Cabo San Lucas
I haven't been to Mexico for almost 20 years and I've never visited Baja California. Knocked off this bucket list destination and flew on Southwest Airlines. The routing United would take me was not practical and I forwent my PQM needs for this weekend trip.
Landed at Los Cabos International Airport and was surprised to see how many bars are on the outside of the airport for all the folks waiting for their shuttles/vans/taxis. Definitely a spring break kind of feel. You do have to go through the gauntlet of sellers of timeshares, transportation, etc. before getting outside.
I made reservations with Gray Line Bus. They had called a number of times before my arrival but I was never able to connect with anyone when I called their number so I didn't know why they were calling. Luckily, I did find the representative in the transportation area and waited for the shuttle. I originally thought it was going to be a private car but we ended up having to wait for another couple. Overall, it was easy enough despite the additional wait time. Given the size of our group, I returned back to the airport via taxi. It was the same price and I didn't have to wait for another group to join. There are a number of taxi vans that sit at the hotel.
Checked into the Fiesta Americana Los Cabos in partnership with the HGVC group. The hotel is a combined Grand Fiesta Americana and Fiesta Americana. The "grand" part of the hotel have rooms that are closer to the beach and the all-inclusive fee is mandatory. The "non grand" part of the hotel is where the timeshare style rooms are built and further from the beach and main pool. There is a pool for the villas and I found it warmer than the rest of the hotel facilities. All in all, not too bad. I'd rather have a hotter heated pool than the access to the restaurants/bars of the main pool. The ocean is pretty cold and rocky so no loss there.
I had hoped to snorkel from the beach but it was too rough. The beach does have a protected tide pool area that is nice to visit in the early evening. The fishes are out and you can see them from shore.
I did discover in the duty free shop a specific line of Glenfiddich whiskey. It is smoother, a little sweeter, and goes down well on the rocks. I'll have to keep my eye out for the Glenfiddich Select Cask from now on.
Dining
For such a short trip, all food was consumed inside the resort especially since I opted to pay the all-inclusive fee. (The timeshare presentation can get you one free day of all inclusive fee if you so choose but you do lose about 2 hours of time. On the bright side, I was pretty full from eating breakfast so it wasn't terrible to sit through and talk about timeshare ownership. They only do breakfast conversations and aren't a hard sell.)
La Cevicherria - one of the two pool-side restaurants that serves tacos and ceviche. I actually liked the grilled fish more than the fried and enjoyed that chips and guacamole is an automatic.
La Bodega - a non-inclusive fee restaurant serving Argentinian food (basically steakhouse). I did not get the all inclusive for the first day and it was a good time to try this restaurant. I was so full from lunch that I only ordered two appetizers - pork confit and empanadas. Both were delicious. The Alfaro cookies were also very good.
Peninsula - the timeshare presentation includes a stop at the breakfast buffet at the Peninsula. Compared to La Vina, I actually liked this location more. Maybe because they serve a smaller group of people but the food tasted fresher even if less choices than the main restaurant for breakfast. I also ordered chicken wings and fries while at the pool bar. The buffalo sauce is good but very messy. The parmesan garlic was a little overdone. The fries were not as fresh as I would have liked.
Sushi - the sushi was ok. I would recommend sticking with the tempura shrimp based rolls. The tempura was good but I would have liked some sweet potato or starchy root in the mix.
Room service - normally I don't order from room service unless I have to but I didn't want the dessert options at the sushi restaurant and the all inclusive includes room service. So I opted a flan and a chocolate mousse. Both were good.
Blu - it's very easy to eat here as the restaurant faces the pool for the villas. As the only "game in town" I ordered carne asado tacos and watermelon ice pop with tajin. The watermelon ice pops are completely addicting, I could eat those all day. The tacos were pretty tasty, better meat quality than breakfast buffet. For dinner, I tried their mussels and clam in coconut soup and the fish of the day. The broth for the mussels and clams was delicious and the fish of the day was snapper. It was fried a tad too long for me but likely to the taste buds of the general clientele. I did find a lot of the food salty within the resort and I attribute it to the folks they serve. I would say 90% are midwestern folks in the restaurants.
