Side by side One&Only Reethi Rah vs One&Only Palmilla

One&Only Reethi Rah is 109 acres and a dozen beaches, and the thing that actually justifies the fare is the staff, not the real estate. Guests write in with names, not adjectives: a butler called Yiting who ran a private dinner and checked in daily, a host named Hameed who talked a family through a middle-of-the-night health scare, a dive instructor named Moe who slowed down to point out things underwater most people would miss. That's the pattern across nearly every review here, from first-timers to a family that first came eighteen years ago and found the place had gotten better, not worse, with kids in tow this time.

The building itself is good rather than remarkable: Beach Villas are spacious and recently refreshed, the island is genuinely green and walkable by bike, and the main pool and beach club are well kept. The reef is the real gap against the Baa Atoll resorts people compare it to: there's no house reef here, so snorkelling means a boat ride, and one repeat guest found the villas plain for the money, with a small, shaded pool deck. Billing needs watching too: one guest was told watersports were included and got a $730 charge for a 40-minute foilboard session, and daily dining credit can't be put toward room service. None of that is dealbreaker territory, but it's worth knowing before you sign anything at check-in.

The service is the reason to book this over a prettier reef island, and the family-friendly kids' club (marine biology sessions, a Halloween trick-or-treat kids still talk about) makes it a genuine option with children, not just honeymooners. Go for a week if you want variety in restaurants and activities; go somewhere in the Baa Atoll instead if snorkelling off your own villa is non-negotiable.

A junior suite with a plunge pool runs somewhere around $1,400 a night before you've ordered a drink, and the drink will be $30. What you get for it is a genuinely old property: hacienda buildings from 1956, gardens that took decades to grow in over a desert that gets seven inches of rain a year, and a beach you can actually swim at, which is rare in Cabo. The butler program is where this hotel earns its keep. People come back with stories: a star map left in a room after a stargazing conversation, a birthday cake arranged with zero notice, a maternity massage where the therapist knew exactly what was and wasn't safe.

The food and drink pricing is where it gets ugly, and it's worth saying plainly: a small guacamole running $35, margaritas at $30, a $20 horchata that tastes like every other horchata. That's on top of room rates that already sit at the top of the Cabo market. Housekeeping has real gaps too. One guest got a soaked, mildewed duvet re-covered with a dry blanket instead of replaced. Another spent 36 hours chasing down drinking water because there's no bottle station or shop on property. The service can be extraordinary and inconsistent in the same week, and the standard seems to depend heavily on which staff member you draw and whether you booked through a travel advisor.

Families do well here: there's a real kids club, a family pool with a splash zone and zero-entry that beats the adult pool for space, and a beach walk that's quiet even in season. Couples looking for old-school Mexican grandeur over a newer, glossier build will get exactly that. If your priority is swimmable water and a hotel that feels lived-in rather than freshly built, book it for the beach and the gardens.