Overview

The Palmilla resort-hotel is acclaimed as one of the most luxurious and breathtakingly beautiful resorts in the world. The resort consists of 172 elegant accommodations, including 152 spacious guest rooms and 20 suites. 1,400-square foot one bedroom suites offer magnificent views of the sea from all corners. Guest rooms, at 750 square feet, are among the largest of any resort. All accommodations (including the bathrooms) offer magnificent views of the sea. The resort also includes two pools, a conference center and wedding chapel.

When the resort opened it had guests lists that included names like John Wayne, Desi Arnaz, Leonard Bernstein, Dwight Eisenhower and Clark Gable. Bing Crosby eventually became a partner and a 1958 Sports Illustrated article featured Palmilla and gave the resort instant status. Today, the resort maintains the classic Mexican ambiance which has made it a favorite among an international “who’s who” since its original opening, while expanding and recreating the legendary property for a new generation of travelers.

Location

One & Only Palmilla rests on the tip of the Baja Peninsula where the azure ocean greets the mountainous desert terrain. Where Pacific waters merge with the Sea of Cortez and sandy beaches offer unimpeded views of gray whales rising majestically just beyond the crashing surf. This verdant oasis juxtaposed by desert and sea reflects the gracious style of Old Mexico with its red-tiled roofs, whitewashed walls, and idyllic setting of exquisite fountains, swaying palms, bird of paradise and other tropical bloom.

Dining

Michelin-starred Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten has developed Market, a world-class dining experience marked by Eurasian flair, punctuated with Mexican grace notes. The renowned chef also oversees Suviche, where Japanese and Latin flavors meld to produce delectable fare from the sea. In addition, guests have two enticing casual fare options to savor, at the poolside restaurants. Perched atop a bluff with panoramic sea views, both restaurants offer innovative menus showcasing the culinary heritage of Mexico and other international traditions. Other bars and areas for light refreshments are located poolside.

Accommodations

Accommodations are presented in single-story and three-story buildings, or “casas” encircling the resort grounds along the peninsula’s edge. Perched above the beach, all rooms and suites offer a patio or balcony facing out toward the sea, allowing optimum privacy and unobstructed scenic views.
Standard amenities include:

Flat-screen satellite TV with DVD/CD player and Bose system surround sound.
State-of-the-art voice and data lines.
Writing desk
Mini-bar
Separate seating area
Services provided for all rooms and suites include:

Personal butler service
Twice daily maid service
Welcome tequila beverage
Fresh fruit of choice, delivered daily
Aromatherapy menu

Activities

Palmilla’s spa celebrates the unique natural beauty of the Baja region and the architectural and artistic heritage of Mexico. Ancient healing and rejuvenation techniques and philosophies are performed in an indoor and outdoor setting in 12 personal, private treatment villas. An inviting exercise area will invigorate both body and spirit. Considered the world’s richest sportfishing waters, the sea around Palmilla teams with a variety of fish. Other activities include tennis, snorkeling and diving, and horseback riding. Palmilla also offers one of the only swimmable beaches on the Peninsula. Younger guests will enjoy organized activities and games.

Overview

Situated between San Jose Del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas, Las Ventanas is located 20 minutes southwest of San Jose Del Cabo International Airport. At the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula, Los Cabos combines a starkly beautiful desert landscape with one of the richest marine environments encompassing both the Pacific Ocean and Sea of Cortez. The latter is an underwater wonderland, teeming with diverse sea life. The desert is a mosaic of color and texture with forests of saguaro cactus, sand dunes and stunning rock formations. Los Cabos is Mexico’s leading upscale tourist destination. Hollywood first discovered it in the post-World War II years when stars went down for the sport fishing and to relax in privacy. There is so much to do here and enjoy in the warm sun that shines year-round.

