bajajudy
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6886
Registered: 10-4-2004
Location: San Jose del Cabo,BCS
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Paradise awaits
Paradise awaitsParadise awaits
Wire services
El Universal
Domingo 13 de mayo de 2007
A Baja California resort that covers luxury from every angle.
LOS CABOS, B.C. - Dressed for the trip north, the woman dashed around in the early morning light, getting one last snapshot of the pool, the beach and
the cloudless sky over Las Ventanas al Paraíso.
"I can´t believe we´re going back to ice and snow," she said, before heading up the stone steps.
That´s the problem with visiting paradise. You never want to leave.
The name means "the windows to paradise" in Spanish, and Las Ventanas al Paraíso bills itself as the premier Five Diamond resort in Latin America,
with the longest celebrity client list of any hotel in the world.
No names, though. This is a discreet destination. There´s not even a sign outside on Highway 1. Everybody is left blissfully alone amid the quiet
serenity broken only by the splashing of a fountain, the chirping of the birds and the lapping of the ocean.
Even the hired help tries to be invisible, moving through underground passages on their way to tidying up your room or fetching fresh towels for the
lounges by the pool and on the beach.
With the soft curves of white adobe walls molding a complex of Cubist buildings, the resort brings to mind the villages on the Greek isle of
Santorini. But that azure water off the beach is the Sea of Cortés, not the Aegean, and the tourist town of Cabo San Lucas is only a half-hour drive
away.
The far tip of the Baja California peninsula was a remote land of jagged mountains, cactus-studded deserts and endless stretches of pounding surf when
Hollywood stars like John Wayne and Bing Crosby began showing up in the 1950s on fishing and carousing excursions.
In the 1970s, the Mexican government designated potential hot spots for development, and Cancún, Ixtapa and Los Cabos took off. Earthmovers still chew
the landscape of Los Cabos. It includes the twin towns of Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo, and the 20 miles of coastline in between. The US$850
million Puerto Los Cabos is the latest development in the building boom. It is causing controversy because of its location next to an environmentally
sensitive freshwater estuary.
San José del Cabo retains some of the charm of Old Mexico, while Cabo San Lucas, on the western end, has the "fun city" reputation as a spring-break
destination and cruise ship stop-off. Along the stretch between the two cities are some of Mexico´s most spectacular resorts, including Esperanza and
the remodeled One & Only Palmilla, where John Travolta celebrated his 50th birthday in 2004.
Mexican developer Javier Azcarraga opened Las Ventanas in 1997 and sold it in 2004 to Ty Warner Hotels & Resorts, which owns one-of-a-kind luxury
resorts throughout the world. It is managed by Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, which also has a worldwide, world-class client list.
The resort prides itself in no-holds-barred luxury for couples. What other hotel has a director of romance on staff? Or will set you up on the beach
at sunset with lounge chairs and 50-inch plasma TV for a private screening of your favorite movie under the stars, while "cinema butlers" bring you
Champagne and Mexican appetizers?
No wonder heading back to the snow and ice was a downer.
So, what´s life like in a Five Diamond resort? Well, a guy can get spoiled pretty fast.
A Las Ventanas driver picked me up at the airport in a top-of-the-line SUV, handed over bottled water and a moist towelette to freshen up and drove 20
minutes to the resort. Through the gate onto the grounds landscaped in cacti, a gleaming black Porsche Boxster sat under the portico. You could rent
it to tool around Baja for US$290 for 24 hours. Hummers and Mini Cooper S convertibles also were available.
With no check-in desk in the open-air lobby, a clerk greeted me by name, handed over a cool fruit drink and led the way along the art-filled hallways
to a room, where he traded a credit card number for a key. The room had a terra-cotta fireplace, a telescope for spotting migrating whales, a veranda
with a heated soaking pool and an upstairs terrace that was private enough for sunning without tan lines.
The staff could arrange for you to snorkel, scuba dive, deep-sea fish, go yachting, take tennis lessons or golf on a choice of five courses, including
an 18-hole course that wrapped around the resort. There was also a sumptuous spa and fitness center, a tequila-and-ceviche bar, two restaurants that
served Baja-Mediterranean cuisine and a wine room where you could schedule an intimate candlelight dinner, which was also available in a nook on the
beach.
The majority of guests seemed content to laze around the free-form, infinity-edge pool, or swing in seaside shaded hammocks, while "pool butlers"
cooled them off with mists of frosted Evian spray.
Life in the high-rent district doesn´t come cheap. When Las Ventanas opened a decade ago as the first luxury resort in Los Cabos, its rates of US$325
a night were eye-opening. Today, the rack rate for the cheapest of the 71 rooms is US$700 a night, with the ocean-view suite going for US$970. If you
really want to splurge, Las Ventanas recently added three spa suites, where a "spa butler" tends to your needs in a private, state-of-the-art
treatment room. The suites include an organic mini-bar, infrared sauna with waterfall, infinity-edge Jacuzzi, squeeze reflexology boots and magnetic
mattress.
If you have to ask, rates for the spa suites start at US$13,425 for a four-night program for two.
After two sublime days dozing in paradise, I was ready for some action in Cabo San Lucas. I found Tabasco, a perfect little beach bar with a reggae
soundtrack, two-for-one mojitos and a sign that said "Please don´t buy any junk from vendors at this balcony."
My first goal was a visit to a landmark, the "El Arco" rock formation, a beautiful arch carved in the cliffs at the end of the Baja Peninsula where
the Pacific Ocean meets the Sea of Cortés. A fellow sitting under an umbrella on Tabasco´s beachfront rented me a jet ski for US$45 and I headed out.
