main source of this is time share sales people or resort staff, but one of few things I believe is credible.

As best I recall, none of the six resorts I stayed in had dish washers and kitchen sink was bar size. Several charged $5.00 or so day for maids to do dishes and tidy up. If they ration water for dish washing it must be very expensive.