Loved the resort, the scenery and food. Just don't order the won ton soup from the restaurant. Truly awful. Starting from the beginning, my wife, her sister and her husband and I arrived at VDA on Saturday January 7. Nice lobby, good check-in etiquette and a nice two bedroom unit on the fifth floor with a view of Finnisterra. The resort is a one third scale design of Villa del Palmar in Cancun, We visited the nearby WalMart and loaded our kitchen with food, beer and booze; mmm beer. After we finished unpacking, we decided to have supper at the only restaurant open in the evening. Three orders of sea bass and I ordered seafood won ton. Bad move.
Tip #1 - Don't order the won ton.
We went into downtown the next morning. The taxi driver dropped us off at the Mercado Marina building and we had to, literally, run away from the salesmen and booking agents.
Tip #2 - Have the cab driver drop you off at the white tourist building just north of the Mercado. No salesmen.
After walking up and down the marina we knew why the salesmen were so persistent; the marina and the downtown are empty. The recession,,depression (tomato,,potato) has kicked the town right in the knackers. There was no one in the restaurants or bars at noon.
Tip #3 - Tip, I mean, really - tip well.
We booked a fishing charter for 3 days on a 31 foot - 10 foot wide boat for 1,200.00 US$ The price was one third of the price quoted over the internet.
Tip #4 - Don't book any excursion or tour on the internet or at the resort. You will pay up to three times the amount you can negotiate on site.
Tip #5 - Buy a weekly fishing license instead of buying a daily license.
Tip #6 - Buy some extra live bait so you have some bait left over to hand out to the pelicans and seals on the trip back to the marina.
Tip #7 - Get the restaurant to cook your catch, it costs twenty bucks a head but you get Broiled, Grilled and Blackened fish and it is awesome.
The breakfast buffet at VDA is superb and be sure to drink lots of jugo verde (hoogo berday).
We were never hassled about not taking an owners update, as we had already attended one in Cancun.
Tip #8 - If you want to buy a timeshare use the free WiFi at the hospitality centre to determine how little it cost to buy a timeshare secondhand.
Be sure to visit the California restaurant at Villa del Palmar. There is a trolley to take you between resorts. The restaurant has a well behaved cat that sits by your feet and waits for whatever scrap you give him.
Tip #89 Be sure someone at your table orders some seafood for "El gato".
VDA is a nice quiet resort with a rather limited choice for restaurants and bars, but you are close to some of the best night life in BCS,
We plan to go back as soon as we can.

This was our first time to Cabo and we loved it. Very relaxing. The hotel is very nice. If you want to get a deal at the pool bar, be-friend a waiter and make a 'deal'. This hotel is perfect if you want to beclose to town (about $7 USD to get 5-11 people into town via Taxi). the beach is absolutely breathtaking and clean. The pool is wonderful,too. Not deep, and not crowded at all. It's also great for families, as it's not a party hotel at all. The connecting "Palmar" hotel is about a 2 min walk and is more suited for partying.
I think the gold card thing is a joke, but whatever, it gets you 'discounts' that you wouldn't get anyway - so do it. Do NOT DO the 'signature service' they offer you before you go. $200 for NOTHING but a little 'aromatherapy' in your room and a cheap weaved basket you can buy at any shop in town. Loved the town-friendly people. Typical Mexico with 'deals' 'special prices, just for you', but really nice. I would definetly go to the Marina and rent a boat to go out to the water. $150 for 3 hours of 'fishing' and whale watching. We saw about 12 whales and some sea lions came right to our boat that we got to feed. And, DO go to Lovers Beach. Really great for kids - they can explore the rocks and have a great time. We just got back yesterday and I'm already looking to go again!

We have just returned from a 2 week visit to Cabo San Lucas and Villa del Palmar.
We were three adults staying in a 1 bdrm unit overlooking the pool. There is a very nice wall bed unit in the living area which is a vast improvement over the usual sofa beds. We enjoyed friendly service and although we were near the end of the line for housekeeping, we appreciated the daily maid service and clean linens. The pool towels were substantial and easily traded for dry towels as many times as you wished. Villa del Palmar caters more to a younger crowd with young families - more activities happening around the pools etc. Pool areas very clean & well maintained. The Fiesta and BBQ nights were well attended and we were able to enjoy the terrific music from our balcony in spite of not attending either event. We bought food at Costco, Walmart & Soriano & cooked in our unit for most meals. We did buy a timeshare at Villa del Arco - because it is newer, quieter and more luxurious and are looking forward to taking our family there next year. Beautiful, safe for swimming beach. -

My husband and I stayed here for a week through our timeshare program. We would return, but have a few 'plus and minus' comments.
1. The people, service, and cleanliness of the resort are outstanding. From the front desk, to the great variety of waiters, to the housekeeping and bell staff. Absolutely 100%.
2. The timeshare - owners update - is not great - but we went to express our dissaction with our original purchase process and promises not kept. After that they left us alone.
3. We had a studio unit - this was a negative for us. We were told that traveling at this time of year we should expect an upgrade to a one bedroom. This didn't happen - even though the resort was not very busy (maybe only 50%). The studio was a very poor design compared to the PV Villa resort. It had a bed, small kitchen facilities, but only 1 chair in the room - so no place for us to sit and eat - other than on the balcony. And no way for both of us to sit inside the room. Very strange. The studio design that we were shown in the ts presentation looked great - but this isn't what we had.
4. The weather was great - so we didn't spend alot of time in the room anyway, but one of the great advantages of the condo type units is the kitchen facilites so you don't have to eat out all of the time. It just wasn't workable with this studio design.
5. Loved Cabo. Had great times in the town, and at Baja Buggies. Superb service in the restaurants in the city.

So, we'll be back - and maybe even at the Villa del Arco - but never again in this type of studio.