Almost every resort of note in Los Cabos meets what might be termed the “basic luxury resort criteria”, including the influx of high-profile properties that have opened in the area during the past five years; a list which includes ultra-luxury resorts and residences from benchmark hospitality brands like Waldorf Astoria, Ritz-Carlton, and Four Seasons.

The competition is fiercer than ever, in other words, and the clear winners are consumers, who are now able to pick and choose from among a wealth of attractive luxury resort options in one of the most beautiful places on Earth, based on the criteria most important to them…be it location, rates, service, or over-the-top extras.

But which resort brand is objectively providing the best vacation experience right now? That’s an almost impossible question to answer, but as someone lucky enough to have visited virtually every property of note in the Los Cabos municipality, I will say this: as we turn the calendar to 2021, no one is doing the luxury Los Cabos resort experience quite like Pueblo Bonito.

What sets this particular brand apart? Let’s start by looking at what they’re doing differently.

Multiple Locations Offer a Multiplicity of Vacation Experiences

One of the primary advantages enjoyed by Pueblo Bonito is its portfolio of local resorts (four of them, to be exact), which not only allows them to offer a wide range of vacation options to guests – from all-inclusive to à la carte, family-friendly to adults only – but just as importantly, allows them to showcase spectacular beachfront locations on both the Sea of Cortez and Pacific Ocean side of Cabo San Lucas.

It’s an undeniable advantage over resort brands with only one Los Cabos based location, and guests at any PB resort can enjoy the amenities and geographical attractions of the others, since dedicated shuttles run between the properties every hour on the hour.

This geographically and thematically diversified local portfolio developed organically. The Pueblo Bonito Resorts brand began in Mazatlán in 1987, with the opening of its first resort in one of the premier beachfront destinations in mainland México (there are now three properties in Mazatlán). Pueblo Bonito followed up that success with its first Los Cabos based property in 1991, Pueblo Bonito Los Cabos, which has since more commonly become known as “Blanco” to differentiate it from Pueblo Bonito Rosé, the pink-hued property which nearly a decade later became its neighbor on Playa El Médano, the largest and most popular beach in Cabo San Lucas.

Today, the Pueblo Bonito brand is still concentrated in the Mexican resort destinations of Mazatlán and Los Cabos; and unlike larger international hospitality brands, whose offerings all have a discernible style, PB has tailored its resorts to individual locations in the two destinations it knows best. In recent years, this has translated to increasing luxurious golf and spa resorts like Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach and Pueblo Bonito Pacifica – both set beachfront on the gorgeous Pacific coastline of Cabo San Lucas – as well as upscale residential developments nearby like Quivira, Copala, Novaispania, and Montecristo Estates (which also has villas available for high-end vacation getaways).

In terms of luxury, the adults-only Pueblo Bonito Pacifica and its boutique resort-within-a-resort concept The Towers at Pacifica, are the top of the line for the PB brand. But despite the chic and pampering amenities there (more on those below), guests also have access to beach club services and swimming on Médano Beach, as well as the restaurants and other amenities offered at the Blanco, Rosé, and Sunset Beach resorts.

First-Class Amenities Are Nice, World-Class Amenities Are Unforgettable

There’s no shortage of great golf courses in Los Cabos. Since legendary champion Jack Nicklaus designed benchmark courses at Palmilla and Cabo del Sol in the early 1990s, the region has seen an unprecedented run of first-class resort courses from major champions/designers like Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Fred Couples, Tom Weiskopf and Davis Love III.

But there’s first-class, then there’s world-class. Nicklaus’ iconic layouts at Cabo del Sol (formerly the Ocean Course, now the Cove Club) and Quivira are undeniably the latter. The Quivira Golf Club premiered in late 2014, and was immediately showered with acclaim, with GOLF Magazine proclaiming it “Best New International Course” for 2015. It has subsequently been named one of the “World’s 100 Best” by Golf Digest.

