New Mexican luxury resort The Cape opens on the Baja Peninsula.
Baja California, the sunny Mexican state near the border with California, is a perennial playground for surfers, movie stars and moguls, and their favoured destination is the resort corridor of Los Cabos, at the tip of the Baja Peninsula.
A year after a hurricane devastated the area, the resorts have been rebuilt in record time and a raft of new hotels has opened, among them a 161-room modernist marvel called The Cape on a secluded surf beach with views of the famed El Arco rock formation. The Cape is the latest in the Thompson Hotels portfolio, which includes New York’s Gild Hall and Belgraves in London.
Young-gun Mexican architect Javier Sánchez of JSa Arquitectura worked on the hotel’s low-slung linear look and open-plan design, and with design firm Arquitectura de Interiores created interiors that pay homage to a 1960s modernist Mexican aesthetic and breezy Southern Californian coastal charm. Guestrooms and public spaces feature furniture custom-made in Mexico, commissioned artworks – including a life-sized driftwood whale by artist Marcos Castro – and native landscaping.
Guests have private-stairway access to the celebrated surf breaks at Playa Monumento, a freeform pool is carved from a natural rock formation, and many rooms have hanging outdoor daybeds and plunge pools, and even the spa features a private outdoor cabana with ocean views. The real alfresco showpiece, though, is The Rooftop, a sixth-floor bar and lounge with views of Los Cabos and El Arco, a sunken seating area and a firepit.
The Cape’s signature dining room, Manta, is overseen by acclaimed Mexican chef Enrique Olvera, a longtime visitor to Los Cabos; he’s best known for his Mexico City restaurant Pujol and recent New York outpost, Cosme. Using seafood from the Sea of Cortez, Olvera’s style blends izakaya traditions, pan-Pacific influences and traditional Mexican flavours.
The Cape, Carretera Transpeninsular Km 5, Misiones del Cabo, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Rooms from $827 per night.