What to expect: Hollywood’s movers-and-shakers and honeymooners mingle freely near the pools and at the lounge. Though calming and sophisticated, Las Ventanas also has a sense of playfulness and fun. Guests are greeted in their rooms with a shot of tequila, served in a clay jar. Pool butlers offer CD players and stop by hourly with a fresh spritz of frosted Evian, chocolate sorbet, and a chilled towel. The staff uses tunnels to move about, leaving guests to lounge undisturbed.

Amenity highlights: Eight-room villas face the water above sloping, grassy grounds. Each Wednesday, the hotel hosts a beachside barbecue party serving fine cuts and seafood. The adjacent Cabo Real golf course challenges players with several holes along the waterfront, including hole 15, whose green is just up a small hill from the hotel pool. Guests resting in beachside hammocks can request wake-up service by raising a flag. Hammocks are also equipped with a pulley system to alleviate the need to foot-propel the swaying action. In winter months, the staff scans the sea for signs of passing whales and signals guests by blowing an alert with a conch shell.

Insider tip: Each night, a single table is set up for a private beachfront dinner, requiring diners to reserve well in advance.

Accommodations

Las Ventanas has 61 guest suites with ocean/garden views. Mediterranean architecture dominates the exteriors, while Mexican motifs inspire interior decor. All rooms are 960 square feet and have wood-burning fireplaces, high-powered telescopes for whale watching and star gazing, whirlpool tubs and guests’ choice of seven pillow types. Large outdoor patios have oversized couches and a small writing desk.

Expansive and richly appointed, all suites have marble showers and Conchuela limestone floors. At the end of the day share the warmth of a seaside fire, and be lulled to rest by the rhythm of gently washing waves. Or, turn your personal telescope toward the heavens to gaze at the shimmering stars.

Dining

At the resort’s beautiful dining room every table features a fabulous view of the sun-soaked pool area and glistening Sea of Cortez. Engaging Mexican-Mediterranean inspired decor features a meandering, hand-painted mural that captures the essence of the local area. The tables are set with the finest, hand-painted Mexican crockery for breakfast and lunch, and for dinner with renowned Bernardaud crockery from Limoge, France. Guests may opt for covered outdoor seating or indoor dining in a climate-controlled ambiance. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner daily.

At the The Restaurant, Las Ventanas introduced a new cuisine to the world, Baja-Mediterranean. It blends the best of Baja with the internationally loved and acclaimed culinary style of the Mediterranean. Baja is known for its spectacular abundance, a virtually unrivaled and diverse harvest from the sea as well as a wealth from the fields and gardens of the peninsula — giving Las Ventanas a rich basket of culinary building blocks to inspire creativity and blend with the traditional light and healthy cooking techniques of the Mediterranean.

“The quality of the ingredients has always been the key to preparing the best Mediterranean dishes, and we have of course applied this fundamental concept to our Baja-Mediterranean cuisine,” explained Executive Chef Fabrice Guisset. The resort has conducted extensive research to discover sources for the finest and freshest foods available across the breadth of the 1000-mile-long Baja Peninsula. Superior-quality fruits and vegetables are being procured from a handful of innovative organic farms that grow both typical varieties of the region and exotic ones from far away lands. Seafood comes from fisheries that are also fully organic, as well as master fisherman who angle the deepest, richest waters where the best fish are found.

Baja and the Mediterranean are the ideal combination to create exquisite, mouth-watering dining. Dishes such as Merlot Glazed Tuna with Onion Marmalade, Seared Baby Red Snapper with Vegetables Ratatouille and Mustard Sauce and Roast Suckling Pig with Sweet Potato Puree blend the freshest, most succulent Baja products with the heavenly flavors of the Mediterranean.

Complementing the signature, award-winning Baja-Mediterranean cuisine, The Restaurant also offers two different types of Mexican menus:

THE FLAVORS OF MEXICO MENU menu features traditional and classic dishes of Mexico exquisitely prepared with a Las Ventanas touch. Changed frequently, they comprise such offerings as Cochinita Pibil con Frijoles Negros en Salsa Ixnipec (pork cooked in banana leaves with red bell pepper sauce and black beans), Tamalito Oaxaqueno (Oaxaca-style pork tamale), and Huachinango a la Veracruzana (Veracruz-style grilled red snapper with tomato-based onion, caper and olive sauce). Or such desserts as Tamal de Chocolate (chocolate tamale with maracuya sorbet) and Pumpkin Flan with Churros.