What’s so special about the 7,085-yard Quivira Golf Club course? Start with the seven holes hugging the coastline above crashing Pacific Ocean waves, some with sheer cliff drops of up to 300 feet; then consider historic sites like El Faro Viejo, the picturesque old lighthouse that is the oldest extant structure in Cabo San Lucas, and offers great views from the 6th and 7th holes; and then wonder at the fact that the course finishes at an unbeatable 19th hole: the best steakhouse in town.

We could also mention Nicklaus’ mastery in routing through rolling hills and windswept dunes, or the superb on-course comfort food stations, or even the frequent sightings of colorful roadrunners and (seasonally, at least) transiting whales…but you get the picture. This is a wow-factor resort golf experience of the highest order.

Quivira Golf Club is perhaps the signature amenity for Pueblo Bonito Resorts (tee times are available for guests at all five Los Cabos properties), but it’s not the only world-class offering. There’s also The Market at Quivira, a 15,000 square foot boutique food hall concept patterned after iconic examples like those at Harrods in London and The Plaza Hotel in New York City.

Since debuting at Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach in 2017, The Market at Quivira has proved to be one of the brand’s most popular amenities (like Quivira Golf Club, it’s open to guests at all five PB properties in Los Cabos). Small wonder, really, when you consider that not only does the market offer a staggering variety of mouthwatering food tasting opportunities – from Asian, Italian, American, Mexican and other international cuisines to deli items, healthy salads and juices, and freshly made chocolates – they also offer an on-site sports bar where guests can watch the latest U.S. games and events, or sip cocktails on an ocean view terrace. There’s even a 1950s style diner with a full line of specialty burgers and shakes.

The Market at Quivira wasn’t conceived of as a meal destination, however. Pueblo Bonito has close to two dozen restaurants at its various local properties, including some of the best in the area (notably, Peninsula at Pacifica, Frida at Sunset Beach, and Fellini’s at Rosé). Rather, it’s the ultimate luxury amenity, a place to wander and sample, or stop for a quick bite, or a specialty cocktail.

One thing is certain: there’s nothing else like it anywhere in Los Cabos, which when you think about it, is really the point. Sure, Pueblo Bonito is committed to doing things better than their competitors, whether its restaurants, pools, or pampering spas. But the brand also realizes the value of one-of-a-kind amenities, the kind of experiences that aren’t merely memorable, but unforgettable.

One-of-a-Kind is the Only Kind That Really Matters

Speaking of one-of-a-kind, there’s also The Towers at Pacifica, which to-date remains the only resort-within-a-resort concept anywhere in Los Cabos. The two accommodations focused towers are set at the already luxurious Pueblo Bonito Pacifica property, but up the ante with 47 rooms and suites featuring private terraces (six with private plunge pools), as well as 24-hour butler service (all butlers are certified by the British Butler Institute…naturally). There’s also a third tower – accessible by sky bridge – hosting a VIP lounge reserved only for guests at The Towers as Pacifica, a state-of-the-art fitness center, and a stylishly designed restaurant, Península, which showcases regional Baja cuisine and breathtaking ocean views.

Pueblo Bonito’s Pacifica resort has also built a roster of one-of-a-kind on-site experiences, which include beach-based clambakes and hook and cook programs, the latter allowing guests to fish for their own meals from shore (spoiler alert: the chef has some fresh local seafood on hand if you don’t catch anything). There’s also the seasonal sea turtle release program (Baja California Sur is a breeding ground for five of the world’s seven endangered sea turtle species), which invites guests to help hatchlings safely navigate their first perilous journey from beach to ocean, when they’re most at risk from predators; and beach bed experiences with eight hours of food and drink service direct to a private canopied oasis, complete with pillows to optimize the relaxation factor.

Sure, other resorts offer mixology and cooking classes, as PB Pacifica does. But where else can guests enjoy a romantic sunset “teepee” dinner for two on the beach, inside a comfortable and beautifully woven indigenous style hut built of bamboo, palm fronds, and flowers?

