Review: Zen Spa, Pools And Other Activities At Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos

A Week Of Rest And Relaxation In Cabo

More from this series:

• Introduction: A Week Of Rest And Relaxation In Cabo
• Review: Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos Ocean View Double Room
• Review: Zen Spa, Pools And Other Activities At Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos
• Review: Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos Restaurants And Bars
• Review: Final Thoughts On The Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos
• Review: VIP Lounge Los Cabos Airport

With a week at the resort, we had plenty of time to cover all the Ziva had to offer. Here’s a rundown of the various activities that are offered.

Zen Spa

As mentioned previously, we took advantage of a $100 spa credit for having the (no longer available) Hyatt Credit Card. To be more precise, my wife took advantage of the credit.

She booked an 80 minute relaxing massage about halfway through our stay. The price was $144 before the credit. You can check out the rest of the spa services on the Zen Spa website.

My wife was impressed by the facilities. Here are some pictures she took while she was there.

While the facilities were nice, my wife had an issue with the “relaxing” description of her massage. She said it was the most intense massage she’s ever had. In fact, she took some ibuprofen that night because she was sore from the experience.

So, it seems this was more of a deep tissue massage than a relaxing massage. To be fair to the masseuse, my wife did say she felt more relaxed the next day.

The Pools

The pools at the Ziva were the biggest disappointment of our trip. Specifically, the kids pool was a maddening experience. The problem is they have this awesome water park area where my kids would have spent our entire trip on the slides. But, they could never last more than 30 minutes before they started shivering from the freezing cold water.

I just don’t understand why you’d make the investment for this setup…

…and then have the water so cold, nobody can enjoy it.

I know it’s not cheap to heat a pool. But, if you’re going to invest in a kids area and advertise it as prominently as the Ziva does, make it so kids can actually enjoy it all year!

Every parent we talked to mentioned how disappointing this was for their kids.

The hotel information book in our room includes this preemptive warning that “most” of their pools are heated. I’m guessing it’s an indication this is an issue that comes up regularly with guests.

Referencing the image above, the main swimming pool in the middle (past the reflecting pool) was freezing cold. My girls stuck their feet in the water once or twice. But, we saw fewer than 10 people in this pool over the course of the week we were there. And I thought those people were nuts.

Off to the right the small sliver of pool along the building is for the swim-up suites. This pool is heated. I can only imagine the complaints if someone paid extra for the swim-up suite to only find out the water was so cold you can’t get in.

Then in the distance, the pool closest to the beach is heated as well. The angle this image was taken at makes the pool appear small. It isn’t. This is where we did the majority of our swimming and we never felt cramped by other guests. With the swim-up bar, heated water and proximity to the beach, it’s clear this is where management wants guests to spend their time in winter.

There are also two hot tubs next to this pool which came in handy when our kids were frozen solid cold from the kids water park.

I liked the infinity edge facing the ocean. But, it did mean fewer lounge chairs where most people spent their day swimming. And with many guests laying claim to a chair early in the morning, this meant we rarely had even a single lounger to leave our stuff at while swimming. It’s not the end of the world, but I wish the staff would enforce the “no claiming seats” rule that’s posted near the pools.

Finally, secluded on the side of the resort is an adults only pool. I think I stuck my feet in the water. But, I honestly can’t remember whether it was heated. I’ll blame my foggy memory on the delicious margaritas. But I think it is heated.

The adults only pool (that might be heated)

Freezing cold main pool

Heated swim-up suite pool

Heated pool near the beach where we did most of our swimming

The Beach

We didn’t expect to spend any time in the ocean because the beaches generally have a strong undertow that makes swimming unsafe. Many of the reviews I read prior to our trip complained the black flag (dangerous sea conditions) was up the entire time they were on property.

We didn’t see the black flag once on our trip. But, the blue flag warning about marine life was up every day.

This actually led to an amusing encounter on the beach. A guest asked one of the pool hosts what the flag meant. He explained to her it was a warning about marine wildlife. The guest seemed excited and asked what kind of wildlife. You could hear in her voice that she wanted the answer to be sea turtles, dolphins and Shamu. When the pool host explained the warning was for rays or jellyfish, she immediately walked back up to the pool area and wanted nothing to do with the beach.

We walked on the beach quite a bit. And you could definitely see rays close to the beach. As the sun would shine through a breaking wave, you could clearly see the outline of a ray. Once or twice we saw one break the surface of the water after being washed into a shallow area by a bigger wave.

So, we limited our time on the beach to getting our feet wet and building sand castles. The Kidz Club had sand toys we could checkout and bring to the beach. That was more than enough to keep my girls happy.

They also do morning yoga on the beach. My older daughter and wife enjoyed this one morning. But, as the girls slept later and later each morning of the trip, it was hard for us to finish breakfast and make it to the beach in time for them to attend another yoga class.

There is also a sand volleyball court on the beach and an activities staff that engages with guests.

Kidz Club & Teen Room

The Kidz Club is near the kids pool area. There is an outdoor area with a playset and slide and a lot of sand to play in. I was surprised to see they have a couple of power wheels/battery powered cars to play with. My girls really enjoyed those.

Inside, they have toys, video games and a staff to supervise the kids (4 and older). I wish I had more pictures of the Kidz Club. But, there were other kids in the area when we were there. I’d be really creeped out if someone was taking pictures of my girls. So, I avoided taking pictures of other kids.

The Kidz Club was cool and my girls liked climbing the rope ladder and sliding down the slide.

The objection I have to the Kidz club is the 4 year-old cutoff. The resort charges money or points for kids 3 and up. But, you can’t take advantage of the Kidz Club with a 3 year-old. It would seem much more reasonable to either include 3 year-olds in the Kidz Club or begin charging for kids when they turn 4.

For older kids, the teen room is near the main pool. It’s actually a pretty cool space with video games, pool tables, air hockey, shuffle board and ping pong.

You can also check out board games, frisbees, soccer balls, etc from a stand near the main swimming pool.

Gym, Tennis and Basketball Courts

The gym was below our room in the main building and had nice modern equipment.

The views were pretty great and there was a patio outside with lounge chairs.

You could also checkout a basketball or tennis equipment to use on their basketball and tennis courts, which are located close to the gym on top of the parking garage.

Local Activities and Excursions

There is an activities desk in the lobby that can help book any of the local excursions. Here is the price list they provided.

I was really tempted to book the whale shark encounter. But, it would have meant a full day away from my wife and kids. That didn’t seem like a reasonable thing to do on a family trip. So, I decided to save it for another time.

Evening Entertainment

We fell into a routine where each night after dinner we would take a walk around the property to the beach and then sit by one of the fire pits.

Then later in the evening we’d go to the “Kids Mini Disco” show. The first few nights the show was in the main theater, Teatro Real.

Later in the week, Wrigley’s Mexico division was holding a big corporate event and the kids’ show was moved to a smaller conference room.

A rotating cast of superheroes would show up each night. And staff from the Kidz Club would lead the kids in games and dancing. While it was very silly, the kids had a great time. And everyone left with some candy at the end of the show.

Teatro Real also hosted shows for adults later in the evening. We didn’t go to any, so I can’t report on them.

Bottom line

Whether you want to relax by the pool, book an excursion or play a game of beach volleyball, there are plenty of ways to spend your time at the Ziva Los Cabos. Our biggest disappointment was the water temperature at the kids water park. This really is something the resort should address because the frigid temperatures limited the amount of time our girls could spend playing on the slides, which would have been the highlight of the trip. In the end, we never felt bored or in need of something to do. So, I can’t complain too much.