THE MEXICAN TASTING MENU gives time-honored original recipes a modern interpretation and bold new flavors. For example, a beef enchilada is enhanced with fava beans puree, the pork in a traditional Cochinita Pibil en Salsa Ixnipec is replaced with Lobster Napoleon, and Tamale with Corn Sauce is enriched with foie gras. The tasting menu, which is changed twice a week, is served in multiple small courses of several mouth-watering bites each.

Amemities

For a fee, the hotel’s two luxury yachts, docked at Marina San Lucas, take guests on snorkeling trips and on tours of the bay and “El Arco” – the arch at Land’s End. The world-renown spa pampers visitors with a variety of traditional and European treatments, including a massage for two under the stars. An herb garden grows all the herbs for the restaurants and hosts a regional cooking class.

A crescent-shaped hot tub, multiple swimming pools and an expansive beach give guests options for splashing or relaxing. To keep guests focused on relaxing, a signal scrambler jams cell phones and guests are requested not to use computers in public areas.

Las Ventanas also pampers pets, with walking trips, massages and even specially prepared meals, including Fido’s Fajitas and the Kitty’s Captain’s Table.

The Spa

Realize your optimum well being and enhance your quality of life in a secluded desert garden setting. Our team of specialists can guide you in formulating a personalized spa experience. The Spa’s extensive range of services are inspired by restorative treatments, holistic therapies, healing rituals, organic products and native remedies found in Baja, Mexico, and around the world.

The Spa at Las Ventanas embraces a holistic approach, drawing upon the belief of the ancient healers of Baja California that emotion, spirit and physical well-being must be constantly balanced.

The healers were masters of the four elements of Earth, Water, Air and Fire, recognizing that each element evokes a specific power within oneself. The elements were the foundation of their holistic ceremonial rites and healing rituals. At The Spa at Las Ventanas, the four elements are the foundation of our techniques, treatments and products.

Local Attractions

The Tourist Corridor: Los Cabos “The Capes” is the general name given to the area but it refers more specifically to the tourist corridor, the 20-mile-long area of white-sand beaches, hotels and resorts between San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas.

Sport fishing: Los Cabos is one of the world’s great sport fishing destinations. The varieties of fish, in an area so compact and accessible, is unequaled elsewhere. It is particularly famous for its concentration of swordfish and sailfish, and is known as “The Marlin Capital of the World.” In addition to big trophy fish, you can catch everything from mahi mahi and tuna to roosterfish, halibut, wahoo and corvina.

Snorkeling & Scuba Diving: The Sea of Cortez is a colorful underwater world of beauty and wonder with living coral reefs, sand falls, ocean canyons and old shipwrecks to explore. Tropical fish, hammerhead sharks, moray eels and turtles abound.

Sailing & Sea Kayaking: Los Cabos is a recreational sailor’s dream with endless undeveloped coastline, small islands and open waters to explore. It is also a world-class sea-kayaking destination with coves, inlets, water caves and beaches that are only accessible by kayak.

Windsurfing & Surfing: Los Cabos is a windsurfer’s paradise with good wind action, particularly from November through March. And surfing is excellent on the Pacific without the crowds typical of the surfing spots in Northern Baja .

Golf: Los Cabos has evolved into one of Mexico’s leading golf destinations with six spectacular courses, all created by the biggest names in golf course design: Palmilla, Cabo del Sol and El Dorado were all designed by Jack Nicklaus; Cabo San Lucas Country Club by Roy & Pete Dye; Cabo Real by Robert Trent Jones II; and the newest and most luxurious course, Querencia, by Tom Fazio.