Landed at Los Cabos International Airport and was surprised to see how many bars are on the outside of the airport for all the folks waiting for their shuttles/vans/taxis. Definitely a spring break kind of feel. You do have to go through the gauntlet of sellers of timeshares, transportation, etc. before getting outside.
I made reservations with Gray Line Bus. They had called a number of times before my arrival but I was never able to connect with anyone when I called their number so I didn't know why they were calling. Luckily, I did find the representative in the transportation area and waited for the shuttle. I originally thought it was going to be a private car but we ended up having to wait for another couple. Overall, it was easy enough despite the additional wait time. Given the size of our group, I returned back to the airport via taxi. It was the same price and I didn't have to wait for another group to join. There are a number of taxi vans that sit at the hotel.
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| Balcony view from Fiesta Americana |
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Fiesta Americana timeshare bedroom in 3 bedroom suite
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| Double Bed Studio at Fiesta Americana |
Checked into the Fiesta Americana Los Cabos in partnership with the HGVC group. The hotel is a combined Grand Fiesta Americana and Fiesta Americana. The "grand" part of the hotel have rooms that are closer to the beach and the all-inclusive fee is mandatory. The "non grand" part of the hotel is where the timeshare style rooms are built and further from the beach and main pool. There is a pool for the villas and I found it warmer than the rest of the hotel facilities. All in all, not too bad. I'd rather have a hotter heated pool than the access to the restaurants/bars of the main pool. The ocean is pretty cold and rocky so no loss there.
I had hoped to snorkel from the beach but it was too rough. The beach does have a protected tide pool area that is nice to visit in the early evening. The fishes are out and you can see them from shore.
I did discover in the duty free shop a specific line of Glenfiddich whiskey. It is smoother, a little sweeter, and goes down well on the rocks. I'll have to keep my eye out for the Glenfiddich Select Cask from now on.
Dining
For such a short trip, all food was consumed inside the resort especially since I opted to pay the all-inclusive fee. (The timeshare presentation can get you one free day of all inclusive fee if you so choose but you do lose about 2 hours of time. On the bright side, I was pretty full from eating breakfast so it wasn't terrible to sit through and talk about timeshare ownership. They only do breakfast conversations and aren't a hard sell.)
La Cevicherria - one of the two pool-side restaurants that serves tacos and ceviche. I actually liked the grilled fish more than the fried and enjoyed that chips and guacamole is an automatic.
La Bodega - a non-inclusive fee restaurant serving Argentinian food (basically steakhouse). I did not get the all inclusive for the first day and it was a good time to try this restaurant. I was so full from lunch that I only ordered two appetizers - pork confit and empanadas. Both were delicious. The Alfaro cookies were also very good.
Peninsula - the timeshare presentation includes a stop at the breakfast buffet at the Peninsula. Compared to La Vina, I actually liked this location more. Maybe because they serve a smaller group of people but the food tasted fresher even if less choices than the main restaurant for breakfast. I also ordered chicken wings and fries while at the pool bar. The buffalo sauce is good but very messy. The parmesan garlic was a little overdone. The fries were not as fresh as I would have liked.
Sushi - the sushi was ok. I would recommend sticking with the tempura shrimp based rolls. The tempura was good but I would have liked some sweet potato or starchy root in the mix.
Room service - normally I don't order from room service unless I have to but I didn't want the dessert options at the sushi restaurant and the all inclusive includes room service. So I opted a flan and a chocolate mousse. Both were good.
Blu - it's very easy to eat here as the restaurant faces the pool for the villas. As the only "game in town" I ordered carne asado tacos and watermelon ice pop with tajin. The watermelon ice pops are completely addicting, I could eat those all day. The tacos were pretty tasty, better meat quality than breakfast buffet. For dinner, I tried their mussels and clam in coconut soup and the fish of the day. The broth for the mussels and clams was delicious and the fish of the day was snapper. It was fried a tad too long for me but likely to the taste buds of the general clientele. I did find a lot of the food salty within the resort and I attribute it to the folks they serve. I would say 90% are midwestern folks in the restaurants.
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| Watermelon Ice Pop at Blu |
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