BookIt.com Verified Traveler Jennifer from Noblesville, In

"I was very dissatisfied with this resort. There are only 2 restaurants to eat in and only one is open for breakfast and lunch and it is closed from 11am-1pm to set up for lunch. There are snacks by the pool bar, but, I wanted more than chips and salsa and chicken nuggets. The other thing is that the bar closes at 12pm and another one DOES NOT open until 11am. I was at the pool at 9am and wanted a drink. They said go back to your room and call room service. So I had to leave the beach, go to my room, call room service and wait. Then they said that I can only have beer or wine and then said that only 4 beers can be served to the room all day. WHAT??!!! Isn't this suppose to be an all-inclusive? I thought we were getting a decent deal, but, realized not when we discovered that they hold all of the alcohol and good food hostage. I am 38 years old and spent a good amount of money there, when I want a drink I should get one!
Their food in the buffett was good, I will say, but I was not very pleased with most of the staff. You would think that with the economy and travel so down these days that they would be working hard to get us back, but, not here. Especially since the hotel wasn't even 1/2 full. I have been to several all inclusives in Mexico and my room fridge was always full of beer and the staff has always been pleasant.
One more thing, the jacuzzi was only luke warm. Never, ever have I had that issue. I would suggest the Barcelo. More expensive, but, a MUCH better hotel, although they to hold the room beverages hostage. It must be the new thing to save money at the resorts."

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BookIt.com Verified Traveler Bugoy from Nj

"Nice all inclusive hotel. They keep it clean except for the room. Housekeeping staff does not clean the room well. Stingy with towels. We told them several times that there's 3 of us in the room, still they only put 2 towels and we have to ask for another one everyday. Staffs are very friendly and attentive in the dining area although food choices are very limited especially in the buffet restaurant. Food taste needs inprovement. They have 2 other restaurants that needs reservation however the Mexican is always close and they only keep the Italian restaurant open. Beach is not swimmable at all but they have nice pools."

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BookIt.com Verified Traveler Win from Canton, Ga

"We had been all over the world but this was the worst of all. We were there from Feb 15 to Feb 23. I called and confirmed the day before to make sure they have our room because some of the reviews talked about not getting the room upon arrival. The hotel told me that they will have our room ready. We booked for Sol tower, quiet, non smoking since I have one 23 months old and 7 years old, two double beds, with roll away bed and a quiet room. When we arrived there were two people working at the front desk and about twenty peoples in line waiting to check in. After 45 minutes, i was told the room wasn't ready so waited for about two more hours to get the room. As soon as we open the door, the smell of smoke was so bad we had to leave all the door open and top of that it was only one bed and very noisy so called the front desk i was told they were completely full and we will have to wait until tomorrow to see if they have another room. So, we had a wonderful first night with absolutely so sleep. We had to leave balcony door open all night because of the smell of the smoke. They had put us in a smoking room because that's all they had. After many request, they move us to a different room which was non smoking room with two beds but right on the top of the karaoke smoking bar. It was so loud until midnight . I just couldn't believed it. I had enough of it and decided to check out and go home so talked to the manager and told me they will not give us any refund if we check out so we had no choice but to stay. The food was okay nothing special. The dishes were always dirty. It was the vacation from heck. It should be call HORRIBLE GRAND."

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BookIt.com Verified Traveler Richard from E. Stroudsburg, Pa

"The Hola Grand Faro hotel is beautiful. They keep it clean, the pools are very nice and so are most of the staff. That's basically where it ends.
When we initially checked in the front desk woman didnt have the 'welcome' smile that the other personnel had and it got worse after she asked for my credit card and didnt explain why so I responded with a 'why'. She then explained that it was in case of 'incidentals' to which I said 'what are the incidentals?'. She finally gave me a list, she could have avoided all of this in the beginning like most hotel chains explain to you when you initially check in.
We booked an ocean view room, I wrongly assumed that view meant more than just 1/3rd view out of the balcony and that the rest was of an empty lot. The room was nice but for a couple we were given two full beds, not a comfortable choice, instead of a queen or king size bed . Then we noticed that we did not have enough towels for two people, followed by a non working small fridge, followed by a broken iron. We called for more towels twice before we got them, the iron was not replaced and the fridge not fixed. So we asked for another room but it took a full day before we were moved, at least this one had a king bed and a working iron and fridge.
Another mis-advertised experience about the hotel is that you cannot swim the beach waters in front of the hotel due to very strong surfs, undertows and eddies.
The staff all said that it is extremely dangerous to even attempt for an expert swimmer.
I'll leave this review with one other good comment..the town of Cabo San Jose is really nice and quaint."

