Playa Grande Resort & Grand Spa

Second time that we have stayed here and probably our last. Understand that this is a less expensive option for a Cabo resort but the service level here is not close to expectations. Started with dinner, waiter took the men's drink orders and didn't even ask the women. Thought that was odd. Housekeeping didn't close our door all the way so you could just push the door open, noted that to the front desk, happened again the next day. Service at the pool is fairly quick for drinks but food is not. Took 1.5 hours for a grilled cheese sandwich for our kid. Server came by every 15 minutes to tell us it's on the way. Then had us wait for a manager when we were signing our bill to "make things right". That translated to $2 off. Would have preferred to not wait 15 minutes for $2. Food in the restaurants is all ok, nothing really even good. Free parking, can walk to town, good value on the resort. Nothing horrible just nothing great

We enjoyed an excellent seven-night, Sunday-to-Sunday vacation stay at Solmar Playa Grande Resort in Cabo San Lucas during the second week of April 2018 through an RCI exchange. We thought the staff, food, vibe, services and excursions, facilities, and the property itself were all excellent. Staff: All of the staff we encountered was very welcoming, friendly, and service-oriented. Iris checked us in at the front desk and gave us an excellent one-bedroom suite, even though we arrived from the airport about two hours before the 4:00 PM check-in time. Edgar took us to our room after check-in, and he explained all of the features of the room and helped us to get oriented to the property. Concierges Isaac and Eddie helped us to arrange activities through the hotel and to sort out issues with these off-site services, as well as make restaurant reservations. Numerous waiters provided great service to us at the adult pool throughout the week, including Jose and Hector. Erick and Ivonne served us at the Calima restaurant. They made us feel most welcome, conversing with us during our meals while providing us great service. We truly enjoyed Elizabeth, at dinner at the Ridge Restaurant. She was an outstanding waitress, as well as wonderful to meet. The Sports Bar was our favorite restaurant, and we enjoyed frequent meals there, usually breakfast or lunch (brief restaurant synopses below, plus reviews elsewhere in TripAdvisor). Fernando and Efren provided excellent service to us in the Sports Bar, and we enjoyed seeing them every day of our visit. We think that two finer gentlemen could not be found in Cabo. Each of these named Playa Grande employees really stood out in our minds during our stay, but truly, everyone on staff we encountered was quick to say hello and friendly and helpful when we called on them, including the managers. Solmar customer service is first-rate, in our opinion. Food: Prior to our arrival, Solmar offered us a meal plan at $88 per day per person. We had never signed up for a meal plan before, but seeking a relaxing vacation, we signed up for six days during our stay. This optional meal plan included unlimited dining and beverages in all of the property’s restaurants and bars throughout the day, plus Wi-Fi, health club access, and other benefits. We found the meal plan to be a great deal. In almost all cases, the food was good to excellent. This is Cabo, so food and drink are expensive. We figured we saved over $400 in dining and beverages over the course of the six days on the meal plan, based on tallying up our receipts after our vacation. Here’s a brief restaurant summary: -- Sports Bar – our favorite restaurant. A good menu for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, well-prepared, tasty food, an efficient restaurant, ably manned by Fernando and Efren, two favorite staffers. We ate most of our lunches at the Sports Bar. -- Calima – another favorite restaurant, excellent breakfast buffet, excellent BBQ and steak night. We alternated between Calima and the Sports Bar for breakfast. -- Brigantine – a beautiful location, on the beach. We enjoyed the Mexican Fiesta Night there. The Mexican dinner was good. On another night we ordered seafood dinners there. The grilled fish was very overcooked, and the vegetables were undercooked. Staff was apologetic and comped us after-dinner drinks. -- Puerto San Lucas – a seafood restaurant, located just outside the property. We ate there at the seafood buffet – Surf and Turf. It was a total fail (reviewed separately). An hour-long wait for overcooked lobster and steak and undercooked vegetables. Disorganized kitchen and wait staff. Many complaining customers. Please stay away. -- The Ridge Restaurant – the best dinner that we enjoyed in Cabo. Excellently prepared seafood and vegetables, delicious desserts. Located up on the crest with a beautiful view of the Cabo marina and beyond. Ably manned by Elizabeth, another favorite staffer, and her comrades. -- Pool Bars/Taco Stand – great range of drinks, efficient waiters. Food from the pool bar takes some time to arrive, and it’s not the best quality. The Taco Stand prepares tacos (chicken, beef, and shrimp) while you wait, very tasty. However, we quickly realized that the Sports Bar was the best lunch option for us, so we ate lunch there on most days. On our first night in Cabo (before our meal plan started), we ate at one of the higher-rated restaurants in Cabo. The Sports Bar and the Calima Restaurant easily were comparable to this restaurant in quality and price. The Ridge Restaurant was of higher quality. A taxi ride for two people in Cabo is a minimum of eight dollars each way, so add sixteen dollars to a meal tab. Net/net, we would sign up for the meal plan again for its quality, value, and convenience. Vide: The clientele on our visit was mostly Americans and some Canadians, with most Americans visiting from California (not surprisingly). There were lots of parties of friends and families visiting, and the pool bar could get noisy in the afternoons. The big family pool had a DJ and live entertainment shows. The music was loud, but the families seemed to enjoy it. The Playa Grande caters to the full diversity of humanity; you’ll see it all in a week-long stay. Everyone goes to Cabo to enjoy themselves, and they seem to succeed at the Playa Grande. Speaking of entertainment, the Mexican Fiesta night included volunteer audience participation in a show, followed by fireworks on the beach. Umberto, the master of ceremonies, was hilarious in his interactions and ad libbing with the audience participants. We couldn’t stop laughing. Services and Excursions: We booked a dinner cruise through the concierges, but ended up canceling it. The concierges then helped us get a refund. We also arranged airport shuttle transportation through Playa Grande, an excellent value. The airport is located about 50 km inland from Cabo, about a 30-minute drive. Facilities: The Playa Grande has very nice, well-maintained facilities and grounds. We enjoyed our spacious one-bedroom suite, equipped with a kitchen (which we never used) and two baths (a tub and a walk-in shower). Our suite included a very comfortable king-sized bed, as well as a fold-out couch and a Murphy bed (neither of which we used). We received maid service every day. Our bedroom was very clean. We hung out at the adult pool during the day. We had no difficulty finding sun loungers at the pool. We also used the well-equipped health club. The Wi-Fi signal was strong everywhere. Property: This property is located just across from the Cabo marina on a beach facing the Pacific Ocean, an great location. It’s an easy and safe walk to the marina. The Playa Grande faces a nice beach, but the ocean is not swimmable at this location because of strong tides. As depicted in the photographs, the main lodging buildings are arranged in a V-shape facing the extensive pool complex and the beach/ocean. All rooms have balconies with pool views and ocean views. In photos, the complex looked bigger to us than we actually found it to be. Our room was located in Building D, in the middle of the complex, facing a family pool. It was a quick walk to go anywhere in the complex, a plus to us. The Playa Grande is located on the side of a ridge, so the property slopes down to the beach. Walkways run behind the buildings to the reception area – no steps there. Summary: We really enjoyed our relaxing vacation at the Playa Grande. We appreciated being able to make an RCI exchange reservation. We would gladly recommend the resort to others. We would gladly return, including with family and friends.

