U2936JAN

Can anyone comment on the dress code/what's typical, around the resort and at El Farallon? I'm usually quite a casual person and rarely do 5* stays, though I do have a stay coming up and would hate the anxiety of being underdressed ruin my stay.

jphripjah

Didn't go to El Farallon but the dress code is pretty casual around the resort. I don't think you'd feel underdressed unless you were going to dinner in swimwear.

Friendly Traveling Deathmerchant

Shorts and tees for me (male) around the resort. You're walking the beach, headed to the pool, etc... Wife wore swimsuit coverup sundresses and shorts/tees most of the time and didn't feel out of place. We're generally casual, downmarket people, slumming around the world on points, raiding one free minibar at a time!

Breakfast was casual as well. Dinner at the nice cliffside place, we gussied up a tad more, but for Mexico that meant "something with a collar".

Taking a look at Tripadvisor's guest pics this looks on par of what most people were wearing:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaura...7&ff=365267107

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaura...7&ff=297898721

Most men were wearing long pants, some shorts, jeans. A mix of long sleeve button-ups, polos, collared short sleeve/camp shirts, etc, - didn't see any t-shirts but tasteful would be okay. Might have seen one guy in a sportscoat.
Women mostly wearing resort-casual flowy dresses and short/shirt outfits. I wore jeans and a short sleeve collared shirt, my wife had a casual blouse and capris, and we didn't feel underdressed. There's always going to be that one dressy couple that's there for an anniversary/proposal/whatever, or an Instagram-wannabee-model curvebreaker, but for the most part... you'll be fine if you avoid t-shirts with witty tequila sayings printed on them and a pair of jorts.

That said, comfort-wise, if you're seated around the bend (farthest from kitchen/entryway bar), it got a little chilly with the wind coming in. They have gas heaters and mexi-blanket wraps on each chair, which surprisingly came in handy. It's quieter and more private on that side, but the views are better and perhaps it's out of the wind closer to the bar. These folks obviously thought the blankets were a great addition: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaura...7&ff=261272897

collin_mcclellan1

Just came back from a 4 night stay at the Waldorf Astoria Las Cabos Pedregal using 4 FNC’s and had an amazing stay. I booked the reservation for 2 adults even though my wife and I were bringing our 1 year old and 3 year old with since it was the only way to apply the FNCs to the “base” room. The day before arrival I requested to have a crib put into the room.



I’ve stayed at quite a few nice resorts in the past, but this is easily near the top. We had our Private Transportation stop at the grocery store on the way to resort so we were stocked with drinks and food. When we arrived we were greeted by our Personal Concierge, Nayeli and 2 other WA staff. We were told that since we were travelling with kids and are Hilton Diamond they will upgrade us to the 2-bedroom Casita and that they were still prepping the room. In the meantime, we were put in the standard ocean view room until the Casita was ready. We had a reservation at the premier resort restaurant “El Farallon” and it was a very high-end meal. It’s a mandatory 4-course experience and with taxes and service fee it comes to around 80-100 per person not including drinks. Although not cheap, it was an excellent meal and I’d highly recommend going at least once.



After the dinner we were checked into our 2-bedroom Casita and were blown away….the place was huge! It was essentially a massive 2500 sq ft stand alone house with it’s own dining room, family room, kitchen, master bedroom, guest bedroom, and 3 bathrooms. I checked the pricing for this room and it usually runs with taxes and service charge at around $2,400 a night!!! The price for the 4 nights we stayed came out to 10k.



We really did luck out with our upgrade as I haven’t read any other trip reports of people getting anything similar, but I believe the fact that we had 2 little kids and that the resort was running at around 30-40% capacity helped.



The resort is in excellent shape, the service is world class, and the views of the ocean are great. I really enjoyed sipping on tequilla and smoking a cigar every afternoon in our private pool over looking the ocean as my kids took there afternoon nap.



As a Diamond you get free breakfast for 2 adults and kids eat free. It includes a continental breakfast but you can upgrade it for $8. The free breakfast saved a lot of $$ as a breakfast for 2 adults and 2 kids would normally be $100 plus. I also used the $250 resort credit here as well to offset the cost of a couple of dinners.



Overall, this is hands down one of the best places to use the FNC given the expensive room rates, excellent service, and close proximity (we live in AZ so had a 2 hour direct flight). If you are sitting on FNCs and looking for a top notch beach resort this is the place.

jphripjah

Haha, this is the weird inconsistency they still haven't sorted out. Some Diamonds are getting the hot breakfasts comped, some are being charged (or told about) the $8 surcharge. I got it free one morning and but charged $8 the other morning.

