Restaurants at Valentin Imperial Maya Resort
Just to give you an idea where we come from you read this review. We were a group of 15 adults, ranging from 20s-60s. We have been to Cancun many times before and love it. We like all inclusive when traveling with a big group. Cancun Palace, Beach Palace, Omni, The Royal, RIU Cancun, Fiesta Americana Grand Coral, and Dreams are some of the places that we had stayed at prior to this trip. We were really looking forward to staying at Valentin, because we heard many great things about it. However, our own experience turned out to be rather disappointing. And that was a census for all 15 of us. Let me tell you why.
All restaurants on site didn’t require reservations. And all dinners had wine pairing. However, the food left a lot to be desired.
Le Marche – International cuisine for breakfast and lunch, buffet breakfast daily 7 – 11am. Breakfast buffet here had more selections and food look fresher than Mar & Tierra. And they have AC, so it helps if you’re going during the very hot months.
Mar & Tierra – we had breakfast and lunch here most days due to its proximity to the beach. But it wasn’t breezy when we were there. There was no AC in the restaurant, so it was HOT. Some items on the lunch menu were pretty good. However, the service was slow. On certain nights, half of the restaurant (the Tierra part) becomes a Steak house, and the other half (the Mar part) is Lobster Pot. However, we didn’t have a chance to try either.
The restaurants below were only open for dinner:
Taman Sari – typical dishes from the Indonesian region, and flavors from India, Thailand and Vietnam. Food was B, but 2 people in our party got food poison after eating in this restaurant.
La Hacienda – Mexican restaurant. We didn’t try it so can’t say how good/bad it is.
Il Olivo – Italian restaurant, we had the best food in this trip here. We loved their traditional Roman pizzas. B+
L’Alsace – traditional French cuisine. Everyone in our party ordered a different dish to try, all but one was below average. Grade: C-
Ginger – Japanese and Peruvian cuisine. The sushi and sashimi was very chewy and not fresh, almost not edible. The chicken and pork were tough and not tasty at all. Fried ice cream had too much batter. Grade: F. However, the Hibachi grill (inside private rooms) was fun to watch and the food was decent. Grade: B
Lobster Pot was located in the Mar part of Mar & Tierra restaurant. It specialized in Seafood. There was additional charge for lobsters. However, it was open only 1 night when we were there (on the day of our arrival). Even though we had $200 resort credit for this restaurant, we didn’t have a chance to use it.
We had $400 resort credit to use on various restaurants and services. During the check-in process, we specifically requested to use $200 of our resort credit for Lobster Pot. We told the concierge that we loved lobsters and most likely would visit the restaurant a couple times. They gave us the vouchers for Lobster Pot, but did not inform us that the restaurant was open only ONE night (on the day of our arrival) in our entire trip. Had we known about it, we would’ve gone that night. Toward the last day of our trip, we asked to see if we could exchange our $200 Lobster Pot credit for something else, since Lobster Pot was closed most days. They refused. We were upset and very disappointed.
Overall, even though Valentin Imperial Maya has an awesome beach, we would not return here. Having good food really makes a big difference for us. There are so many better choices in the area and vicinity, and they cost less than what we’d paid for Valentin too.
Valentin Imperial Maya Resort
We went to Riviera Maya (Mexico) with both families in August. We had sunshine every day the entire trip. It was hot and humid, but expected, we went in mid-August after all.
I arranged our own private ground transfer with Cancun Transfers. They were on-time both ways and very professional. The van was new and comfortable. Booking with them was easy, we had an option to pay in advance by credit card, or pay cash when we got there.
Valentin Imperial Maya is an adult-only all-inclusive resort in Riviera Maya. We were greeted with cold towels and champagne upon our arrival. The resort was spread out and required some walking, which was good for us, but some people may not like it. Regardless you like to walk or not, ladies may want to leave the stilettos at home. The resort ground was beautiful, with lots of trees and ponds. The pool was huge and not crowded at all. The rooms were OK, typical for a Cancun resort, though not as nice as Cancun Palace. The beach was fantastic. Actually, the beach was the best part about this resort. Wide expansive beach. White soft powdery sand. Clear warm turquoise water. The waves were perfect to swim and play with.
