My friend and I stayed at the InterContinental for five days at the end of June and we had a fantastic time. First, they upgraded own room to oceanview which was unexpected and although they had us wait while the room was 'cleaned', it was a complimentary upgrade which was really nice. We had booked through Expedia, and the price was really reasonable.
The grounds are absolutely gorgeous--clean and expansive, with lovely cacti and lawn. The beach does have horse poop, and you can't swim in it, but I didn't mind. I did put my entire body in the water by sitting in the waves to cool off once and it felt great.
The room was okay, it wasn't the BEST, but the bed was firm and comfortable with clean, crisp white sheets. The patio was small and had 2 cheap plastic lawn chairs, but it was so hot that I didn't spend any time there really. The air conditioning worked well, just a little loud, but it wasn't that bothersome really. The bathroom was small but adequate, with good water pressure in the shower (shower only, no bath). There was NO safe or refridgerator in the room, and we asked the front desk if we could even pay extra but they said that NO rooms had safes in them, which was a big disappointment. However, they have safes right near the lobby that you have a key for and it seemed VERY safe.
The earlier review about the restaurants was accurate--the Mexican restaurant El Patio was DEFINITELY the BEST! Yummy food and service, and great decor. Unfortunately, it's not open every night. The breakfast buffet was okay, nothing totally out of this world, but definitely adequate. I liked the restaurant on the beach that served the fish tacos and quesadillas--didn't try the burgers, but did eat the soft serve ice cream/frozen yogurt which was absolutely delicious and I liked how it was self-serve.
I liked all the yummy cocktails and mixed drinks. Jose, one of the bartenders at the swim up pool, was friendly and I saw him make blended drinks with real bananas and he obviously put some care into what he was doing. His drinks were always strong and delicious. I wish the iced tea at the restaurants weren't pre-sweetened, though.
We rented bikes one day which was fun but the bikes weren't in the greatest shape, and we could have done something much more intense, but that's not something we could fault them for since the people we were with weren't in best shape. We did the yoga and tai chi which was okay.
The three pools are all different, and my only compliant is how loud the music is at the middle pool--much too loud for my taste.
The service was fantastic, everyone was really nice. We especially enjoyed the Mexican themed night when they had a mariachi band and outdoor buffet right next to the beach. That was really fun, and obviously a lot of work for the hotel.
The beach palapas were fantastic, with a couple of them that had hammocks under them which was nice. It's not the hotel's fault, but the way the beach is there, you can't see the waves from the palapas but of course you could hear the crashing sound of the waves so it wasn't that bad. We walked around a lot around the beach and the freshwater estuary which was really nice with lots of birds there, and we saw cows roaming around too!
Overall, I really had a fantastic vacation there and I would definitely go back!

