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We have been in Mazatlan since June 25th. We spent our first week at Pueblo Bonito Emerald Bay using an exchange through RCI before moving to the smaller Boutique La Jolla next door. PBEB was really nice and we loved reading in the shaded hammocks in the afternoon when we had more than enough sun for the day. This is truly a first class resort.
La Jolla is a very small resort that we purchased fixed time for the month of June in the 2nd floor unit that overlooks the pool and beach. While June is a slow time of the year, we wanted it so that we could bring grandchildren here for a beach experience. The beach is awesome and the weather perfect for a beach vacation. Nearly every day, my husband will say “Have I told you how much I like this place?”
Now there is not much to do here as only 8 units are completed and for 2 of the 4 weeks that we have were here, we were the only 2 people here. One week however, 5 units were occupied – not bad considering that one of the 8 is the model and another is owned full time by a couple. This resort is very low-key and most likely will stay that way, but is a great R&R place. The pool and beach are nice. It is close to Cerritos Beach where you can find Playa Bruja, Roy’s, and Last Drop for restaurants.
We have a car (we drove to Mazatlan from Phoenix), so we can drive to restaurants, the Mega, and shrimp market. We also brought a small electric grill and have cooked a lot of bacon wrapped shrimp with micro-waved veggies and make guacamole a lot too.
All of the staff is super accommodating. The housekeepers, maintenance, Security, and the general manager are all super. The manager seems to be on top of everything and when we talked to him about the WIFI signal being low, he loaned us an access point to use in our unit and we have full strength WIFI now, and another day they added an additional WIFI access point for the Villas. It is very safe here and there are 2 security guys 24/7, one at the gate and one that walks the grounds. There is a safe in one of the bedrooms for our passports and cash. We do not even lock our door when we go down to the pool or beach! Our unit is spotless and even cleaner than the unit we had at Pueblo Bonito!
We have not used the restaurant or bar since we do like to grill shrimp and fish on our deck. There is a menu in the unit and the prices seem reasonable. For the summer, they have converted the pool bar to a massage area. We have only been aware of 3 people getting massages (must have been tour gifts), so I do not know if this will last as an amenity, but I did hear a salesman say they were going to have a fitness center and massage area in the new Tower building. The massages are $70 USD.
While we have been here, they drained the pool to repair loose tiles and while they had the pool drained, they replaced all the lights. They completely re-grouted the entire pool before filling. It took 40 truck loads (5000 gallons each) of water to fill the pool. We have also seen them adding additional air conditioning units to the restaurant area. We are pleased to see them work to keep everything up and make improvements.
Each morning, we sit on our balcony (above the model) and watch all the folks that come for the sales presentation. A couple of the salesmen must have started at the Mayan Palace, because they are quite successful and keep folks here a long time – not the promised 90 minutes! Since the resort is small, so is the sales staff consists of 8-10 salespeople and then there are 2-3 managers that come over to help with the final push, and of course 3-4 guys that give you one last chance for an exit package before you get your gift – pretty much like every timeshare, fractional ownership, or residence club (that is what I heard a salesman call it the other day).
This resort has gotten a bad rap from folks that bought into the Tower that is basically RCI Points and floating time. Until the Tower is finished, it is basically “smoke & mirrors” since the Villas were sold as fixed time and the 8 that are built are sold out. The Tower is not complete, but they are working on it. They poured the floor of the 4th floor last week and workers are doing the finish concrete work on interior walls on the first and 2nd floors. They are working on the portico between the Tower and the pool. We are just amazed at how they do things here. Nearly everything is done manually, not with equipment. But, they have 20-30 guys working 6 days a week. Today, we walked through the Tower construction and were amazed at how much they have done this month. The model unit is not far from being done and several other units are partially complete. I have added photos that I took today to my Picasa photo albums.
La Jolla is a very small resort that we purchased fixed time for the month of June in the 2nd floor unit that overlooks the pool and beach. While June is a slow time of the year, we wanted it so that we could bring grandchildren here for a beach experience. The beach is awesome and the weather perfect for a beach vacation. Nearly every day, my husband will say “Have I told you how much I like this place?”
Now there is not much to do here as only 8 units are completed and for 2 of the 4 weeks that we have were here, we were the only 2 people here. One week however, 5 units were occupied – not bad considering that one of the 8 is the model and another is owned full time by a couple. This resort is very low-key and most likely will stay that way, but is a great R&R place. The pool and beach are nice. It is close to Cerritos Beach where you can find Playa Bruja, Roy’s, and Last Drop for restaurants.
We have a car (we drove to Mazatlan from Phoenix), so we can drive to restaurants, the Mega, and shrimp market. We also brought a small electric grill and have cooked a lot of bacon wrapped shrimp with micro-waved veggies and make guacamole a lot too.
All of the staff is super accommodating. The housekeepers, maintenance, Security, and the general manager are all super. The manager seems to be on top of everything and when we talked to him about the WIFI signal being low, he loaned us an access point to use in our unit and we have full strength WIFI now, and another day they added an additional WIFI access point for the Villas. It is very safe here and there are 2 security guys 24/7, one at the gate and one that walks the grounds. There is a safe in one of the bedrooms for our passports and cash. We do not even lock our door when we go down to the pool or beach! Our unit is spotless and even cleaner than the unit we had at Pueblo Bonito!
We have not used the restaurant or bar since we do like to grill shrimp and fish on our deck. There is a menu in the unit and the prices seem reasonable. For the summer, they have converted the pool bar to a massage area. We have only been aware of 3 people getting massages (must have been tour gifts), so I do not know if this will last as an amenity, but I did hear a salesman say they were going to have a fitness center and massage area in the new Tower building. The massages are $70 USD.
While we have been here, they drained the pool to repair loose tiles and while they had the pool drained, they replaced all the lights. They completely re-grouted the entire pool before filling. It took 40 truck loads (5000 gallons each) of water to fill the pool. We have also seen them adding additional air conditioning units to the restaurant area. We are pleased to see them work to keep everything up and make improvements.
Each morning, we sit on our balcony (above the model) and watch all the folks that come for the sales presentation. A couple of the salesmen must have started at the Mayan Palace, because they are quite successful and keep folks here a long time – not the promised 90 minutes! Since the resort is small, so is the sales staff consists of 8-10 salespeople and then there are 2-3 managers that come over to help with the final push, and of course 3-4 guys that give you one last chance for an exit package before you get your gift – pretty much like every timeshare, fractional ownership, or residence club (that is what I heard a salesman call it the other day).
This resort has gotten a bad rap from folks that bought into the Tower that is basically RCI Points and floating time. Until the Tower is finished, it is basically “smoke & mirrors” since the Villas were sold as fixed time and the 8 that are built are sold out. The Tower is not complete, but they are working on it. They poured the floor of the 4th floor last week and workers are doing the finish concrete work on interior walls on the first and 2nd floors. They are working on the portico between the Tower and the pool. We are just amazed at how they do things here. Nearly everything is done manually, not with equipment. But, they have 20-30 guys working 6 days a week. Today, we walked through the Tower construction and were amazed at how much they have done this month. The model unit is not far from being done and several other units are partially complete. I have added photos that I took today to my Picasa photo albums.
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