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BookIt.com Verified Traveler Carrie from Ankeny, IA, Usa

"We didn't feel the love so much. Our room was not ready for us to check in at our check in time of 3pm. when we did get to our room no towels, I called 4 times to get towels. and it wasn't only on the first night that I had to call and get towels. It was a gamble on whether or not your room was cleaned daily, and if it was it got later and later every day before it was done. We didn't get the single room we asked for, so we slept 7 nights in a full size bed. The food was ok. This by far didn't meet our expectaions. we overheard a hotel employee speaking with a Canadian tourist and the tourist said Americans are the only ones that give poor reviews. To me a poor review is due to poor underperformance. the food was ok, we are not buffet every night kinda people so that did get old. but the little snack bar by the pool had fun tasty food. We along with everyone were up by 6:30 am to go put towels on our charis by the pool so you could be sure and get a seat, so that was a pain. Over all the trip itself was good. will pick a better resport for our next trip."

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BookIt.com Verified Traveler Barb Kennedy from Alberta

"HOLA GRAND out did our expectations. The staff was very friendly and helpful and the resort was very clean. The only request I would make is that they try to provide cheaper transprtation to and from Los Cabos.....shuttle bus maybe.
Thanks for making our family vacation a WONDERFUL ONE!"

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BookIt.com Verified Traveler Annette Kaja from Delafield, Wisconsin

"Staff were very nice and for the most part attentive. Facility was very clean and well kept. Drinks and dining were not good. Alcohol was very low quality and wine selection was non-existent. The reservation process for 2 'restaurants' on site was ridiculous - only take reservations on day of, and completely booked before 9. If resort was only about 30% full. They should have been able to accomodate anyone. We ended up going off-site and paid for dinners. The breakfast buffet was good, but lunch and dinner buffets were monotonous. We ate alot of chips and salsa for lunch and went out for dinners. They need more restaurants with better selection and quality of food/drinks. People are willing to pay extra for the convenience of an onsite, good quality restaurant. Also, wine selection was VERY limited, and not good quality. I would recommend, but plan to go off sight for good food and drinks!"

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BookIt.com Verified Traveler Jens from San Jose, Ca

"You get what you pay for!
If you like to wake up early to reserve a sun chair or make a dinner reservation for the evening it's a good place to go. We wanted to have real vacation and therefore would choose a different place in future."

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BookIt.com Verified Traveler A Recent Traveler from Sorrento, Bc

"We stayed 3 weeks and enjoyed the sunny weather. The staff is very friendly,
The grounds are kept well but the chairs were not washed. When the birds leave
their souvenir behind it is left on the chair to take care of itself. The furniture in our room was not dusted for the three weeks we were there. The sink and counter in the bathroom was not cleaned every day.The last week of our stay we got sick and then they came and washed the floors very good, and took care of
the bathroom. I would not return to that place."

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BookIt.com Verified Traveler Sylvia Kennedy from Edmonton, Alberta

"we booked deluxe ocean view, not really an ocean view!! gave us ground floor, facing pool, although we never complained as it was really nice, and easy access to pool, spotless hotel, good food, very laid back and quiet, beach is wonderful, we did enjoy our stay."

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BookIt.com Verified Traveler Dan Piesinger from Lloydminster, Alberta, Canada\'

"Overall nice hotel...but some areas were frustrating. To buy at the gift store with US money ....do you really need a 'passport'.... Give me a break...you really need to trust your guests...is that not what the 'bracelets' are for???? I was in a room where the music was intolerable...and when I reported it...no one seemed to care!!! my grandson won a full card bingo and did not receive a prize; however all other days guests who won on other days did...as a matter a fact so did my son in law and I but still no prize...now I did not care for my son in law and I...but my grandson now that is different...I asked the activity personnel about it and it took me asking three times before I could get any results...the restaurant staff were by far the best ...as well as the pool servers...my room was not swept once the entire 9 days that we were there...the hot tub was not very hot...for being geared for kids there was no activities for our grandkids; however, enjoyed painting with the Mexivan vendor...Having said all this the hotel has much potential and believe it or not I would probably go back but at least I would know what to expect...oh and Pete's sakes get some playing cards for guests...it would make a ice little giftf for anyonewanting some..."

