Slideshow: First Look at Capella Resort and Spa at Pedregal Cabo San Lucas

We hear that the The Capella Resort and Spa at Pedregal Cabo San Lucas is taking reservations as of March 1, 2009 and that the resort has just hired its general manager, Peter Bowling, who formerly served at Capella Castlemartyr in County Cork, Ireland, one of the fledgling brand’s first properties to open. Capella is the brainchild of Horst Schulze, the founder of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. (Note: While Bowling’s most recent stint was in Europe, he is a veteran of Caribbean hospitality, having also headed up operations for The Royal Pavilion and the Villa Nova in Barbados, the Cotton House Hotel in Mustique and Jumby Bay in Antigua.

When it debuts, it will serve as the anchor of an exclusive 360-acre gated community located at the southernmost tip of Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula. It is being touted as the only luxury resort with immediate proximity to the posh Cabo Marina, which puts it within easy proximity to Cabo San Lucas’ shops and restaurants.

All accommodations at Capella will have views of the Pacific.

“Spacious” is the word to describe any of the accommodations: Forty-two guest rooms will be 900 square feet in size, while 12 Standard Suites will measure 1,100 square feet. The six One-bedroom Suites will measure 1,300 square feet, while the three Two-bedroom Suites will be 2,600 square feet. The three beach casitas will offer 3,000 square feet of space.

While any of these abodes are quite tempting, your top clients will want to opt for the Presidential Suite, which is located in its own casita. Families, or those traveling with an entourage, will want to select from seven villas that will be available from a pool of owned residences. The Capella Villas will have 4,500 to 11,000 square feet of living space, including a terrace with plunge pool, hot tub, outdoor fireplace and/or fire pit and areas for outdoor food preparation and dining. Clients staying in a villa will have a “Majordomo,” who is meant to intuitively tend to every need, such as tidying up the home, shopping for food, ironing and mending clothes, caring for children or preparing regional culinary specialties (think fresh guacamole).

Management reports that the hotel will provide personal assistants rather than butlers, who can arrange anything from diving excursions at the community’s Yacht Club (which is home to a fleet of nine Viking yachts) to dinner reservations in Cabo San Lucas. They will also call clients prior to arrival to determine their preferences during their stay.

Four dining options will be available at Capella, including an alfresco cliffside grill that appears to cantilever over the ocean. Clients, as well as the resort’s homeowners, will also have access to the Capella Pedregal Mountain Top Club, which will have its own bar and grill, plus an infinity pool overlooking the ocean. Ideal for groups and family reunions, it will also have its own event space.

The 10-room Auriga spa will boast two Watsu pools and all guests will be treated to a foot cleanse and massage upon arrival. Note: Auriga’s signature treatments will be dedicated to specific phases of the moon and will be offered only during the corresponding lunar cycles so that guests can have “a greater awareness of their alignment with the rhythms of nature, which enhances their well-being.” The spa will also incorporate local Mexican healing techniques and indigenous ingredients into its treatments.

Fly clients into the Los Cabos International Airport, which is 40 minutes from the resort and has a private jet terminal. Capella Pedregal will provide transportation for guests in one of the Range Rovers from its fleet.

Kit Pappas (kit.pappas@west paceshotels.com), the Capella brand’s vice president of sales, is currently serving as the liaison for travel agents; however, a property-specific director of sales and marketing will soon be appointed.