Local Towns & Villages: Several towns and villages, easily reached on day trips, offer history, shopping and more. Todo Santos, originally a Jesuit mission and plantation, today is known for its fishing industry, fruit orchards and handmade crafts; it is a beautiful 50-mile drive up the Pacific coast from Cabo San Lucas through a desert landscape with a backdrop of jagged mountains. Miraflores, about 35 miles from San Jose del Cabo, is another quaint Baja village with the area’s only zoo. About 124 miles north of San Jose is the main town and capital of Southern Baja , La Paz . Originally a pirates’ haven, Italian missionaries built a church here more than 500 years ago and today it offers history, shopping, restaurants and more.

Shopping: A colorful and diverse selection of handmade artisanry is sold in shops including silver jewelry, hand-painted vases, wrought-iron candleholders, ceramic figures and masks, flowing Mexican dresses, and carved wood objects.

Night Life: Los Cabos is alive with food, music and dancing. Cabo San Lucas at night has been called Cabo San “Loco” with its many bars, clubs, discos and live music. San Jose del Cabo is known for its fine restaurants and nightclubs with live dance bands and other entertainment.

Overview

Are you looking to sun and booze Hollywood-style, but tired of the velvet ropes and valet parking? Go to Cabo. Perched at the southern tip of Mexico’s ruggedly beautiful, 800-mile Baja Peninsula, Cabo San Lucas-and not Cancún-is where Hollywood stars go for beach breaks. They vacation on gold-sand beaches, with opulent resorts and thatch-hut bars at the edge of the pool, or at fully staffed villas to let for the week. Set up to out-style each other, fully-contained chic resorts line 20 miles of gold-sand beach from party-hub Cabo to the airport at San José de Cabo-a Spanish-colonial fishing town with plenty of acción itself. At many resorts-like the ultra-lush Esperanza, where Gwyneth Paltrow and Coldplay’s Chris Martin honeymooned-you won’t have to lift a finger for a drink or a filet of fish. These are one-stop centers with indulgent spa packages, golf courses, and beach lounge chairs to sip cocktails to the tune of the lapping waves. It’s worth getting out, though. Days can be spent on the water in many easy-to-arrange ways: glass-bottom boat tours to El Arco (the rocky archway and private beach near town), whale-watching tours (best January to March), private “booze cruises” in glimmering sail boats, or deep-sea fishing adventures further offshore. If you’re seasick, take an ATV (alternative-terrain vehicle) on a sand-kicking spin through the desert. Drinks pour all day, but night particularly takes off with more than a shore of bachelor parties and girls-weekend out slamming all-you-can-drink tequila along the main strip, Lazaro Cardenas Avenue. Things are no more formal at the slightly less low-brow parties, with minglers and flirters in flip-flops bouncing to music at clubs like Sammy Hagar’s Rock n’ Roll Cabo Wabo or-after a few drinks, topless-El Squid Roe.

Transportation

Genuine Access can book all your travel needs while visiting the area. We offer luxury car rentals with driver, chauffeured Suburbans, limousines, and Hummers. Have a limousine take your group out for a night on the town, or why not take your Hummer on a guided Desert and Mountain tour?

Restaurants & Night Life

Cabo San Lucas offers excellent restaurants and nightlife. Enjoy a steak/seafood dinner in a private wine cellar at Edith’s or 15-pound lobsters at the casual Lobster Trailer Park. Cabo San Lucas also has one of the most energetic party scenes anywhere, and not just at Spring Break time. In order to enjoy the lively night scene in Cabo San Lucas, you should concentrate on the Blvd Marina, where most of the bars and clubs in Cabo San Lucas are concentrated. On this neon-lined street, the endless margaritas and vibrant music make for a raucous street party setting. Genuine Access can reserve anything from private tents at Nikki Beach Club, to exclusive tequila tasting at Sammy Hagar’s Cabo Wabo club and restaurant. How about a sunset dinner cruise on your private yacht? Let Genuine Access make all the arrangements.

