For those looking for a more laid-back upmarket experience, stay at Pueblo Bonito Pacifica and Quivira Golf Club, an adults-only all-inclusive. For an even lower-key vibe, check out the Casa Natalia hotel, which features a tranquil pool surrounded by palms. You’ll quickly get used to the pool butlers and other sophisticated touches at Las Ventanas al Paraiso, A Rosewood Resort, one of the most lauded vacation spots in all of Mexico.
For the couple: Travel and Leisure voted Playa Las Viudas, also known as Twin Dolphin Beach, the perfect spot for a romantic picnic or wading in tidal pools. Reside at Casa Natalia, a “contemporary enclave” in San Jose. It features a palm tree-shaded courtyard, waterfalls, and terraces to look over the land.
Like Cancún in the wake of Hurricane Wilma in 2005, Los Cabos has seized the opportunity to temper its renowned party-hearty madness by up-scaling. Not only has it undertaken renovations, it is adding such icons of luxury as Vievage Los Cabos from Auberge resorts, the stylish JW Marriott, Ritz-Carlton Reserve and Starwood’s Solaz.
Funny how, at its farthest point, Baja is most geared for Americans. And after 1,000 miles of road, why deny yourself some indulgences? Casa Natalia Hotel, a boutique San José del Cabo hideaway co-owned by a French surfer-chef, awaits with poolside margaritas.
Join locals in the postprandial promenade around the town square in San José del Cabo, dodging errant soccer balls from children’s games and teetering toddlers shepherded by their parents. For a tranquil nightcap, sit under the towering palms that inhabit the courtyard restaurant at Casa Natalia hotel, nursing a spicy mango martini or a tamarind mojito (€8 each). For live music and a potential brush with fame – members U2 played an impromptu set here last spring – hit the more convivial courtyard at La Osteria.
Cancún meets San Diego on the southernmost tip of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula where two towns, rowdy Cabo San Lucas to the west and quieter San José del Cabo to the east, bookend a booming 20-mile tourist corridor of lavish resorts, scenic golf courses and blond beaches. Collectively called Los Cabos, or just Cabo, the desert destination was upgraded in 2012 with newly paved roads and a new international airport terminal...
Walk past the lobby at Casa Natalia, a hacienda-style boutique hotel in downtown San Jose, until you reach the small, brightly colored bar in the back. Locals swear by bartender Arturo’s classic margarita, which is prepared with fresh lime, orange juice, white tequila, Cointreau, and a dash of Damiana (an herb-based spirit produced here in Baja).