Hotel Review: Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos

Hotel Review: Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos

Last May, I was granted the opportunity to visit Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos for a short, 3-night stay. While originally I kept comparing this resort to its sister property in Cancun, I quickly realized the two resorts are entirely different. Both are fantastic in their own way.

An All-Inclusive Hyatt

Hyatt has many brands in its portfolio, Hyatt Ziva and Zilara being the newest of them all. Ziva and Zilara are Hyatt’s  all-inclusive, luxury resorts. They have properties located in Mexico and Jamaica. While Hyatt Ziva is the family friendly half of the chain, Hyatt Zilara is the adults-only half of the collection. Additionally, these resorts are managed by Playa Resorts (Royal Hideaway, Gran Resorts), in combination with Hyatt, guaranteeing that they are extremely well managed.

I fell in love with Hyatt Ziva Cancun last April and when I was given the opportunity to experience Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos, there was no way I could turn it down.

The Resort’s Location in Los Cabos

If you are planning your first trip to Cabo, as I was, you may have gotten a bit confused differentiating between Cabo San Lucas and San Jose Del Cabo. Well let me explain…. When someone says Los Cabos, they are referring to both Cabo San Lucas and San Jose Del Cabo. They also could be referring to the  20-mile stretch of resorts located against the Sea of Cortez, between the two.

Cabo San Lucas is where the crazy kids on Laguna Beach went for Spring Break, while San Jose Del Cabo and its surrounding resort areas, is where families and couples go to enjoy white sand beaches.  Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos is located on an amazing, exclusive stretch of beach in San Jose Del Cabo, approximately 20 min from Los Cabos Airport (SJD). Unlike many of the all-inclusive resorts in Cabo San Lucas, this resort is much more relaxing-luxury than rowdy-raves.

The Beautiful Rooms

Image by TripAdvisor

The 591 rooms and suites at the Hyatt Zika Los Cabos are all spectacular.  Each rooms features a seating area, sizable bathroom with a tub and a rain shower, and quite a bit of storage space. We had two full closets and dressers in our room! My only complaint regarding the bathroom was that the shower was not blocked off from the tub in any way. It wasn’t an issue for us, but I could see it being an issue for some families.

Everything in the mini bar is part of the all-inclusive accommodations. A Nespresso coffee machine, wine, mini bottles of alcohol, and soft drinks are all easily accessible and re-stocked daily, along with cookies, chips and candy!

WiFi is included in the resort. It is spotty at places on the beach and by the pool, but works great in all of the rooms and public areas.

Housekeeping makes sure that your stay is exactly how you like it. If you prefer a particular type of pillow, there is a notecard you fill out to request a pillow swap. If you need anything, the phone operator will make sure that you get what you need ASAP. It truly is “service from the heart”.

24-Hour All Inclusive

View from Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos’ Steakhouse Restaurant

I did my best to sample as much food around the resort as possible. The culinary options represent authentic cuisines from all over the world, not the Mexican variation you may find in some all-inclusive resorts.

In three days, I made it to all three of the buffet restaurants that are open for breakfast and lunch. Out of the seven a la carte restaurants I visited the Italian (which has different menus at lunch and dinner), Spanish (delicious sangria and tapas), Japanese (which has a teppanyaki table and sushi bar), and the Steakhouse. This may have been some of the best food I have ever had in Mexico. I also managed to try some poolside tacos at the Coco Loco snack bar. I heard a lot about the Coco Loco Bar prior to arriving -and made sure to try it on my last day. They serve amazing, authentic Mexican tacos that are made fresh to order.

Filet mignon cooked medium to perfection.

My must-try recommendations: Caprese Salad and truffle Mac and Cheese at the Italian restaurant, Pad Thai and fried ice cream for dessert at the Asian restaurant, and custom omelettes for breakfast!

Truffle mac and cheese at the Italian Restaurant

Room service is available 24 hours a day and is all-inclusive. There is also a 24-hour coffee shop, that makes jet-lag or insomnia easy to battle! Each evening a crepe chef sets up a cart outside of the coffee shop and makes custom crepes that are absolutely delicious. They are a great

For the tequila enthusiasts, and those that prefer margaritas, there’s a tequila bar with a tequila sommelier.

Just Keep Swimming

Guests will choose between five swimming pools including a large main pool, an infinity pool, a children’s pool area and a pool just for adults. Drink and food service are available poolside, so go ahead and order a mango margarita to your chair or swim up to the bar. The large infinity pool is the warmest and is also where all the activities occur. They have trivia competitions, beach volleyball, and on the last day, I even played pool volleyball!

The beachside chairs are the same ones as at Hyatt Ziva Cancun. They were just as comfortable as I remembered. They even had some resting in the water, so that you can cool off easily while laying out! We set up shop every day on the same two round couches by the beach (as seen above). We were next to pool, but our toes were in the sand… the best of both worlds! One of the pool boys even reserved our chairs for us after the first day, so that when we came down to the beach all we had to do was relax.

The Glorious Spa at Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos

My shoulders and neck are literally constantly in knots due to lifelong slouching (I’m still working on it) so any opportunity for a massage is welcome.  The facilities are lovely and quite large. There are 16 treatment rooms, 3 palapa outdoor treatment rooms, a wet area, steam room, indoor lounging area, swiss buckets and more. You can definitely spend quite a bit of time here.

Los Cabos’ Famous Un-swimmable Beaches

Cabo is home to a strong undercurrent and pounding surf. On the first day, at lunch, I was shocked by the loudness of the waves. We could even hear them from our suite above the lobby. There are swimmable beaches in Cabo San Lucas, but they are a taxi-ride away.

It is rare in the Cabo area to swim in the ocean directly in front of your hotel. However, the sand in front of Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos is beautiful. Walks along the beach, especially at sunset and sunrise, are very scenic.

Family Fun in Los Cabos

The bottom line is that kids will love this resort. Food wise-  they can order whatever they want, they can eat as little or as much as they want, and nobody will charge mom and dad extra for it.  While they could probably spend an entire day at the main pool with its basketball hoop, inner tubes and other pool toys  that are available for purchase, there is also a kids water park area with slides, bucket dumps and splash pad.

For the older kiddos, there is a teen game room with a pool table, air hockey, video games and other amenities for a fun break from the family.  Computers are available in the deli and coffee shop to use free of charge. And if mom and dad want some alone time? Kids ages 2-12 can spend the day at the kids’ club near the water park.

For the active kids-at-heart, there is a rooftop basketball court, tennis court, and ocean view fitness center that I totally recommend checking out. We used the showers on our last day since the resort does not have a hospitality room.

Tips Go A Long Way

Tipping isn’t expected but is very much appreciated at the Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos. I always advise bringing cash and tipping at all-inclusive resorts to ensure good service. It is easy to fall out of the habit of tipping when signing a check in a restaurant isn’t required. In fact, I can’t emphasize this enough. We tipped our pool boy on the first day, and every day after that he set up our pool beds ahead of time!

In my opinion, Hyatt Ziva is the best family-friendly property in Los Cabos. I highly-recommended it to anyone looking for a couples getaway or family-friendly resort in Los Cabos! While at the resort, I was also able to witness a destination wedding. The beauty and effort that went in to setting up the event makes Hyatt Ziva a top recommendation for any future brides.

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2 Comments

  1. Patricia Antonakos
    February 14, 2018 / 8:58 pm

    I’ve wanted to go back to Mexico for a while and its so nice to see a detailed review of a place, especially a new one! I think I’m sold!

    • Jet-setting Spirit
      Author
      February 14, 2018 / 9:04 pm

      You absolutely must check out this resort! It is one of the best I have ever stayed at.

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