Agreed.

I recommend verifying that you got the correct number of base points for your spend over 4 nights (10 points per dollar). I stayed two nights using free night certificates and they transferred my F&B spend balance from the first reservation to the second reservation. But when I checked out, they only have me points for the spend on my second day. I had to email the Diamond support desk to sort it out.

U2936JAN

I just returned from a 3-night stay and had an amazing time at this incredible resort. Thank you to the previous reviewers. Jphripjah's recent detailed review was pretty spot-on, so I'll try not to repeat too much. Instead, I'll focus on food & bev, which for me was a real highlight. So if you don't like food pics....well, sorry.

Booking
I used 2 FNCs from the Aspire card plus 120k points for a total of 3 nights. The agent on the phone said a substantial charge would be held on my card, but nothing ever showed up as pending.

Transport
On his recommendation, I booked with Cabo Airport Shuttle as well. For both transfers I was picked up in an Expedition Max, and I don't know if it was stiff suspension, speed, or bumpy roads, but both rides were quite turbulent and not relaxing. The situation at SJD is kind of a hot mess too with a plethora of private transfer companies jockeying for space under a few canopies. They told me the wrong canopy number to look under, but got the job done, eventually.

Room
I can't remember whether I booked into the base Pacific View room or an Ocean View room, but I received a Diamond upgrade to an Ocean View Deluxe. I'll echo what jphripjah said above about some rooms having far superior views than others. I was quite pleased with mine, specifically room 921, which is just above Beach Club restaurant in the southeasternmost building on the property. In my room, there wasn't a desk (not that I wanted one), nor any outlets by the bed for charging your phone. There were 4 available plugs in the bathroom vanity area, and 1 behind the Nespresso Inissia machine. They stocked a bowl with a variety of about 10 Nespresso capsules, and the minifridge had about as many Coffee Mate creamers. My room was not equipped with the aforementioned binoculars for whale spotting. If this is something that's important to you, perhaps reach out to your concierge via email before arrival. Under the TV, they have a Klipsch KMC 1 portable bluetooth speaker for your use. It sounds great and is sufficient to fill your room or balcony with music. In the wardrobes they also stock a spray can of OFF! bug repellent. I only noticed mosquitos once, but I did come home with a few souvenir bites, so if you're a mosquito magnet like me, I'd recommend using this.



View from my balcony




Welcome gift of 200ml Clase Azul Reposado, cashews, and apples, and daily amenity (available upon requesting) of Coronitas, chips, guac and pico.


Housekeeping
Both housekeeping and turndown services were performed daily.


COVID
100% of the staff wears masks 100% of the time. They were constantly sanitizing chairs, loungers and tables after each use. Waiters brought hand sanitizer on the serving platters along with your food and sanitized their hands before placing your meal on the table. Napkin rolls of silverware are placed with tongs. Guests were also very good at wearing masks when walking about the property, I'd say 80%. Due to Covid, the resort is only at 49% right now, but it didn't seem like it was even that occupied. Resort directories and restaurant menus are absent, replaced by QR codes you can scan to view. Paper menus are available at restaurants upon request. They'll probably kill these links shortly, but here are the current guest directory and menus:

• Guest Service Directory
• Restaurant Menus

Food & Bev
General advice: venture beyond ordering "the usual" and try something off their signature cocktail menu. I was partial to the Pedregal Reyes, a margarita made with an ancho chile liqueur in addition to the usual blend of citrus and tequila, giving it a sweet and spicy kick. Also, in general I loved EVERYTHING I ate/drank (unless otherwise noted).

Before arriving, I arranged with my concierge to take two classes, a cocktail class ($80) and tequila & mezcal tasting ($95). I also had him arrange dinner reservations, twice at El Farallon, and once at Don Manuel’s.




The cocktail class was a fantastic way to start the vacation. We built 7 cocktails both from both their menu and based on my taste preferences, some of which I poured and shook myself under the instruction of the head bartender, Luis. To make sure I didn’t get in too deep from all that drinking on an empty stomach, a seabass ceviche was served at the start of class. That night, Luis emailed me the recipes to the cocktails we had learned earlier that day so I could make them at home. $80 for 7 cocktails, ceviche, personalized instruction, and recipes? Yes, please.





The tequila & mezcal tasting class the following day was also a great value, and was again instructed by Luis. In this class, four high-end tequilas (like the $1700 Clase Azul Ultra) and one mezcal were sampled and paired with varying accoutrements like cheese, chocolate and smoked salt. No limes and table salt here. An artisanal cheese plate also accompanied the class.