We stayed in a 1 bedroom April 1-8. Full Kitchen. We had a great time. Pool staff was good. Housekeeping was great. Easy location to marina. We rented a car to go places. Easy walk to the marina. Pools were large. The beach is pretty good, but you can't get in the ocean.

We really enjoyed our two weeks at Playa. Our only unpleasant experiences were related to the volume of music/PA systems at the main pool. We understand that the folks who hang out at the main pool want to have fun, but the excessive volume of the music/PA systems made our experience at the Adult Pool unpleasant. Would be nice if all guests were considered regarding the activities at the main pool.

My wife and I just returned yesterday (4/15/2018) after staying at the Playa Grande Resort for one week celebrating our 36th wedding anniversary. We absolutely loved the resort! The staff was very friendly and went out of their way to accommodate you to ensure you were happy. There were many planned activities and we tried to do them all! As other reviewers have stated, you cannot swim at the beach but you can either catch a cab from the resort or walk to the marina (8-10 minutes) and catch a water taxi to Medano Beach where you can swim, hang out at The Mango Deck (which we did) or go next door to The Office (restaurant - highly recommended). We opted in for 4 days on the all-inclusive option and the other 3 days we went out to enjoy all the area has to offer. The all inclusive option is recommended if you plan on taking part in the theme nights such as the Mexican Fiesta night, Lobster night, Beach Party night and steak night AND you like to enjoy alcoholic beverages. Wi-if is also included in the all inclusive rate as well. This getaway ranks near the top of the many we have been on throughout the years! Again, highly recommended!!