Accommodations

Cabo San Lucas has a wide array of beautiful accommodations to choose from. Genuine Access can book all accommodations, from cozy bed and breakfast inns, mansions along the Sea of Cortez, to world

class luxury resorts. Our accommodations stretch from San Jose del Cabo to Cabo San Lucas. Cabo offers everything from the extraordinary personal service and views at Las Ventanas or the Palmilla resort, private yacht charters, to the trendy Melia San Lucas, which houses the world famous Nikki Beach Club.

Activities

Cabo San Lucas offers a wide variety of activities for your group to enjoy, if you feel like leaving the beautiful beaches. Whether you want to just chill on the 20 miles of beach, explore the baja in ATVs, or experience water adventures, Genuine Access will give you a wide selection of options to make yours days unforgettable.

Activities range from Off Road Baja Racing in the desert to the famous booze cruise along the beautiful coastline. Genuine Access will make sure you receive VIP service at every activity.

Check out some of the optional activities and excursions to make your stay in Cabo unforgettable. Please inquire about additional optional activities not listed:

• Baja Off Road
• Dirt Bikes
• Swimming with Dolphins
• Fishing Charters
• Horseback Riding
• Surfing Lessons
• Scuba
• Private Yacht Charters
• Golfing

Overview

Designed for the 21st century explorer, Catherwood Travels takes adventurers deep into the heart of Mexico’s mesmerizing history and culture on unforgettable bespoke tours. These meticulously planned journeys bring to life all the beauty and mystery of the Maya world, immersing travelers in the wonders of the past and present.

Guided by regional experts, including renowned archaeologists, naturalists and the Maya themselves, travelers will enjoy access to fascinating, lesser-known sites and off-the-beaten-path reserves, as well as accommodations at private luxury villas and historic haciendas. Each itinerary is tailored to the specific interests of the traveler, ensuring a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Accommodations

Catherwood Travels opens the door to a delightful array of Mexico’s most luxurious and private accommodations. In the Yucatán, the eclectically decorated townhomes of Casa Azul, Casa de Madera and Casa de los Artistas feature gardens, courtyards and fabulous spaces to soak in the local ambiance, two with pools.

Also in the region, Hacienda Itzincab Cámara and Hacienda Chichí de los Lagos are restored haciendas with 18-foot beamed ceilings and deluxe hotel-style amenities. On the Pacific Coast, La Cruz and Las Terrazas are adjacent beachfront homes, nestled in a tropical jungle at the water’s edge, designed by a renowned Mexican architect and decorated with exquisite local art.

Ameneties

Experiencing the magical Maya world is effortless with Catherwood Travels. The company’s travel designers will plan each aspect of your journey, collaborating directly with you to craft a unique, customized experience.

Chauffeured, air-conditioned vehicles, private planes and helicopters are all transportation options. The homes, many of which are historic properties, are fully equipped with modern amenities, and cooks, butlers, housekeepers and grocery shopping services are available on-site.

La Cruz and Las Terrazas are in the El Tamarindo Villas resort complex with easy access to golf, tennis, water sports and spa services.

Activities

Inspired by the company’s namesake, 19th century English artist and explorer Frederick Catherwood, who first revealed the Maya culture to an international audience, Catherwood Travels provides unparalleled entrée to this captivating civilization through a variety of experiences.

Archaeologists and experts on the Maya world lead exclusive Knowledge Adventures, guiding travelers to important archaeological sites, historic towns and even into Maya homes not accessible to other groups.

EcoAdventures, led by experienced guides and expert scientists, explore the Yucatán Peninsula’s impressive natural wonders through bird-watching, snorkeling, caving or swimming with whale sharks.

Cooking classes focusing on Yucatecan cuisine are also available. Or you may choose to simply relax amid the tropical splendor in your centuries-old hacienda.

Dining

When out in the field, Catherwood’s gourmet signature picnic lunches refresh body and spirit as you dine while enjoying panoramic views of the Mexican landscape. Or your travel designer may arrange for meals at authentic local restaurants. Elegant dinners are served with gracious style in your hacienda or villa, where personal chefs create delectable Yucatecan fare.