ny747

Considering a stay at the IC Presidente for 4 nights in early December and wanted some feedback from FTers who have stayed at this property.

Expedia has a rate of $107/night for 21day Adv purchase -- the same room through IC is $170. It looks like the Expedia rate is room only. Is the all-inclusive option worth it? How close by are other restaurant options to this hotel?

Also my wife is an Ambassador (through recent Delta promo) and seems like we would get an upgrade.

Thanks in advance.

aku

Bumping this because we're thinking of visiting Cabo in September.

ny747, how was your stay there? Any other reports?

sonora

There are several threads in the Mexico forum about Cabo, including one where the guy stayed at the IC and loved it, but I can't find it now! We like the CP (Practically next door to the IC) and are going to split a week between the two places this November. We are doing research, preparing for an extended-family trip next July to celebrate the parental units' 50th.

We love, love, love Cabo, and both of these properties are at the "quiet" end (the San Jose del Cabo end) of the tourist corridor. You can easily get to Cabo and party, but if you want get away from it all San Jose is great.

Beautiful, quiet, pounding surf, attentive staff, and if you get the all inclusive, free room service 24 hours.

The Technician

I was just at the IC Presidente los cabos in July. First of all, what are your expectations of Cabo? If you and the wife plan on a quiet getaway together, definitely go for the all inclusive route. There are 5 restaurants on the property, in addition to the numerous bars, and the all inclusive bracelet gives you access to all that, imho I actually wouldn't stay at that particular property without an all inclusive option. The all inclusives are what makes the property really shine. Don't get me wrong, the rooms are nice, especially the ocean view rooms. Also, not sure if you are aware of this, but the all inclusive option also allows you access to 24 hour room service, basically you can order anything on the menu that you want for a $2.50 US charge to your room, total. I was kind of sceptical of this and was expecting a large room service bill upon checkout, but sure enough 4 nights of room service totalled out to a whopping $20 US.

Now, If you are going to Cabo to live it up and party, be aware that the IC property is roughly 30 minutes away from cabo san lucas, and the cab prices down there are outrageous. If any kind of exploration is in your plans, do yourself a favor and rent a car. If you did decide to not go with the all inclusive route, the town of San Jose is about 5 minutes away from the IC, and there are several restaurants/ grocery stores there.

Whatever you decide, I really hope you enjoy cabo. If you get a chance take a glass bottomed boat trip to the arch, its simply amazing when you're right next to it. I just left Cabo in July, and I can't wait to go back.

Good Luck,
The Technician

xpacific

Just returned from a very pleasant stay with Mrs. xpacific at the IC Los Cabos. Had read-up on the property at www.tripadvisor.com which I highly recommend for unbiased reporting on various properties. Now rather than re-hashing what you can read about at tripadvisor, I will focus on what FT'ers are most interested in -- that is upgrades, use of points, leveraging the system, etc

Used PC points (40k/night - ouch!) but it was all-inclusive, so we just got charged some $13 or so per night for "resort fees." The food was excellent, from the buffets to the a-la-carte resturants as well. We might have well chosen the CP which is essentially next door and saved some points. They share the same beach (you can NOT swim there with the pounding waves and currents), but it seemed to be a little less what we were after, once we did some research.

We stayed mid-week, so it was quite easy for the front desk to give us an Ambassador upgrade to a first floor room with a hammock -- the other rooms either have no balcony (2nd floor) or a very small outdoor area (3rd floor). So if you go, be sure to ask for the 1st floor. It also provides easy in and out to the pool areas.

Rented a car, so this gave us easy access to Cabo San Lucas and the sights there. We are not the party types, so we just went there for a snorkel trip to El Arco and Lovers Beach, then it was back to quaint little San Jose del Cabo for the peace and quiet & low-pressure shopping, etc.