We brought some bread down to the beach to feed the fish and swim with them every day. Tons of them came, surrounded us and waited for food. There was a Kayak tour every day at 9:30am. Other non-motorized water sports were available free of charge. DH learned how to sail, and loved it. He took the Hobie cat out (and back!) without any help on the 2nd day. Too bad we were not allowed to walk on the beach after 8pm. It would’ve been awesome, because it was full moon when we were there.
For my review of the restaurants at Valentin, click here to read the next post.
Vacation home in Cabo San Lucas?
We loved it so much here that DH almost bought a fractional home! Fractional homes are like timeshare, except here, you buy a specific villa, usually for 1-3 months out of a year. Each time you come back, you will go back to your own place.
We spent an entire day looking at some ocean-view properties, but in the end, decided not to buy. The irony was, if they had not pressured us so much, we may have bought it! We wanted a few days to look through the contract and talk to a few people back home, but they wouldn’t let us. The salesman said we had to sign the contract that day to get that price. We hated making such a big decision without being fully informed. So we walked away, still questioning whether we made the right choice.
Prior to this trip, we knew vacation homes weren’t for us. But after viewing the properties, we were so tempted. The villas were all so beautiful, 3-4 bedrooms, brand new, elegantly decorated, fully furnished and in a gated community with 24/7 live guards. The 4-bedroom estates come equipped with Viking and Sub-zero kitchen appliances. You have the expansive view of the Pacific Ocean from every room in the house. Each villa comes with a private infinity pool, Jacuzzi, hot tub, barbecue, a fire pit, and a court yard, completed with water fountain. Maid services twice a day, a dedicated butler, a pool boy cleaning the pool daily, and free shuttle services to close-by 5-star resorts whenever you need. All are included in the yearly maintenance charge. They will buy groceries, stock your fridge and pantry, and adjust the pool temperature for you prior to your arrival. They will even put away and store your clothes and personal/recreational items when you leave, and bring them out again when you come back. This option is especially handy for people like me who do not travel light 
Whatever you need/want, just voice your requests and they will be taken care of. Paradise.
Ranging from $50-$120,000/week, depends on the time of the year we choose. Maintenance fee was $2,500/week for the 3-bedroom villas, and $4,500/week for the 4-bedroom estates. The sale rep made it sound so wonderful. He said we could easily rent out our villa for at least $1,500/night if we don’t want to use it. And because these houses were top of the line in timeshare programs, we could easily exchange our villa for any top-tier cruises and resorts in the world, including Regent, Six Senses and Four Seasons. Or if we want, we could exchange for another luxurious villa wherever we want, even in the hottest destinations such as Maui, Hawaii or Tuscany, Italy. And we’d have maid service twice a day and a butler regardless where we chose to exchange your villa to. Too good to be true? Totally.
After lots of research and talked to various people, we found that most of what the sale rep said were not entirely true. You own the property only 99 years. Regent and Four Seasons do NOT know anything about the claimed exchange program. As for exchanging for other villas anywhere else in the world? Well, we couldn’t find any one who could confirm or deny that claim. But we highly doubt it. Don’t get me wrong, those villas/estates that they were selling were absolutely beautiful and we loved them. And I have no doubt it would cost at least $4-8 million dollars if we bought one out right. However, I think it’s more suited for people who want to come back here year after year, or who live here part/full time. For us right now, it’s not a good fit. Maybe later, when we have more free time…
We realized how lucky we were that we did not make a rash decision. We could easily rent any of those villas from existing owners, any time we want. And if we want to buy, there are many choices on the secondary market as well, for much less than what the developers were asking. It was our first time ever attending a timeshare sales pitch, and we have to admit, it was a HARD sale. Although our whole day was gone by the time we walked out of the sales center, we were glad for that experience.
Activities in Cabo San Lucas
We did the sunset dinner cruise. They took us to Land’s End to see the Arch, seal colony & Lover’s Beach. The sunset was beautiful. The cruise came with all you can drink and a buffet dinner. The ride was pretty rough for me and I got seasick. Needless to say, I couldn’t enjoy the food or the drinks. But it was fun regardless.
