Just finished 6 nights at this lovely property. Diamond member through credit card though I stay 30-60 nights a year in hotels.- Booking: Booked 5 nights on points using 5th night free for a total of 480,000 points, then tacked on a FNC for a 6th night. We booked in mid-October 2020 for early August 2021 dates. Booked the base Pacific View Room, which was upgraded about a month or two out to an Ocean View room. Further upgraded to Ocean View Deluxe due to construction (previously mentioned but also see below).
- Pre-arrival contact: First contact made was actually to discuss the “refining period” that would be taking place during the last 2 days of our stay, offering for us to change our plans (who can change plans a month from travel?) or accept “compensation” in the form of the above mentioned further upgrade, and upgraded to “Full Breakfast” for the duration of our stay (not just the construction) from the Diamond benefit continental breakfast.
Second contact from concierge was about 1 week prior to arrival. Provided with current Spa, excursion and menus. We had already booked our preferred date and time at El Farallon through Opentable.com, but we asked for an arrival night Don Manuel’s reservation and a Spa reservation.
They aso booked our COVID test for 48 hours prior to departure (we had an excursion 24 hours prior).
The day I arrived, but before on-site, I received a text from concierge introducing texting system for contact.
- Flight: American Airlines from DFW to SJD non-stop, basic economy, cash. Of note, used the AA partnered Verifly app to upload the COVID testing information, worked well. Overall, smooth flights and airport experiences there and back.
- Transportation: Used Eliker Transportation, seems like it was ½ the price of WA transportation. Only part I was concerned about is comments on the WA staff navigating you through the airport on your departing flight if you used their transport, but we had no trouble managing it ourselves. Beer and wine in a nice Expedition vehicle waiting for us upon arrival. We also paid the extra $25 to stop at a grocery store for 30 minutes on the way to WA. Though there is a small grocery in walking distance of the WA, this was a nice full fledged store. It was mentioned, both on the site and in person, over 30 minutes would be an extra charge. Plenty of wine to choose from, and I picked up a bottle of rum at the airport before departing.
They confirmed with us several times the pickup date and time for departure during arrival transport, but we ended up requesting the day before departure 30 minutes earlier pickup due to airport congestion concerns (which were unfounded). They replied to email confirming request within 1-2 hours.
- Arrival: The arrival through the tunnel was amazing. We were greeted by several staff members, some of whom whisked away our bags. Our concierge met us there, and handed us each a margarita, and greeted us by name. She went on to escort us into (currently changing though) open air lobby, and pointed out the features of the resort. Including: No swimming in the ocean.
We met with the front desk person, who went over our stay and took our credit card. She provided a document outlining DIamond benefits. However, due to construction, we were offered Full breakfast rather than continental provided through Diamond benefit. Fearing confusion, I asked about it. She offered a less than reassuring response that she “was sure this would be the case” but the restaurant staff would have a better idea than her. Hmph.
She walked us to our room, and showed us the features of the room. Very nice lady, but I think it has been mentioned here (or elsewhere) before, but she seems to lack polish.
- Room: Room 125, Ocean Deluxe view. While this was a “further” upgrade due to construction, I have seen many Diamond mention upgrade to this level. Always holding out hope for further upgrade…
...but I shouldn’t have. Call me crazy, but we felt this was one of the better rooms in the facility. Wonderful view, so close to the ocean where the waves are constantly crashing against the rocks and shoreline. The plunge pool, certainly among the smallest but plenty for two people, was under the shade of our balcony. As a pasty white skinned dude, I LOVED this. Sizable balcony with table to eat on, you could easily host your spouse, yourself, and another couple or two.
Amazing hard product, with the best doors (yes, doors) of any hotel/resort we have ever stayed at. Fireplace gives a nice ambiance but is constructed to not give off an inordinate amount of heat. Dumb TV with a very hidden and not mentioned blu ray player that appeared to have smart features (didn’t try). There was also a sonos bluetooth unit which we didn’t use.
Standalone bath tub and open shower, with “soaking” materials for the bathtub. Huge vanity, with full length mirror inside the bedroom closet (important, my wife tells me). Shower had the rain head and a handheld sprayer.
Slept well on the bed, not too much other comment. Plenty of outlets near the head of both sides of the bed.
Free items: The oft mentioned tequila + bottle. Rest of the set available for purchases. Some cashew nuts and apples also on the entryway table. A neat tote bag that was of pretty decent quality. Refrigerator stocked daily with water, juices, and coke/dietcoke. There are 2 glasses, 2 wine glasses, and a bottle opener in the room. There were also some coffee items, but we don’t drink coffee…
Daily Guac, pico de gallo, chips, and coronas. We specifically asked for margaritas when we called (and you HAVE to call for service between 4pm-6pm) but only got them once.
Nitpicky downvotes: Minimal drawer space, though we could have (and should have) use the drawers and under sink areas in the bathroom. The thermostat was a LIAR, that was not 66 degrees. And the toilet paper was surprisingly poor quality.
- Hospitality: Admittedly, we don’t give the staff much room to work here, because we are very low key and don’t ask/interact much. Above mentioned interactions were our only time visiting with the concierge, which was fine by us.
