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Hacienda del Mar - Cabo - things to do, etc.

hurnik

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Never been to Cabo.
Kinda wanted to try Los Cabos (grand mayan or Club Raintree) but no availability.

So we "settled" (ha) on Hacienda del mar as I got a great deal with SFX.

I'm reading up, sounds like the resort restaurants are expensive, so what are options for eating "out" of the resort in terms of safety (both food-wise and otherwise), or any other general recommendations.

I'll have to pull up some maps to see where everything else is at.

I thought someone told me there's like glass blowing somewhere around (or maybe that was Los Cabos?)

I believe the ocean isn't swimmable there (or pretty much anywhere in Cabo where there's timeshares), but beach is OK as are pools. Obviously weather conditions affect things as well.

Anyway, off to search more.

If anyone's been on the timeshare side recently of Hacienda del Mar, tell me about the resort and rooms.

Thanks!
 

DaveNV

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My brother owned at Hacienda del Mar. I've stayed there. The resort is excellent, in terms of a place to stay. There are something like five swimming pools, (with progressive Happy Hour from one pool to the next, if that's your thing.) Several restaurants are on site, very good food. Yes, they can be expensive, but they have you as a bit of a captive audience, unless you want to leave the resort.

Leaving the resort takes a bit of planning. The resort is on the Corridor, about halfway between Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo. If you have a car, no problem. If you need to ride the bus or take a taxi, the price and lack of convenience will add up quickly. There are several nice grocery markets in Cabo, and also a Costco, so you can buy food to cook in your room. (Check the kitchen amenities in your unit before you buy food - to make sure you can cook what you buy.) The on-site store at HDM is more of a convenience store than a market. Use it only for that item you forgot to get.

The beach is very wide and sandy, well groomed and clean. The ocean there is not swimmable, but the pools are quite nice. The beach has palapas and some shade in places, so you can get out of the sun.

I would definitely stay there again, but only if I had a car.

Dave
 

hurnik

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Thanks Dave!
We have a 3 BR Penthouse, courtesy of SFX
1 BR via RCI (partial kitchen, so I believe it's the "luxury suite") and a Studio (partial kitchen).

To be honest, not sure how much cooking we'd do.

When we stay at Vidanta (also "captive" since you can't really walk 12 miles to Playa), we typically buy "breakfast" things and maybe some sandwich type things. Eat in the room for breakfast, maybe lunch in the room, but I usually grab a snack or a light lunch at the resort (or split a lunch with someone), and then eat dinner on resort, but I eat "half" and eat dessert. Save the other half for lunch the next day.

I like the progressive happy hour, very intrigued.

Although perhaps not a bad idea to stop for groceries and get some liquor for mixed drinks to save some money.

I see the shuttle/taxi are pricey (ouch), so may rent a car (shudder) for a day and see how it goes. I'm always nervous driving (even here in the US if it's in a "foreign to me" place).

LOL
 

DaveNV

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I found driving there was no different/worse than a busy city in the US. Just keep your wits about you.

Once you know about your kitchen storage space, (e.g. How big IS the refrigerator?) maybe do a one-time taxi trip to Costco, which is closer to the resort than any of the grocery stores. Stock up on liquor, munchies, breakfast stuff, whatever. Then take a taxi back to the resort. Easily done, and no car required. Costco is on the same road the resort is on (the Corridor, whatever that road is called.) It's pretty much a straight-shot.

HDM to Costco.png


I'm not an expert on Cabo, but as you can see, from HDM it's not too difficult to get the supplies you need. Then kick back and enjoy the resort. It's a pretty nice place, with a real classic Mexican decor.

Oh yeah, and liquor prices at Costco are ridiculously cheap, especially compared to resort prices for drinks.

Dave
 

geist1223

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You did not mention when you are going. That can be important. Downtown San Jose del Cabo has an evening Art Walk November to May. December to April is good for swimming with the Whale Sharks in La Paz. The two best snorkeling beaches in the area are Santa Maria and Chileno. They are also good swimming beaches. You need a car. They have bathrooms but take a roll of toilet paper with you.

