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| Guest suites at The Cape, Los Cabos’ newest resort hotel, afford spectacular views. |
It was one year ago when Hurricane Odile tore across Los Cabos, leaving a path of devastation in its wake. Several resort hotels were back up and running within weeks while others took several months rebuilding and upgrading.
Today, not only are most of the affected properties welcoming guests again, but there are new hotels opening and more on the way. The debut this summer of the new-build The Cape, a Thompson Hotel, launched an impressive timeline for Los Cabos.
“So many cool things are happening here in the next two years. For one thing, we’re adding over 2,500 hotel rooms,” Luis Palacios, commercial director for the Los Cabos Tourism Board, tells Travel Agent.
The Cape is a 161-room boutique resort located on Monuments Beach. Its tip-of-the-peninsula setting offers unobstructed views of Los Cabos’ landmark, El Arco. In addition to a chic retro-California vibe, The Cape is attracting foodies with its signature restaurant by Enrique Olvera, the acclaimed chef behind Pujol in Mexico City and Cosme in New York’s Flatiron District. Guests have access to two pools on the property. The first pool includes a swim-up bar and the other is made of natural rock formations. The Cape also boasts the only rooftop lounge in Cabo San Lucas, which sits on the sixth story. Other touches include a spa with private outdoor cabanas and a fitness center with floor-to-ceiling windows.
The new hotel openings continue this fall.
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| Guest room at the soon-to-open JW Marriott Los Cabos |
“In November, JW Marriott is opening 300 rooms. By then we should have more rooms than we did before Hurricane Odile,” says Palacios. The new hotel is in Puerto Los Cabos, a 2,000-acre development on the edge of the historic San Jose del Cabo area. The JW Marriott Los Cabos Beach Resort and Spa faces the Sea of Cortez, so guest rooms and suites will have ocean views. The hotel will have seven restaurants, a beach club, banquet and meeting facilities, and retail shops. Its Jasha Spa includes 12 treatment rooms, an outdoor garden and patio, vitality pools, an indoor pool, Jacuzzis, and a temazcal, a traditional Mexican sweat lodge like the ones used by ancient Aztecs.
The list of hotels set to open in 2016 includes Le Blanc by Palace Resorts, a Park Hyatt, a Hard Rock Hotel and Mar Adentro by Encanto. VieVage Los Cabos, an Auberge Resort is also set for a 2016 opening. The boutique luxury resort will feature guest suites and beach villas on a 2.5-mile stretch of coastline at Chileno Bay. In 2017, Solaz is slated to open as part of Starwood Hotels’ Luxury Collection. The much-anticipated Ritz Carlton Reserve is also scheduled to open, along with the first Montage property in Mexico. It will feature a 122-room hotel and 52 residences on Santa Maria Bay.
“We will also have Mexico’s first Nobu property from Robert DeNiro. It will have not only a hotel, but a restaurant and boutique as well,” says Palacios. While most of the new properties will operate on a European Plan, there are a few new all-inclusives in the works as well. “It’s a very good mix of properties and options for all segments of tourism coming here,” he says.
Frederic Vidal, managing director of the newly reopened Las Ventanas al Paraiso, isn’t worried about the increased competition.
“I always like new hotels to come, it’s more exposure for the destination. It stimulates the entire team. If you’re the only game in town, you can fall asleep. It’s good for everyone, it’s very positive,” Vidal tells Travel Agent.
Reopenings and Additions
This month, Hilton Los Cabos Beach & Golf Resort is expected to complete its final phase of a massive, multi-million dollar renovation. Officially reopened in July, the resort has just introduced its La Vista Club suites — 65 remodeled club-level units with private facilities, custom dining options, extended balconies and more. The resort is also near completion of its new spa concept, featuring brand new treatment rooms, a mani-pedi station and a Zen Garden and Movement Studio where guests can participate in a variety of exercise classes.
New to the resort’s bar scene are Mio swim-up bar, Azul lobby bar and La Onda beach bar, which all have been reimagined. On property restaurants have also gotten a face lift; El Meson and Madero now feature healthy juices, salads, snacks and more that guests can enjoy poolside or in more formal settings. Of importance to your family clientele, Hilton Los Cabos offers access to one of Cabo’s swim-safe beaches and an enhanced Cabo Kids Camp with all new programming for children ages four to 12.
Grand Solmar Land’s End Resort is now welcoming guests to the new Sea Spa at Land’s End. This is part of the third and final phase of Grand Solmar’s development, which is set to be completed later this year. The Sea Spa at Land’s End has unique touches like individual spa cabanas built directly into the rock formations. These cabanas are adjacent to “The Arch” at the southernmost tip of the Baja Peninsula.
Sandos Finisterra has revealed a new section of 33 Casita Suites, each with a bedroom with either one king or two queen beds and a separate living area with a sofa bed. The 26 Deluxe units offer views of the bay, while the others overlook the marina of downtown Cabo San Lucas.
Along the Paseo Malecon between San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas, the Hyatt Place Los Cabos reopened on July 29 following a $7.6 million reconstruction that included a redesigned lobby and new terrace with unobstructed views of the ocean. The hotel — a joint venture between affiliates of Hyatt Hotels Corporation and Grupo Hermosillo — is steps away from the beach on the Sea of Cortez and also near the Jack Nicklaus designed 18-hole Club Campestre Golf Course.
In a written release touting the hotel’s reopening, Jose De La Maza, director at Hermosillo & Associates, summed up the air of optimism that pervades Los Cabos: “The community that resides here is stronger and more resilient than before.”
New Los Cabos Golf Courses
Alongside the new hotels, a number of new golf courses are under construction as well. They include the new Marina Course at Puerto Los Cabos by Jack Nicklaus, due in 2016. A new Greg Norman-designed course is taking shape at Rancho San Lucas, the latest resort development along the Pacific. It’s attached to a new Grand Solmar Resort and will be open in 2016.
Additionally, Tiger Woods Design will build the third course at the 1,500-acre Diamante resort community. Woods’ El Cardonal course debuted there last December.