January 8, 2008

Hotel Review: "Presidente" InterContinental Hotel

San Jose Del Cabo, Mexico

By Stan Dyer

Located 19 miles northeast of Cabo San Lucas on the tip of the Baja Peninsula in Mexico, Presidente InterContinental is the all inclusive hotel and resort of the worldwide InterContinental Hotel Group. Although it is not the lap of luxury, I found it to be very nice with a friendly, accommodating staff, and offering a pleasant, relaxing, vacation experience.

ALL-INCLUSIVE

Do not let the "all-inclusive" fool you. If you want extra perks, you will pay for them. Although all-inclusive does include all meals, beverages and tips, there are items that are not included. This all-inclusive does not include rides either to or from the A eropuerto, does not include access to wireless internet, (that's $11.00 American per day more), and, even though room service is free, there is still a $2.50 (not pesos) service charge for each visit. All-inclusive does include all "well" drinks, but if you want upgrade wine or spirits, you will pay extra. You will also pay extra for some upgrade choices at dinner. Lobster, Shrimp, Rib Eye, T-Bone, and New York Cuts are extra, as are all bottled beverages. In the rooms, phone calls, TV internet, Movies and Laundry also incur surcharges. There was mention of a surcharge for general use of the Business Center, the Tennis Courts and the Gym, whether you use them or not, but we were not charged. Before you allow all this negativity to discourage you, remember that they have to make money, too, and they cannot do it if they are feeding everyone lobster and champagne at every meal.

THE ROOMS

Due to the nature of the climate, all of the hotels in the area are made of concrete, stone and similar products. You can expect to find a lot of tile and should be concerned if you see any carpet. Ours was not the top end room, but the King-Size bed was very comfortable and included extra pillows. Some of the workmanship in the room was shoddy, but not enough to detract from the overall comfort. The room was a good size with plenty of closet space, plenty of warm water, and plenty of water pressure. Mexico does have 125-volt connections for electrical devices, but you will need adapters since their wall outlets differ from American ones. Our room came with a hair dryer, but there was no clothes iron even though there was an ironing board. For drinking purposes, the hotel provides "bottled water" in each room since everyone knows Americans generally do not do well drinking tap water in Mexico. On a scale of 1-10 where the Brown Palace is 10 and that room in Pueblo is "one", this room was around 7 or 7.5.

THE FOOD

Hotels always try to provide food suited to the needs and tastes of their guests, but the majority of paying customers still eat meat and unhealthy foods, and hotels tend to cater to majorities. This hotel offered five different restaurants and room service, but the service was limited. Guests receive calendars showing which restaurants are serving which meals on which days. Generally, you can get food 24 hours a day as long as you go to the right place, make reservations or use room service. All meals are served "buffet" style and offer a good variety, but we noticed that sometimes they put meat in everything, (including the potatoes), and people have to be certain of what they are taking. Sit-down, "ala carte" meals are available at certain restaurants for dinner by reservation only. On the buffet, we were surprised to see Vegetarian California Rolls served up on Oriental Night, and, although I had none, I was told they were very tasty. I was also pleased to see such choices as lentils, fresh fruits, Dannon yogurt, and whole wheat breads. We never tried an "ala carte" dinner. One big problem we discovered with room service was there were no room service menus in the room. Without a menu, I wanted neither to test my Spanish nor their English. Although some people spoke relatively good English, many of them "faked" it as well as I "faked" my Spanish. You might think you were being understood when, in fact, you were not. When it comes to my food, I just do not want to take that chance and pay $2.50 every time someone had to come back to my room to make sure my order was right. On the 1-10 scale compared with all the American restaurants I have sampled, the quality of food here rates 8.5 and the selection rates 8. By the way, that infamous Mexican Tourist Guide "La Tourista" visited no one in our group, and we were all pleased.

THE RESORT

One thing I will say about this resort is that the grounds were immaculate. Landscaped beautifully with palms, a variety of cacti, and other native vegetation, there were people constantly trimming, shaping and maintaining the beautiful landscaping. The grounds workers and the maid staff were some of the friendliest people we ran into. They did great work and worked hard to make guests comfortable. Inside and out, these people did excellent work keeping this one of the most beautiful resorts we saw. As a group, staffing makes or breaks a resort and this resort is blessed with an outstanding staff.

