Conrad’s Capers — Conrad Does Cabo Part 2

In the first installment of this series, Conrad Stanley, bargain traveler extraordinaire, saved $560 and hours in line by taking advantage of the Cross Border Express terminal at Tijuana International Airport. In Part 2 of Conrad Does Cabo, we join him as he does what he does best: optimize cost-saving opportunities at an otherwise expensive resort destination in an inexpensive country.

To begin with, Conrad stayed at the Villa del Palmar right on famed Medano Beach looking across at the iconic Lands End. (A buddy he’s known for 25 years is the director of sales at a group of Cabo timeshare properties.) He had a one-bedroom 2-bath villa with full kitchen, living room, dining area, bar, and poolside patio.

On Expedia, the cost (including tax) for the 14 nights was $3,288. But would a man with Conrad’s particular talents pay retail? Never. Instead, he took advantage of a feature available to timeshare owners and paid $523, saving $2,765.

The resort has an all-inclusive option for approximately $110 a day additional per person. This is good for unlimited food and drinks, but Conrad had other plans in mind, especially with a full kitchen, an excellent discount card, and a buddy to go to dinner with.

His first day at the resort, Conrad took a local bus to Walmart (65 cents). There, he spent $85 loading up the villa’s fridge and cupboards with bran cereal, avocado toast, and coffee for breakfast, sandwiches with chips and guac for lunch, plus snacks and cases of water, beer, and Diet Coke. His largest transportation expense in Cabo was the $10 cab ride back to the Del Palmar, given that he had way too many groceries to carry back on the bus. But it was well worth the investment, since he didn’t need a rental car; everything else was within walking distance of the Del Palmar.

The Corona Light in bottles were for drinking inside the unit and on his poolside patio. The cans were for by the pool, concealed within a six-pack cooler in the travel backpack to be discreet, since he wasn’t wearing the all-inclusive wristband like most other people staying at the resort.

Each 12 pack of cans cost 140 pesos or $7.10, thus 60 cents per can. Poolside without the wristband, a can of Corona was $4.25. So 10 beers at the pool would have cost around $52.50 with tip, while Conrad paid $6 for the same ice-cold Corona Light cans and no tip necessary.

 
Thus, the bargain breakfasts, lunches, and drinking were attended to first thing! In the next installment, we’ll learn how Conrad got his expensive restaurant dinners for half-price.