Villa Turnage is located on a steep, winding road in a very hilly private neighborhood in Cabo San Lucas. The view to the ocean from the back patio is gorgeous and the small pool in the front courtyard is very refreshing. The place is surrounded by multimillion dollar villas that seem to come to life on the weekends and empty out during the week. While there was music playing and a number of parties during the day, it was very quiet at night.
The entry gate is guarded by security 24/7. Visitors in cars are required to leave identification at the gate until they exit. However, if you are staying for a number of days, you can request a permit for your car that allows you to enter and exit at will without leaving your ID each time.
The main tourist drag of Cabo San Lucas is a 20-minute walk up and down a steep hill from the house. The neighborhood beach is a 10-15 minute stroll downhill. The beach is beautiful for lounging or a walk but definitely not safe for swimming.
The house itself is spacious and the host, Jannine, is responsive and accommodating. She does not live locally so she employs local help (in our case, a relation of hers named Georgina) to assist with on-site issues. Unfortunately there were a number of issues during our stay but both Jannine and Georgina was responsive and able to get things to a state where we were comfortable. Hopefully the repairs made during and following our time in the villa will lay a good foundation for future guests!
The house has a well-equipped kitchen with functioning microwave, stove, fridge, freezer, sink, and blender. Ample drinking water was provided. We were not able to use the dishwasher, oven, or grills due to condition issues. There is a convenient laundry room with functioning washer and dryer.
Two of the bedrooms are spacious with king beds and en suite bathrooms. One of those does not have efficient air conditioning. The third bedroom is just down the hall from the full family bathroom and is a little cramped with all of the furniture in it but is perfectly adequate for sleeping a couple of friends who don't want to share a bed. All of the bedrooms and the living room have ceiling fans. All of the bathrooms have showers.
We found a beach umbrella and three folding chairs in the house and appreciated having those for our excursions.
The house was 9.5/10 clean when we arrived, and that was with Georgina rushing in order to accommodate our request to check in early. We appreciated how accommodating she was and we were not put off by the few spots that were left (all of the essentials like kitchen and bathroom surfaces and linens were in great shape).
Tips for your stay:
1. Rent a car (we used Cactus Rentals at the airport), get the best insurance you can, and park the car in the garage behind/beneath the house to keep it cool. Uber is available but not officially licensed in Cabo, the walk to town is not a very easy one, and the swimming beaches are at least a 10-15 minute drive away, so if you don't have your own car you will be spending a lot of time hiking in the sun or waiting for non-Uber cabs.
2. Explore eateries off the main drag. You won't find many of them on Eater or TripAdvisor, though we also appreciated some of the suggestions we found on both sites (Tacos Gardenia was really lovely despite being a touristy place). We really enjoyed having unfettered access to ceviche at the local mariscos (seafood) joints and the tacos al pastor at the local carne (meat) taco places.