Best New Hotels and Restaurants To Visit in Cabo The Hollywood Reporter

Thanks to a spate of new properties, Hollywood-beloved getaway spot Los Cabos is bigger and better than ever before. “Cabo continues to reinvent itself,” says Smartflyer travel consultant Kara Slater, adding that her L.A. clients love the sunny Mexican hotspot — anchored by the towns of San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas — for its “stunning views of the sea meeting the mountains, reliable hospitality and unparalleled culinary offerings.”

WHERE TO STAY

Zadún: Cabo’s luxury additions include Zadún, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve (rooms from $1,499 a night; more options at Booking.com and Expedia), just east of San Jose del Cabo. The biggest draw at the contemporary resort — one of only five Reserve properties in the Ritz-Carlton portfolio — is its 115 ultra-private, freestanding rooms, suites and villas. These indoor-outdoor havens offer dramatic views of the Sea of Cortez and the Puerto Los Cabos coastline. The property stands out with distinctive amenities including the 30,000-square-foot Spa Alkemia, which has a Savasana room where sound therapy and a vibrational floor combine to provide guests with a unique meditation practice.

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Four Seasons Costa Palmas: Cabo also has expanded further into Baja’s East Cape with the ongoing development of Costa Palmas, a 1,000-acre destination (about an hour-and-15-minute drive north from San Jose del Cabo). Spearheaded by L.A.-based developers Irongate, the resort and residential community — where CAA’s Bryan Lourd has been spotted vacationing — includes 2 miles of swimmable beach and the Four Seasons Resort Los Cabos at Costa Palmas (from $1,235; more options at Booking.com and Expedia), which opened in late 2019 and includes a Mexico outpost of famed NYC restaurant Estiatorio Milos. Many Angelenos have bought second or third homes there, according to luxury travel adviser Michael Torbiak of Genuine Access. There’s even a new harbor with a marina village featuring Mozza Baja at Costa Palmas — chef Nancy Silverton’s first venture in Mexico. In 2024, Aman Resorts’ highly anticipated Amanvari property is slated to debut there, and a Costa Palmas private airport is in the works.

“If they weren’t flying private pre-COVID, they are now,” says lifestyle and travel guru Jaclyn Sienna India, founder of Sienna Charles membership club, of her clients (who include former President George W. Bush, studio titans and major producers). Of the destination’s appeal, she says, “Cabo was always huge with the L.A. market, but it became even bigger in the last year and a half. The pandemic has really made people value [traveling] far away, but close.”

Adds Torbiak, “You’re going to Cabo because you want the comfort and safety of feeling like you’re in Hawaii, but it’s a shorter flight. You go there and switch off, you don’t have to leave your resort.” Many resorts in Cabo are known for their personal concierge and butler services. “Mexican hospitality is just off the charts,” says Torbiak.

And, as though one Four Seasons resort weren’t enough, there’s another slated to open in 2023. Four Seasons Cabo Del Sol, located between Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo, is in development within the exclusive Cove Club, a 500-acre private club and community. The project will have hotel rooms as well as villas and residences, which will range between $4.8 million and $15 million.

Nobu Hotel Los Cabos: Another newer kid on the block is Nobu’s first hotel in Mexico, Nobu Hotel Los Cabos (from $321; more options at Booking.com and Expedia). Only 20 minutes from downtown Cabo San Lucas, it opened in late 2019 just before the pandemic. The hotel includes an outpost of Malibu Farm and a Nobu restaurant, so Angelenos will feel like they’re home — minus the PCH traffic.

Esperanza: These newer hotels join a host of luxe Cabo properties that include Auberge Resorts’ lushly landscaped Esperanza (from $1,700 high season, $1,050 after May; more options at Booking.com and Expedia), which boasts an oceanfront infinity pool. One of the original luxury hotels in Cabo, Esperanza was Auberge Resort’s first foray into Baja California. The family-friendly luxury property offers the only private beach resort in the region, plus dramatic coastline views.

Chileno Bay: Sister property to Esperanza, Auberge Resorts Collection’s contemporary Chileno Bay Resort & Residences (from $1,275 high season, $875 after May) is only 30 minutes from the San Jose Del Cabo International Airport and includes just 60 hotel rooms, plus infinity pools and a private 18-hole golf course.

The One&Only Palmilla: A stand-out for its very family-friendly atmosphere, the One&Only Palmilla (from $1,170; more options at Booking.com and Expedia) has drawn such vacationers as Jennifer Aniston, Ashton Kutcher and Eva Longoria. Privacy and luxury go hand in hand at this sprawling property with several pools, restaurants and multiple beach access points. Dining includes cliffside Agua restaurant, chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Seared restaurant, Suviche for Japanese fare, and the more casual Breeze.

Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal: Another favorite is Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal (from $750; more options at Booking.com and Expedia), which features rooms with private pools and sweeping Pacific Ocean views, nestled in the Pedregal neighborhood in Cabo San Lucas. Unique touches include afternoon Coronas, guacamole and chips delivered to every room. This year, in addition to their always-packed cliffside El Farallon restaurant, the property is debuting new culinary and libations offerings such as its Agave Study at Peacock Alley alfresco spirit tastings, the opening of Neutral Coffee Lab cafe, a redesign of the property’s signature restaurant Don Manuels and Travesía, a nine-course tasting menu centered on tacos.

Las Ventanas al Paraiso: Rosewood Hotels & Resorts’ serene Las Ventanas al Paraiso (from $1,570; more options at Expedia), which celebrates its 25-year anniversary in July, is a popular destination particularly for its celeb-loved oceanfront Ty Warner Mansion, frequented by the Kardashians, among others. The resort boasts several pools, Sunset sand bar, and plenty of culinary options. The resort is known to tailor unique experiences for its guests, such as a swimsuit-required private dinner in the lazy river’s grotto. Plus, there’s a new on-site speakeasy piano bar, La Botica, with a secret entrance and a lively Cuban band.

Montage Los Cabos: The Montage (from $1,275; more options at Booking.com and Expedia), the first international expansion of the brand, has made its mark in only four years of being open, with luxury accommodations and services, plus Los Cabos’ largest spa — a ​​stunning 40,000-square-foot indoor-outdoor space. There’s also an activity center that arranges everything from scuba diving to desert camping, though the real draw of the 39-acre property is its famous Santa Maria Bay, a swimmable white sand beach with some of the best snorkeling in the region.

WHERE TO EAT

The area continues to up its game on the culinary front. Farm-to-table fare is common at most high-end resorts, like at the picturesque Arbol at Las Ventanas or award-winning chef Enrique Olvera’s Manta at The Cape (from $829 a night; more options at Booking.com and Expedia), a Thompson Hotel. Restaurants worth venturing off resort for include Flora Farms (where Adam Levine and Behati Prinsloo tied the knot); the bustling Office on the Beach; chef Thomas Keller’s favorite taco spot, La Lupita; and Acre Baja, located on a tree-house-only resort, where the chef gets ingredients from the on-site garden.

Following a partnership last year with chef Dominique Crenn, Montage Los Cabos will debut a new dinner series in 2022 with a spotlight in June on Mexican chefs (including Javier Plascencia of Tijuana’s Misión 19) and a later installment that will see the return of Crenn to the property. Similarly, Auberge Resort’s Chileno Bay regularly brings in culinary talent for its monthly Taste of Auberge: Baja Lab Kitchen, which kicked off this year. The event’s tasting menus are prepared for one-night-only dinners by world-renowned chefs like Virgilio Martinez of Peru’s Central (fourth on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list).

And in 2021, tequila brand Clase Azul unveiled an invite-only dining experience at its A Taste of Culture experience (located in The Shoppes at Palmilla), where rare pours are paired with delectable eats ($300 a person).

WHAT TO DO

Slater, who is married to WME partner Brad Slater, recently helped plan a trip for a top talent agent who wanted to take a small group of friends away for a long weekend. “The convenience of a quick flight from L.A. along with something spiritual and unique to add into the mix was the request. A shaman fit the bill,” Slater says. The One&Only Palmilla’s Temazcal Ritual (starts at $410) was her solution. The stunning prop­erty’s iconic spa features a traditional temazcal hut (similar to a sweat lodge) where the resort’s dedicated shaman leads groups in the ancient Mayan ceremony with drumming, chanting and intense perspiring. Slater’s other option for her clients was at Chileno Bay, where the spa offers a shaman-led spiritual cleanse called Boca de la Sierra ($1,500).

HOW TO FLY

Beginning in November 2021, semi-private luxury jet service Aero, popular with everyone from Emma Roberts to Diplo, began touching down in Los Cabos from Van Nuys Airport. Service on the shared 16-seater planes ($1,950 one way) includes wines and cocktails curated by Wally’s Wines and Catch LA. …  Cabo’s Waldorf Astoria has teamed with SoCal-based Schubach Aviation to offer guest packages (from $25,896) that include a weeklong stay in a two-bedroom villa and round-trip private jet flights (for four to eight people) into Cabo from anywhere in the U.S. … And One&Only Palmilla also has jumped on the private jet bandwagon with a new partnership with JVP Aviation. The private air charters range from 8, 12, 16, and 50 passenger aircrafts (starting from $17,100 one way) and will fly directly to both Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta (for Palmilla’s sister property One&Only Mandarina).

“There are so many different properties to choose from depending on what kind of experience you’re looking for — maybe you go and celebrate an anniversary at Las Ventanas, but then you take your kids on spring break to One&Only because there’s a swimmable beach there,” says Torbiak. “It’s just that ease and the variety — there are so many different places to try that you’ll never get sick of Cabo.”

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A version of this story first appeared in the March 16 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.

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