# Los Cabos:  FA Villas vs Grand FA?



## piznaul (May 17, 2018)

Hello all.  Apologies if this has been answered already, but I could not find it.

Are Fiesta Americana Villas Los Cabos and Grand Fiesta Americana Los Cabos the same location, but just different buildings in the complex?  When I google the two names, nothing seems to differentiate the two.

Thanks for your insight,
Paul


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## klpca (May 17, 2018)

piznaul said:


> Hello all.  Apologies if this has been answered already, but I could not find it.
> 
> Are Fiesta Americana Villas Los Cabos and Grand Fiesta Americana Los Cabos the same location, but just different buildings in the complex?  When I google the two names, nothing seems to differentiate the two.
> 
> ...


I have been wondering the same thing.


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## Helaine (May 17, 2018)

piznaul said:


> Hello all.  Apologies if this has been answered already, but I could not find it.
> 
> Are Fiesta Americana Villas Los Cabos and Grand Fiesta Americana Los Cabos the same location, but just different buildings in the complex?  When I google the two names, nothing seems to differentiate the two.
> 
> ...



Fiesta Americana Grand Los Cabos is the timeshare. Fiesta Americana Villas Los Cabos is the hotel. They are on the same property and share the same lobby, restaurants, spa, bars, etc. The hotel rooms are closer to the lobby and the largest pool. The timeshare villas wrap around the hotel rooms and the pools.

For people staying at either place, it is all the same - just one resort. The difference is more one of bookkeeping and that the hotel is all inclusive for all it's guests. Timeshare owners have the choice of using all inclusive or not. I think exchangers do too, but I'm not positive.


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## JIMinNC (May 17, 2018)

Helaine said:


> Fiesta Americana Grand Los Cabos is the timeshare. Fiesta Americana Villas Los Cabos is the hotel.



I thought it was the other way around? The Villas is the timeshare, I thought.


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## CalGalTraveler (May 17, 2018)

I also thought it was the other way around. Where are you seeing these listings - on HGVC or in RCI?


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## buzglyd (May 17, 2018)

Villas are timeshare. You can book a studio, 1br or 2BR. AI is optional. $80 a day. 

The other is hotel and mandatory AI for the same price. 

I’m here as we speak. We love this place.


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## Helaine (May 17, 2018)

I'm an owner. My reservations are always to the Grand Fiesta Americana Los Cabos All Inclusive. Before it was the same without "All Inclusive." They have never had Villas in the title. 

They are listed this way for the hotel on the booking sites like Travelocity as well, once you check in, it's all the same.


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## GT75 (May 18, 2018)

On the entrance to the resort, the sign says "Grand Fiesta Americana Los Cabos"


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## JIMinNC (May 18, 2018)

GT75 said:


> On the entrance to the resort, the sign says "Grand Fiesta Americana Los Cabos"



In the HGVC reservation system, the timeshare portion is definitely shown as: *Fiesta Americana Villas Los Cabos All Inclusive Golf and Spa Resort* because that is the resort with Studio, 1BR, and 2BR units shown. The hotel is shown in the HGVC system as *Grand Fiesta Americana Los Cabos All Inclusive Golf and Spa*

I suspect the overall property is named *Grand Fiesta Americana Los Cabos All Inclusive Golf and Spa, *which is why that's what is on the sign. I suspect that HGVC uses *Fiesta Americana Villas Los Cabos All Inclusive Golf and Spa Resort* to differentiate the timeshare portion with Studio, 1BR, and 2BR units from the hotel section.


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## buzglyd (May 19, 2018)

Just got back tonight. Another wonderful stay. We love this place.


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## Helaine (May 19, 2018)

I looked around on the Fiesta Americana website. They refer to themselves and the resort at Los Cabos as Grand Fiesta Americana Los Cabos All Inclusive Golf and Spa. They refer to the hotel and the timeshares in that way. They have 8 properties listed that way. They have two properties with Villa in the name - one in Acapulco and one in Cancun (in addition to the "Grand" property). This covers the resorts and the hotels.

The HGVC listings have "Villa" in the general name - for the whole property. Again, the hotel and timeshare work together, check in at the same desks and use all the same facilities, so it doesn't really matter.


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## buzglyd (May 19, 2018)

You can reserve either now. The Villas would be the timeshare units and you can also reserve hotel units. It’s all on the same property.


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## Helaine (May 19, 2018)

My last reservation confirmation - Reservation : Grand Fiesta Americana Los Cabos All Inclusive Golf & Spa. That is the name of the Timeshare Resort that I booked according to them - no Villa in the name of the resort. The "rooms" are called suites or villas on the property, but not in the paperwork.


