Hacienda Cerritos

My husband and I purchased a voucher for Hacienda Cerritos on Travelzoo several months ago and booked our trip for September 13-18. We arrived around sunset on 9/13, having flown to Cabo and rented a car and stopped at the Wal-Mart en route to pick up bottled water, coffee, and snacks as we'd read we'd need these things once we arrived.

The first thing we noticed was the road, or lack thereof. After you get off the highway, there are a series of dirt paths that lead out to the beach and up the hill to the hacienda. They are marked minimally, and had it been dark, we would have had a very difficult time finding the place.

We parked in front and entered the hacienda. The property itself is gorgeous, but that is where the postive experience ends.

There is NO staff. The only person onsite when we got there was Gregorio, the (amiable) bartender/staff member. He was at the bar, and made us a drink before checking us in. He told us that the bar closed at sunset, and that the option for food was only at the restaurant at the Surf Colony down the beach, that closed at 9.

Gregorio checked us in at the office in the front of the property and then showed us to our room, telling us that the property was fully booked for the night. Our room was nice - living room with kitchenette, bedroom, bathroom, terrace, shared side pool - good on first look but on deeper inspection, dirty and not kept up. Gregorio left us there quickly, and when I asked him what to do if we needed anything, he didn't have an answer - there was no phone in the room and he told us that he'd soon be leaving for the night and that there would not be anyone on the property for security, maintenance, service or otherwise.

A few minutes later, we noticed the bedroom was very warm. We also noticed that there were 5 burned out lightbulbs, and I found trash in the kitchenette area. We tried the AC remote and found that the AC unit in the bedroom would not turn on. It was over 90 degrees outside and humid, and buggy given the recent rains. Keeping the unscreened windows open was not an option given the weather, the critters and the fact that we were ground level in a property with no security in Mexico.

We decided to go down to the restaurant to see if someone could help us, as the Surf Colony has the same owner as the Hacienda. Luckily Gregorio was checking in the last group of the day as we were walking out. We asked him about the AC issue, and he said there was nothing that could be done. We asked about maintenance and he said no one from maintenance would be available until the following day. We asked who was in charge and he said there was no one available. Finally, with persisitent questioning, he called the Surf Colony manager, Lisa, and told us to go talk to her.

Getting to the Surf Colony was its own challenge. Beyond the pool, the property and the beach HAD NO LIGHTS OUTSIDE. To get to the Surf Colony, you had to descend a large stone circular staircase and then walk for about 10 minutes on a very dark beach - there is literally nothing around for miles. Luckily we had flashlights with us otherwise it would have been a much scarier experience.

We got to the Surf Colony, ordered dinner and went to talk to Lisa, who, it turned out, had been employed there for all of three days. She told us she was not in charge of the Hacienca but would try to help us. She called Rigo, the sort of "jack of all trades" for the properties, and had him go check the AC unit in our room. After dinner, she called him and he said it could not be fixed that night. We asked what the next step was - sleeping in the very hot room was not an option. She reminded us that it was not her responsibility, but would see what she could do. As the property was fully booked, they could not move us to another room. We asked if they could move us to another property given the issue (both safety and health) and she said she could not authorize that, and that only the owner could. She was hesitant to call him, but finally did.

It was apparent that he was not pleased to hear from her right away, as she did nothing but apologize to him on the phone before walking out to take the call our of earshot. She returned and told us there was nothing she could do, the owner had said so.

At this point we were getting frustrated, given that we'd prepaid for a dirty room with no AC, so we asked what else could be done. She said nothing. We asked his name and she told us it was Roger Pollock in Portland, OR. I looked him up online and found that he has judgments of nearly $400,000 against him, had a housing business that was dissolved by the state, and was found guilty of drugging women in clubs. At the same time, my husband and I looked up other area hotels and asked that they cover our stay elsewhere given that they could not deliver on what we'd purchased. She said Roger had told her to tell us to recover against Travelzoo, that it was not his problem. We mentioned to Lisa that we were both attorneys and we'd address that issue when we returned to the states. She then left the office and came back with Roger on the phone, as my husband had asked previously to speak with him and been turned down.

She put Roger on the phone with my husband. Roger told my husband that we needed to, "GET THE F**K OFF OF HIS PROPERTY" and that bad things would happen to us down there in Mexico if we didn't do so, and that he'd settle things "the old fashioned way". My husband asked him directly, "Are you threatening my safety?" and Roger replied "Yes." After several more questions regarding our safety, my husband and I decided to leave quickly. Rigo took us in his car back up to the hacienda where we retrieved our bags and got in our car. We got lost on the dark dirt road for about 15 minutes on the way out, and finally finding the highway, drove to Rancho Pescadero, where we were able to salvage our vacation. They told us we were not the first people they'd "rescued" from Roger and the Hacienda Cerritos.

It is a travesty that such a goregeous property is owned by such an unprofessional man. We are filing police reports and are in the process of recovering our money spent against Travelzoo. This American gives Mexico a bad reputation. It is very sad and no one should patronize his business.