Nice touches were prompt and eager golf cart rides, especially to and from the entrance. No batteries to purchase in the gift shop but housekeeping came right away with free and twice as many as needed. During the rain storm, someone walked around handing out umbrellas, which we were able to take with us to our excursion.
Meal service was less impressive, especially at Don Manuel’s. Just took too long on certain things, with several small miscues (I assumed clearing my empty orange juice glass would lead to a new glass without asking, missing out on bread service at El Farallon...). Again, everything seemed to lack a little polish.
At Conrad Bora Bora, the hostess knew our names by day 2 on sight, and I never got the impression this was the case here. Only once was I called Dr. Charlie_9, which is unimportant to me, but sort of gives insight into attention to detail.
Also, check your bill! Had an unexplainable $125 charge at El Farallon - I almost missed it -that was promptly taken off at checkout when no receipt for it could be produced.
- Food: Sometimes outstanding, sometimes mediocre, one time poor. “All over the place” as they say. El Farallon was so very good. I was worried these picky eaters wouldn’t get value out of the fixed menu portion, but everything we ate was delicious and devoured. They now bring a chalkboard with the days meat/fish selection, along with side choices. There is still a display case with fish and beef, but this may be a COVID casualty. 2 adult meals, and 2 small (and near the cheapest) glasses of champagne came out to $260. 15% gratuity is added to your check automatically for all food in the resort. Mineral water is Topo Chico (wife = happy), and bottled water served at meals is Fiji. Both, naturally, quite expensive. I never explored if we could get the “house” bottled water cheaper.
Our room service meal, while not cheap, was good, and there is no extra delivery charge above and beyond the auto-15% gratuity. There is also a much larger selection than Don Manuels. All food was super fresh and warm, delivered to our room and setup on our balcony with placemats and everything.
Breakfast at Don Manuels was hit or miss. Again, we received the full breakfast from the construction compensation, but it wasn’t always clear what that included. Best I could tell, it was the breakfast buffet including omelette station and freshly made juice drinks, AND anything off the menu. When I say anything, it did end up including the pancake selection and the french toast (FRENCH TOAST - MUST EAT), which isn’t clear from the description. Juice included, but bottled/mineral water was not, which we did pay for some mornings. I left about $8 tip for the free breakfast each morning.
Our one dinner at Don Manuels was a miss. Wife’s steak was incredibly fatty and more medium rare than medium. No, we didn’t send it back, we’re just not like that. My fish was ok. For $150, it didn't seem like a good use of resources.
Good news! You are so close to town, we easily walked there and ate. Outpost, super close to the resort was good, and the $7 margarita was a relief after Waldorf prices.
- Spa: We paid for a 50 minutes couples stress relief massage, even though we also did a 90 minute massage (twice!) at Xel-Ha massage in town. Of course the massage quality was good, and I was hoping the Sauna/Steam room/Jacuzzi/Ice room/private pool with some sort of special minerals added would be a real winner and a nice add-on. They also do a 5 minute foot cleanse and soak ritual.
But for over $500 total, it just wasn’t worth the money. Our two Xel-Ha massages, at a place that was super low rent, was good enough for 20% of the price.
- Excursions: I will keep it short and answer questions if necessary. Booked through Cabo Adventures, a big outfit that has been hit hard by COVID restrictions. Went to Cabo Pulmo for snorkeling but I would only recommended that long 2 hour each way drive if you do scuba diving I think. Our other excursion was cancelled due to weather.
- Construction: Starting August 9th, through September 30th (with some portions done after August 23rd) they will be redoing Don Manuels and the reception lobby, but the Adult pool and Spa are also closed. The gift shop is moved. I didn’t get a lot of info on Don Manuel’s refinement, but they were knocking out walls and really going to town. I did understand the reception lobby will now be a lounge bar plus a coffee bar.
I am torn about whether they should be having guests right now, but I think for sure I'd have been sad if I paid cash; It is quite noisy at points during the day, even down at our room. Definitely tolerable inside our room, it sort of kills the vibe on your balcony.
More difficult for me was traversing the construction from our west side room to get to the temporary restaurant at the beach club, by the kids pool and kids club. The traversable pathways seemed to change during the 48 hours we were there with construction. Staff members were close by ready to escort you but even they were unsure at points. Golf cart ride up to our front door were no longer possible, which was no big deal except the one time is was raining heavily.
- COVID testing: Antigen test setup for us was smooth, easy, with quick results via email and a printed copy at checkout. Bring your passports with you!
- Rain: Heavy heavy rain (apparently unusual here), and the nicely manicured sand beds were really upended. Some plunge pools that are “in-ground” suffered from dirty runoff water, and had to be drained, cleaned and refilled.
I realize this got way too long. Sorry! Happy to answer questions, though we didn’t participate much in some things ( bar drinking at non meal times, adult pool, kids stuff). Overall it was really fabulous, my reviews tend to drift towards the negative. Fantastic use of a FNC, 480,000 points might be debatable.
Last edited by Charlie9; Aug 12, 2021 at 7:43 pm