Playa Escondida Beach Club

For a family trip, the privacy and secluded setting were appealing, and the suite-style rooms are spacious, with a kitchenette and living/dining area. The infrastructure also seems fairly new. That, at least, earned the two stars from me. We booked two rooms, but there was only one TV, in the kids' room, and we couldn't move it elsewhere. The value just wasn't there. We paid a little over $900 for two nights and restaurant food, while resort-style all-inclusive places like La Ensenada and Telamar cost only a little more and seem like better choices. Playa Escondida calls itself a "luxury" hotel, but once there, I wasn't convinced. Drinks are expensive at luxury-level prices, without the service to match. There are no poolside waiters, so you have to climb out and walk to the bar or restaurant to order. We also dealt with power problems, including an outage lasting over six hours overnight that wasn't fully resolved until morning. There didn't seem to be staff on site around the clock: the last employee left at 10PM, leaving one security guard. The outage affected the water pumps, so guests made repeated trips to the pool with bottles or whatever they could use to get water for their rooms. On our second night they chose to work on the power again, causing more water trouble. Nearby properties seemed to have electricity, so it looked like poor preparation and management. We got no compensation, just an offhand apology from the administrator on shift. With no staff there after 10pm, pool upkeep also wasn't done overnight as it is at other places. On Sunday at 8am, several of us were waiting to swim while they finished cleaning the pool and adding its usual chemicals. Restaurant orders took more than an hour. Some guests who arrived after us were still waiting for their food after we'd finished. The place seemed understaffed, and restaurant servers also had to deliver room-service meals and serve the lucky guests ordering poolside, leaving the restaurant without anyone there at times. We tried it because we didn't know the place, but won't return unless it's the only option. Couples might be fine here since it's private and secluded.