Top properties in Mexico’s premier luxury destination sweep the 2022 Readers’ Choice Awards
Los Cabos, Mexico – Several leading resorts in Los Cabos, including eight of the top 10 winners, have been recognized for excellence in Conde Nast Traveler’s 35th annual Readers’ Choice Awards survey. Los Cabos placed more properties — a total of 13 resorts — in the “Top 20 Resorts in Western Mexico” category compared than any other destination in the region.
“The winners of the 2022 Readers’ Choice Awards reflect what our audience loves, remains loyal to and can’t wait to experience again,” the editors stated. “Enthusiasm for travel has never been higher, as demonstrated by the nearly quarter of a million of (our readers) who filled out this year’s survey.”
World-class golf is a prime amenity at several of the reader-selected resorts in Los Cabos. Each golf course, built by a name-brand designer, fully embraces Los Cabos’ dazzling desert-meets-ocean environment at the tip of the Baja Peninsula.
With a near-perfect score of 98.21, One&Only Palmilla (No. 1), renowned as the “Grand Dame of Los Cabos,” is a refined hideaway built in 1956 by the son of a former president of Mexico. Patronized then as now by A-list celebrities, the hotel was transformed by One&Only into a world-class resort in 2004. This lush landscaped retreat, set on a promontory that juts into the Sea of Cortez, has three sheltered coves with sandy beaches and calm waters. Hacienda-style guest rooms, accented by wrought-iron chandeliers and updated Mission-style furniture, evoke Los Cabos’ colonial-era history. The hotel’s mix of authenticity, elegance and old-world glamour is unmatched in Los Cabos.
Tucked into a box-shaped canyon enclosed by stony brown peaks, Palmilla Golf Club, located five minutes from the hotel, set the stage for top-shelf golf in the region when it opened 30 years ago. The original 18 (Arroyo and Mountain nines), the first Jack Nicklaus Signature Design in Latin America, is a firm, fair test that skirts boulder-strewn arroyos, long waste bunkers and several ponds. Broad terraced fairways and accessible greens accommodate players of lesser attainment. The club’s Ocean nine, added later by Nicklaus, has a 600-foot elevation that carries players from the mountains to the sea.
Chileno Bay Resort & Residences, Auberge Resorts Collection (No. 2), a stylish, laid-back retreat, is nestled in the cove of Chileno Bay, one of the finest swimming beaches in Los Cabos. Chic and sophisticated, the 92-key resort (60 hotel rooms and 32 multi-bedroom villas) is a fine example of “deformalized luxury” and a study in beachside chic: white stucco, sandstone brick, natural wood and hand-cut stone walls and accent the public areas. TnT, overlooking the beach, vies for the title of Cabo’s best taco ‘n tequila bar. The resort’s 450-foot-long, three-tiered swimming pool, inlaid with iridescent blue tiles, simulates a river flowing to the Sea of Cortes.
Resort guests enjoy exclusive access to the Tom Fazio-designed course at Chileno Bay Golf Club. Framed by winding arroyos, hillsides of flowering shrubs and bunkers filled with bright white sand, this brilliant layout is manicured to perfection. Displaying his trademark artistry, Fazio created flowing landforms that simulate rolling ocean waves. Good players are faced with strategic options; average players have plenty of room. Elevated tees offer superlative views of the azure-blue sea and the rugged, mountainous interior. The club’s comfort stations, (Kobe beef sliders, homemade tamales, beer on draft, etc.) are a culinary match for the course.
Four Seasons Resort Los Cabos at Costa Palmas (No. 12), situated on the East Cape near Cabo Pulmo, a UNESCO-listed national marine park, is tucked within a resort community set back from two miles of white sand beach on the Sea of Cortes. Backdropped by tall peaks in the Sierra de la Laguna Mountains, this sprawling resort invites guests to explore an undiscovered side of Cabo. The Four Seasons offers an array of dining options, notably super fresh seafood at El Puesto, a shaded beachfront cevicheria. There’s also a full-service spa and wellness center, a posh fitness space, several pools, a Kids for All Seasons program, and a 250-slip marina.
Broad fairways and firm, fast conditions characterize the breezy course at Costa Palmas Golf Club, which is routed across a rolling “dunescape” set above the sea. Upland holes on this Robert Trent Jones II design bring a mesquite grove and strategically placed bunkers into play. Lower-lying, links-style holes invite golfers to play bump ‘n run shots along the ground. There’s also a six-hole, par-3 loop and a one-acre putting course. Bouchie’s, an open-air café at the practice center, attracts adults and kids alike. The golf club is offered as an exclusive amenity to Four Seasons guests.
