Las Ventanas al Paraíso

The name means the windows to paradise, and the windows in question look onto the Sea of Cortez from a low white resort along the Corridor, the stretch of coast between San José del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas. Las Ventanas al Paraíso opened in 1997 and set the pattern that every later resort in Los Cabos has followed: personal butlers, a telescope in every suite for the whales, and a Mexican hacienda style rather than the high-rise of the first wave.

History

The resort was developed in the mid-1990s at a time when Los Cabos was known for marlin fishing and little else at the top end. Rosewood Hotels and Resorts of Dallas was brought in to manage it from opening, and it was Rosewood's first property in Mexico. The idea of a dedicated butler for each suite, then unusual outside Asia, became the hotel's signature. Expansions in the 2000s and 2010s added villas, a second pool and the Ty Warner mansion, named for the owner of the resort, who also owns San Ysidro Ranch and the Four Seasons Biltmore in California.

Architecture and design

The buildings are low, no more than two or three storeys, in white stucco and local stone with pebble mosaics on the floors, infinity-edge pools stepping down to the beach and a desert garden of cactus and bougainvillea between them. Rooms are Mexican in detail: hand-carved doors, wrought iron, terracotta, fireplaces for the winter evenings. The telescopes, the rooftop terraces and the tequila on arrival have been there since the beginning.

Rooms and suites

There are 84 suites and villas. The smallest suites are around 90 square metres with a terrace, a fireplace and a telescope; the oceanfront suites have private plunge pools and rooftop terraces. The villas, added later, run to several bedrooms with their own pools, kitchens and staff. Butlers look after every room.

Dining

The main restaurant serves Mexican and Baja cooking on a terrace over the sea; a second, more casual beach restaurant and a tequila and ceviche bar sit by the pools. The resort's Mexican-Italian restaurant and a rooftop sushi counter extend the choice. Private dinners are laid on the beach, on the suite terraces and in the garden.

Wellness

The spa has outdoor treatment pavilions, a hydrotherapy area, a yoga pavilion over the sea and a programme based on Baja plants and salts. There are several pools, including an adults-only infinity pool, tennis courts and a fitness centre. The resort has long been a leader in the whale-watching season between December and April.

Weddings and events

Weddings have been a core business since the 1990s, held on the beach, on the lawn above it and on the terraces, with receptions for parties of a few dozen up to the low hundreds, and the villas used for the wedding family. A small conference area and the restaurants after hours serve meetings and incentive groups; the resort suits boardroom-size retreats rather than large congresses.

Location

The resort sits at kilometre 19.5 of the Transpeninsular Highway on the Corridor, about 20 minutes from Los Cabos International Airport at San José del Cabo and 25 minutes from the marina at Cabo San Lucas. Beaches on this stretch are mostly not safe for swimming because of the surf, which is why the pools matter. As a luxury hotel in Los Cabos it was the first of its kind and is the benchmark the newer ones measure against.