When checking-out on Friday, they posted a notice that volunteers were needed to instead go to the CP for two nights (also all-inclusive). In reward they would offer 3 free all-inclusive nights for a future stay at the IC. That would have been the way to go... Book the IC on a peak-weekend and hope for the bump for a future stay ^

If anyone is planning to go to this property, feel free to contact me for more details. It is NOT a 5-star property as to quality of the building, size of bathroooms, etc. However the food and service were superb.

typhoon

Thanks xpacific. Do you think a car is necessary at this property?

Camino1

My wife and I were there in Sept. and will return this Spring. Not because it is superior to other Presidente Hotels so much as it closer to Southern CA residents for a quick getaway.

Got in plenty of reading by the pool and on the beach.

sonora

We have stayed at both the IC and the CP in Cabo and far prefer the CP. It is a much newer property and all rooms have a balcony or in the case of first floor little garden areas.

You are much closer to the ocean at the CP also, if you like to hear the sound of the waves and feel close to the ocean.

Food at both resorts is very good. The IC is much bigger, and has more activities going on, so might be better for a family group. The northeast end of the IC, the estuary side, has a "quiet pool" that is heated and nice for adults who want to relax quietly.

Our first room at the IC was awful. The window was dirty and did not open. No balcony, and the door accessed an open hallway that had basically no view. The first desk clerk I talked with told me that as a Platinum I was not entitled to a room upgrade. She was snitty about it too.

After one night in the crappy room, and then some confusion about dinner reservations (Beware: you have to make a reservation in advance to get into some of the restaurants on the property for dinner), I asked for a manager who upgraded us to a Junior Suite. That was very nice, and it opened onto the quiet pool area, which we enjoyed.

All in all we much prefer the CP however, and are taking the whole extended family (23 people) there this summer.

NB: For those who want alternate activities to the non stop partying in Cabo, try a drive up the Pacific coast to Todos Santos. Beautiful scenery, and Todos Santos is very interesting.

We also liked sitting at the outdoor bar at the Tropicana in San Jose del Cabo and people watching.

xpacific

Thanks, sonora for your report. I was debating if we should go to the IC or CP, and had we chosen the CP it would have saved considerable points. Next time we will give it a go

As for typhoon's question regarding having a car, we were happy we did, however others have found that the bus and shuttle services are adequate. The IC staff were very happy to see that we could park just steps away from the front entrance. We kind of played the dumb tourist at the airport and wandered by a few of the rental agents to find out what their cheapest economy rental would be. They all kept trying to best each other on the price for us and in the end we got about $45 per day from Dollar including full coverage (the insurance was about 2/3rds of this number).

If you drive, I highly recommend heading north from the airport (I know this is counter-intuitive) to catch the toll road which quickly loops back down south to San Jose. It is only 26 pesos, aviods going thru a bunch of traffic lights, yet drops you off at a roundabout which is less than a 1/2 mile from the CP/IC.

RTW-8days

I'm planning a long weekend there in a couple of months, one night paid, one free with weekend cert and one on points...

I was going to contact the hotel but there's no emial, any one know the chances of a suite upgrade?
I'm not sure which room to reserve as I can only book a "standard" room for the last night on points?

Any help would be appreciated.

aku

The disadvantage of using points these days is that you might not get the key RA benefits, such as room upgrade, free mini-bar, etc. But since this is an all-inclusive resort, what would the benefits be for an RA anyway? I assume there's no Club Intercontinental Lounge, with all of those restaurants. Are the drinks free as well?

RTW-8days

I'm just hoping for a suite or at least a nice view of the pool or beach....

xpacific

I suggest you ask for a ground-level room with hammock ^
Also, aku is correct, no mini bar in the rooms, nor is there a club. Oh, and I forgot to mention before that there is free wi-fi internet service in the lobby. Enjoy your stay!

Big_Foot

I would be very skeptical about that hotel opening this year...
They pushed the date a few times, it was finally October 15th, but now
they are saying November 1st... From what I read it was very far
from being done, no windows, no floors etc. just a month ago.
I cancelled my Thanksgiving reservation and booked another place.

wolfgang

The hotel is closed?