Villa del Palmar Loreto

We just returned this weekend after a week at VDP-L. The resort has been open for about 6 months. It is a beautiful resort. It is very remote. Too remote for me. It is about a 45 minute shuttle ride from downtown Loreto to the resort.

I think the rooms are great and fully appointed (except for a DVD player, which would have been nice). The grounds are okay. They do have some landscape issues as some of the new plantings are not doing well in the heat.

The visitor count is very low still, and thus it is hard to get some excitement going like they do at VDP Cabo or VDP PV.

There is only 1 resturant (The Market) for breakfast and dinner. Then the outdoor bar (Casa Mia) for lunch. I think that is a bit too limiting for 7 days.

I will summarize by saying that the staff and their effort was just fantastic. I really can not say enough good about them. The lobby staff, the pool bar staff, and the resturant staff, and the entertainment staff , all their efforts were above and beyond. I do not feel that their management has them all on the same page. There was allot of confusion and clumsiness. But not without tremendous effort to please us on ALL accounts.

Our biggest problem was accuracy of the food orders. I'd say 50% of the time we did not get what we asked for. It was completely a language barrier. The wait staff is very inexperienced and any adjustments or customization of your order from the menu description just could not happen. (example, salad dressing on the side, no this or that, eggs over easy, etc etc.)

Another food issue, that is either their culture or the inexperience, is that they did not fully respect the order. Three times, pizza was delievered without one of the main ingredients. Instead of informing us that there was no Arugula for the Cheese/Arugula pizza, they just brought us a cheese pizza. Same on the Basil pizza one time. An order of fish tacos was delievered with chicken because they were out of fish. I would have preferred to order something else instead of discovering that I was eating chicken. To me, this is just not acceptable.

Construction impact was very minimal, but when they build the other leg of the "U", I would not want to be anywhere near the place. It will be very disruptive with noise, dust, and appearance. I can not imagine going here during that year or so that that will take.

A few other critical comments are: The food market is very understocked and will not fill any needs for possibly cooking/eating in. There is no gym or spa. There is no where to work out. I was lead to believe that there was a treadmill and such available for a morning workout, but that is not so. The beach is a 1-star at best. The romantic walk is short. The ambiance just so-so. And you really can not use the water as the risk of sting from rays or stone fish is very significant. Walking in a tight i-formation behind the guide to the boat for snorkeling was strongly emphasized for safety. That pretty much told us to not try any swimming or playing in the water.

Finally ... cost. I think it is very expensive, even for a resort. 4 Adults (50+ years old) for 5 days cost us $5,500 in food and drink. Yeah we partied pretty good. Yes we ate Lobster and Ribeyes. Yes we drank doubles (you need to to get some alcohol). But still. Seems way too much. (I highly recommend the Ultra Inclusive Plan to make this issue not be one.)

The shuttle is very reliable to and from town. Use it with comfort, confidence, and ease.

This was not a vacation I regret at all. There were many many good things that are hard to describe.

This will be a 5-star resort in a few years. But for now, you must accept some compromise.