My wife likes to split vacations into segments. When we go to Orlando, Florida we'll spend a few days at the Hard Rock Hotel At Universal Orlando Resort and then the rest of the time at the Walt Disney World Resort.

This time we'll be at The Grand Mayan Los Cabos for one week and at the Casa Dorado on Medano Beach in Cabo San Lucas for the second week of our Mexico vacation.

We moved to the Casa Dorada timeshare last Saturday and so I've had time to consider writing a review of the week we spent at The Grand Mayan Los Cabos resort.

Let me cover everything in sections (all photos courtesy MyMotels):

Entrance

If you arrive in the daytime you will be surprised to enter a dark cavern that can be a little off-putting until you get used to it. In the evening you'll see that the entrance houses gigantic Mayan statues.

Check In

The check-in was fast and simple. We were also informed that if we participated in a "quick" 90 minute timeshare presentation we would be entitled to great discounts on activities such as swimming with the dolphins, snorkeling, horseback riding, etc. Do not go. It never takes only 90 minutes and it will ruin your entire day.

Rooms

We stayed in the two-bedroom suite. The first bedroom (photo above) has one king-size bed and a pullout. Theoretically 6 people could sleep in the first bedroom.

The second bedroom (photo above) has one king-size bed and a pullout. Theoretically 6 people could sleep in the second bedroom.

Between the two bedrooms is a guest-room with a dining table with seating for 4, and two pull-outs. Theoretically 4 people could sleep in the guest room.

In addition, the guest room is equipped with a small kitchenette with coffee-maker, fridge, microwave, and a stove-top. As some of my readers are aware, I enjoy making bacon in a stove and so I was disappointed that there was no full stove in the kitchenette. There is also a counter-top with additional seating for three.

Directly outside our suite is a patio with beach chairs and a small 2-foot deep pool (photo above) in which I plunged my body into every single day. Some people need large pools and expansive beaches, but I found this mini-pool much more convenient. Vacation for me means the least amount of travel away from my bedroom.

Every room has a fantastic view of the beach and if you don't want to look at the beach there's a flat screen TV in every room (that's 3 TVs in our setup).

Beach

Wade in up to your ankles only. Signs everywhere warn that the undertow is treacherous. There is no swimming in this part of the Sea of Cortez.

Pools

The Grand Mayan has at least 7 pools, most of which were empty. I'm told this is the off-season. The truth is, the resort only has about 152 rooms so it's probably not that crowded even in the busiest of times. All the pools are shallow, perhaps 4 feet deep at most and warm. There is no problem getting chairs with umbrellas or covered lounge beds.

My only complaint is that they close the pool too early, 10PM. Other resorts allow swimming 24 hours a day.

Food

There are nine of us in our party and so it's not always convenient to go out eating breakfast, lunch and dinner at restaurants. In addition, someone always feels like a turkey sandwich at midnight. Going to a local supermarket is a must. The Mega-mart is only a twenty minute walk from the hotel (otherwise it's a 5 buck taxi ride). On the way back we always take a taxi, when you're shopping for nine it's too heavy to walk and carry.

If you don't mind buses they're less than a buck to the Mega-Mart.

While in the Mega-Mart beware of time-share hawkers masquerading as store personnel trying to help you find products. They pay rent to the Mega-mart for their kiosks and so the store allows them to wander the aisles trolling for fishes like you.

If all you need is milk, soda, eggs, or bread there is a small bodega about 4 blocks away and walking back is easy. However, expect to pay anywhere from 50% to 100% more for everything. And don't expect to see American brands.

The sugar comes in packages that look like rice and not as white as our sugar. The cream is not as white as our cream. The local bodega has only brown eggs but they tasted just fine.

I recommend the large sandwich rolls at the bakery in the Mega-Mart. Mucho gusto.

As for the main restaurant PeriQ, they changed the menu every night we were there. It's a bit pricey, figure about 20 to 25 bucks a person for adult menu. They also have a buffet and show night for $39 bucks a person all you can eat and drink. This is worth it if you're into imbibing a lot of alcoholic drinks. I found the food sometimes great and sometimes OK. But, hey, we're on vacation, everything can't be as good as New York City.

Internet

The hotel has wireless and only allows one device to connect. If you need it only once in a while it's about $6 an hour or about $15 a day or $60 for the week (depending on your exchange rate). We took it for the week since almost all of us like to be connected. We registered one laptop and used that one as our hub so that the rest of us with 4 laptops could use the Internet at the same time. The speed wasn't that great but was passable. It could also be that at home we are used to huge bandwidth from our cable company.

I should mention that the StarBucks located in the Mega-Mart does not have free wi-fi and it's not fast.