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## JIMinNC (May 19, 2018)

Helaine said:


> My last reservation confirmation - Reservation : Grand Fiesta Americana Los Cabos All Inclusive Golf & Spa. That is the name of the Timeshare Resort that I booked according to them - no Villa in the name of the resort. The "rooms" are called suites or villas on the property, but not in the paperwork.



Since you said you were a Fiesta Americana owner, I assume you are referring to reservations direct with FA. I think the relevant point for the OP relates not to what FA calls the property, but how HGVC differentiates things. A HGVC owner just needs to know that if they book the Fiesta Americana Villas Los Cabos All Inclusive Golf and Spa Resort, they are getting the buildings with timeshare studios, 1BR, and 2BR units where all inclusive is optional.  If they book the Grand Fiesta Americana Los Cabos All Inclusive Golf and Spa Resort, they will get a hotel room with mandatory all inclusive. Both are co-located on the same property, but HGVC differentiates them that way in their reservation system.


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## Helaine (May 19, 2018)

So HGVC lists the hotel rooms and the timeshare rooms under separate resort names? That's interesting. Everywhere else I've seen lists hotel rooms and timeshare rooms under the same resort name - even if they use the Villa version of the name.


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## CalGalTraveler (May 19, 2018)

FA is an affiliate and may operate under different rules. There are most likely different ownership structures and thus a reason for the separation i.e.

1) Timeshares = FA timeshare owners who are trading points into other HGVC properties
2) Hotel rooms = owned by resort


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## buzglyd (May 19, 2018)

Plus AI is optional if you reserve a villa and mandatory if you reserve a hotel room. 

We did the AI this time because I didn’t rent a car and didn’t feel like running around. 

The Breakfast and lunch service was quite good and the drinks were solid. Dinners were hit and miss but we all felt we got our money’s worth. House wines were terrible. 

The service at the resort is exceptional.


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## CalGalTraveler (May 19, 2018)

+1 @buzglyd The optional AI at $80 pp is a good deal and I like the fact that you are not required to buy AI for your entire visit which can add up. The ceviche and fish tacos down by the main pool were a lunch staple for us.

RCI AI charges for FA increased this year to $120 pp which is too rich for me.


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## kbgann (May 22, 2018)

My wife and I are here for the first time (staying Saturday to Saturday) and we have been very impressed so far. We did AI for 5 days (chose not to do it for our arrival and departure days as well as the day we plan to go into Cabo San Lucas). 

One interesting thing though.  We did an “owner’s update” with the Fiesta Americana folks and they said that there was mix up a couple of years ago and Fiesta Americana was not supplying HGVC with an equivalent amount of inventory, so they have been making up for it the last couple of years.  Now I think this might have just been a sales tactic, but his point was that the Fiesta Americana inventory for HGVC bookings will be lower in the coming years.  Just wanted to see if anyone else had heard the same thing. 

Presentation was super low pressure and we got a free sunset sailing trip and 25% off at the Spa which my wife took advantage of.


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## JohnPaul (May 28, 2018)

kbgann said:


> One interesting thing though.  We did an “owner’s update” with the Fiesta Americana folks and they said that there was mix up a couple of years ago and Fiesta Americana was not supplying HGVC with an equivalent amount of inventory, so they have been making up for it the last couple of years.  Now I think this might have just been a sales tactic, but his point was that the Fiesta Americana inventory for HGVC bookings will be lower in the coming years.  Just wanted to see if anyone else had heard the same thing.
> .



Sounds like the classic "You may have exchanged in easily this time and gotten a nice room but that won't happen again unless you own here"


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## R_MAX (Jun 5, 2018)

So if you buy an FA resort through HGVC, i.e., Cabo, Cozumel, Cancun....do you also get access to the rest of the FA resorts as well, something like dual membership?


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## buzglyd (Jun 5, 2018)

R_MAX said:


> So if you buy an FA resort through HGVC, i.e., Cabo, Cozumel, Cancun....do you also get access to the rest of the FA resorts as well, something like dual membership?



FA is a separate company and plan. The two have an agreement but nothing lasts forever so buy where you want to use. I think if you own FA you also have access to all its hotels across Mexico. Several FA hotels have been added to the HGVC plan. Live Aqua in PDC looked very cool and some FA owners we met in Los Cabos said they really liked the Puerto Vallarta hotel. However both of these are adults only and party party.


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