Villa del Palmar Beach Resort and Spa at the Islands of Loreto, Mexico

Written by: Tony Korologos | Monday, January 21st, 2019
Categories: Golf • Golf For Women • Golf Life • Golf Lifestyle • HOG World Tour • Reviews • Travel
Tags: Loreto Mexico • Mexico Golf • Travel

Current situation at Hooked on Golf Blog World Headquarters: snowed in. We are in a massive winter storm here. Many roads are closed. While I love skiing and winter sports, I found myself daydreaming about relaxing by the beach with a frosty beverage in hand. Great time to write my review of my recent trip to the Islands of Loreto, Mexico and the Villa del Palmar Beach Resort and Spa at The Islands of Loreto. Off we go to fantasy island.

Location Location Location

Villa del Palmar is located in the Baja California Sur, a sliver of land which extends several hundred miles south from San Diego, California and sits west of the Mexican mainland. The Baja is home to a very well known tourist destination, Los Cabos/Cabo San Lucas. Villa del Palmar is about 300 miles northeast of Cabo on the Baja’s east coast, about 30 minutes south of the town of Loreto, Mexico. Loreto is a friendly, quaint, scenic, and relaxing place with terrific shops, restaurants and great nearby activities.

Villa del Palmar Overview

Villa del Palmar resort is a gated resort occupying hundreds of acres of pristine oceanfront land, overlooking Danzante Bay and the Islands of Loreto. The resort features numerous 1-3 bedroom suites and penthouses up to four bedrooms.

Resort amenities include five swimming pools, hot tub, 39,000 square foot spa and wellness center, arcade room, kids club, fitness center, convenience store, night club, and shuttle service to/from downtown Loreto.

Resort guests can enjoy numerous activities. On property is TPC Danzante Bay Golf Course, a world class golf course by Rees Jones. Other activities include swimming, beach relaxing, biking, ATV’s, hiking the local mountains, snorkeling, sport-fishing, whale watching, paddle-boarding, kayaking, breathing fresh air, having your 5-year-old bury you up to the head in sand.

The resort features several dining options, from the casual Casa Mia restaurant to the elegant Danzante gourmet restaurant.

The Bay

The bay is coral blue with barely any waves or water currents. Seriously. The largest wave I saw was about two inches. It’s dead calm, unlike many of the violent and dangerous waters in Cabo San Lucas.

The water is shallow and walkable, even hundreds of feet from the shore. The beach is perfect for families who have small children and don’t want the fear of issues with waves. Note how calm the water is in the photo below, where I was relaxing and enjoying the sea, sand, scenery, and serenity.

Activities in the bay include boating, snorkeling, swimming, building sand castles, kayaking, paddle-boarding and much, much more.

Pool

There are numerous pools and a hot tub for swimming and sunbathing, sans sand and salt water. The swimming pools at Villa del Palmar Beach Resort and Spa at the Islands of Loreto are shaped like turtles. It took me awhile to realize that. I didn’t make it to the hot tub, but it looked nice and large.

Suites

As a single player, my suite was the one-bedroom. The one-bedroom is very spacious, and can accommodate 2-4 adults. The main bedroom has a king size bed, and the living room has a sofa-bed for the kids or extra guests.

Living room and kitchen

There’s a kitchen area in the one-bedroom, complete with a refrigerator, oven, stove, microwave, dishwasher, cupboards, and even a washer/dryer in the side closet.

The bathroom area is large, with a big jetted tub, separate shower, closet, separate toilet, and dual sinks.

The balcony of the room is huge and comes with a table and chair set, and lounge chair setup. Oh, and depending on the room there are views of the ocean or the resort.

One remarkable thing to mention regarding the suite is the service. Each day my suite was cleaned and made up to perfection.

Bedroom and bathroom (note the message on the bed!)

I would return from the day’s activities of golf, hiking, boating to bedroom messages made from polished stones (photo above). “Towel sculptures” of birds and fish greeted my at the entrance to the shower. Very nice and fun touches.

Dining

I enjoyed meals at all of the dining options at Villa del Palmar Beach Resort and Spa at the Islands of Loreto. The breakfast buffet at The Market (photo below) was terrific. Enjoying breakfast and the perfect weather on the patio every morning was a great way to start the day.

The Market

One “gourmet” night at the classy Danzante Restaurant I enjoyed a terrific filet with all the accoutrements. One special part of the evening at Danzante Restaurant was getting “Mexican coffee.” This is special coffee drink prepared at table-side. Oh, and I should mention that the drink is on fire (photo below).

Activities

This section could really take a long time to express. There are so many great activities at Villa del Palmar Beach Resort and Spa at the Islands of Loreto Islands of Loreto. From boating, kayaking, swimming, snorkeling to sport fishing, it is all there. I can’t cover it all, but here are some highlights of my recent trip.

I really enjoyed the boat ride via the resort to the Islands of Loreto. What a beautiful area. The ride was smooth as glass and the islands are stunning. The last quarter of the boat ride was a stop by one of the islands where we dawned snorkels and did some snorkeling.

Naturally I spent a ton of time checking out TPC Danzante Bay, the Rees Jones designed golf course on the property. The golf course is tremendous, and doesn’t beat the golfer up like most TPC courses do. The design and scenery added up to such a thrilling golf experience. On my final round I managed to make a satisfying birdie on the par-3 17th, the course’s most famous hole (photo below).

On my next trip to the resort, and there will most definitely be one, I need to get in some of the activities I missed, like kayaking, hiking and so on. Can’t wait for that.

