Another Planet?

Another Planet!!
This Christmas I revisited the Rosarito Beach Hotel on the Baja California coast of Mexico and the nearby cruise port of Ensenada . I have visited Mexico only twice previously. Some years ago I had the opportunity to visit Cabo San Lucas - memories of Benalmadina on the Costa del Sol in Spain came flooding back. I spent a wonderful year on the Costa Del Sol in the mid 90's. Last year I returned and was truly amazed at the cost of residential property there. For even a relative small apartment overlooking a golf course and with distant sea views, the asking price was over $250,000! My thoughts went back to a visit some years ago to Cabo San Lucas.

For those of you who haven't visited this area, Cabo has all the excitement of many cruise ship ports of call around the world and really is more American than Mexican. Exciting nightclubs and a multitude of great restaurants provide non-stop 24-hour excitement. I was blown away by the magnificence of some of the timeshare resorts I had the opportunity to visit.

I spent a day at the incredible Hacienda del Mar Vacation Club, just 5 miles from Cabo overlooking the beach and adjacent to the Sheraton Hacienda Hotel. It was here at the Hacienda that I was awakened to the fact that I was on another Planet!

Just how naive can a supposedly experienced traveler be about economic conditions in a country as close as Mexico? How can a receptionist be paid about $US 20.00 a day, I wondered, and a very ordinary (most attractive mind you) Villa be priced at more than half a million dollars! Any dreams of buying a small hideaway 'Finca' in Mexico came to a sudden halt. Not discouraged I wandered next door to a newly developed resort development selling Condos and Villas overlooking a Golf course, and the beach of course. Perhaps I should scale down my ambitions to a 2-bed/2-bath condo I thought? At an under construction project next door they offered me a deal too good to refuse! For a mere $569,000 I could own one of these yet to be completed 2 bed, 2nd floor apartments! I should point out that back then they offered a great rental program. The apartment would rent for a bargain $ 850.00 per night they told me, and within 5 years it would have paid for itself at a 30% occupancy rate. The apartments next door, they were quick enough to point out, rented for $1800.00 per night, would you believe

Where have I been for the last few years? I can recall being hesitant to suggest that holiday accommodation could reach as high as $200/$300 a night, when discussing timeshare ownership with fellow resort development professionals. Looking at some of these spectacular timeshare resorts with comparable accommodation and selling at well under $30,000 it was not hard to understand why visitors to places like Cabo San Lucas decide to invest in a timeshare rather than spend over half a million just to visit this remarkable destination.

You can forget Golf if you have a budget. Rounds there during my stay started at over $200.00 for 18 holes, plus cart and tax of course. That is unless you own a timeshare at the beautiful Los Cabos Golf Resort. Owners only pay the cart fee of about $30 I was told?For the time being at least -I think I'll stay right here in exciting Las Vegas, where my senior twilight rate can be as low as $18.00 for 18 holes.