We normally spend as little time as possible in Cabo San Lucas - crowded, noisy, etc. Though we have found good Hole-in-wall restaurants when you get about 10 blocks into town away from the Marina. We prefer San Jose del Cabo - quieter, less crowded. It has some fine restaurants and some fine hole-in-wall places (good fish tacos for about 25 pesos). Have swam with the Dolphins in the San Jose del Cabo Harbour. We have zip lined. For the heck of it we did the camel ride. We have swam with the Whale Sharks twice.

If you book a trip from Cabos to La Paz to swim with the Whale Sharks it will cost you between $150 - $200 US. If you drive to La Paz and book it it will be about $50 - $60 US.

We have been traveling to Cabo for about 10 years. We always get a Rental Car. Though Patti wants me to drive. If you are there May to October hope that you really like heat.
 

hurnik

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You did not mention when you are going. That can be important. Downtown San Jose del Cabo has an evening Art Walk November to May. December to April is good for swimming with the Whale Sharks in La Paz. The two best snorkeling beaches in the area are Santa Maria and Chileno. They are also good swimming beaches. You need a car. They have bathrooms but take a roll of toilet paper with you.

We normally spend as little time as possible in Cabo San Lucas - crowded, noisy, etc. Though we have found good Hole-in-wall restaurants when you get about 10 blocks into town away from the Marina. We prefer San Jose del Cabo - quieter, less crowded. It has some fine restaurants and some fine hole-in-wall places (good fish tacos for about 25 pesos). Have swam with the Dolphins in the San Jose del Cabo Harbour. We have zip lined. For the heck of it we did the camel ride. We have swam with the Whale Sharks twice.

If you book a trip from Cabos to La Paz to swim with the Whale Sharks it will cost you between $150 - $200 US. If you drive to La Paz and book it it will be about $50 - $60 US.

We have been traveling to Cabo for about 10 years. We always get a Rental Car. Though Patti wants me to drive. If you are there May to October hope that you really like heat.

Oh right, sorry

January 7-14th, 2019.

We know the water temps will be cool (personally I'd go when it's hot so I can pool/beach it or something), but with family travel, that's when we can go. Typically we do the Caribbean side, but we had late notice (like last week) that this was going to happen, so I was lucky to find anything not in RCI (RCI too pricey now, IMO with exchanges and the Vidanta fee-fees). Especially when I have to get like 3 separate rooms. haha
 

geist1223

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Oh right, sorry

January 7-14th, 2019.

We know the water temps will be cool (personally I'd go when it's hot so I can pool/beach it or something), but with family travel, that's when we can go. Typically we do the Caribbean side, but we had late notice (like last week) that this was going to happen, so I was lucky to find anything not in RCI (RCI too pricey now, IMO with exchanges and the Vidanta fee-fees). Especially when I have to get like 3 separate rooms. haha

Great time to go. Our favorite time. We snorkel and swim Inn the ocean all the time in January. Also Whale Sharks are at La Paz.
 

hurnik

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Oh, if anyone has any recent menu's with pricing, that would be great. I hear it's "expensive" but I hear the same thing about the Vidanta resorts and we didn't think it was that bad (although we didn't really eat at the "high-end" restaurants and took advantage of happy hour and split meals and things).
 

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Was there a few years ago. HdM mostly had more costly restaurants, but there was a sports bar and one outdoor palace type restaurant that were more reasonable in cost.

However, when you get there find out the way to walk to the golf course. It is a ten to fifteen minute walk, but we'll worth it. Prices were reasonable and food was excellent. It is full service restaurant.

We couldn't find any other restaurants nearby. Public transport, rental car or taxi to get anywhere off resort.

But we had a good time there. Spent two weeks. Did trips to Cabo and SJdC. Took most tours from Cabo.
 

hurnik

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Thanks again!
I'm definitely taking pictures of menus when I'm there.

