Casa Cupula Boutique LGBT Hotel — Hotel in Jalisco

I’m very torn about how to evaluate Casa Cupula. I’m probably in the 3.5/5 range truthfully. Allow me to highlight some pros and cons of our experience in the Penthouse Suite. ||My husband and I chose Casa Cupula for our 10th anniversary (and also my own birthday). We booked the Penthouse Suite.|Will focus on positives first: |1) staff are very friendly - Eduardo, Osvaldo, and Saul in particular. we both felt treated so well, especially at the pool and restaurant. These were high points. |2) restaurant is pretty good - had a reliably good breakfast every day and a few lunches as well. |3) views are spectacular - great views from any ocean-facing vantage point. |4) pool and parties are great - they have a solid weekend entertainment program and the host Lalo is so much fun. Fun games, handsome dancers, and a very friendly vibe.|5) Rooms are to a fairly high standard - we started with a vista king for the first few nights. Very good room and we felt we would have been happy there the whole 7-night stay but we moved to the Penthouse on the 2nd night (we had kind of a dual booking). Penthouse has so much space, well appointed, including a private pool and rooftop, as well as a private hot tub. My husband and I slept like babies in the very comfy beds.||There are some definite challenges as well with the hotel:|1) Pricing - We met a few people also staying at the hotel and it was clear that we were significantly overcharged for our room. We had friends in a suite on the other side of the hotel who paid about 33% less than we did per night. You really have to price shop a bit - and keep an eye out for pricing specials. We booked last April 2024 for this trip and that was probably too early. There are so many awesome places to stay in PV and realizing the pricing issue, it was clear that we ourselves have to become smarter buyers. They charge $90 for an airport transfer - well, there was a guy waiting for me at the airport, who just dumped us into a curbside taxi which dropped us off at the WRONG hotel. So we had to pay more money to get another taxi to the hotel. And at reception, there was no real apology or something nice like: “let me get you a round of drinks on us” or just some nice gesture. What we got was “oh they had the detailed instructions” - and it made it sound like it was not their fault. Who cares whose fault it is, just turn it into an opportunity to show your service level. You know? |2) Mildew/Smell - There was quite a strong mildew smell in our room. We think this is due to the washer and dryer in the room. It’s fantastic to have a washer and dryer, but they have to be cleaned and maintained. The smell was not enough to ruin our experience but it was notable when you walk into the room. It did not make us want to use the washer/dryer.|3) Service - This is such a tricky one and perhaps our expectations were just not in the right place. Here is our thinking. We booked a Penthouse Suite, we are at a ‘boutique’ hotel, the reviews on TripAdvisor often highlight the service. But outside of the restaurant/pool, we did not feel that staff were really checking on us at all. We had chips and guacamole in our room on the first day and the plate did not get picked up the next day. So we left it outside our room, it sat another day. So we moved it to the first floor and it sat another half day before getting picked up. It was like staff never went thru the halls? At any point, reception or someone could have asked us if we needed anything, does the fridge need restocking, can we talk about some of our favorite excursions to recommend. Nothing. It was just weird. And in the end made us feel even MORE that we had overpaid for our stay significantly. We had nothing special AT ALL for either my birthday or our 10th anniversary, which was something I’m confident I noted with Felix the concierge in our email exchanges prior to arrival. ||Lastly, something they should address immediately: the gym is UNSAFE and outdated. There was one machine where the metal cable had literally snapped on it and it was out of order. Would that give you confidence to use any of the equipment? The equipment is ancient - maybe 15 years old at least. One machine had the cable tied in a knot to keep it from breaking (I guess). One treadmill did not work at all. The state of the equipment is very concerning. For what the hotel is charging, they should either update the equipment, shut it down or just convert the entire gym into a spa treatment center. If a guest gets injured because of the equipment, that would surely cost more than just upgrading the equipment. ||Lovely people, very nice setting, well appointed room, fun party vibe in the afternoons. But it just seems…rough around the edges. If I felt like it was a slam dunk to stay here again, it would be 4 stars for me. Yet, I just think we might find similar amenities with maybe more consistent service at a better price elsewhere in PV, so unless we get a GREAT rate in future, I just don’t see us booking here again. Which is a terrible shame, because there is a respectable product on offer here and PV is an awesome holiday...