We had such a great time at the Presidente InterContinental Los Cabos, that I felt that I had to share my experience with other people who were thinking about booking this resort. I planned a girlfriends' getaway for the 2 of us, and I had never been to an all-inclusive resort before. I did extensive research from guide books, but the most helpful was tripadvisor.com. Most of the reviews were great, but there were a few negative ones, which made me wary that it might be "too good to be true." I pleasantly found that the resort exceeded my expectations. Those people who said that they had a terrible experience must be impossible to please. The Presidente was not fully booked, due to the low season in June and the hot humid weather. However, they automatically upgraded our garden view room to a 3rd floor ocean view room without us asking for it. That was an unexpected surprise. The room was very clean and the beds were very comfortable. We also had a little balcony which was nice. The grounds of the resort was immaculate, and full of native plants such as cacti and palm trees. There were 3 pools to choose from, and there were always lounge chairs available. My girlfriend and I mainly laid out under the palapas on the beach, on the chairs or on the hammocks. The weather was spectacular, even though it was quite sunny and humid. Make sure you bring plenty of sunblock of at least spf 30, and reapply frequently. The food was exeptional, even at the buffets. I am a very picky eater, and I was always amazed by the variety at the buffet, and the exellent quality and presentation of the dishes at the a la carte restaurants. Napa was only one open for breakfast and lunch buffets, but it was always clean and they rotated the hot dishes. For breakfast they had fresh fruits, cereal, yogurt, pancakes, made-to-order omelets, scrambled eggs, and meats. Mostly for lunch we had tacos, quesadillas, and nachos with guacamole at El Caribeno, the outdoor casual restaurant. For dinner we make reservations at the a la carte restaurants in the morning. There was never a line at the concierge desk from 7-8AM, so it was painless to do it. And it was worth the effort since the a la carte food was top quality. Our favorite restaurant was El Patio, then La Terraza, and then Napa. You can even have shrimp or lobster if you upgrade for $25. Otherwise, the seafood they offer is dorado (mahi mahi), scallops, and octopus. Other all-inclusives we looked at didn't even offer seafood. We also enjoyed the alcoholic drinks at the Presidente at the bars and the swim-up bars. They were not watered down, and the bartenders were usually very nice and happy to get us whatever we wanted. Actually, all the service provided was the same or better than any 5 star hotel, or any Michelin star restaurant. I did notice that a lot of people did not tip the bartenders and the servers. We did so because we felt that they worked so hard, and had such a great attitude that they deserved it. I got great advice from previous travellers to get a stack of $1 bills before I got to Mexico just so that we could tip easily. Another advice I would offer is bring $5 and $10, but no bills larger than $20. My friend and I did venture to lunch at Cabo San Lucas, and at a nearby hotel restaurant to try other types of food, and we were slightly disappointed compared to the excellent food at the Presidente. In order to combat all those calories, we participated in some of the activities offered such as yoga, tai chi, and bicycling. Jose was nice at yoga on the beach, but the tai chi wasn't that authentic, and he denied us pilates on a day we were looking forward to it. That was a little disppointing. Mitch took us on a San Jose bicycle ride, and that was well worth it and fun. There was also a gym at the resort, but for a hotel of this size, it was quite small. The theme night that I highly recommend is Wed Mexican fiesta night. There was a lot of entertainment such as the live music and mariachi, dancing, and authentic Mexican food. That night is a must-do. The lobby had a couple that played guitar and sang every evening next to a bar. It is actually hard to come up with any criticisms of the Presidente. We both had our share of relaxation and royal treatment by everyone at the Presidente. The price was so reasonable that we can't wait to go back and stay there again!

We have stayed at a number of all inclusive resorts in Mexico and loved them. i have never written a negative review before. But this was so bad I felt I should say something.
Starting with the good - the rooms are clean and the grounds well maintained, thats it.
Now for the bad - the food is not edible we tried all the restaurants and ended up walking 2 blocks toward town, there are a couple of great restaurants in a small strip mall. The service was only a small degree better than the food. the entertainment was about as bad as it gets and you cant swim in the ocean only look at it if you have a view. We paid for a ocean front room and got a room on the side of the building over looking the adult pool and forest. when we said something to the front desk they looked at us like we were crazy and said thats all we have take it or leave. unless you have no intentions of eating and don't care about being treated like crap you will not enjoy this place.

My wife, teenage daughter, her friend, and I stayed at the Presidente San Jose Del Cabo for a week in June 2008. We booked two rooms through Hotwire and got a great deal on garden view rooms. After we booked the rooms, we joined the Intercontinental Hotels Ambassador program via the hotels website for $150. We did this prior to arrival and they bumped both of the rooms up to beachfront lanai rooms on check-in. These lanai rooms are at least $50 more per night, so the $150 for the membership got us a $700 upgrade.