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BookIt.com Verified Traveler Paul Frankenberg from Tacoma, Wa

"Very friendly staff. The buffet for breakfast and lunch was superb.
For a buffet dinner more great food and fun staff. An a la carte restaurant was as good as you could find at exhorbitant prices. This was a truly great value all around."

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BookIt.com Verified Traveler A Recent Traveler from Kelowna, Bc

"We went with low expectations given the deal we got but were pleasantly surprised and would recommend this to anyone looking for a central location, good food, a mid-size resort.
"

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BookIt.com Verified Traveler Dennis Heitmann from High Ridge, Mo

"The whole vacation was very relaxing. The hotel staff was very friendly and the grounds were always immacculate. The vendors on the beach were always kept away by designated beach flags. All rooms have ocean veiws. I upgraded for beachfront but probably shouldn't have and saved myself a couple hundred dollars. The buffet was average but plenty of food to fill you up. The Sports bar tower was still closed. I would estimate only about 25% to 50% capacity at the resort. With this in mind there was never any waiting in restaurants and always chairs by the pool.We went the week after Thanksgiving 2012. We booked a special and for the money it was well worth it. I would have been dissapointed if I payed full price.
The only downfall was somehow we missed our Epic reresentative at the hotel when we arrived to confirm our return transfer to the airport. All it took was a phone call from the front desk to Epic and we confirmed. All went well.
Beware of timeshare hawks at airport. Your Epic transfers are outside. Walk past the hawks and go straight outside. I on the other hand did research on the timeshares before I left St. Louis. I have been interested for some time and was in a financial situation to buy. You can negotiate some nice, free activities for your time there for sitting through a presentation.

Oh Yeah, I did buy a time share on my terms."

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BookIt.com Verified Traveler Colin from Fresno, CA

"We just spent spring break here and will likely go again next year. Getting reservations at the two restuarants was a breeze and the food was excellent. Room was great and comfortable but they should supply a larger room fridge with beer instead of just soda and water."

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BookIt.com Verified Traveler Savina from Langley

"The hotel deserves a 3.5 out of 5. We booked a 'Deluxe Ocean View'. The hotel has five floors. Upon check-in, we were given the third floor. I asked for the fourth or fiflth floor and we were told that the floors were going to be closed for maintenance once the guests leave the hotel. We went to our room and we were disappointed. We were given the deluxe construction view. I called immediately and was told their were no more rooms available. The next morning, (after having politely, but aggressively demand a better room), we were shown three more rooms. We ended up on the fiflth floor (not closed as many more guests arrived and got the fifth floor). Pick the fifth floor. We had 3523. The corner 'Deluxe Ocean View'. The hotel is quiet and clean. It has 5 pools. The kids club pool is very small. The swim up bar pool is not heated. The infinity pool was the warmest. The activites pool was nice. The buffet breakfast and lunch are sufficient. The al a carte is two restaurants. Service was good. I used the gym every morning. The gym was ok. It had two treadmills, two ellipitical (one worked) and a two different bikes. The weights were ok. 3lbs and then 15lbs and up. Two gym mats and one small exercise ball. The beach is a public beach and is very beautiful. The vendors do not bug you, just say no thank you! We went horseback riding on the beach and that was wonderful. We also walked to town. A good 20 minute walk. We took a bus back, (school bus) and it cost a $1.00 to get back to our hotel. We wanted a quieter hotel, and this was sufficient. We would recommend this hotel if you wanted a 3.5 star. I would not go back as we like to try other properties."

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"This is my second stay in Hola Grand Faro in San Jose del Cabo and it was great! We got an upgrade thanks to Gaby who was very friendly and looked after us in all ways possible at check in, then through the stay it was very calm and friendly, the hotel is very clean, the food needs a little bit of work but is ok. I recommend it to anyone and it is a nice 4 stars resort."

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