We just returned from an annual trip to PV, which included our first stay at Casa Cupala. We based our choice on the previous reviews and high ratings, so felt it was appropriate to share our experience. I'm listing our obversations below, but in short, we wouldn't stay at Casa Cupala again. Based on the price, product and our experience this is our review (as compared to experiences at other clothing options gay hotels such as Pineapple Point in Floriday and Twin Palms in Palm Springs). For the price, there are several other options in gay options in PV I'd pick over this - even though they don't have 'clothing optional'.||Pros|Beautiful views|Our room was very comfortable (we stayed in one of the suits). It was very quiet and comfortable. |Staff - as others have noted, the staff is very attentive and helpful. |Food - we only ate breakfast at the Bistro, and it was enjoyable. Most mornings they also gave us a complimentary sweet (hot out-of-the oven muffins, valentines day cookies, etc).|Clothing optional - if this is important, it's available only at the pool club (which is only open from noon-7pm)|Neutral |Accessibility - if accessibilty is important to you, you'll struggle at this resort. There are stairs everywhere - even within our suite. We would tend to walk into town, and between the resort and the public stairs, i counted approximately 250 steps down before we were in town. Ubers are inexpensive, so if stairts are a challenge, you can get an uber/to from||Cons |Upkeep - while the room was comfortable and clean, the resort is dated and is in need of some updating (more noted below)|Pool - the pool club is only open from noon-7pm. Im an early riser, and was hoping to sit in the hot tub, but was informed that the pool club is only available at noon. This makes no sense to me. I was told i could use the other pool / hot tub, but the other hot tub wasn't working. |Gym - the gym has a strong oder (mold?) and a number of pieces of equipment aren't working properly|Weekend Pool Parties - they are very loud and feel "forced" with a MC who forces people to engage by asking where they are from, if they are single, etc etc. And there is a "secret garden" that gives the vibe a bit of a bathhouse feel. No judgement, but very different from other clothing optional resorts I've stayed at in the past. Also, hotel guests don't get preference with seating at the weekend pool parties - you'll be told that you can sit at one of the high top tables in the back for no fee, or reserve chaise lounges or a couple other tables with a minimum spend of $150. This is on top of the $400+ you're paying per night.|Suggestions for the hotel|Pool club - figure out a way to make the pool club available 24/7 like other clothing optional pools, or at the very least extend the hours so people can enjoy it in the morning and late into the evening. Other clothing option hotels do this (Pineapple Point in FL, Twin Palms in PS, etc) - you can figure this out.|Invest some money into the main pool, gym, second hot tub, etc. Even the electronics in the room can use a bit of updating. I don't know the last time i saw a radio receiver for music.|Host an evening happy hour for hotel guests to give them a chance to mingle and get to...

My husband and I reserved a stay beginning on Monday and checking out on Saturday. Upon arrival everything seemed ok, the service was friendly. We had lunch in the restaurant while waiting for our room and it was quite good- the views were likewise good. The stay changed for us upon arrival in room. While spacious and had a few nice touches like monogrammed towels, the lounge chairs were almost unusable because the strings had stretched and it meant sitting on a hard bar. We attempted to shower before going out for the evening and had no hot water. We alerted the desk and just dealt with it for then. It was 7:30 pm and we decided to visit the bar and pool area for a drink. No one was there and the bar was closed. We were informed this is typical- this was a huge disappointment. Upon getting into the bed in our room that evening, it became immediately apparent that there was a large area in the middle of the bed that was sunken in. My husband and I both kept rolling towards it and found ourselves trying to put towels and other things in the middle to make it more comfortable. We were unsuccessful and woke up very tired after getting almost no sleep and both of our backs hurt badly. We then found that there was still no water at the hotel. We asked again and were told they knew, but didn't have a repair eta. At this point after no sleep and no showers again, we decided this was not what was advertised, booked a different 4 star hotel and asked if we could depart and not stay. We were informed that the reservation was booked non-refundable and even though the bed was horrible and there was no hot water, there was "nothing" they could do in terms of compensation or a refund. Basically they had our money and there was nothing they cared to do for providing an inferior experience at a place rated as 4 star. Needless to say we just kept the room since no money would be returned and still left and paid for a different hotel elsewhere. We returned to the pool area a few times and it was always quiet no matter what time of day. The only exception was during the parties on the weekend, but that wasn't what the pictures try to convey. The hotel shouldn't have 4 stars and the service and quality of the rooms should be better. We will not return and are surprised the other reviews are as kind as they are. Be careful- this place isn't...