Check Into This Beautiful Boutique Hotel In Baja California Sur
Detour from Cabo San Lucas to find the captivating Todos Santos Boutique Hotel.
It may be only an hour’s drive north of Cabo San Lucas on coast-hugging Highway 19, but the village of Todos Santos, in Mexico’s Baja California Sur, feels worlds away from the manicured and gated resorts of the more popular, and populated, destination. And a super-cool new boutique luxury hotel in the picturesque town is starting to bring it to the world’s attention.
Todos Santos’ longtime claim to fame is the Hotel California, the purported inspiration for the Eagles song, but not anywhere you’d actually want to stay. So it’s high time the town got a luxury option as it boast numerous attractions, including boisterous waves, art galleries, distinctive local shops, farmer’s markets, and local cuisine leaning toward fresh-caught Pacific fish. Enter Todos Santos Boutique Hotel, with only ten idiosyncratic suites and villas.
The Jesuits founded Todos Santos in 1724; they were onto a good thing. Though known as arid desert above a Pacific coast oasis, it became a major sugar cane and thriving agriculture-producing community, surrounded by the Sierra Laguna mountains, sloping down to some of the best surfing waves in the world, rising from a sea where whales seasonally come to migrate. The white sand beaches need no artificial enhancement.
Todos Santos Boutique Hotel is mysterious and cinematic, the embodiment of an escape hatch, a place its independent owners emphasize as being “disconnected.” That includes a subtle frowning upon the digital world, though it has all the state-of-the-art conveniences you could want. It is a welcome throwback to a more elegant time, replete with tastefully luxe touches and indulgences, spectacular in all its ten suites, no two of them the same, many with library shelving and other bespoke touches.
At first glance of the hotel’s two-story redbrick façade, it is a Spartan compound, giving little notion of what is inside, aside perhaps from the elegant Palladian windows. It sparks intrigue even in casual passersby. What is going on in there? It could be the private fortress of a man with means, not to mention impeccable taste, or a lord of the manor choosing to keep the outside world exactly there.
Once the estimable mansion of a Spanish countess, the renovated, restored and reimagined Todos Santos Boutique Hotel is quite the mirage. Inside, there are arched entrances, gorgeous tiling in the double-sink baths, parquet wide-wood plank ceilings, wrought iron balconies, an entrancing courtyard swimming pool with Chateau Marmont vibes and its own bar, and epic hand-painted murals of historic old missions in every singularly appointed room and public space.
The color palette creates a kind of ethereal intimacy, but makes every open window a frame for nature, lush landscaping, and the sun. Invitingly modern but traditionally elegant, the color scheme indoors is of dark greens, maroons, and sepias, mirroring those hand-painted mission-and-mountain murals that backdrop the elegant interior spaces.
This is the antithesis of the area’s typical “beach resort” vibe, and it’s a breath of fresh air. The dim lighting in the bars and restaurants is almost a special effect. Some of the fixtures, furnishings and art are antique, others cleverly made to look so. An up on the rooftop terrace you can have all the sunlight you wish, with views of the property and the town.
You could imagine Paul Bowles writing a novel in this one-of-a-kind sanctuary, or savoring the beautiful cocktails in the bar, La Copa, whose drink list was obviously created by mixology geniuses from one of the world’s best bars. You want to camp out here all day, reading a vintage detective novel, or Gabriel Garcia Marquez, over a glass of whatever you choose to suit the time of day. It’s all extremely Instagrammable, but not designed solely for that purpose, which makes all the difference in the world.
Then there’s the gorgeous restaurant, 1890, so named in a not to the hotel’s history. It’s incredibly talented chef, Gaz Herbert, is a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu London and veteran of some of the world’s finest kitchens. With its circular, low-hanging chandeliers, framed portraits and landscapes, archival wallpaper, and plush leather banquettes, this is another incredibly layered space with deep color tones that draw you in and make you never want to leave.
And that’s before you’ve even had your first bite. 1890 is known for its steak tartare, noisettes of beef, sliced just so, and crudos, for starters. It ‘s an exquisite and unpretentious take on a classic Mexican cuisine grill European flare. It also offers tapas re-imagined, to ruminate on every bite. Herbert and his team have a distinct advantage of having an amazing, local organic farm, also co-owned by the hotel’s proprietors, at their disposal, offering up on the very best, seasonal produce and other products.
There’s also a beautifully-designed, comprehensive wine cellar offering a space for private dining, with a truly impressive selection of vintages from around the world, and a special emphasis on wines from the local region and the rest of Mexico. Gaz Herbert also oversees the menu of small plates at La Copa, which goes above and beyond the usual bar food offerings—try his take on the lobster roll—that hold their own with the world class cocktails. It is without doubt one of the most beautiful bars in all of Mexico.
Todos Santos Boutique Hotel is one of the newest member’s of SLH, aka Small Luxury Hotels of the World. With some 560 hotels spanning 90 countries, SLH is known the world over for the most stylish boutique luxury hotels on the planet—everything from treehouses, fish camps, rainforest abodes, desert ranches, and ski chalets, all completely unique and making for an adventure to remember. Todos Santos Boutique Hotel is a fitting addition to SLH’s impressive portfolio.
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