Hacienda Encantada Resort & Residences — Attraction in Baja California Sur

What a truly bizarre experience.

Check In: Firstly, this is an "all-inclusive" time share owner heavy resort. We booked our room through AirBnB. When we arrived, the hotel had no idea who we were, where our reservation was, or if our host was even real. The pictures on AirBnB were not of the room we were given. I am still waiting for my final credit card bill to figure out if it was a scam or not. Value/Experience: As far as "all inclusive" goes, it sort of is and sort of isn't. There are a number of restaurants on site and some off site that you can use. They give you a wrist band to identify you as, I am guessing, a poor sucker. We paid $720 for TWO nights of all inclusive for two people (food and beverage ONLY). This was a better deal than NOT paying. We ordered two vodka sodas at the bar and the tab was $35, just to give you an idea of the absurd resort entrapment pricing (which, I have learned, really pervades all of Cabo). Service: If you can get someone to get you a drink, poolside or otherwise, at each interaction they will print you an enormous receipt full of jargon, even if you are on the all inclusive plan, and have you sign the receipt. It really feels like an attempt to confuse you with data/wring more tips out of your per interaction. Service is incredibly uneven and slow when it comes to this. Sometimes it takes ten minutes of sitting at the bar with a staff member poking around aimlessly on the POS system to get a drink, and sometimes is takes 40, with about a dozen staff member milling around the bar doing everything else but pour a drink. Food and Bev: The overall food and beverage quality is elevated airline food at best. The breakfast buffet was probably the best part, given the incredible views and lukewarm food. For our final dinner we dined at the "upscale" Mexican restaurant. The drinks were good, save the un-pitted olives in the martinis (watch your teeth). Ordered the scallops as an appetizer, only one of the three was edible. The other two were too tough to digest. The caesar salad was just two fronds of barely dressed romaine lettuce. The red snapper was decent, but the filet mignon was ordered medium and served half seared and near blue in the middle. The dessert was some sort of barely set hybrid flan and a "tart" which was neither really here nor there. Rooms: The room was very clean, and very Mexican, which I actually enjoyed. The balcony view was gorgeous, and it was quite pleasant to sit outside and just stare at the waves. Even though we ordered a king bed they were only able to provide two double beds, suggesting we push them together, which we could not do. Oh and they REALLY suggest you put everything in your safe, like multiple times. The shoe prints on the outside sofa suggesting someone scaled the wall suggest maybe why.... Oh and there was no hot water on our last day. We also overheard other guests talking about how they had no hot water for multiple days. That being said, I did take like 5 amazing showers with incredible, skin peeling water pressure. Vibe and People: First interaction at the pool was politely asking another guest if they were leaving, to which they responded: "Oh, we don't leave, you must be NEW here". As it turns out, this place is full of boomer retirees who really are the "don't you know who I am?" of their respective small towns. There's lots of "owners" vs. "all inclusive" talk that really contributes to a weird almost hostile environment. All that being said, I did meet a very charming couple in the pool who confirmed the existence of aliens, so not a total loss. Location: Views are amazing, especially from the "owners pool". That being said, you are far set back from the highway with lots of security, so there is really no way to leave unless you take one of the free hotel shuttles to town. When you get to downtown Cabo (30 min away) you are let loose in the Marina zone which is the kinda of tourist hell where every 10 feet someone is accosting you asking if you want weed, molly, hookers, or a water taxi. It is absolutely a...

I’m not typically one to write a bad review unless it’s actually bad. I had the unfortunate opportunity to stay at this resort for the week and I am shocked that google rates this resort a 5 star. So I am going to breakdown review based off of a few things. Location: they have a beautiful property that is the only reason they get a 2 stars. They have prime views and really great touches that make it beautiful. Rooms: we upgraded our room from a studio to a 1 bedroom because we had our kids and I had regrets as soon as I sat on that bed. For a week straight I barely slept. The bed was not only hard as a rock but lumpy. It was sitting on wood and had a teeny tiny “mattress topper” to sit at the head of the bed. It was god awful and the pillows were just as bad. I literally would take naps on the hammocks they have outdoors. It also seems as though they don’t mop the floors in the rooms often. Food: probably the worst food I’ve ever had at a resort. The wait times are not a joke prepare to set aside 2 hours to finish a meal and check out. We would wait 40 mins for drinks and by the time the food would come it would be cold. I don’t think I had one hot meal there. The pool food was subpar but what we opted to eat at most days. For example. I ate at the Italian restaurant with just myself without my family and got there at 8pm and ordered just sparkling water, bolognese and tiramisu and did not leave until they close at 9:55pm. We all got sick at some point of the week. We didn’t do all inclusive and I am glad we didn’t because the food was so expensive at the places you would think would be good like mestizo or discos. All just subpar for a 5 star resort. We have stayed at plenty of all inclusive resorts, there is always at least one good restaurant you can rely on. Not here and definitely not with the service. Service: everything here is the bare minimum, and that’s being generous. Again this isn’t our first time in Cabo and have stayed at other 5 star Resorts, for this to be rated 5 stars is CRAZY. if you ask the most simplest question they either can’t answer it or tell you they will get to you and either never get to you or do the task so you have to ask again or they get to you when they want to which is usually like 30 minutes later. Again the service at the restaurants slowwwww. And if you even think about touring this location, think again! We have toured many beautiful properties and this place just isn’t worth it trust me. The sales people they have working are so pushy and combative when you bring something up that quest Ions the integrity of what they are selling you. They try to loosen you up and try to build rapport just for them to get pissed when you push back. The guy that we had completely walked out on us without a warning, his name was Al and if I ever see Al again I am gonna tell him about himself and why I rated him a 0 in my survey cause what the heck. But then they keep throwing people at you. While we were lucky by just sharing what we ultimately wanted, others that we were at breakfast together were not so lucky and started at 9am with breakfast and didn’t get out of their grasp until 3pm (when they tell you it should only take 90 minutes). We were there from 8:30-11:30am but that’s all thanks to my husband he knows how to just get to the point. But jokes on us because while we got a free trip to come back to this resort I’m not looking forward to returning at all. Experience: every resort I have ever been to especially in Mexico always had themed nights and activities and things you would think to experience Mexico but within the resort. NOT HERE. They have pickleball and activities for the kids but mostly if you want to experience Cabo you have to do so off the resort. There was one short music show and one Mexican fiesta buffet and that was it. Other resorts do themed nights and have performances etc. so needless to say we filled our days with pool times and being off the resort. If this was my first ever time in Cabo and I stayed here I would never return. Overall...

