Don Tomas Vineyard — Local services in Baja California

Me and my 3 co-workers/friends stayed in the cabin that had 2 king beds. The cabins are big, rustic, and perfect for a quick getaway to Valle de Guadalupe. The beds were clean and comfortable, there is a heater/AC unit, and there isn’t a TV. The only negative parts about the cabin was that there was only decaf coffee to make and there wasn't any patio furniture for 4 people, so 2 of us used the chairs from inside and the other 2 sat on pillows on the ground. It was such an incredible view that all we wanted to do was sit on the balcony and enjoy it with our wine (which was delicious!).

We had a reservation for Friday night and had to fight traffic to get there on time as we were coming from San Diego. The winery/restaurant is only open until 5 PM on Fridays which seems early to me. We were able to buy a few bottles of the wine to enjoy at our cabin which was really nice – we probably arrived with only a few minutes to spare, so the girls in the wine tasting area were so sweet to help us out.

The next morning, when we got to the restaurant for breakfast (we were there right at 9 AM sharp because we were starving!) there was only 1 person working. About 15 minutes later, the rest of the staff arrived. We ordered our food and coffees immediately, but our food didn’t arrive for almost 45 minutes. So we arrived at 9 AM and didn’t get our food until 10 AM. I understand that the kitchen takes a while to prep, but if the restaurant opens at 9 AM it would be good to be there at least a half our before it opens to prepare. I booked a reservation at this hotel weeks in advance and there were other people in other cabins, so it was no secret that the hotel had guests.

There was also a guy smoking a cigarette in the breakfast area about 50 feet away from my party while we were eating. A person in my group went inside to ask the manager to kindly ask the man smoking to please smoke somewhere else because we were eating. The manager said that the man was allowed to smoke and was not going to ask him to move. This was rude of the man smoking to not be considerate of others, but it also rubbed us the wrong way because we were not just guests of the restaurant, we were guests of the hotel and we thought this was wrong.

Overall, I would absolutely stay at the cabins again as well as buy a few bottles of wine from here, but I’m not sure I want to wait to eat at the restaurant again (even though the food was really good!). It wasn’t open long enough to have dinner on Friday night so I was sad to not try any of the dinner menu items, but if I have to wait over an hour to get a cup of coffee and chilaquiles again, I’m just going to go to the neighbors about a 2-minute drive away. The only reason this isn't getting 5 stars is because of this breakfast experience -otherwise, I would have...

I’ve been to nearby wineries but never had the change to stop at Don Tomas until Saturday. I made a reservation for tastings for 16 people and we had the best time here. We were setted on the deck under the shade outside. I had the reserve tasting for 400 pesos (pricey, but delicious wines), many did the basic tasting for 250 and others just drank beer, sangrias and other fancy cocktails. The reserve tasting comes with complimentary cheese, olives, oil and jams. That was a nice touch! They were delicious. Our server, who’s name is can’t remember, was one of the best that I’ve encountered in the Valle. 5 stars for her alone. She handled the large crowd perfectly. I spoke to one of the bartenders and he said the deck recently doubled in size. I look forward to coming back for another relaxing afternoon at Don Tomas. I did enjoy their wines and the others also liked what they drank. Most of their reds are on the pricier side for the Valle. More than I’m used to seeing. Otherwise they’re solid wines of one or two varietals, unlike those that blend too many types. I think the setting and service takes Don Tomas winery to another level....

Went this year for a second time. First time, two years ago, was great, and we were expecting a similar experience. Not this time! We went for the mini-cabins and got #1 (which seems to be the farthest one, closer to the fencing delimiting the premises). Room was lacking on the cleaning setup (stains on the floor, spider webs behind the door, a leftover item from, we suppose, the previous visitor, which should have been detected by the cleaning staff if they were meticulous enough) and lots of bugs (¿maybe because, as i stated before, this mini-cabin is the closest to the fencing?). We returned late at night (~ 10:30 PM) and found a spider on the bed. That was the end of it, and we checked out immediately, although we've paid for the night. Before that, we went to the 360° bar and bought a white wine bottle, which was not good. Seems that as they grew larger they began lacking on the facilities and quality. Sad to say, but we won't be returning...