The Luxe Cabo Resort We’re Escaping To This Winter

You could blindly throw a dart at the calendar and land on the right time to visit Los Cabos. Just look at the December forecast: highs in the mid-80s and lows in the 60s almost every day. It’s no wonder when travelers speak of vacationing on Mexico’s Pacific coast, the southern tip of Baja California Sur is generally at the center of the conversation.

Solaz, A Luxury Collection, Los Cabos is one of the best places to bask in the Baja sun. An architectural marvel positioned between the region’s harsh desert and its sparkling blue waters, the Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star resort exudes a calm and a confidence all year long. No matter the season, here are five reasons why Solaz should be in your sights.

The Look

A lot of resorts claim to be at one with nature. Solaz follows through with the declaration. Lines and curvatures undulate with the topography. Walkways intentionally lead the eyes to the Sea of Cortez. At certain spots around the property, you have to look closely to see where pebbled trails stop and quarried stone buildings begin. It’s as if Mother Nature herself sat in on design meetings with the Sordo Madaleno architects who erected the place.

And we haven’t even mentioned the role that flora plays in all of this. There are few properties we’ve visited in North America that take as much pride in their landscaping as Solaz. You’ll notice the resort’s 20-plus cultivators pruning and planting incessantly, ensuring that the cactus and agave you see along pathways are always in picture-ready shape. You’ll also notice rooftop gardens that add both an aesthetic quality and a positive environmental impact to the property.

The Rooms

But if you think the grounds here are incredible, brace yourself for the rooms. Units range from one-bedroom quarters to four-bedroom villas, yet they’re all adorned in local Huanacaxtle wood, one-touch tech features and delightful Byredo toiletries. We stayed in a Plunge Pool Room that also had a solid wood dining table for six, a wine cooler, marble walls and, as the name suggests, a splash pool that looked almost too elegant for a dip.

The room didn’t stop there, though. Understanding how important the sleeping component is to a vacation, Solaz wants to ensure you have an unforgettable rest with not only a pillowtop mattress, but with the Suite Solaz Slumber Package. Upon request, an artisan butler will light candles, run you a bath filled with Epsom salt and mix up a snooze-inducing mocktail to ensure your night goes as well as your day at the resort did.

The Food

It doesn’t matter if you’re hungry for formal or fun dining, Solaz has it on the menu. For the former, Al Pairo is where you’ll want to don the linen and loafers for the evening. A partially open-air space with tiled floors and a stunning light fixture doubling as a school of fish, this restaurant delivers contemporary Mexican dishes that are accompanied with hushed conversations and sips of a Chablis from the attractive glass-walled wine cellar, La Cava, next door.

When it comes to fun, the resort cooks up some great options, too. At the waterfront Mako, you’ll spot horseback riders prancing on the shorelines while you pick from a delicious menu of power bowls, tacos and other light options. A perfectly fried fish sandwich with seasoned fries was one of the best lunches we’ve had all year.

For a more hands-on culinary experience during your stay, try a taco-making class at Cascabel. Here, you’ll prepare your own guacamole, press your own shells and flip your own pieces of mahi mahi. While there will undoubtedly be a mishap or two along the way, the combination of expert supervision and fresh ingredients will come together for an unbelievably good lunch.

The Spa

As you’d expect from such a serene address, wellness sits firmly at Solaz’s core. This rings especially true at Four-Star Ojo de Liebre Spa. Before your treatment, ready your body by taking a swim in the seawater pool or a plunge in the hot and cold tubs. And when it’s time for your pampering session, there’s a roster of restorative services — from the expected (the lavender-accented Conscious Massage) to the explorative (the aloe- and suction cup-enhanced Escenia del Mar procedure) — from which to choose.

For our visit, we landed somewhere comfortably in between with the jojoba- and black pepper oil-aided Gentleman’s Massage. Our therapist was short in stature, but her hands left a big impression on parts of our lower back we didn’t even know needed attention.

The Activity Calendar

While we’d fully understand if your Solaz stay was masterclass in motionlessness, the resort’s activity options make it hard to sit still. There are cocktail-making courses for adults, clubs for youths and pools that everyone in between can enjoy. If you’re feeling even more active, connect with the concierge about taking an ATV tour through the Cabo desert.

In a unique touch, the property also houses an onsite museum, Gabinete del Barco. As you’d expect from spending any time on the property, the gallery is a thoughtful attraction filled with historical documents, maritime artifacts and a 43-foot whale skeleton.

Now that the holidays are upon us, the Los Cabos hotel will get even livelier. The culinary team will prepare a curated meal of new and old favorites on Thanksgiving (November 28). Around Christmas, the resort will gift guests with gingerbread house-making classes (December 1 to January 2), an Italian-inspired dinner at Riccio Di Mare (December 24) and festive meals all day on December 25. And finally, Solaz will ring in 2025 with a New Year’s Eve party and a New Year’s Day brunch.

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