Royal Solaris – San Jose Del Cabo, Mexico
Wendy’s overall score = 8 Craig’s overall score =7
My husband and I are avid cruisers going on 2-3 cruises per year. This was our first trip to an all inclusive resort, so comparing it to a cruise is all we really have!
Arrival: Funjet warned us in the fine print to beware of timeshare people at the airport. I guess I didn’t read that part! From the moment we got in the door, they were like vultures. Never being there before, we didn’t know if this was some sort of concierge service or what. As we were waiting for our bags, men with dollies were coming up to people and asking to help them with their bags. You think they are being nice, but they are not. They have your bags and wheel you over to another guy who will promise you the sky if you go to their timeshare presentation. If you are interested in a timeshare or you enjoy going to such presentations…then good for you. We did not have the time nor want to be bothered on our honeymoon.
Royal Solaris is in San Jose del Cabo which is closer to the airport than some of the other hotels. If you are going to the Corridor or into Cabo San Lucas, be prepared to pay more for a taxi or have your transportation pre-arranged.
My advice: Pre-pay and pre-arrange your transportation with your hotel. Get your bags and go right to your bus. If anyone tries to take your bags or help you, firmly say NO. If they press on, scream and cause a scene. If you go to Royal Solaris, Go right past the concierge people out front, don’t accept their help, keep your bags with you and go right to the check in counter at the lobby. Do not let them solicit you, just be firm.
After we got our wristband and got to our room and found where they had hidden our bags to hold us captive there……everything was great. The rooms were spacious and comfortable. The TV got a few channels in English. The housekeeping staff was wonderful.
Food: there is food available 24 hrs a day. Breakfast buffet from 6:30 -11:30 everyday. Then several options for lunch, another buffet or eat by the pool, burgers, pizza, fries, etc. Dinner has several options, a Mexican restaurant –Panchos and an Italian restaurant – Marco Polo on site require reservations. This is your more formal slower dining served in courses. Marco Polo charges you if you have steak or lobster. Other than that, all your food and drinks including alcohol are included. What my husband really liked is the all you can drink bottled water. There was cold bottled water everywhere and you really need it because the sun is hot and the air is dry! There was also dinner buffet every night somewhere on campus and a show every night. We ate a lot, probably too much! But the food was amazing. Very very good. I rate it better than a cruise. My husband rated the food better than a cruise, but the desserts not as good as on a cruise. The desserts in Mexico aren’t like the desserts we are used to . They use a lot of fruit and they are light desserts. That’s why he didn’t care for them too much. I thought they were great. Breakfast had a lot of pastries as well, but what I really thought was great that you don’t get so much on a cruise….is that every meal had a healthy eating option. There was a fruit buffet and salad at every meal and other light fare such has fish and chicken.
Partying: My husband and I are not really outgoing, but I did make notes of what was available. Every night there was a shuttle into Cabo san Lucas that left at 8:30pm…. But you had to find your own transportation back to the hotel. On Friday night, after a big Mexican show, there was a party bus leaving around 10:30 pm and coming back at 3:30am. There was live music every night and a small dance floor in the lobby bar.
Other activities: There was water aerobics at noon every day and some trivia type games at the pool once a day. People were playing ping pong and water volleyball at poolside.
Children’s Activites: They had a separate “camp” type area for children with their own water slide and small pool. It was separate from the main pool and only had 1 door in and 1 door out. There were not a lot of children there, but we did see a few. The hotel markets itself as a family hotel. The only thing I thought that was inappropriate was the Friday Night Mexican Show which was a great show, but not really child friendly. It was a Vegas type show and there were 6-8 girls barely clothed throughout the entire show. I saw one family with young boys leave. Just like anything else , you have to use your own parental discretion. The dolphin swim in Cabo San Lucas looked really nice, much nicer than ones I’ve been to before. I think it was $70 per person.
We enjoyed downtown San Jose Del Cabo more than Cabo San Lucas. San Jose has a really neat Art District and on Thursday night, they stayed open late. All of the stores and shops we went to spoke English and had great prices. We went to San Jose several times for the art, we ate Italian food there, we took a bicycle tour, and we did our shopping there. We bought a Mexican style ceramic sink for $100!
Cabo San Lucas was very expensive. We ate at McDonalds and it was $20. We got 2 ice cream cones at their new mall….$22! It’s basically an extension of California. The mall prices and shops around the mall are very expensive. If you can, do your shopping in San Jose.
I highly recommend Panchito Tours. We did a few tours with them and we had a great time. You learn a lot about the area.
All in all, it was a great hotel and we had a great time. I recommend this hotel if you like a laid back atmosphere of all inclusive dining and drinking. Food was great, pool was great, staff was great. If you like a lot of activities and having a lot to do ( like on a cruise) you might get bored so be sure to rent a car or take a taxi and go see the cities.
Other hotels that looked really nice: Intercontinential and Crowne Plaza – san jose del cabo
The One and Only Palmilla - Corridor
For more information about the resort or the Cabo San Lucas area, feel free to contact Wendy at TripGuy via general@tripguy.com or call 888-990-TRIP.