Regular readers of The Royal Tour will be surprised that I stayed in a beach resort to begin with. After all, I tend to prefer cultural immersion to relaxation by a rather substantial margin. But here we are.

I recently was included on a trip with A’s godparents to Mexico, one that included staying at not one, but two, beach resorts run by The Villa Group. Despite it not being my normal ideal way to travel, I thought I’d write about the experience for those looking to either visit one of these resorts or to purchase a timeshare ownership through them.

Let’s begin with some background. As best as I can tell, The Villa Group offers resorts only in Mexico, only on beaches, in the following areas: Cabo San Lucas, Cancun, Loreto, and Puerto Vallarta/Riviera Nayarit. All of them are able to be booked as hotels or used as a part of the group’s timeshare program, with lodging ranging from studios (large hotel rooms with small kitchens) to three-bedroom penthouses. Obviously prices also range based on room type and dates (high versus low season), but these are not inexpensive properties.

I spent a week each at Villa La Estancia, just outside of Puerto Vallarta, and Villa Del Arco in Cabo San Lucas, so my experiences will focus on those and the neighboring (adjoining) properties run by the The Villa Group, as my first property had one connected and my second stay was one of three adjoining resorts in Cabo.

Arrival

Arrival was smooth on both occasions. Guests are greeted and provided with wrist bands that also function as room keys. These are color coded based on type of guest. I was given a green band denoting my being there as the guest of a timeshare owner, while A’s godparents had black bands marking them as full owners. Those who simply stayed at the properties for the week as a hotel had other bands.

With a short (five minute) wait checking in at Villa Del Arco, we were also offered complimentary drinks and bottles of water, a nice touch.

Once in the rooms, welcome amenities varied based on room type. At Villa Del Arco, our two bedroom room (a one bedroom with living room adjoining a studio) had bottles of water in the “main” room, while the connected studio did not.

Rooms

The aforementioned two bedroom room (a one bedroom room connected with a studio, with two separate entrances from the external hallway) is more characteristic of a standard room at The Villa Group resorts from what I can tell, so let’s begin there.

The room was lovely. The one bedroom side featured a master with a full jacuzzi tub, and a second bathroom with shower adjoining the kitchen and living room. A dining table sat six, with living room seating for at least four comfortably. The balcony had a table with four chairs and two loungers, with sliding doors both from the living room and bedroom. The kitchen had a large fridge, a stove, a coffee machine and blender, and enough dishes and silverware to last a bit, especially with the help of a dishwasher. (We did not cook in the room, though we did have snacks and make coffee.) There was also a washer and dryer.

The studio side was more like a hotel room, with a mini fridge and mini kitchen that would have been less usable, especially with only a single desk chair to sit in other than the table with two chairs on its own balcony. But the bed was large and comfortable, and the full bathroom was a step up from a standard hotel room.

On the other end of the spectrum, while at Villa La Estancia, our group was upgraded to a three bedroom penthouse, which might just have been the nicest “hotel room” I’ve ever stayed in. In this case it was a single entrance rather than an adjoining room, and a huge area with two master bedrooms, and a third bedroom with two queens. All had en suite bathrooms, and there was a fourth bathroom connected to the large living room. A wrap around balcony overlooked the water and even had a hot tub on it!

Resort Amenities

All five of the properties I experienced had the same basic layout, with buildings in a V-shape open at the beach. Between the legs of the V were pools. Each had multiple dining options.

Neither of the properties I stayed at seemed close to capacity, so getting a beach chair or a pool chair was never an issue. At Villa La Estancia, one needed to check in at a desk, and then one was given chairs. Villa Del Arco employed a slightly different system, with guests picking up towels from a desk and finding chairs for themselves. (While signage implied that one could not abandon one’s chair for more than an hour and keep it reserved, I did not see that policed in the least, so rows of chairs with towels already on them were common. If the property had been at capacity, I could easily imagine a situation in which chairs would be hard to come by.)

Both properties also had fitness centers and spas.

Villa Del Arco seemed a bit more activity-focused, with staff-led programs throughout the day. These ranged from water aerobics to pool volleyball to guided hour-long kayak trips on the water. I did not see anything like this at Villa La Estancia.

Villa La Estancia did offer free coffee in the lobby each morning, while Villa Del Arco only did from 6-7am, which seemed a bit insulting given the price people were paying. The same goes with bottles of water, which were given for free at a bar at the former and not at the latter property.

Restaurants

For those who wish to remain at the resort, it is possible to purchase a mostly all inclusive package for $140 per person per day. (I say mostly because it doesn’t include the top alcohol brands, or certain items on the restaurant menus. Those are marked as premium.) If one wants to try the various dining options, and to drink margaritas throughout the day, one can get one’s money’s worth, especially since one can try the restaurants at the sister properties as well. (For instance, Villa La Estancia had a lovely steakhouse, while the next door Villa Del Palmar had a sushi place and a Mexican restaurant.)

Food was largely good, if not truly memorable, although pricing was significantly higher at the Cabo San Lucas properties, something that seemed to align with how expensive the area was as a whole.

Surrounding Areas

The two resorts outside of Puerto Vallarta are a bit remote. A taxi into the city took at least 45 minutes, making it a dicey proposition to just go off-site for a meal. The Cabo properties, on the other hand, were a mere 20 minute walk from the marina, and less by taxi or Uber, meaning leaving for a brief time, even just to go to Costco, is easier.

That said, I prefer the city of Puerto Vallarta to Cabo as a place. You can click here to read about my experience in Puerto Vallarta, and here about Cabo San Lucas.

Timeshare Presentation

From what I can tell, there is no requirement to attend a presentation. However, one can volunteer to either based on interest, or for a benefit given for doing so. A and I participated in one at Villa La Estancia in return for rides to and from the airport and massages at the spa for her and her godmother.

The presentation took a little over an hour, and was less of a hard sell than others I have done, with pricing actually approaching something worth considering if we were the sorts who wanted yearly beach resort trips. However, if I had done that same presentation at Villa Del Arco, with its less customer friendly policies, I’d have been less tempted.

Conclusion

If relaxing on a Mexican beach is a goal of yours, you have lots of options of places to visit. Is The Villa Group a true standout? Probably not. But is it made up of high quality resorts that will almost certainly leave you satisfied? That is, based on the five I saw, pretty much a guarantee.

Obviously, this is price-dependent. These are not cheap, either to visit or to purchase timeshares in. But the staffs are lovely, the properties are objectively beautiful, the amenities are solid, and the locations are – while limited – perfect places to find a piece of sand or a spot in a pool.

You could do significantly worse.

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