The answer, of course, is only at Pueblo Bonito Pacifica.

NOTE: For information about Pueblo Bonito’s commitment to guest safety, as well as safety and sanitization protocols enacted in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, click here.

All photos and videos courtesy of Pueblo Bonito Golf & Spa Resorts.

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Saludos from Co-Founders…

Chris Sands – Writer  and Michael Mattos

The post The Complete Cabo Resort Experience – How Pueblo Bonito is Redefining the Luxury Los Cabos Getaway appeared first on CaboViVO.

Three outstanding golf resorts in Los Cabos, the undisputed ‘Golf Capital of Latin America,’ have received a prestigious Editors’ Choice Award for ‘Best Resorts in the Americas’ in the May issue of Golf Digest.

Now in its third year, the publication’s Editors’ Choice Awards annually honor The Best in Golf, with an emphasis on lifestyle properties, products and services across the globe. In the ‘Destinations & Accommodations’ sector, editors examine criteria beyond golf, determining which properties offer a well-rounded, multi-faceted experience.

In the ‘Best Golf Resorts in México and Central America’ category, Los Cabos claimed three of the seven spots, more than any other destination in its region.

Heading the winner’s list is Cabo del Sol, the 36-hole resort that imprinted Los Cabos on the international golf map when its majestic Ocean Course debuted in 1994. Intent on producing the ‘Pebble Beach of the Baja’ on what he described as “the best piece of golf property I’ve ever seen,” designer Jack Nicklaus charted holes across gently sloping terrain creased by sandy arroyos and dotted with tall cacti and tawny rock formations. Very little earth was moved to create this seaside layout, which at full stretch (7,111 yards) asks experts to play a handful of do-or-die shots across swaths of desert or inlets of the sea. The Ocean Course is currently ranked No. 70 on Golf Digest’s “World 100 Greatest Golf Courses” list.

Cabo del Sol’s second venue is the Desert Course, Tom Weiskopf’s first design effort in México. Routed in rolling foothills, all 18 holes on this shot maker’s layout offer panoramic views of the Sea of Cortés. Shoehorned into rugged desert terrain crisscrossed by canyon-like arroyos, the Desert Course presents broad fairways framed by granite rock outcrops and a dense cactus forest. To defend the greens, which feature long slopes and subtle rolls, Weiskopf built large sculpted bunkers with distinctive capes and bays.

Cabo del Sol is anchored by a 40,000-square-foot, hacienda-style clubhouse, its spacious open-air verandas and terraces offering picturesque ocean and fairway views. On-site hotels include Sheraton Grand Los Cabos Hacienda del Mar; and the all-inclusive Grand Fiesta Americana Los Cabos. Each offers a lovely beachfront setting, excellent accommodations and a superb array of restaurants.

One&Only Palmilla can rightly claim to be the “Grande Dame” of Los Cabos. Palmilla Golf Club, the first Jack Nicklaus Signature course in Latin America, is five minutes from a legendary hideaway built in 1956 by the son of a former president of Mexico. The glamour and ambience of the original resort was carefully preserved at One&Only Palmilla, which opened in 2004 following a $90-million expansion and refurbishment. This ultra-luxe property, a favorite of Hollywood A-listers, is set on a rocky promontory that juts into the sea, its protected sandy beaches fronting azure-blue waters calm enough for swimming.

Palmilla’s Mountain and Arroyo nines, dropped into in a box-shaped canyon walled in by steep stony peaks, set the stage for top-shelf golf in Cabo when the core 18 opened in 1992. Routed around boulder-strewn arroyos and cactus-covered foothills, Palmilla was the first course in the hemisphere to partake of the region’s unique mountain, desert and ocean ecosystem. While tournament-tough from the tips, the layout’s broad fairways and open-entry greens accommodate players of lesser attainment. The Ocean nine, added in 1999, features a 600-foot elevation change from the first tee to the sixth green, carrying players from the mountains to the sea.