Some people might find it unusual that a hotel on the beach has three pools. The problem here is that this location of the beach has an under-toe that makes it dangerous to get in the water. There are places further down the beach where people snorkel, surf and otherwise enjoy the water, but it is better just to look at it from this end. The same features that make swimming impossible also make for some beautiful, breaking waves that are just as enjoyable. The three pools at this resort are 1) The Adult Only pool, 2) The Activity pool, 3) The Family pool, with an adjacent, shallow "kiddie" pool. It's nice because if you are an adult and you don't want to worry about dirty diapers in the pool, you can go to the exclusively adult pool. If you want to play games or other water activities, you go to the activity pool. If you want to spend some time in the water with your kids, you go to the family pool. It's a perfect set-up. Anyone can get wet in the Mexican sun without worrying about what is under the cold, blue waves down by the beach. On the 1-10 scale, the resort rates 8 and the staff rate 9.5. The staff here is second only to the staff at the Brown Palace in Denver.

ENTERTAINMENT

As part of the package, this resort offers nightly music and entertainment, which includes frequent "theme" nights. I kind of got the feeling that the performers here were like those in the movie "Dirty Dancing" who traveled from resort to resort making their living by giving the tourists what they want to see. With 41 hotels and resorts along this beach, there is plenty of opportunity for those who have the talent. We saw many talented performers with a variety of talents and we enjoyed them all very much. On the 1-10 scale, the performers as a whole rated a solid 10. They were very good.

OTHER PERKS

There are many beachfront hotels in this area and a lot of competition. Two things that give this resort an edge are its proximity to the freshwater estuary next door and the relatively short walk into town.

The estuary is a nature preserve. Although access is somewhat precarious, there is a lot to see. Many native birds live and nest in the estuary and that makes it a natural delight. Unfortunately, many areas of the estuary are overgrown, cluttered with trash, and frequented by ATVs. You have to either rent an ATV to see the deepest parts, or be content to see the view from the public beach.

It is about a half-mile walk to the old town of San Jose Del Cabo. Parts of the old town remain, but it is easy to see that work is progressing rapidly to make this a more modern tourist destination. For example, there is a Catholic Church in the old town square that is 600 years old, but all that is original is the location. It is small, quaint and beautiful, but the modernization for tourist purposes is apparent. The old Cabildo also remains and shares much the same fate as the Church. Everywhere in the old town square, workers are busy moving San Jose Del Cabo into the new millennium. Nonetheless, the "taste" of history, the opportunity to walk and shop, and the chance to mingle with more of the locals is worth the walk and worth the trip. On the walk into town, there is an above ground cemetery similar to those found in other coastal areas such as New Orleans, and there is a Botanical Garden featuring many different kinds of cacti. You can walk to town from most of the resorts, but Presidente is one of the closest.

OVERALL EXPERIENCE AND GRADE

This hotel gives a decent value for the money, but there are things they can do better. For one, they could make it easier for hotel guests to enjoy some of the other attractions of the area such as snorkeling, whale watching trips and boat rides. You can do all those things, but the hotel does very little to facilitate the guests in that respect. Also, after "running the Gauntlet" at the Aeropuerto while finding a ride to the resort and seeing how that negatively affected my first day in, it seems that this resort would improve their guests' overall satisfaction by providing transportation and not trying to get guests to sign up for "extras" on the day of arrival. After wrestling with luggage, security and customs, most guests just want to get to the beach and relax. Still, they did provide excellent weather, a nice beach, good food, a comfortable room and a great cultural experience. On this trip, they grade "B+", mostly for value received for price paid. It was expensive, but it was fun. They were almost at the "A" level, and I would recommend this resort to others, but, with all the competition around, I am curious to see what others in the area offer for what prices.

(Author's Note: If you go to this resort, the website will tell you to expect to pay $35 for a cab. If you pay more than $20, then you are officially a gringo. There is a lot of competition in this area too, and everything is negotiable. Before you accept anyone's offer, make one of your own or look for someone with a better deal. Believe me, there will be plenty of them around.

Also, in respect to the exchange rate, it varies, but most places readily accept U.S. dollars and there is no real need to buy pesos. Even though the exchange rate is generally a bit higher, most businesses figure prices and change at ten pesos for each U.S. dollar. For small purchases, it is hardly worth noting, but it can be significant if you decide to make any large purchase. There is no general sales tax in Mexico except for the difference you pay from the actual exchange rate.)