Seriously thinking about renting a car (maybe not for the week, but doing a daily rental as we need it).

We'll definitely do groceries for breakfast. fortunately all I need is a yogurt and/or Muffin, cup of coffe, and about 2-3 mimosas for breakfast.
The last one is the most important.
 

Linda74

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We were there in March. I love HDM. Tomatoes in the Sheraton is great. Different theme nights. Very good food, not overly expensive. We had just come from a week at Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach where we did All Inclusive so we were happy to eat at HDM or go downtown. We did a tour to Todos Santos. On the way, they stopped at a family run glass blowing factory. I bought the most beautiful glasses. We also did an evening dinner cruise ( Caborey). There is a cocktail party for everyone on Tuesday evenings. Have stayed at many Vidanta, Raintree resorts on both coasts. HDM has a unique Mexican charm. Enjoy!
 

hurnik

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We were there in March. I love HDM. Tomatoes in the Sheraton is great. Different theme nights. Very good food, not overly expensive. We had just come from a week at Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach where we did All Inclusive so we were happy to eat at HDM or go downtown. We did a tour to Todos Santos. On the way, they stopped at a family run glass blowing factory. I bought the most beautiful glasses. We also did an evening dinner cruise ( Caborey). There is a cocktail party for everyone on Tuesday evenings. Have stayed at many Vidanta, Raintree resorts on both coasts. HDM has a unique Mexican charm. Enjoy!

Thanks for the info! I just saw "Mexico life" episode (Tivo'd so it was months old) and they had a couple looking at Todos Santos, so that was kinda interesting that you found a tour that went there.
 

hurnik

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I emailed the resort and they sent me the current menus with pricing. woohoo!
I'll have to figure out how to plop them somewhere and post the link here.

I'll do a review after we stay of course.
 

Linda74

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There are numerous tours to Todos Santos but if you rent a car, an easy ride with the new highway. There are some lovely beaches on the way, like Los Cerritos.
 

whitewater

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I emailed the resort and they sent me the current menus with pricing. woohoo!
I'll have to figure out how to plop them somewhere and post the link here.

I'll do a review after we stay of course.
when you get a moment I'd value seeing the prices as well. Thanks.
 

hurnik

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when you get a moment I'd value seeing the prices as well. Thanks.

I'll try to plop them on my NAS and post the URL here (making it public).
There's separate PDFs for each one, except for the one restaurant.
The prices weren't that bad, to be honest, given the exchange rate around 18:1. They're very in line with what we see at Vidanta resorts, IMO.

I'll try to get to that tonight.
 

whitewater

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dmiller1

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Never been to Cabo.
Kinda wanted to try Los Cabos (grand mayan or Club Raintree) but no availability.

So we "settled" (ha) on Hacienda del mar as I got a great deal with SFX.

I'm reading up, sounds like the resort restaurants are expensive, so what are options for eating "out" of the resort in terms of safety (both food-wise and otherwise), or any other general recommendations.

I'll have to pull up some maps to see where everything else is at.

I thought someone told me there's like glass blowing somewhere around (or maybe that was Los Cabos?)

I believe the ocean isn't swimmable there (or pretty much anywhere in Cabo where there's timeshares), but beach is OK as are pools. Obviously weather conditions affect things as well.

Anyway, off to search more.

If anyone's been on the timeshare side recently of Hacienda del Mar, tell me about the resort and rooms.

Thanks!
We go to Cabo every year. The first time we went we styed at the HDM. It is a beautiful resort but I would rather stay in town. We use Cabo Kruzer delivery service who will deliver food and beverages to you so you don't need to waste your vacation time shopping. We got a rental car from Domenic (look on TripAdvisor Forum) for a great price and we drove into Cabo every day. It is great to experience the town and the restaurants which are so much more reasonable than the restaurants at the resort. Take along a light jacket or sweater for the cool January evenings. Hope you have a great time and if you have any other questions, let me know and I will try to help you out.
 

hurnik

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We go to Cabo every year. The first time we went we styed at the HDM. It is a beautiful resort but I would rather stay in town. We use Cabo Kruzer delivery service who will deliver food and beverages to you so you don't need to waste your vacation time shopping. We got a rental car from Domenic (look on TripAdvisor Forum) for a great price and we drove into Cabo every day. It is great to experience the town and the restaurants which are so much more reasonable than the restaurants at the resort. Take along a light jacket or sweater for the cool January evenings. Hope you have a great time and if you have any other questions, let me know and I will try to help you out.

