Casa Luz de Mar

Watching the sunrise from the hammock with a coffee or tea, and sometimes spotting whales, was one of my favorite parts of staying at Casa Luz de Mar. The ocean view is spectacular, and the house also has a nice, clean pool. The host was very accommodating. It’s a lovely place to relax and enjoy the ocean and sunrise, and I’m planning to come back next month.

The hosts were helpful, and the price felt like great value. Set at the end of a rocky promontory, the place lets you catch both sunrise and sunset from the deck, restaurant, or pool. It’s one of the most beautiful, relaxing, and friendly places I’ve stayed. I’ll definitely be back. Thanks!

Update: guests beware. I paid the full price for a three-night honeymoon gift for two dear friends. As they were leaving, the manager said they owed another 500 pesos per day for using the kitchen and other facilities. The manager was aggressive and disrespectful, so unfortunately I can’t recommend this place anymore. That’s a shame, because the new boutique hotel is beautiful, with breathtaking views, a lovely pool, a mirador, hammocks, and lots of outdoor seating overlooking the ocean. The rooms are large, clean, and well furnished, and the property manager had been friendly and very knowledgeable about the area. We had a great stay.

The location is great and the view is stunning, but after four days this earned my one-star review. I might have given it three or four stars after the first night. I’ve traveled all over the world and have never left a terrible review before, but the place feels overpriced and badly run. If the owners ever cared, that seems to be long gone. Most of the time there was nobody on site. They weren’t expecting us when we arrived, and then late-arriving guests rang the bell and banged on the door night after night until we woke up to help them. It felt like I was doing their check-ins for them. At 6am, women hooted outside the gate and woke us. We told the owners on WhatsApp and got only “ok,” with no apology. The guest service and communication were seriously bad. There wasn’t a fridge anywhere on the property that we could use. In five days they never cleaned our room or made the bed. The Wi-Fi basically didn’t work, and the breakfasts were bad and tiny. We’d booked breakfast included, but when we asked for fruit instead, we had to pay extra. The owners just don’t seem to understand how to make guests feel welcome. The pizzas are good, though more expensive than a good restaurant in Italy. During our month-long trip in Mexico, this was by far the worst place we stayed.