I really want to like Villa La Estancia because we loved the location. Given the close proximity from California I have been to Mexico a dozen times in the past 15 years (half of which are to Cabo). We travel 5-10 times a year and have stayed at all kinds of properties. This time we chose Villa la Estancia for its location and also based on the great reviews on tripadvisor. I never write reviews but only doing so because I found this property via trip advisor and want to provide our experience. This is definitely not a 4, much less a 5 star place. It is a 3 star in terms of property and 1 star in service. It is not luxury. If you are looking 5 star in Cabo, check out One and Only Palmilla, Las Vantanas, or Esperanza. Those are 5 stars and luxury. Overall this place is maintained and adequate. The staff are polite but will not go out of their way to please, or even be helpful. We booked a room with 2 queens via Expedia for next day travel, it was a last minute Xmas weekend get away. At check in, we requested for a room w/ a king bed. We were told by Jimmy, the front desk supervisor, that a room w a king bed is available, for $80+ tax ($100) in addition to what we already paid. Since we already paid full price for our room we were not pleased he wouldn't give us a room with a king bed without extra charge but we went ahead and paid the additional fee. Our upgraded room has a nice view, private balcony, L'occitan products but the pros ended there. It has very dated furnitures and curtains, old dingy sheets and bedding, and very stiff, thin, dingy towels. No kitchen, no sofa, no washer dryer which we were disappointed but it wasn't the deal breaker. Overall, it was the poor level of service that killed the trip. Staying here one never know when we are going to be ding with another charge or whether a simple request will actually be done. It's not a very relaxing vacation when you constantly have to ask and ask and recheck, to be told yes and then to find out later something else, or to be told to come back at a certain time when the supervisor comes into work only to find the supervisor is no where to be found for days. There are many examples, but the following stood out most.
1) Pool during busy time is a joke. People come and claim their poolside lounge at 6 or 7 am. Aren't we all on vacation, why do we need to work to relax? Maybe it is a product of a property this scale, perhaps not. They could avoid this madness by having a pool person put towels down for you when you come and collect after you leave, bring more chairs out when needed, that way people can relax and enjoy their vacation instead of claiming chairs and then wander off for hours. We witnessed a couple uncomfortable exchanges between guests regarding claiming lounge chairs and it was very weird to witness while on vacation (yikes). Adding a pool person would not only help with the pool congestion, it would also elevate the hotel's level of service. We see it at many high end properties and it really works. Here, not only do you have to go get your own towels, they keep tract, and you have to return the used towels otherwise they charge you. Pretty stressful for being on vacation.
2) The second incidence maybe a one off thing but it was very annoying nonetheless it tells you how poorly trained the staff are. It was nap time for my son at around 3 pm. I put out the do not disturb sign. A maid rang the door buzzer anyway, I came out to let her know I do not need room service today because the baby is sleeping, please do not disturb. Three minutes after she left the phone rang, the man on the phone wants to confirm what I just told the maid. THEN, an hour later, the same maid came back rang the door, mind you the same do not disturb sign is still hanging. I did not go to the door, the maid proceeded in. I then had to tell her again, my son is still napping please do not disturb. You think that was it. After she left, the phone rang, the same man wanting to confirm that i do not want service, same conversation as earlier. I am not sure what happened here but within the 1 and a half our nap, we got disturbed 4 times. And the next day the maid never came. Of four nights we were there, we got maid service once. So it's sporadic when they come.
3)And the night before check out we requested for late check out. Fearful they will charge us for extra day, we had to reconfirm couple times. Yes, confirmed we got until 1 pm, sweets. The morning of check out we went to lunch then came back to our room at 12:30 to get our luggages. We were locked out! Our room key no longer works. They locked us out. It look 45 minutes of running around to get someone to let us back in our room to get our luggages. Never had this happen before in all our travels.
The good side to this property - location (can walk on the beach to dinner, catch a boat for outings), property ground is quite, no cheesy activities/music, we didn't get approach by timeshare sales people, good for families with grown kids cause those with 2 bedrooms, the 2nd bedroom is actually out the door, another room altogether (teenagers might enjoy the distance), spa is top.
It is really sad the overall service doesn't live up to what the property could be. If you booked at 50% off rack rate and adjust your expectation that it is a 3 star place with not so great service, it's probably fine. I am giving the place 2 stars because there are just too many negative in our experience. Hope this helps.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
