Meg D.
Yelp
Staying at Villa La Estancia was a dream! When we arrived at the resort, we were greeted with champagne, an easy check-in process, and given a brief "welcome" overview complete with maps of La Estancia and Villa del Palmar Flamingos, their sister resort next door which we also had access to. We stayed in a Unique Deluxe Superior Suite with an Ocean View on the 8th floor, and the view from our balcony was incredible! The room was spacious with two queen beds, three closets (one walk-in), and a tub shower. The beds were firm, but comfortable. Housekeeping went above and beyond every day; they even stopped by every night to offer more towels and deliver small desserts to the room for turn-down. The resort was immaculate and smelled of peppermint aromatherapy in the elevators and hallways. The grounds were perfectly manicured.
There are two restaurants on site at La Estancia: La Casona (the steakhouse, open for sit down breakfast and for dinner with reservations) and La Parilla (the pool bar and grill). While you also have access to their sister resort's other dining options, we found ourselves prefering the food at both of these restaurants at La Estancia. The quality of food and experience you get at La Casona is unmatched. Expect to spend 2-3 hours for your several course dinner, but trust me when I tell you it's worth it and absolutely delicious. They even have musicians playing live instrumental music at meal times to enhance the ambiance! La Parilla had some of the best pool-side food options, both American and Mexican fare, that could be ordered at the restaurant's tables or delivered to your pool chairs. There was ample seating both poolside and in the water that was perfect to sip your drink after a visit to the swim up bar. We especially enjoyed the pool concierge's padded cushions on chairs and towel rolls for behind your head -they were a really nice luxurious touch! The pool (and resort as a whole) was never crowded, unlike the Flamingo resort which was much louder and had more children running around. Even though this is a family friendly resort and families were present, our time at La Estancia was very quiet and relaxing!
When we weren't relaxing in the beautiful pool listening to sound of the ocean, you could find us at Tatewari Spa. They offer a unique hydrotherapy circuit that comes included with the all-inclusive packages. This hydrotherapy circuit is a guided lap through a series of saunas, steam rooms, showers, and whirpools and ends with a warm, aromatherapy neck pillow, cucumber slices on your eyes, and a scalp massage. You can complete the circuit as a standalone treatment or just before your scheduled spa service. So relaxing!
The entire staff was extremely friendly and made the trip! Everyone was welcoming, greeted you as you walked by, held the doors, and would even joke around with you (they even taught us some more Spanish!)
While we had such an incredible time at La Estancia, there are some things we wish we would have known before arriving:
1. The beach was not swimmable when we were visiting in August. The waves were rough, and they had a red flag out the entire week we were there. I'm not sure if the beach is always not swimmable, but it's still beautiful to look at and listen to!
2. The wifi doesn't really work. The connection in the lobby is good, but it doesn't reach the rooms or the pool. If you'll need to use the internet, plan on using data or a hotspot
3. We had the "studio" suite (B) that attaches to the One Bedroom Suite (A). What we didn't realize was that rooms A & B can be booked as a two bedroom suite and therefore, you share a balcony. This really wasn't an issue because no one was staying in room A for the majority of our stay. However, near the end of our trip, the other room was booked, and it was a bit awkward to have to share the balcony with another group without anything separating us. It appears every room at their resort shares a balcony unless you book both rooms. So that's something to take into consideration
4. This is more of a pro tip: the AC in the room does not work unless your balcony door is fully closed. We learned this the hard way!
5. It's clear that management puts a lot of pressure on the staff to encourage TripAdvisor reviews as we were reminded numerous times to complete reviews and mention staff by name when we arrived home. This is by no means the staff's fault, but it did become excessive towards the end of our stay. It's my understanding there's a certain number of reviews the resort and each staff member must hit each month, and I worry this pestering could leave a bad taste in people's mouths and cause vacationers to either not want to write reviews or give negative reviews. The staff was exceptional, and the review I planned to write regardless before the reminders would have illustrated that.
Overall, I cannot recommend this resort enough! I'm counting down the days to my next visit!