Villa del Palmar at The Islands of Loreto

Our Happy Place for 12 years! So much has changed from a stunning Baja location vision to beyond reality! We arrive at the airport, see our islands, Loreto Bay and in a breathtaking drive south we arrive at the entrance. The photos don't do justice to the warmth at the resort and wishing you could stay for weeks. Loreto is a dream because of the service, amenities, view, and peaceful environment. However, this review is about the staff. The professionalism, care, concern, and surprises of hospitality are everywhere! All staff view their work not as a job but as a sincere engagement with visitors, new or repeat, and never seem to forget your name, and details to make this visit your most important. We are residential members who have the luxury of an elite staff to make every stay memorable. Thank you is never enough for the concierge team of Samantha, Jessie, Lupita, Diana, Kiki, Josa and Nahum who provide individualized attention to details, exceptional service and benefits. Each of them are ready to assist, with humor, grace, genuine care for your stay before arriving, daily and already planning our next visit as we wave goodbye.

Villa del Palmar is a fantastic resort situated in a unique setting: the only property in stunning Danzante Bay, a half-hour south of Loreto town on the Sea of Cortez side of Baja California. As one of my photos shows, the setting is like Arizona meets a beach: arid, with cacti but also sparkling blue water, gently lapping onto a nice beach just a few short steps away from the resort rooms. Although the water was cold in February, we donned wetsuits and snorkeled along the rocks and saw tons of fish and some interesting coral. Kayaks and stand up paddle boards are also available and included in the resort pricing. The resort has everything you would want, including several pools and jacuzzis (including adult-only ones), several restaurants, a glorious spa, an adjoining golf course with stunning views, and several inviting public spots for relaxing and enjoying the wonderful setting (hammocks, Adirondack-type chairs overlooking the beach, plenty of lounge chairs by pools and the beach, etc) One can book boat tours exploring nearby islands or whale watching. From the resort, one has to walk out some 100 feet or more into the shallow cold water up to the knees to get into a boat since there is no pier there. (We took boat tours from the marina at Loreto which was easier and a bit cheaper. Blue whale watching in January-March is amazing in this area!) The resort includes units that are part of timeshare properties so several (all?) have connecting rooms to allow for 1- or 2-bedroom arrangements, or studios. Each suite seems to have a modest kitchenette with a range, microwave, large refrigerator, dishes, etc., which make them great for families. The bathroom in our studio was not particularly lux but was a good size. Our room also had a desk and a chair but could have used another chair, perhaps a stuffed one for lounging. The rooms also have large balconies to take in the views. One qualification that should be noted is that there is nothing near the resort to walk to; it really is the only thing around. This is a plus for those who prefer a quiet setting and are happy hanging out at a resort. For those who would prefer to get out to explore, you have to take a cab or the resort's shuttle van (extra fees) into Loreto town. If you want exercise, aside from swimming, tennis/pickleball, and working out in the gym, one can walk along the golf course or take a challenging hike on a well-marked trail with great views. Also, although it is a modest town, it is definitely worth visiting Loreto for its quaint town plaza, excellent restaurants, etc. but it is a half-hour away by car. For this reason, I believe the all-inclusive meal plan at the resort should be strongly considered unless you plan to cook some meals in your room. We booked our stay many months early at a substantial discount in a package that also included the meal plan. Normally, I would be skeptical of the value of all-inclusive plans for those who don’t drink alcohol heavily but I found the plan at this resort to be a freeing and value-worthy experience, without having to think about the prices of what’s on the menu or whether to have an extra drink at the beach. Plus, I found the food overall to be excellent, from the buffet, the informal sit-down service restaurant Casa Mia, the beach hut, and especially the fine dining steakhouse Danzante. The latter requires an extra $20 or so per person for the privilege of eating there but the beautiful atmosphere, elevated dishes, outstanding service, and the chance to have a huge steak or surf and turf made it well worth it. Another tip is to consider a spa treatment. If you book a massage, go an hour early to take full advantage of the guided hydrotherapy treatments provided, including whirlpool, dry sauna, cold shower blast, steam room with eucalyptus, another cold blast, and epsom salt bath with aloe vera rub. Decadent and pampering. One thing to be on the lookout for: ahead of the stay, we were contacted by email by someone who represented himself to be a concierge of the resort (even though it turned out that he was working in an office in Arizona) making himself available for pre-booking tours and selling spa vouchers supposedly at a discount. But this person was very inconsistent and often non-responsive to my reply emails, insisting on primarily doing business by phone, including phoning me very early in the morning and waking me up. Annoying. I did not find him to be a great representative of the resort. Among other things, the spa vouchers turned out to have very little discount value because the spa uses an extremely low foreign exchange rate so that buying a $140 USD voucher turned out to be credited with the value of only about $145 at the exchange rate applied, rather than the $165 value promised by this pre-arrival concierge. I was later contacted by a different concierge a few days before arrival. This one seemed to be more plugged into the actual resort and was able to make a dinner reservation at the Danzante steakhouse for us while the outside pre-arrival concierge claimed he was not able to do this. So I would just advise to be cautious about booking things ahead of time. It seemed as if tours and spa appointments were able to be booked once at the resort, so no rush. The biggest problem I had was that I pre-paid for 3 tickets for myself and two friends we were traveling with for snorkeling tours to nearby Danzante Island. But when we got to the resort, we were told that it was too windy to assure quality conditions so the tour was cancelled for both of the days we were available. No problem, please refund what we paid. But the tour desk said we would have to go back to where we purchased the tours. So, from the resort that very day, I phoned the pre-arrival concierge and explained the situation. After he confirmed the cancellations with the tour people, he said he would put paperwork in for the refund (a credit back to my credit card). A week later, no credit, so I emailed him. He ignored that. I emailed again, same result. So, I then emailed the resort's concierge who immediately said she would make sure I got the credit. Two weeks later, no credit so I contacted her again. She expressed shock that I still was not credited and said she would personally handle it. A few days later, I only received a credit for 1 of the 3 tour tickets I paid for. I finally just asked my credit card company for a chargeback for the remaining 2 tickets. I hope that's the end of it. But after all of the positive things I have to say about the resort, this lack of responsiveness by the concierge staff left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth.

Had wonderful first time stay at Villa del Palmar Danzante . Hotel is tucked away back in a beautiful canyon down on the Sea of Cortez. We had Ernesto greet us at check in and made us feel like family immediately. We would have loved are stay anyway. But Ernesto was there greeting us seemingly every day. As a golfer you can enjoy a beautiful conditioned lay out. Expensive but well worth the money. Many choices of food and all restaurants reasonably priced and different menus.

We had the best trip ever to Villa Del Palmar in Loreto, Mexico! We have traveled to soooo many places but this is my all-time favorite! Josa Espinosa was such a GREAT help! He took care of all of our wishes. Manny at the pool took care of all the fun there, Manuel and Gabriella at Marketplace restaurant was a great waitress, Eli and Pedro at Casa Club were superb as well. Jose at Dasante made Spanish coffee that did not dissappoint! Manu, Stephano and Jehudiel and Jaki at the bar made dinners wonderful! The list goes on! Who ever is in charge of this staff deserves a bonus because they are doing it RIGHT! Thank you for a restful vacation that I’ll always remember.

If you don't mind being attacked by flies... It's wild...no peace from flies anywhere!! Also the "elite" group is most inefficient!! The golf is $800 per couple...meals are reasonable. Mountains are pretty. Hard to say much else...the spa is nice BUT NO COUPLES area Basically they don't care what level of ownership you have. Not much service I'd bypass this place and only go to VILLA LA VALENCIA Cabo!!!