San Felipe Marina Resort & Spa

After waiting at least an hour and a half for dinner, we gave up and went into town. We never even got to order. Service was terrible, and the building is barely maintained. It’s somewhere to sleep, I guess, but the roadside would do just as well.

The power kept cutting out, and one outage ran from 1 a.m. until 9 a.m. We had no water or restroom access during that time. The shower also stayed clogged for hours, so everyone couldn’t use it. The AC didn’t work, the mattress was awful, the curtains were torn, and the room felt dirty and neglected. The pool was under construction despite being advertised as available. What we got was nothing like the online listing. For more than $150 a night, this was unacceptable, and the no-refund policy felt like a way to hide behind the problems. The stay felt broken, uncomfortable, and unsafe. This was the worst hotel experience I’ve had, and I won’t come back. I’ll tell others to avoid it and spend their money elsewhere.

The quiet, mostly clean grounds still have some charm, and you can tell the resort must have been beautiful in its prime. It has a lot of potential. The beach is right there, beside a great tide pool that rises and falls each day, and town is very close. The Valley of Giants is nearby too, with enormous cactus rising over the peaceful desert. Just beautiful. I stayed four years ago, and from recent reviews it sounds like little has changed. The beds and couch cushions were uncomfortable, the service could’ve been better, though staff were courteous and professional, and the Wi-Fi didn’t work. Everything looks dated. Bring a mattress topper if you want more comfort, along with a coffee kettle and snacks and drinks, so you don’t have to drive off the resort to the market.

A huge roach in the bathroom, broken AC controls, and water pressure that fails several times a day. It takes more than an hour for the water to come back, and nobody answers the phone at night, so work on it doesn’t even begin until morning. The facility is in terrible shape. I’ve stayed several times over three years only because they have an electric car charger. That was my last visit. I’ll drive an extra day to avoid this hotel.