Yeah this is our first time there. I have a feeling we'll be going back, but probably to los cabos (?) like where the Vidanta resort is at, as apparently it's closer to the smaller downtown area, so you get more "culture".

Personally I'd rather go when it's much warmer (ocean temps and all that), but that's just me.

I think Hilton's Fiesta Americana is maybe a little closer, but haven't looked at the map. So many choices if you plan further ahead, but dad kinda surprised us by saying he would pay half of our trip, so I was lucky to find as many rooms as I did (IMO) on short notice.
 

DaveNV

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Yeah this is our first time there. I have a feeling we'll be going back, but probably to los cabos (?) like where the Vidanta resort is at, as apparently it's closer to the smaller downtown area, so you get more "culture".

Personally I'd rather go when it's much warmer (ocean temps and all that), but that's just me.

I think Hilton's Fiesta Americana is maybe a little closer, but haven't looked at the map. So many choices if you plan further ahead, but dad kinda surprised us by saying he would pay half of our trip, so I was lucky to find as many rooms as I did (IMO) on short notice.


It's a nice resort for a family gathering. Not too many distractions on-site. You'll have fun. Just don't look at the restaurant pricing. (Athough Pitahayas has great food.) :)

Dave
 

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I own there .Very nice and quiet place but it’s 4 miles east of town.The public transit stop is 1/2 mile away uphill .The restaurants onsite are expensive but good.Costco and Walmart are close if you want to stock your room up .If you just want to hide for a week it’s a good place to go .I always rent a car .Buy the time you add up the airport transfers +taxi rides you are even with the price of the car rental.
 

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Yeah this is our first time there. I have a feeling we'll be going back, but probably to los cabos (?) like where the Vidanta resort is at, as apparently it's closer to the smaller downtown area, so you get more "culture".

Personally I'd rather go when it's much warmer (ocean temps and all that), but that's just me.

I think Hilton's Fiesta Americana is maybe a little closer, but haven't looked at the map. So many choices if you plan further ahead, but dad kinda surprised us by saying he would pay half of our trip, so I was lucky to find as many rooms as I did (IMO) on short notice.

Fiesta Americana is on the same property. When you pass the golf course HDM is to the right and the building to the left is FA.
 

CalGalTraveler

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Both FA and HDM are in the same gated golf community. I like to walk/run between the resorts in the morning because I know it is safe. I have walked all around HDM and it is lovely. BTW...you must stay on the roads and not walk the golf course as the guards will escort you out.

I just learned from another Tugger that Walmart Cabo will also deliver groceries if you order online 24 hours in advance (use Google translate). We are investigating whether they will deliver to the lobby of FA. If they deliver FA, I am sure they will deliver HDM.
 
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hurnik

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Both FA and HDM are in the same gated golf community. I like to walk/run between the resorts in the morning because I know it is safe. I have walked all around HDM and it is lovely. BTW...you must stay on the roads and not walk the golf course as the guards will escort you out.

I just learned from another Tugger that Walmart Cabo will also deliver groceries if you order online 24 hours in advance (use Google translate). We are investigating whether they will deliver to the lobby of FA. If they deliver FA, I am sure they will deliver HDM.

Thanks! We'll probably do that (and there's another grocery delivery service, I saw on TA, but I can't remember the name).

I'm sure we'll take the roundtrip shuttle into town at least once just to try things.

It'll give us an excuse to come back to the area again if we don't do "everything" (haha).
 
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