Food 5/5 Service 3/5 Amenities 4/5 Activities 2/5 Price Value 3/5 (1/5 if not all-inclusive)

We value reviews when booking places so felt we should post an honest one (pros, neutral, cons).

Pros of this resort include excellent food - my partner and I agree it is the best food we’ve had at an all inclusive. They sometimes had a live musician at dinners. In addition, the amenities are fantastic with excellent views, spacious/clean rooms, and we felt safe. The resort is well-maintained. A huge perk is the ability to use the Marina Fiesta resort amenities in downtown san lucas. They have a few good restaurants by the water, which are included in the all inclusive package. There is also a pickleball and tennis court which are included.

Neutral things include that the resort is very quiet - we went during peak season. Almost all the vacationers seem to be retirees. If you enjoy quiet and having a pool or hammock to yourself, this would be a perk, but if hoping for some entertainment, then not. There is a free shuttle - the shuttle times are every 2 hours to San Lucas (about 20-25 min drive), though inconvenient as it fills up quick, and the last one comes back from town at 10:30pm.

As for cons, there are a few. For one, there are additional charges - despite paying ahead at the end of our week we were charged over 50 USD (e.g room cleaning). Room service is not included in the all-inclusive package. Every restaurant/bar closes at 10pm (or earlier despite posted operating times) so there is absolutely zero nightlife. There is no free water in the room, and nowhere to get food or drinks past 9-10pm, which is honestly a really big deal at an “all inclusive”. There is no casual buffet dinner. Every night you must either book a sit down restaurant, or sit outside by the pool side pizza place, and service is slow. There are no scheduled entertainment/shows, and we found ourselves getting bored. Bizarrely, they make you sign a cheque for every single order included in the all inclusive- which is clearly a tactic to increase tips. For people not buying all-inclusive: we noticed prices are very high (about $70 USD for a buffet breakfast, charging for water, sometimes as much as $220 USD for a nice dinner). There is a chip and putt golf course in the middle of the resort which we saw no one on, turns out it costs $20+ USD to rent one golf club. They also refuse to let you call an uber to the desk (i.e supporting the taxi mafia).

The staff push timeshares under the promise of cheap excursion discounts. We frequently saw older folks getting swindled by shmoozey representatives.

The resort creates a feeling of a 3 tier system: (1) VIP for those with timeshares (e.g access to the best infinity pool on top of the hotel, certain bars/restaurants, or best loungers on the cliff), (2) all-inclusive, and (3) those paying out of pocket where prices seem outrageous. The amenities that are only available for timeshare owners seemed deserted and sometimes without signage, and when you pay all-inclusive you really expect to be able to go into a nice pool. On the topic of pools, almost every day pool bars would randomly be closed, and often closed restaurants as well with no way to know in advance.

I ordered a pizza at one of the casual poolside restaurants, and they would not let me leave the restaurant with it, and said the pizza boxes were not for all inclusive orders. It felt very wasteful to not be able to pack up uneaten food for later. They said if I wanted to have food outside the restaurant, I’d have to pay for room service.

In general, the trend here is nickel-and-dime tactics which is frustrating when you’ve paid in advance for inclusive service. You could say don’t get all inclusive, but then prices are otherwise exorbitant.

We enjoyed our vacation, and generally decent service with a few excellent staff (we send praise to Alberto- Italian restaurant; & Jose Manny - Concierge, Gilberto - Pool). But we wouldn’t recommend this location for young working people who want...