Two hotels within Puerto Los Cabos, a 2,000-acre resort and residential community on the outskirts of San Jose del Cabo, were voted to Conde Nast Traveler’s list. Zadun, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve (No. 15), the luxury chain’s top-tier product, is spaced along bluffs above a secluded beach on the Sea of Cortes. Spacious, low-slung suites and villas, featuring Mexican textiles and terraces with firepits, are tucked into a rocky slope thick with cactus. Everything is best in class: the oasis-like Spa Alkemia, the agave-focused Candil Bar, the seamless, impeccable service.
Also within this community is JW Marriott Los Cabos Beach Resort & Spa (No. 20), a refined post-modern hotel with clean lines and sharp angles set directly above the sea. It offers five pools, six restaurants (included the celebrated Café des Artistes), a first-class spa and the Griffin Club, a boutique hotel-within-a-hotel that provides a deeper level of luxury and hospitality.
Both resorts are a stone’s throw from Puerto Los Cabos Golf Cub, a 27-hole facility with an 18-hole course by Jack Nicklaus; and a nine-hole layout by Greg Norman. The club offers three appealing 18-hole combinations. Subtly contoured greens, large sculpted bunkers, sharp elevation changes and dramatic coastline views characterize the club’s golf experience. Complimentary snacks and refreshments are served at a pair of on-course palapas.
Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach Golf & Spa Resort (No. 18), a family-friendly, all-inclusive property that crowns a coastal bluff high above the beach and sea, welcomes guests to deluxe suites with ocean views from every room. The resort’s amenities includes award-winning Armonia Spa, The Market at Quivira (a culinary food hall with an enticing array of themed eateries), and dedicated clubs for youngsters and teenagers. According to the magazine’s report, “it’s not every day you take in perfect views of migrating whales while floating in an infinity pool.”
Resort guests have access to nearby Quivira Golf Club, an epic layout grafted by Jack Nicklaus onto a jaw-dropping site at Land’s End. Marked by sheer granite cliffs, huge windswept dunes and rolling desert foothills, Quivira has twisting arroyos, acres of cactus, lots of rock…in sum, a little bit of everything Cabo has to offer. Arguably the most daring, eclectic course Nicklaus has ever built, this tour de force presents an unforgettable test from its multiple sets of tees. Mexican specialties and refreshments are served at the club’s comfort stations.
Nobu Hotel Los Cabos (No. 19), a stylish newcomer created by Japanese celebrity Chef “Nobu” Matsuhisa and Academy Award-winning actor Robert De Niro, blends contemporary Japanese minimalism with locally sourced Mexican materials. Drawing inspiration from a simple but sophisticated palette that embraces a Japanese aesthetic, this low-rise, white-washed hotel fronting the Pacific Ocean fuses architectural elegance and easygoing Cabo luxury.
Subject to availability, Nobu guests can tee it up at Diamante, a resort community renowned for its Davis Love III-designed Dunes Course, a windswept, roller-coaster layout carved through towering sand hills within earshot of the Pacific. It’s ranked No. 1 in Mexico by Golf Digest and GOLF Magazine. Guests can also play El Cardonal, which marked the architectural debut of Tiger Woods when it opened in 2014. Tiger also designed Diamante’s Oasis Short Course, a fun 12-hole par 3 layout.
Additional resorts that received 2022 Readers’ Choice Awards are conveniently located near golf clubs in and around the ‘Tourist Corridor’ linking San Jose del Cabo, a charming colonial city; and Cabo San Lucas, a deep-sea fishing mecca and nightlife capital. These properties include Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal (No. 3), Las Ventanas al Paraiso, A Rosewood Resort (No. 5), The Cape, A Thompson Hotel(No. 6), Viceroy Los Cabos (No. 7), Esperanza, Auberge Resorts Collection (No. 9), and Grand Velas Los Cabos (No. 10).
The complete Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards, the longest-running and most prestigious recognition of excellence within the travel industry, is highlighted in the November issue of Condé Nast Traveler as well as online: https://www.cntraveler.com/gallery/mexico-western-top-resorts.
About Los Cabos:
Situated at the tip of the 1,000-mile long Baja Peninsula, Los Cabos is home to award-winning hotels, resorts, championship golf courses, rejuvenating spas and world-class sport fishing. With a unique landscape of dramatic desert and dazzling beaches, Los Cabos is an exotic escape within easy reach of most U.S. and Canadian cities. For more information, images and videos from Los Cabos, visit www.visitloscabos.travel, follow us on Twitter @LOSCABOSTOURISM and visit us on Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram.
Contacts:
Media Golf Contact:
Brian McCallen
Golf Public Relations
Los Cabos Tourism Board
Tel: +1 860-514-5011
Email: rep.golf@visitloscabos.travel
www.visitloscabos.travel
Golf Contact:
Cynthia Ontiveros
Special Segments Manager
Los Cabos Tourism Board
Tel: + (52) 624 144 4730
Email: contiveros@visitloscabos.travel
www.visitloscabos.travel