Breakfasts
The first morning, it was explained to me the continental breakfast was included as a Diamond benefit. I could upgrade to the Traditional Mexican Breakfast for $8. For anything else on the menu I’d have to pay the menu price. I ordered off the menu once, and was charged the same $8 as if I’d ordered the upgraded item.




Top: Traditional Mexican Breakfast. ($8) Middle: continental breakfast ($0) Bottom: Scrambled eggs and chorizo burrito & basket of traditional Mexican pastries ($8).





El Farallon Visit #1 - Absolutely phenomenal, both from a service perspective and a food perspective. I had just arrived at Pedregal that afternoon, taken the cocktail class (where I spoke with Luis in Spanish), and upon arriving at El Farallon, the hostess greeted me by name, said they were expecting me, and asked how my cocktail class was, all in Spanish. These professionals really get to know their guests! At El Farallon, you pick your protein (ranging from $60 to about $120 if you want surf & turf) and sides, and the restaurant picks the soup du jour, appetizer trio, and dessert trio. I told my waiter I’d go omakase style; that whatever the chef recommended is what I wanted. I expected this to be a decision that happened in the kitchen, but the chef actually came to the table to offer her suggestions. The (farmed) totoaba was an absolute delight, as was everything else.




El Farallon Visit #2 - The only culinary let-down of my trip. This night there was a new soup and two new appetizers on offer. The amberjack I ordered was dry and beyond salvation even with the three sauces it came with. I sent it away after eating about half of it, and I honestly was already full. They apologized sincerely and offered to prepare another dish for me. I told them it was unnecessary. As a further apology the chef that night came out with an order of hot churros, caramel and chocolate, in addition to the regular dessert trio, which I took to-go. They ended up not charging me for the protein, only a discounted rate for the soup and appetizers. Look, mistakes happen, I’m not mad about it. This service recovery was a 10/10.




Misc. Meals: Bluefin tuna ceviche and tempura sea bass tacos, both from Beach Club. Beef "enmoladas" and black truffle mac & cheese from Don Manuel’s. Carajillo Espresso - an unexpected farewell cocktail sent my way by bartender Luis, composed of ańejo tequila, Licor 43, Kahlua, espresso and vanilla.


Overall Impression, Service, and Gratuities
I don’t do five star travel often, but man, for me personally, this resort set a new high bar. I believe the service was genuine, friendly, and enthusiastic. I’d also encourage everyone to be generous with their gratuities. Occupancy is way down, and these service professionals are working hard for it. Ending this too-long review where it began, agreeing with jphripjah one more time, this property represents an awesome use of free night certs or points.

aceman

fantastic review, and I wish I hadnt read it. I'm in mexico city now and heading that way in about a week, and rooms are showing up as 451k per night. Sigh

gr2020

Wow, great post! We’re the cocktail class and tequila tasting also available in English, or were they Spanish only?

U2936JAN

The staff seemed fully bilingual, so it's whatever you prefer! I actually did the tequila class in English with Luis because I didn't feel like racking my brain to speak Spanish lol.

aww3583

Is there a "high" and "low" season at this property? I've done a few random date searches and can't find any standard room rewards through 2021. Minimum price I'm seeing is $981 or 360k points per night. Additionally, free weekend night rewards can't be used on premium rooms.

aceman

out of interest, apart from the clase azul, what are the other tequilas in that tasting? particularly the one with the spiral thing in the middle?

U2936JAN

I don't recall the names, apart from the one that is legible, looks like Rey Sol Extra Anejo. I do remember that the one in the spiral bottle is not available outside of the resort. Luis said it was proprietary to WA Pedregal. As luck would have it, that spiral bottle was my favorite.

sarahlee

me neither... ugh. Maybe we missed the boat.

Cohall

I looked just for fun, and the very first date I randomly selected (Feb 18th 2021) has the standard award available - 120k points.

aceman

Ok need help here, I’ve just found out I have 2 free night certificates.

ive never used one before, and the agent on the phone told me that it doesn’t matter what the hotel is charging for the room on points, that as long as it’s a standard room, the certificates can be used.

im in an airport waiting room, going to Hilton puerto Vallarta currently so didn’t want to mess around doing dummy bookings, but on the basis of what she said I cancelled using my certs for Vallarta, and used 50k points and cash (I have that aspire credit to use too).

was she right? From what it say in the wiki here it seems not? Secondly, what is the standard room? “Pacific view plunge pool” comes up as 120k on a couple of nights I finally found, so assume that’s the one?

the price difference 120k vs ocean view 353k is insane...