For $10, you could also arrange for a glass-bottom taxi boat to take you to Lover’s Beach on the Sea of Cortez and Divorce Beach on the Pacific Ocean. Be warned though, there are no facilities on those beaches, so if you do go, take plenty of water and sunscreen.
We were most excited to see whales for the first time in our lives here. Thousands of whales come here every year from late November to March to give birth. It is a ritual for them to return to where they were born to bring their own babies into this world. It’s the longest migration made by any mammal. It’s a long hard trip for these gentle creatures, but the lagoons in Baja are the perfect location for birthing. The gray whales were once hunted to near extinction in the very waters they work so hard to visit. They are now protected in the U.S. and Mexico, with the estimated population over 20,000 strong.
You can be as laid-back or as active as you like. When it comes to activities, you have many choices, such as swimming with dolphins, snorkeling, scuba diving, riding the camels, exploring the desert, fishing, etc. Cabo San Lucas has the largest marlin tournament in the world. Taking place towards the end of October every year, Bisbee’s Black and Blue Marlin Tournament lasts 3 days and features millions of dollars in prizes. 2011 tournament boasted a field of 100 boats and more than 560 anglers representing 12 different nations. Top honor went to a very respectable 409-pound marlin, and second place took home more than $1 million bucks!
Poncho’s
We had dinner at Poncho’s (at the Marina) the 2nd night we were there, I liked it so much that we came back there again later in the week. Marco, the owner, made his specialties right at the table. Ceasar salads and lobsters. The lobsters were caught daily, they were so fresh and sweet. They were cooked table-side in a sauce that had lots of garlic, butter, and cognac. He also made some alcohol drinks that looked like flowing lava and flaming fire, pretty interesting.
I found a list of good restaurants in Cabo (along with Google map) during my research prior to the trip. Let me know if you’re interested.
Pueblo Bonito Pacifica Holistic Resort & Spa and its sisters
Our vacation in Cabo San Lucas had a rough start (see our experience at the airport), but we didn’t let any of that bother us. We were there to relax and enjoy ourselves, and we did exactly that. We stayed at Pueblo Bonito Pacifica Holistic and Spa Resort and loved it.
The resort was very serene, all adults, quiet, with soft music playing in the background and aromatherapy mist in the air. All toiletries were special ordered from Bath & Body Works. Everything was almost perfect, except…We found the maid service very lacking for a resort in this caliber. They did not refill/provide new shampoo, lotion and soaps. We accidently dropped the almost-completely-gone body soap to the drainage. We intentionally did not pick it up, wanted to see what the maids would do. To our surprise when we return to the room, they picked up that dirty tiny piece of soap that we dropped, put it back to the soap dish, and did NOT give us any new soap. We had to go ask for new soaps, shampoo and lotion. Also, the AC/Heat unit didn’t really work in our room. Maintenance came once, but they pretty much said that they couldn’t do any thing. From what they explained to me, the temperature was centrally controlled, we couldn’t change to our preferences. The thermostat was there to control the fan speed, but not the temp. Really? Seriously? At a resort in this caliber? Luckily, the temperature was so comfortable that we didn’t really need AC during the day or Heat at night.
Pacifica was located on the Pacific Ocean side. It had miles of private beach that we could walk on without being bothered by vendors.
The waves were big and currents were strong, swimming was strictly prohibited. But they provided free convenient shuttles to the sister resorts (Rose & Blanco), where you could swim. Another sister resort right next to Pacifica is Sunset Beach. Each resort has its own personality and design.
Pacifica, as mentioned above, is a meditation oasis in the desert.
Sunset Beach is lush and family oriented.
Rose is of course pink and fun.
Blanco is all white and hip.