As is the case on most of the streets of Cabo San Lucas these days, there was a traffic jam on the water. After winding through three cruise ships
docked in the bay, I found water taxis, kayaks, glass-bottom boats and a catamaran full of partiers blocking my photos of the arch. The seals sunning
on a rock ledge didn´t seem to mind, barking at the invaders who came too close.
DINING AND DRINKING
Back on the beach, I was unloading camera gear from dry bags when a sunbather in a baseball cap approached and asked if I was a journalist. "You ought
to check out another landmark in Cabo," he said. "My sister and her husband own Pancho´s Restaurant. It´s really colorful and has been there forever."
He handed me a card that said he was David Ristroph, the "host" at Pancho´s. "It has the world´s largest tequila collection - something like 560," he
said. "If you bring a bottle by and we don´t have it, we will buy the bottle and also buy you dinner."
Pancho´s was on Hildalgo Street in the old section of town and was, indeed, colorful. I was enjoying the ceviche - with a sauce of Worcestershire and
orange juice - when Ristroph strolled in and sought out the bar´s expert tequilero, Armando Delgado, to teach a gringo reporter tasting etiquette. You
don´t gulp tequila down frat boy-style, he said, but savor it like a fine wine.
On the bar sat a large glass jar with two coiled snakes steeping in clear liquid - homemade tequila with rattlesnake seasoning at US$5 a shot. Nearby
was a bottle with a couple of dozen yellow agave worms floating on the bottom. We skipped those and worked our way up to the premium stuff.
"This is the Champagne of tequila. Most of the time we keep it under lock and key," Ristroph said of our final sample. We were sipping slowly when
joined at the bar by Alejandra Mata, a young woman recently named the restaurant´s manager. She asked what we were trying, and we jokingly pointed to
the jar of rattlesnakes. "I´ll try that," she said, and we watched wide-eyed as she knocked back a shot.
"Tastes a little gamey," she said.
IF YOU GO WHERE TO STAY:
Los Cabos is known for its upscale lodging. The annual average room rate in 2006 was US$201 a night. Resorts closer to Cabo San Lucas and San José del
Cabo offer the best deals. At www.loscabosfirstclass.com, the Riu Palace in Cabo was advertising rates of US$186 a night and Desire in San José del Cabo had rates of US$179.
The mega-resorts between the two towns are higher. Rates at the Westin start at US$495 and at the One & Only Palmilla range from US$475 to
US$1,600.
Las Ventanas al Paraiso:
The only Five Diamond Resort in Baja, the resort prides itself in ultimate pampering for its guests. Rack rates, which can be lower in summer and
higher in winter, start at US$700 and rise to about US$1,000 for one-bedroom suites. One-, two- and three-bedroom suites are available. Call Rosewood
Hotels & Resorts at 1-888-767-3966, or visit www.rosewoodhotels.com.
Pancho's Restaurant & Tequila Bar: Call 011 52 624 143 0973 or visit www.panchos.com.
MORE INFO: Call the Los Cabos Tourism Board at 1-866-567-2226 or visit www.visitloscabos.org.
I found it interesting that they mentioned the problem with the estuary. Maybe the word is getting out!
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vandy
Senior Nomad
Posts: 538
Registered: 10-10-2003
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I was wondering who rented all those Hummers and luxury sedans. What a bunch of dorks. I now know at whom kidnapers should aim...
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Crusoe
Senior Nomad
Posts: 731
Registered: 10-14-2006
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This kind kind of "way over the top" lifestyle and flagrant disregard for what "REAL MONEY" can do..... and be...... just makes a person want to
puke. Talk about a tacky "white trash people.......!!!!!!!!!!!
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bajajudy
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6886
Registered: 10-4-2004
Location: San Jose del Cabo,BCS
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I feel compelled to mention the Pancho's is a cool place and a place that I doubt many Las Ventanas customers ever see. Unbelievable selection of
tequilas, pretty good food and a very knowledgeable staff to help you enjoy the tequila of your choice.
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Packoderm
Super Nomad
Posts: 2116
Registered: 11-7-2002
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The high price probably keeps the gawkers at bay, and the high security protects them from kidnappers and the paparazzi. I would imagine that a lot of
them probably are dorks, but I would also imagine that some of them would like to hang out at the Giggling Marlin and the Sleepless Lobster and the
Office if the public would let them do so without all the hassle, scrutiny, and risk.
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surfer jim
Super Nomad
Posts: 1891
Registered: 8-29-2003
Location: high desert
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Don't be in a "rush to judgement".......try it for a few days and then report back......
I wonder if they have parking area for my truck camper.....?
[Edited on 5-14-2007 by surfer jim]
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Wingnut
Nomad
Posts: 171
Registered: 5-5-2007
Location: Phoenix, AZ
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Mood: Baja Pensive
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Pancho's is indeed a fine restaurant and has some of the best food in Cabo. John Bragg is the owner and has spent his life researching and enjoying
Tequila. It is on my must list when visiting Cabo San Lucas which I do frequently. Viva Tequila!
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windgrrl
Super Nomad
Posts: 1336
Registered: 9-2-2006
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 Well there goes the neighbourhood...fortunately one merely has to walk 10
minutes out of town to lose sight of the glamourous enamoured of the glitter.
When the way comes to an end, then change. Having changed, you pass through.
~ I-Ching
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