Treated to a recent $3.5-million refurbishment, Palmilla’s 27-hole complex is better now than when it was new.  Game improvement? The club recently installed RoboGolfPro®, a new robotic swing trainer endorsed by PGA Tour pros and “Top 100” teachers, at its practice facility.

Golf Digest’s editors had this to say about Quivira Golf Club, the gravity-defying layout grafted onto a dazzling site at Land’s End: “At the tip of Baja (California) Sur is the newest of more than a dozen Jack Nicklaus layouts in Mexico, and perhaps his most compelling, with holes along and atop granite cliffs and sand dunes overlooking the Pacific.”

Nicklaus used every tool in his kit to build a course that ranks among the most spectacular he has ever designed. That claim is validated by the fact that the course, opened in 2014, vaulted onto Golf Digest’s roster of the “World 100 Greatest Golf Courses” at No. 93.

A strategic tour de force marked by risk-reward options and breathtaking drops from tee to fairway, Quivira offers more oceanfront exposure than any other course in Los Cabos. This multi-themed layout starts at sea level, climbs the face of a mountain, tiptoes along sheer cliffs, meanders through massive dunes and rambles across desert foothills. The links-style finish is memorable: the infinity-edge green at the par-4 18^th appears to float on the ocean.

An all-inclusive facility, Quivira serves complimentary food and refreshments at four comfort stations. The club is accessible to guests of Pueblo Bonito Golf & Spa Resorts’ five properties. Golfers gravitate to the nearby Pacifica Golf & Spa Resort, an adults-only enclave where the accommodations, dining options and technicolor sunsets are exceptional.

• Press Release from Brian McCallen, Golf Public Relations for the Los Cabos Tourism Board.
• All images courtesy of Nicklaus Design.

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Saludos from Co-Founders…

Chris Sands – Writer  and Michael Mattos

The post Three Los Cabos Resorts Receive Golf Digest “Editors’ Choice Awards” appeared first on CaboViVO.

Los Cabos has been riding the crest of an unprecedented golfing boom for close to three decades now. Since the first modest 9-hole course appeared in San Jose del Cabo in 1987, championship-level loops have been premiering on a regular basis. Jack Nicklaus kick-started the local boom in the 1990s with memorable courses at Palmilla, El Dorado, and Cabo del Sol; but other major champions soon followed, including Tom Weiskopf, Greg Norman, Davis Love III and Tiger Woods.

As of April 2018, there are 15 courses operating in Los Cabos, and four of them – an astonishing 27% – made Golf Digest’s recent list of the 100 best international courses. Love’s Dunes Course at Diamante sits at 38th overall in Golf Magazine’s ratings, which encompasses courses from every country on earth. Nicklaus’ Ocean Course has been rated among the top 100 for 15 consecutive years, and his spectacular course at Quivira cracked the elite rankings after being open for only three years.

Amazingly, there are no signs that the pace of new courses in lessening. Quite the contrary. As many as a half-dozen new courses are slated to open in the next few years, including challenging new layouts from Woods, Nicklaus, Norman, Fred Couples and Robert Trent Jones II.

Here are the top 5 new courses expected to open by 2020…

The First Fred Couples Design in Los Cabos

Fred Couples only captured one major championship – the 1992 Masters Tournament at Augusta National – but his sweet, seemingly effortless swing and consistent play translated to over 60 total wins, and better than two decades of stardom on the PGA Tour. Now he’s coming to Los Cabos, designing the highly anticipated Twin Dolphin Golf Club. If the name Twin Dolphin sounds familiar, it’s because it is:  it was the name of a pioneer resort which originally opened in the Los Cabos tourist corridor during the 1970s. The reincarnated version will accompany Montage and Maravilla, two new resort and residential projects overlooking Bahia Santa Maria. Play is expected to begin later this year.

