We went to Hacienda Las Moras as part of the cruise we took. Most reviews looked really good and it was a beautiful place. The reason I am writing this review is that while it was beautiful, there were also some issues people should be aware of before going.

From the ship it is a 45 minute ride into the Sierra Madre mountain foothills. Some of the trip is on bumpy dirt roads. Not a big deal but it could be scary if it's raining. Once there the grounds are stunning and the hotel sits by itself in the hills. The reason I am writing this review is that once there, you can not get back to the ship until the tour leaves. It is VERY isolated.

We took a lot of pictures and arrived at the pool to see everyone on the tour staring into the water. It was flourescent green with 3 inches of slimy green algae all over the steps, sides , and bottom (although the bottom was not visible through the green). It was July in Mexico and therefore HOT. We realized we would not be able to swim and this really made everyone very unhappy because the pool in the pictures was not in good condition at all.

We were told to sit in the outdoor hilltop area for lunch which was very pretty. The lunch was fine although only 1 drink was included. The pool being how it was it got very hot and many more drinks had to be purchased to try to keep cool. After a while we went into the open air living room (also beautiful) to get out of the blistering sun. I looked up and saw that the cords for the fans were hanging from the ceiling but all the ceiling fans had been removed. The air that day was absolutely still and we began sweating profusely. There was nowhere to go to get away from the heat. We heard loud splashing as one man ( an ex special forces member he later told us) dove into the pool because he couldn't stand it anymore. When he surfaced and people called him brave he stated, "I've seen worse in the Mekong Delta-there were bodies in that water". Okay that tells you something! We finally and gratefully boarded the bus back.

Our guide asked us allto fill out a comment card and was astonished that ever single one rated the hacienda a 2 out of 5.

That night when the excursion desk opened we saw all of our fellow tour people in line to complain. Turns out the hacienda people, seeing our comment cards, had called ahead to say there had been a "windstorm" the night before and that there were leaves in the pool. They flat out lied. There were no leaves and wind doesn't bring 3 inches of algae overnight. Luckily I had pictures and showed them to the desk people. They refunded 1/2 of everyone's $.

To sum it all up... would I go there again? Only if I were assured that the pool was properly maintained and the fans were back and working. Seems to me, in reading the other reviews, that Las Moras suffers from a lack of consistency. Las Moras people-your hacienda is beautiful but you need to show the pride of ownership to make it a consistently sought after destination. People who are not used to the heat (although we are from california) need to be able to cool down.