The Marquis Los Cabos Experience
Cabo San Lucas sits at the tip of the Baja Peninsula where the bountiful Sea of Cortez meets the Pacific Ocean. A launching point for early sailors heading westward and a haven for pirates, it remained a remote outpost until the early 1950s when it became a destination for celebrity sport fishermen like John Wayne and Bing Crosby. Since the 1970s, it has been a favorite destination for those seeking luxe accommodations and amenities.
Cabo, the destination, is really two towns linked by a twenty mile corridor of resorts and golf courses. The town of Cabo San Lucas is where you go for the glitter, the town of San Jose del Cabo is where you go for colonial charm, and in between is where you go when you truly want to get away from it all.
From the road, Marquis Los Cabos appears to be an undistinguished example of Mexican contemporary architecture, but the roadside façade modestly conceals the resort’s considerable charms and the experience that awaits.
Built just five years ago, the resort cascades toward the sea in a design that echoes the cubism of the pueblo, creating an array of inviting open areas, spacious yet intimate, that make you feel more like you are the guest of a very gracious friend with impeccable taste than an anonymous client of a large corporate resort.
The Marquis Los Cabos experience begins when you pass through the vast entry arch and leave every day existence behind. Ahead of you is the azure Sea of Cortez. All around is the sound of a three story waterfall.
Ella Messerli, General Manager of Marquis Los Cabos since its opening, says “Here at Marquis Los Cabos we offer our guests luxury without attitude. We see this as a place where you come to be rehumanized, a resort for all senses.”
Take the staircase to the beach and write your name in the sugar soft sand. This is the start of your perfect day in Cabo.
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and today you can watch whales spouting in the sea as you make your choice from the American and Mexican selections offered on the menu at Restaurant Vista Ballenas.
For me, rehumanizing is all about slowing down and being pampered, and the Spa Marquis has a full selection of indulgences. Booking your spa service gives you access to all the spa facilities throughout the day, so arrive early and enjoy the French limestone lined steam bath or the private Jacuzzis set in alcoves above the pools where you can watch the palms sway in the tropical breeze as sunlight plays on the colors of the iridescent mosaic tiles rimming your private tub.
Creating serenity is the goal of Spa Marquis and no detail has been overlooked. A great massage is a sure path to serenity and here you have a full set of options: deep tissue, shiatsu, hot stones. Whatever you want, they’ve got it. When you rise from the massage table, head to the Restaurant Dos Mares for a poolside lunch.
In the afternoon read and doze poolside, swim in one of the three pools that trace an undulating line along the beach, join the volley ball game on the beach, or head back to the spa for a facial, a mud wrap, or a pedicure.
Before dinner, stop by the El Suspiro Bar where you can sip your libation behind the waterfall. Dinner at Vista Ballenas would be very good, but dinner at one of the six tables in Executive Chef Thierry Dufour’s Restaurant Canto Del Mar is spectacular. Here Chef Dufour prepares a six course tasting menu that presents his exquisite cuisine at a leisurely pace, allowing your palate time to savor every delectable morsel, and Sommelier Milton Rebolledo offers wine pairings to match a menu that changes every four days. Chef Dufour’s menu features the best of locally raised organic produce and seafood from the bountiful Sea of Cortez.
With your appetite satiated, step to the rail of any terrace to gaze at the moon above and its dappled reflection in the ever rolling sea. If you splurge on one of the Marquis’ suites or casitas, you can see the moon from your own private terrace before slipping between the Frette sheets and under a duvet as light as an angel’s wing and listen to the surf as you glide, fully rehumanized, into a perfect night’s sleep.
Getting There: Cabo is located at the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur, a thousand miles south of the U.S. border. The local airport is San Jose del Cabo (SJD).
What &Where:
Marquis Los Cabos (Fraccionamiento Cabo Real; 624-144-2000 for reservations, spa, and restaurants)