A New Greg Norman Course at Rancho San Lucas

Solmar Group is not only one of the premier Los Cabos hospitality brands, but a legacy company whose history is inextricably tied up with the growth of tourism in Cabo San Lucas. The group’s founder, Don Luis Bulnes Molleda, was the manager of the Land’s End community’s cannery before he partnered with Luis Coppola on Finisterra, and then opened his own Hotel Solmar in 1974. Rancho San Lucas is Solmar’s ambitious new resort and residential development on Cabo San Lucas’ Pacific Coast. It joins a portfolio that already includes Solmar Resort, Grand Solmar and Playa Grande, and will be centered around an 18-hole golf course from Norman that is expected be open by late 2018 or early 2019.

A Second Jack Nicklaus Course at Quivira

When legendary champion Jack Nicklaus kick-started the Los Cabos golfing boom in the early 1990s, his natural canvases were found at tourist corridor properties like Palmilla and Cabo del Sol. Now, with the success of Diamante and Nicklaus’ first magnificent effort at Quivira, the golf focus has shifted to the Pacific Coast. Quivira Golf Club opened in 2014 and has climbed the world rankings in near record time, so reports that Nicklaus is returning to design a second course for the Pueblo Bonito affiliated development counts as big news. Groundbreaking on the new layout is expected to happen next summer.

A Second Robert Trent Jones II Course in Los Cabos

Robert Trent Jones II is one of the least heralded Los Cabos course architects. There’s no secret why. He’s one of the few that has never won a major championship. Then again, he is the son of the most prolific designer ever, and a man who has designed over 270 courses around the world during his own acclaimed 50-year career. Jones helped put Los Cabos on the golfing map when television cameras caught whales breaching near a seaside green during a 1996 PGA Senior Grand Slam event at his Cabo Real course. Now he’s returning to design a second local loop, this time for luxury brand Four Seasons at their new Costa Palmas resort on Los Cabos’ gorgeous East Cape. Expect the new golf course to open in mid to late 2019.

A Third Tiger Woods Course at Diamante

Diamante ushered in the second wave of the Los Cabos golf boom with Davis Love III’s majestic links style Dunes Course, which has been showered in accolades ever since it opened in 2009. The Dunes may be the showpiece, but the star at Diamante is now 14-time major champion Tiger Woods, who has already designed two courses for the resort and residential development north of Cabo San Lucas – the parkland El Cardonal and the 12-hole Oasis short course – and has another in the development stages. Woods, who has made news recently with a return to form following years of back and knee-related injuries, will be a favorite at next month’s Masters Tournament. Groundbreaking on his third Diamante offering, a lush layout in the style of Shadow Creek in Las Vegas, is expected to begin in 2019.

Want your business, activity or event featured and promoted by CaboViVO, please be sure to contact us here, thanks…

Saludos,

Chris Sands

The post Top 5 New Golf Courses Coming to Los Cabos appeared first on CaboViVO.

We telescope the region’s meteoric golf trajectory in this illustrated timeline.

1987

Golf in Los Cabos starts modestly with the unveiling of a 9-hole municipal course in San José del Cabo. The Mario Schjetnan designed layout at Punta Sur was later renamed after the nearby Mayan Palace resort, and is now managed by Mexican hospitality brand Vidanta.

1992

Jack Nicklaus is the unquestioned godfather of golf in Los Cabos, with six magnificent courses to date on his Land’s End résumé. Developer Don Koll brought the Golden Bear to Los Cabos in the early 1990s, a move that first paid dividends in 1992, when Nicklaus crafted 9-hole Mountain and Arroyo courses opened at Palmilla.

1994

Nicklaus’ masterpiece, however, came two years later, when the Ocean Course debuted at Cabo del Sol. This stunning loop, which Nicklaus himself called “the best golf property I’ve ever seen”, has been rated one of the 100 best in the world for 15 consecutive years and counting.

The only course with views of the granite monuments at Land’s End also premiered in 1994. That was Campo de Carlos, a course designed by Roy Dye and his son Matt that was later rebranded as the Cabo San Lucas Country Club.

