Property
El Moro is a small hotel in La Paz with an interesting white Moorish design, fountains, a shady pavilion to read in, a pool and two hot tubs. We liked this place a lot even though it’s a tiny bit shabby around the edges. It was quiet, relaxed and unpretentious and has a great location right along the Malecon, La Paz’s famous pedestrian walkway along the sea.

Location
La Paz is a 2-hour drive north of Los Cabos and a world away. La Paz felt like the “real Mexico” to us and is a popular vacation spot for mainland middle class Mexicans who take the ferry over. Club El Moro is located directly across the street from the Malecon, a pleasant 7-mile walkway along the Sea of Cortez.

Walk a block to the right along the Malecon and you’ll find a really high-quality playground with great sunset views and a coconut drink stand. Walk about 15 minutes to the left and you’ll be downtown with your choice of loads of seafood restaurants and a few cafes.

Sleeps
2-4 in the standard rooms. 4 in the studio and suites with kitchenette. We stayed in the 2 bedroom unit with a full kitchen which sleeps 5 plus an extra one or two on the futon bed in the living room. It was perfect for 4 adults and 2 young kids. No elevator so beware of the third floor rooms if you don’t like stairs.

Highlights
The pool was great and our kids loved running across the little bridge and playing hide and seek around the small grounds. Through the front desk, we signed up for a day tour of Island Espiritu (a protected area with a coral reef, manta rays and a sea lion colony) which was absolutely gorgeous! They even found flippers small enough for my 4-year-old and we all snorkeled and swam with the sea lions. Beautiful! Other highlights include the outdoor and indoor markets, fruit smoothies and bakeries.

Good to know
Free bottled water! The hotel’s restaurant is open only for breakfast and lunch and offers free coffee and internet. The service was slow but we loved our red enchiladas and the kids swooned over their tropical fruit and yogurt plates. We went out for lunch every day (amazing and cheap fish tacos just a few blocks away!) and cooked our own dinners as restaurants begin to serve dinner around 8pm which is well after the “crazy hour” where our kids melt down and should not be seen in public.

Contact
http://www.clubelmoro.com/

Written by Jenny Jensen

Property
This 5-star hotel has a fun pirate ship restaurant jutting out into the pool. The rooms are beautiful and super comfy. Even the smallest room (Deluxe Studio) has a balcony, flat screen TV, DVD player and stocked kitchenette. The hotel has direct beach access and a view of the famous Arcos rock formation.

Location
Cabo San Lucas is located on the beautiful though pricey southern tip of the Baja California peninsula of Mexico. Beaches are white sand and sunsets and breathtaking. The waves were too rough for kids to swim in, but we had fun wading and playing in the sand on the few occasions when we could drag the kids away from the very cool pool.

Sleeps
4 in the studio and up to 10 in the 3 bedroom suite (1 and 2 bedroom suites are also available).

Highlights
Lunch is served on the pirate ship until 5:30 so we had an early dinner- yummy and reasonably priced Mexican food for adults and American style kid-pleasers. The fish tacos and Cabo pizza with squid and scallops were delicious. The front desk were so helpful when my sister’s baby had a 10 PM screaming earache. They had a doctor in the room within 20 minutes who diagnosed an ear infection, helped them find the only pharmacy in town open that late and gave them a discount on the extra night stay when the doctor said they should wait 24 hrs to fly.

Good to know
A wonderful full breakfast buffet for 2 is included in the room rate but you have to pay for the kids- make sure you check your bill. We were charged the adult rate for the kids breakfast but luckily caught it at check out (the difference was $42 to $7, whew!). Check out Travelocity before booking at the resort’s website- we got a great deal!

Contact
http://www.villagroupresorts.com/resorts/villa-del-arco-los-cabos

Written by Jenny Jensen