The 15th green at Cabo Real Golf Club is perched just above the pool terrace at Las Ventanas Al Paraiso in Los Cabos. Celebrating the complete absence of H1N1 influenza in Cabo, the 5-star beachfront resort Las Ventanas has created some powerful incentives (besides the great golf) for visitors to head down to Cabo.
The Rosewood Escape offer, good May 25-Oct. 14 includes:
Significantly reduced rates from $515 per night
Upgrade if available (i.e. pay $515 but stay in a $750 suite)
Daily breakfast for two and $200 resort credit per stay
A small, ultra-luxurious enclave, the only 5-star property in Los Cabos
(and my absolute favorite), Las Ventanas is for lovers, and for
vacationers seeking solitude and the ultimate in service. Your personal
butler will greet you
with a beverage, then escort you through the tropical grounds to your
suite where you can relax on a banquette on your balcony or hop right
into your own outdoor whirlpool. Intricate stone inlays enhance the
white marble floors and a wood-burning fireplace awaits the match. Spa
suites each have two balconies with banquettes and infinity edge
Jacuzzis; 2 bedrooms, each with double Jacuzzis; a full kitchen,
separate dining and living room--and 4-foot-tall candles, and also a
private spa room with double massage tables and a giant
steam/rainforest shower. Your spa butler will meet with you to discuss
treatments to enjoy in your suite and/or at the full-service spa.
You may choose appearance-enhancing peels and facial lifts, body
evaluations, the Ultimate Fitness and weight loss programs, and
traditional and exotic massage and skin treatments. (A tip: although
nearly every suite is quite private, those on the ground floor near the
main pool may be less so.)
Butlers at the beachfront pool offer
sunscreen, iPods, sorbet, frosty Evian spritzers and racy novels. As
the evening draws near, hundreds of lanterns and candles flicker on the
balconies, terraces, in the windows and down the stairs leading to fine dining
in The Restaurant and in the open-air Sea Grill, where a wood-fired
ovens and grills turn out luscious gulf shrimp, cabrilla(sea bass) and
huachinango(snapper), pizzas and locally-produced meats and poultry.
Fire bowls cast soft light on Guitaras de Luna, a duo renowned in Baja
for the soft Spanish guitar music. As guests seeking seclusion often
stay at the resort for all meals, menus change daily. Private dining is
also available in the Spanish-colonial style La Cava, the wine cellar.
(Up to 40 guests who are not staying at the resort may make
reservations for dinner each day.)
A large telescope is set up
for star-gazing on the beach, which is smoothed and cleaned each night.
The exotic and very romantic setting at Las Ventanas makes it popular
for marriage proposals and weddings,
which are coordinated by the Director of Romance. You can arrange for a
private pavilion for dinner on the beach, and she'll be surprised when
a fellow gallops up on horseback and hands down flowers and the
ring--that's your cue to pop the question. Or, have the D of R put your
note in a bottle, and bury it in the sand next to your table. And,
don't be surprised if you open the door to your suite to see a rose
petal path leading to dozens of lighted candles in the bedroom. Las Ventanas al Paraiso translates as Windows to Paradise . . .
The
resort will arrange guided tours for deep sea fishing and ATV
expeditions, whale watching, wave runner and snorkeling tours, and
golf. And, they will send a car to the airport for you, and for your
return flight, the driver will whisk you, your packed lunch and your
luggage right past the long economy-class lines and through First Class
check-in, even if you are not a First Class passenger--this is a
much-to-be-desired service at the Los Cabos airport.
Golf is on the menu, too--the Robert Trent Jones, Jr.-designed, world-famous Cabo Real Golf Club is a chain of green islands of turf in a fearsome desert landscape of
huge cardon cacti, ball-snatching fronting the ocean. The track ascends
on skinny fairways and small, elevated greens into mountainous terrain
to the fifth hole, which runs 454 yards along the edge of a steep
canyon to a green sandwiched between canyon and sea at the course's
highest point, 460 feet above sea level, whereupon the course begins
winding back down. The 14th sweeps to the ocean through a palm-lined
fairway, ending in an elevated green at surfside--whales spouting
offshore put on a show for TV viewers who watched the PGA Senior Slams
here in the 1990s. Get out your camera for the spectacular view of the
course from 15th.
Balancing a 74.1 rating and 140 slope from the blacks, five sets of
tees make Cabo Real fair for high handicappers contending with rocking
and rolling fairways and unpredictable sea breezes. The starter strikes
fear, and encourages the forward tees, when he says, "These are the hardest 9 holes on Cabo."
For more info on Los Cabos: www.visitloscabos.travel
Read about resorts on Riviera Maya on the Yucatan Peninsula
Karen Misuraca is the Resorts & Spas columnist at examiner.com