1996

Robert Trent Jones Jr. helped to put Los Cabo on the golfing map in 1996, when television cameras pick up whales breaching near seaside greens in a Senior Slam at his newly designed Cabo Real course. Cabo Real is now one of three local courses managed by Questro Golf.

1999

Nicklaus returns to add a 9-hole Ocean layout at Palmilla, bringing his portfolio there to 27 total holes; and, taking advantage of his time in Baja Sur, adds another full course at Eldorado, an exclusive private club in a residential oasis home to big-name actors and athletes.

2000

Tom Fazio’s superb Querencia is a creeper. For the better part of a decade, diabolical yet picturesque challenges like the dogleg, dual-bunkered, par-5 fourth were known only to millionaire members. That changed in 2016, when Golf Digest finally let the cat out of the bag, naming it one of the world’s 100 best in their annual rankings.

2001

Inevitably cast as the lesser of the two Cabo del Sol courses, former British Open champion Tom Weiskopf’s Desert Course nonetheless deserves, and has received, numerous plaudits. It’s currently rated by Golf Week as one of the 50 best courses in Mexico and the Caribbean. Those wishing to compare it to Nicklaus’ neighboring Ocean Course can do so at two yearly pro-am tournaments:  The Los Cabos Pro-Am, and the Jim Flick Invitational.

2007

Club Campestre was Nicklaus’ 4th Los Cabos loop, a 6,966-yard challenge that boasts all the master’s traditional touches:  forced carries, water hazards, loads of uneven stances, and even more bunkers. But that’s not all. So scenic is this downtown San José jewel that it has also served as an event venue, most notable for the Sabor a Cabo food and wine festival.

2008

The world’s only composite design from Greg Norman and Jack Nicklaus opens at Puerto Los Cabos, a luxury development just outside San José del Cabo. Norman sculpted the front-nine Mission course, Nicklaus the back-nine Marina. Ask a local who prevails in the battle of the sport’s best nicknames, and the consensus is the Great White Shark narrowly edges the Golden Bear; thanks in large part to the incredible par-3 6th, where the tee box sits on the equivalent of a 10-story building, and features views of miles of gorgeous coastline.

2009

In Los Cabos, only Nicklaus landmark Ocean Course at Cabo del Sol has achieved the same sort of acclaim as Davis Love III’s links style Dunes Course at Diamante; and even that falls short when it comes to the opinion of the sport’s premier tastemakers. Voted top new international course in 2010, GOLF Magazine declared the Dunes Course the 52nd best course in the world in 2013, the highest ranking ever achieved by a Los Cabos golf course. It has since ascended, and now sits at 38. Greater glories are still to come.

2014

Jack Nicklaus triumphs again with a breathtaking cliffside layout at Quivira, a resort and residential development from Pueblo Bonito founder Ernesto Coppel Kelly. The 7,139-yard tour de force was voted the world’s best new international course in 2015 by GOLF Magazine, and has since earned additional acclaim for its on-course comfort food stations.

The biggest news of the year, however, was the first completed course from Jack’s closest rival for career major championships, Tiger Woods. Tiger’s parkland style El Cardonal at Diamante also made its debut in 2014, and although it lacks Quivira’s majesty, it continues to attract loyal adherents.

2016

Querencia designer Tom Fazio scores again with the long-awaited Chileno Bay, a seaside jewel nestled between the Sea of Cortés and the Sierra de la Laguna mountain range.

Tiger Woods also came back for a command performance, albeit an insouciant one. His 12-hole Oasis short course at Diamante is a fun-filled little lark, a one-of-a-kind golf experience that bucks the traditional model.

2018

A new course from two-time major champion Greg Norman is scheduled to open in Spring 2018 at Rancho San Lucas, a Solmar Group development on the Pacific Coast north of Cabo San Lucas; and the Twin Dolphin Golf Club, designed by former Masters champion Fred Couples, is expected to follow later in the year in the tourist corridor that connects the cape cities.

The post A Timeline of Golf in Los Cabos appeared first on CaboViVO.