Hey Friends from here & there, I'm back with more to share. Here is a trip report from our Spring Break family trip to Cabo. Enjoy!
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We just returned last night from a week at Riu Santa Fe March 29-April 5, 2009.
The resort is not really big…it’s really, really, really HUGE! You will definitely walk off those desserts!
Regarding layout, buildings 1-6 are inland, behind the Riu Palace. Building 7 is oceanfront. There are some standard rooms there, but most are considered partial or full ocean view. Like everyone says, you’re rarely in the room, so it doesn’t matter to most. Buildings 3 & 4 are a decent central location. All the rooms are EXACTLY THE SAME…layout, furnishing, size, etc. Only difference is their “junior suite”, which is still only one room, just double the standard size with a double balcony & large bathroom. No separation wall from sitting room area & sleeping area. These were located in Building 7 only.
Kids club was ok. Small indoor area, tiny wading pool, and wood swing set made up the facility. Carmen & Anabel were wonderful & spoke English well. They do not take the kids swimming in the main pools!!! This was a big downer for us as our kids love staying in the club AND swimming. Most likely because the pools were all deep & could be a safety issue. Plus the pool water was freeeeezing cold. Another small problem was they often didn’t open on time at 10am. We waited 15-30 minutes a few times, but no big deal.
Go to riu.com and register for their Riu Class frequent guest program (free). Show the front desk a printout of your card & this could get you a free upgrade to partial ocean view. We did & it worked fine. Although we might have preferred building 3 or 4 after all because the restaurants & kids club was in that area. Only one restaurant (lunch buffet & ala carte “Steak House”) located at Building 7.
Huge new shopping center w/WalMart & Sam’s Club located across the main highway. Hearty walk or cheap Collectivo Bus door to door. Costco down the highway about 1 mile, too.
Surprisingly, it was cold & windy every night. Got down to 49 degrees! I thought April in Mexico is supposed to be boiling hot! Apparently just up the coast 15 km it was beautiful all the time. Hot during the day, 65 at night, minimal wind. I guess the Riu is so close to the tip of Baja that it’s always windy.
You can email the resort at
hotel.santafe@riu.com . Judit Elek, Customer Service Manager should reply quickly. They will note your special requests, but won’t take restaurant reservations. Actually, the main buffet had the best food. Ala carte restaurants were outdoors, except for the Asian (most didn’t like this one), and the cold windy weather made it too unbearable to sit & eat outside. We stuck to the buffet which was really good…and indoors!
Played golf at Cabo Country Club, just across the main highway from the hotel. Nice place for what it’s worth, except for the few holes on the water sanitation plant site. IT STINKS!!! So thank God it was windy. Also played Cabo Real. Located at km 19.5 next to the Melia Cabo Real. Extremely nice layout with a few oceanfront holes. Very challenging. Nice feature was the all-inclusive beverage cart! Water, soda, Gatorade, beer, tequila, vodka, plus munchies & candy bars included! Just book your times at ezlinks.com for at least 50% off. Softens the regular greens fees of $280 to a more tolerable price.
Went on the La Princessa Sigame catamaran sunset cruise. It was just ok, mostly due to the cold weather. And their “food” was tuna fish sandwiches & chips/salsa! The boat was nice & kids under 8 are free. And you can buy discount vouchers through loscabosguide.com.
Finally I stress: do not swim in the ocean. It is extremely dangerous. They post red flags & tell you this many times, but still people press their luck. I am a very good swimmer & stayed away. We saw many people getting hurt in the big waves & sucked into the undertow. We also saw many people innocently strolling on the steep incline beach get swept away and hurt as sets of big waves came in. In fact, a Riu guest died the week prior while swimming on Divorce Beach. It was very sad.
Probably won’t return to this hotel. Don’t get me wrong…it was very nice, but the unswimmable beach situation in most of Cabo plus the cold & wind close to town turned us off. Also didn’t feel much “Mexican culture” here. Everything was in English, catering to the Canadian & US (California jet set) crowd. Only went last minute because of the ultra low price to this usually expensive location.
Bye,
SeaBass
