u/ChattyStrawberry

Longtime lurker, first time poster so apologies in advance if I am doing something wrong here. Seeking some advice about an upcoming trip from December 28th-January 3rd. We are a family of four (I'm one of two adult daughters traveling with our parents) from NYC going to Mexico over the holiday season this year. Traveling with us are my aunt and uncle, who will book their own room at the same property as us. Typically, we do a warm-weather trip over New Years; in the past, we had an amazing trip at the Ritz Carlton Reserve Dorado Beach, two great holiday trips at St. Regis Kanai, and last year had a horrible experience at the newly-opened St. Regis Cap Cana (happy to elaborate on that if people want the details). We are Marriott Gold Elite members looking to use the 450,000 points we've accrued. When we travel, a few things are important to us:

• The 4 of us stay in a 2-queen bed room to maximize $$
• Food (and variety of food options) is a major priority for us-- we are New Yorkers and self-described food snobs
• Hotel needs to have an excellent bar- my dad loves to get a drink before dinner on vacation
• Spa and gym are important - we will all get massages once on the trip, and we typically work out almost every morning
• Doesn't need to be adults-only by any means, but we like to have an adult pool option with plenty of seats to get away from playing/screaming/splashing :)

We're considering both the newly-opened Siari, and the Zadun. What's making this slightly more challenging is that when we use points for one free night, the price for the remaining 5 nights is essentially equal across both properties, so there isn't a clear price winner. Here are thoughts on both:

Siari

• We would be maxing out our 450K points to get one free night here
• Room category is Ocean View Terrace 2 Queen
• The resort is new, which could be amazing (spotless rooms, no wear-and-tear on the property, best price you're going to get, hidden gem) or horrible (I think we are a bit scarred from our Cap Cana experience last year. Service could be spotty, food could be bad, etc especially during their first festive season).
• Flights to Puerto Vallarta are about $1,000 more per person from NYC versus Cabo-- so even though the room price is the same, this trip would be about $4,000 more overall
• Property looks genuinely gorgeous-- very lush and green which we LOVE
• Swimmable beach
• Dining options... 3 on property for dinner, but the property is in the Nakua private community, which seems to have some additional dining options. We could also take a car to the Rosewood or One&Only in Mandarina if we wanted to but those are a bit farther away. If you've stayed at Siari PLEASE ADVISE on this element!!

Zadun

• Would use 250K points to get one night free, so we would have some left over to use at a future time
• Room category is Beachfront Accessible (?) 2 Queen
  • INTERESTING CAVEAT: at this property we could do the Cortes Family Suite with my aunt and uncle, and get a 2 bedroom Ocean View Suite with 1 king bed room for them and 1 double queen bed room for us (and, when we split it it'd be a cheaper nightly rate than two separate rooms although no points redemption... but we'd be earning for future use!) Highly considering doing this tbh
• Cheaper flights to Cabo and we'd be able to fly Delta which is our preferred airline
• Generally has great reviews from Condé Nast, Forbes, etc, but it tends to get a lot of hate on Reddit for some reason... definitely want to hear people's experiences because that makes me nervous!!
• We've been to Cabo before and love to dine at Flora Farms and Acre, which we'd be able to do at this property & it's a known factor in terms of food
• It's been open for 5 years, so on the one hand they likely have the festive season service down, but wondering if the rooms or areas have started to look a little bit used/tired?
• More of a desert vibe versus a green, lush vacation spot. Can't swim at the beach.

Mostly just want to hear people's thoughts especially if you've traveled to one or both! Siari would be more of a $$ investment because we'd have zero points left and spend more on flights, but I can totally see how it could be worth it for something extremely special and brand-new. Zadun is more in our price range but mixed reviews on here are alarming & want to make sure we are getting value for our $$ especially after such a bad Marriott experience last year.

Open to any and all opinions. THANKS IN ADVANCE!!!

ETA: we are also considering Park Hyatt Cabo Los Soles as a backup option. Slightly better price point, property looks great but a little bit sparse and there's still active construction going on on the Soho House next door it seems. Anyone been recently with thoughts??