You might be wondering what good is a beach if you can’t swim there. Well, if your dream includes a long leisurely stroll on a secluded stretch of sand close to downtown Cabo, Pacific Ocean beaches are just the ticket—as long as you stay out of the water. Along the Pacific shore, you’ll find Solmar Suites, one of Los Cabos’ original resorts. Hotel Finisterra is another of Cabo’s first hotels and like the Solmar has undergone expansion and upgrades. Between the two is the Playa Grande Resort. Built in the Mexican hacienda-style, it’s growing fast: 68 additional suites (220 in total), a fitness center and spa will be open by the end of 2004. Further north is Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach on 50 acres of pristine oceanfront. When complete the resort will feature 487 ocean view hillside suites and five pools. Sunset Beach is part of 500-acre Cabo Pacifica, which will include exclusive hotels, residential developments and golf courses.
Want to be near the heart of Cabo San Lucas with a bay or Land’s End view? Then consider swim-safe Medano Beach. Set within a lush palm grove, the Hotel Hacienda Beach Resort has 115 accommodations. Casa Rafael's, on the hill above the beach, is a boutique hotel with 10 elegant suites and a renowned restaurant. On the same hill, Bahia Hotel & Beach Club (updated April 2011) provides fully equipped kitchenettes in all 76 suites. The Marina Sol Condominium Hotel, one block away, offers many services you’d expect to find in the larger resorts such as poolside dining, a Mini-Mart, and a beauty salon. The popular colonial-style beachfront Meliá San Lucas has 150 suites. Next door are Pueblo Bonito Los Cabos, providing 148 junior and luxury suites, and the elegant, Mediterranean-designed 252-suite Pueblo Bonito Rosé. Further east is Villa del Palmar with 458 suites, all have full kitchens.
At Cabo Real, the Hilton and Meliá Cabo Real hotels front Playa Bledito with a manmade breakwater, good swimming, and watersports rentals. Dreams Los Cabos, Casa del Mar, and Las Ventanas al Paraiso are close by. All are not far from Chileno Bay, the best beach around for safe swimming and excellent snorkeling and diving. A favorite of celebrities, “unplugged” Twin Dolphin, next to beautiful Santa Maria Bay, shuns in-room TVs and telephones. This is Baja before the boom.
Spas have become an important part of the resort vacation experience and most of the top hotels have spas with services for men and women. At many Los Cabos resorts the spa is an end unto itself with reception, treatment and relaxation areas, boutique and gym separate from the hotel. Although women still represent the majority of spa patrons, a growing number of men are discovering the benefits. If you can’t actually stay at one of the spa resorts don’t fret: many welcome guests from other hotels. Reservations are almost certainly required if you wish to visit another hotel’s spa.
Known worldwide for their exclusive spas, Rosewood Hotels and Resorts’ opulent 61-suite Las Ventanas al Paraiso caters to Cabo’s most famous, and demanding, visitors. Here, 70% of all guests visit the spa at least once during their stay. The popular Ixchel Spa is at the Hilton Los Cabos Beach and Golf Resort, with a new player, the 27,000 square foot spa at the recently opened Marquis Los Cabos now the largest in the area. But not all of our best spas are at Cabo Real. On Medano Beach in Cabo San Lucas, there’s a fine spa at Pueblo Bonito Rosé. Further east, Villa del Palmar boasts a 10,000 square foot spa providing treatments from around the globe. The 171 all-suite Sheraton Hacienda del Mar’s 7,000 square foot Cactus Spa and Fitness Center’s body treatments use the exclusive Soft Pack system. The Grand Baja Resort and Spa in San Jose del Cabo has a Temazcal (a small adobe sweat lodge) along with holistic treatments and full spa services. And, if you think a spa vacation means eating like a rabbit, you might want to investigate the Mandara Spa at the recently opened One&Only at the Palmilla resort near San José. As part of an $80 million renovation One&Only added a destination spa with 13 cabañas, and a true star-quality restaurant, Charlie Trotter’s C, which has garnered praise from Conde Nast Traveler, Trotter’s hometown Chicago Tribune, and others.
Not long ago if you told someone you were going to Los Cabos for a business trip the reply would be a grin and a sly wink. Business trip? Cabo San Lucas? Yeah, right. But when Los Cabos hosted the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) summit meeting in 2002, our reputation as a business destination was born. Heads of state, their entourages, legions of economic delegates and press from the 21 member nations found Los Cabos the ideal place to do business. Since then, more and more companies are in on the secret—Los Cabos offers the perfect location for conferences, incentives, and corporate groups. Destination management companies in Los Cabos and your hotel representative can arrange for everything from training seminars and awards banquets to group activities and team-building games and events—you have only to ask. For larger groups, you’ll want to book at one of the newer full-service hotels such as the Hilton, Fiesta Americana Grand, or the Crowne Plaza, each accommodating groups up to 1,000 in their convention facilities. In Cabo, the marina front 286-room Costa Real Cabo Resort and Spa, formerly Plaza Las Glorias, is undergoing extensive renovations and upgrades.
All-inclusive resorts are newcomers to the Los Cabos hotel scene. If just staying put around the pool is your desire, these resorts just might be the ticket. In San José, the luxurious first phase of the 252-room The Grand Baja Resort and Spa opened in April 2004. Offering an all-inclusive option and three fine restaurants, The Grand Baja has finely furnished one to four bedroom suites, with terraces and full kitchens. Nearby, the affordable 400-room Royal Solaris is next door to the upscale 333-room Crowne Plaza. Near San José’s estuary, the Presidente Inter-Continental Los Cabos Resort has 400 rooms, five restaurants, several swimming pools, and recreational activities. All four are on San José’s beachfront. Newly all-inclusive Meliá Cabo Real is in the Corridor; with the 600-room RIU Palace Los Cabos east of Villa del Palmar due to open in late 2004.
If you’re looking for more affordable accommodations or intimate cozy lodgings, a boutique hotel, inn or B&B may be the answer. In Cabo, the Bungalows Breakfast Inn offers a homey atmosphere for B&B devotees. The Blarney Castle Inn’s nine suites feature a wee bit of Ireland while Casa Pabilto is an intimate hacienda-style hotel. Downtown, the Mar de Cortez is a longtime favorite with anglers. Other options include secluded Los Milagros, Hotel Dos Mares, Casa Bella and the Seven Crown Hotel. Viva Cabo Hotel’s luxury studios are a block off the marina.
The Corridor isn’t only home to mammoth resorts. Lovely Suites Vistazul and Suites Terrazas de Positano are close to Cabo as are Marbella Suites and Casa Contenta B&B—all offer perfect Land’s End views. Marbella Suites en La Playa is near the center of the Corridor on a stunning beach property. In San José del Cabo in the heart of Old Town, you’ll find 16 posh rooms at Casa Natalia, this inn is one of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World. Nearby, Señor Mañana is a budget inn close to the main square. A few blocks away, the Hotel Posada Terranova’s affordable accommodations include a charming courtyard restaurant. And away from downtown, at Suites Las Palmas you’ll enjoy panoramic views of San José Bay.
Your vacation should be as unique as you are. No matter what your interests, needs and plans, the hotels of Los Cabos offer the perfect retreat. Whatever your dream vacation includes—providing it’s not snow—there’s a hotel here ready to make it come true. |