Getting There

Getting to Villa del Palmar Beach Resort and Spa at the Islands of Loreto Islands of Loreto isn’t quite as easy as getting to Cabo or Mazatlan. The Loreto airport is 30 minutes away and does service jets from a couple of airlines. But honestly, that’s part of what makes the resort and the area around Loreto, Mexico so great. It’s not overrun with millions of tourists.

Final Thoughts

Warm weather, great golf, great water activities, relaxing on the beach… It all makes up a great offering from Villa del Palmar Beach Resort and Spa at the Islands of Loreto Islands of Loreto. The next time you are considering a trip to Mexico, take a solid look at Villa del Palmar Beach Resort and Spa at the Islands of Loreto Islands of Loreto and the area of Loreto before you book another trip to Cancun, Cabo, Mazatlan or any of the other heavily trafficked Mexican tourist destinations.

First Look: New Balance Striker Golf Shoes

Written by: Tony Korologos | Thursday, January 17th, 2019
Categories: Golf Apparel • Golf Gear
Tags: Golf Shoes • New Balance

In for review here at Hooked on Golf Blog is a pair of New Balance Striker golf shoes. I’m glad to get a New Balance product in for review. This makes the first New Balance product to be reviewed in the 14 year HOG history! I’m excited to get on it. Here are a couple of preview photos.

As most HOG readers will know, I don’t do the 3-range-ball, fly-by review. I do a quick preview post (this post) and then begin testing the product for several weeks or even months before writing the final review. As it is winter here and there’s snow currently falling outside the HOG World Headquarters, I may not get to my in-play testing of the New Balance Striker shoes very quickly. Stay tuned for the full review to appear in the spring.

First Look: TecTecTec ULT-X Golf Laser Rangefinder

Written by: Tony Korologos | Tuesday, January 15th, 2019
Categories: Golf • Golf Accessories • Golf For Women • Golf Gear
Tags: Golf Laser Range Finder

In for review here at Hooked on Golf Blog is the latest and greatest golf laser rangefinder, the TecTecTec ULT-X. I’m excited to throw this unit in the bag and start testing.

The ULT-X boasts a 1000 yard range, with accuracy at that distance +/- one yard. Let’s face it, when I play 1000 yard holes I need an exact distance to the pin from the tee. With driver technology delivering more and more distance every year, I’m now hitting it 1000 yards. Seriously though, the unit is even more accurate in the 300 yard range, at +/- .3 yards.

In the box

Along with the long range and high accuracy, the ULT-X features flag-seeking, vibration (when the unit locks onto the pin), slope (not legal!), small size, and a crisp internal display.

The slope feature is enabled simply by pulling and sliding the face plate out about a third of an inch. A yellow stripe shows that the unit is in slope mode. In non-slope mode there is no yellow, just black.

Stay tuned for the HOG review of this $249 retail golf laser rangefinder.

Utah Amateur Kirk Siddens Cards TWO Holes-In-One in Four Holes

Written by: Tony Korologos | Monday, January 14th, 2019
Categories: Golf • USGA

Ever had a hole in one? I had one on September 18th, 2002. I’ve hit a million shots since then but no dice on a second one. I’ve heard the odds of getting a hole-in-one are about 12,500 to 1. So what are the odds of getting two aces in one round? How about two aces on the front nine? This past weekend at the Coral Canyon Amateur tournament in St. George, Utah, Kirk Siddens did just that. Look at this beauty of a front nine:

Fairways Media file photo

The odds of two golfers in a group making an ace on the same hole is 26 million to 1. The odds of making back to back aces are around 50 million to 1. So somewhere in there lies the odds of one golfer getting a hole in one in four holes, or two consecutive par 3’s. I say let’s call it 37.75 million to 1.

Fairways Media file photo

Hat’s off to Kirk Siddens. To think I play against this guy sometimes in local tournaments. #nochance

Puttout Putting Mat Review

Written by: Tony Korologos | Monday, January 7th, 2019
Categories: Golf Accessories • Golf For Women • Golf Gear • Golf Instruction • Instruction • Reviews
Tags: Putting • PuttOut

Welcome to the first Hooked on Golf Blog golf product review of 2019! It’s the dead of winter here in northern Utah, and with that comes no golf. The local courses are in a five month frost delay. I am getting in a lot of skiing though. Thanks to my new Puttout Putting Mat I’m keeping my putting dialed in during these winter months. Check it out.

Puttout Putting Mat Features

The Puttout mat accommodates putts of up to six feet in distance.

There are markings on the mat at one-foot increments, helping the golfer dial in distance control from putting’s most crucial distance, inside five feet.

Along with the distance markers there are markers to help the golfer check the putter face alignment. The world’s best setup goes out the door if the putter face is off line at impact.

The fabric of the mat is very nice and rolls true. The speed feels “right” in terms of green speed. Puttout reports that the speed is a 10. I have a stimpmeter somewhere around here but I haven’t measured the exact speed to confirm.

The mat rolls true after putting it away and getting it out many times. This is due to the thick rubber backing which keeps it from creasing.

The mat rolls up easily and stores in a nice carrying bag (below). The case is supported by a dense cardboard cylinder which helps keep the mat’s shape and smoothness.

Colors

The mat is available in two color schemes, gray and green.

Final Thoughts

Higher handicap golfers lose tons of strokes by missing short putt after short putt. This $89 putting mat (Amazon) could really help those golfers stop wasting strokes and start holing out more putts.

Related

PuttOut Pressure Putt Trainer Review

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