Services at Pacifica and Sunset Beach were better in our opinion. With a few exceptions, most people worked hard and did not expect tips in return. They always greeted us with a smile, and they remembered our preferences. Rose and Blanco were fun to visit for couple hours, but we didn’t like the vibe there. It was more crowded, more happening, but the service was not as attentive. We found the food at these 2 resorts very disappointing too. On the other hand, the tuna tartar and Ceasar salad at Siempre (Pacifica), calamari and chicken mole at Bistro, and orange juice (Sunset Beach) were probably one of the best that we’ve had. The orange juice was freshly squeezed, so sweet, all natural, no sugar or water added. I had at least 6 glasses a day every day. Loved it! But it is quite expensive ($3.5/small glass) if you don’t have all inclusive. Breakfast at La Nao (Sunset Beach) has better selection than Pacifica. Ask for a table outside, the view was unbeatable!
You could either choose the all-inclusive package or go a la carte. All-inclusive package at Pacifica allows you to use the facilities and eat at all restaurants at their sister resorts (Sunset Beach, Rose and Blanco). They have free shuttles running every half hour between the resorts. Rose and Blanco are close to town, it is a 15-minute walk to the marina and downtown from there. It was very easy and convenient for us. To explore town, we chose a la carte the first 5 days. Then switched to all-inclusive the last 3. It worked out really well for us.
Our 7-night hotel was complimentary, courtesy of American Express when we booked our European Cruise through them. They gave us a choice of four 4-5 star resorts in Mexico. We were glad that we chose Pacifica; it fit our personality the most. Like always, we took lots of pictures. Let me know if you’re interested in seeing them. Feel free to leave your comments/questions. I’ll try my best to answer any question you may have.
Cabo San Lucas Airport (SJD) & Timeshare
Cabo San Lucas’ airport is small. 2 flights came in, and it was packed to the door! And when it was that crowded, it’s hard to maintain order. While most fellow travelers were cordial and got in line, patiently wait for their turn, there were always a few people that try to cut in line. 1 couple pretended not to hear people around telling them where the end of the line was. The other couple stopped, asked, asked again, and again, THEN decided the line was way too long, they would rather go to the front! Everyone shook their heads, couldn’t believe how rude those people were.
As we exited the airport, many salesmen tried to pull us over, or lead us to a different exit. We passed the first group unscathed. Then we got tricked into believing someone was working for our transportation company, wasted 30 minutes listening to his sales pitch. He wouldn’t give us our transfer voucher back until we agreed to attend his timeshare presentation. So beware if you are not interested in timeshares. As you passed through custom, exit a door, turn right and keep walking ALL the way out until you see the cars. Do NOT let anyone pull you aside. If you are booking transportation with a company, their people will be wearing their logo, waiting for you outside the exit. Do NOT stop to ask how to find your transfer like us, they will direct you to a timeshare salesman. And if you somehow end up talking to a salesman, just firmly say no to all they have to offer. Same when you get to your hotel. If you are not interested in timeshare, politely decline, they won’t bother you again.
Cabo San Lucas
After Thanksgiving, we spent a week in Cabo San Lucas, commonly called Cabo. It is a Mexican city at the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula. Unlike mainland Mexico with its tropical climate, Cabo is where the desert meets the sea. It was our first time here, we didn’t quite know what to expect. What we’d seen and experienced made us not want to leave. The weather was perfect. It was warm (low 80’s) and sunny every day, with no humidity. The nights were cool enough to sleep without turning the AC on. And the water was warm enough to swim in (around 79 degree). Though our first and last night there, it got a bit chilly (in the 50’s, which was the coldest it would get). It was 30 degree on the East Coast when we left, so we had no complaints!
With less than 8 raining days a year, sunshine year round, comfortable temperature more than 9 months out of a year, beautiful sandy beaches, the warmth of the waters, the abundance of sport fish, and close proximity to the U.S. (Los Angeles, Denver, Texas – all are within 3-hr direct flight to Cabo San Lucas), Cabo is a very popular vacationing destination. We’ve met quite a few people on this trip that have timeshares or own homes here. Some of them live in Cabo San Lucas 3-6 months a year. Even more people keep on coming back here year after year. And these are people who had travelled around the world. We asked them why, their replies, “Because there is no place as nice as this”, or “Where else do you go that you can have almost guaranteed beautiful weather year round?”
On this trip, we stayed at Pueblo Bonito Pacifica Holistic Resort & Spa. My review of the resort and its sisters can be found here. Also, click on the following links for our recommendations on food and activities if interested.