The Resort:
The resort is spread out with plenty of space at the beach and around the pools. There are three pools. The adult pool is small and quiet with a walk up bar. There are 30 to 40 lounge chairs around the pool. The activity pool is large with music playing and activities going on all day. There is a swim up / walk up bar at this pool and at least 80 lounge chairs. The family pool is also large with a swim up / walk up bar. There are at least 150 lounge chairs around the pool and adjoining patio areas. The beach also has about 80 to 100 lounge chairs under palapas. We never had a problem fining a poolside chair. There are extensive cactus gardens and fountains throughout the resort. The place was immaculately clean.

The Beach: The beach is definitely not swimable. The waves are too large and yes, there is horseback riding on the beach so watch your step. The horse droppings are a problem with most of the resorts in the area, not just the Presidente, since the land directly along the ocean is public property in all of Cabo.

The Rooms: We had a double and a king room connecting. The beds, while firm, were not too hard. The linens and towels were fresh and white. The rooms were cleaned daily and in the evening the maids came in a second time to replace any used towels and provide turn down service. The lanai / hammock outside the room with the table and two chairs were a nice place to relax, read a book, and enjoy a drink or two.

Timeshare: There are timeshare desks in the lobby. We were approached to take the tour of the property and were offered a couple of discounts at first. Not enough to make us want to sit through the presentation. When we came back to the resort with a much better offer from another timeshare resort, the Presidente matched the offer. So, do not take the first offer they make to you to take a tour. The timeshare people, just like the local merchants are into bargaining. If you say you want more, they will give it to you. Ask for specific multiple activities, like two massages on the beach and an ATV tour. If you ask, you might just receive what you want. We finally did go to the Presidente timeshare presentation and no, we did not buy. The sales people were nice and were fairly low pressure for timeshare. We also did the Club Regina at the Westin timeshare presentation. Be warned do not go to the Club Regina timeshare presentation, they will ruin most of a day for you and will make you feel like you are idiots for not buying.

The Food: This is the second time we have stayed at an all-inclusive. For the most part the food was average. Breakfast was the same everyday with the exception of about 6 or so items that they did change on a daily basis. You can expect the standard fruit, sweet breads, made to order eggs / omelets and probably 10 to 14 other hot item choices. For lunch, there were two choices, the snack bar by the beach serving burgers, chicken, nachos, tacos, etc or one other restaurant, that changed daily. The second restaurant had an average soup / salad bar and an al a carte menu with maybe 8 choices of chicken, beef, fish, etc. For dinner, at least two restaurants were available, a reservation required restaurant and the buffet. The buffets were pretty good and were themed different nights of the week, there was seafood night, international night, oriental night, Italian night, etc. Although there are four restaurants other than the snack bar, only two were open each night while we were at the resort. The al a carte food was good, but if you wanted a decent steak, shrimp, or lobster, you would have to pay an extra $15 to $25 US for the upgrade. Once again, the food was average tasting, but they always did a great job of making the dishes pretty. You have to make reservations each day with the concierge, but we never had a problem getting a reservation even in the afternoon. In the reservation restaurants, ask for Edwardo to be your server, he is a gentleman and an exceptional waiter. Room service cost $2.50 US per cover and they had a nice selection of items on the room service menu.

Service: The best part about the stay was the people. From the managers, to the waiters, to the bar staff, to the maids and activity staff, everyone wanted to make sure you had a pleasant stay. Our daughter got sick the second day and needed some bland food. Since bland is not on the menu, we contacted Carlos the food service manager, and he went out of his way to make sure we got what we needed. Thank you Carlos. Jorge and Eugenia at the activity pool bar and Edwardo in the reservation only restaurants provide great service with a smile. The Thai Chi instructor, Jose, was also wonderful.

Entertainment: The nightly entertainment was so so. But, the Wednesday night Mexican Fiesta was a wonderful show and meal. The show lasted over two hours with music and dancers and lots of Mexican food.

Activities: The daily activities are fun and varied. We took part in the beach volleyball, pool volleyball, tequila pool volleyball, Tai Chi, and the bicycle tour of downtown San Jose Del Cabo.

All in all, we were very satisfied with the resort and would highly recommend it to friends and family.