Where to Stay

Best Hotels on Médano Beach: Pick Your Stretch First

By Cabo Wander

The best hotels on Médano Beach are spread along two miles of sand, so I don't start with a hotel. I start with which part of the beach you want to wake up on.

Médano is about two miles long, and the hotels along it are selling very different vacations. The west end, by the marina, is the party. The middle is the balance, with gentle water, a town you can walk to and the microphones behind you. The east end is quiet, and it's a long walk from dinner. So on this beach you choose your stretch first, and after that the hotel is a pretty easy call.

For most people, and for any first trip, I'd book the middle: Pueblo Bonito Rosé or Pueblo Bonito Blanco, room only. If you want a kitchen and some quiet, I'd book Villa del Arco. If you're a group that wants the party, Breathless. The three Riu resorts at the far east end are fair-priced all-inclusives that I wouldn't book for the ocean, because the beach in front of them is not a swim beach.

The prices in this post are my rough estimates for two people per night with the tax in. They're planning numbers, and they swing a lot by season. September is the cheapest month, winter runs about one and a half to two times that, and Christmas week goes higher still. I go month by month in the best time to visit Cabo. I'll say which rates include food and which are the room alone, and where I don't have a number I trust, I'll tell you that too.

If you haven't settled on Médano yet, where to stay in Cabo comes first. This post assumes you have, and goes down the beach in order, from the marina to the far east end.

The Quick Version

• First trip: Pueblo Bonito Rosé or Blanco, in the middle, room only.
• Couples: Pueblo Bonito Rosé. Bahia, a block back from the sand, if you'd rather have a small hotel and can live with some bar music.
• Families who want a kitchen: Villa del Arco with a baby or toddler, Villa del Palmar for less money and a kids' club on site. Hacienda Beach Club for a big group with a big budget.
• A family with teenagers: Casa Dorada, on the club strip.
• A group that wants the party: Breathless for one price and a wristband. Corazón Cabo is the runner-up, and ME Cabo is the one for a beach club scene if you've budgeted for the bar.
• All-inclusive: Breathless if you're adults. A Riu if a pool is all the water you need. Everywhere else, I'd book the room and eat in town.
• On a budget: Villa del Palmar, room only, with breakfast from your own kitchen.
• Don't book for the swim: the three Rius.

How the Beach Is Laid Out

Médano runs northeast from the marina breakwater, and from one end to the other is a good half hour on soft sand. It's the calmest long beach in Los Cabos. It doesn't swim or sound the same from end to end, though, which is why the stretch matters more than the hotel. Here are the five stretches, from the marina outward.

The marina end. The corner tucked in beside the breakwater has the softest slope and the smallest waves on the beach. It's also where the water taxis cross, so it's busy with boats. The marina is under ten minutes away on foot.

The club strip. A few minutes along the sand, the beach clubs take over. From about midday there are MCs on microphones, the vendors are at their thickest, and small boats run up onto the sand to load. The strip itself is short. You can walk the length of it in a couple of minutes. The marina is five to ten minutes on foot.

The middle. It starts just past the clubs and runs to a dry riverbed, where the buildings stop for the first time. The water is gentle, there are lifeguards, the hotels rope off their swim areas, and the music fades as you go. For most people this is the best bet on the beach. Plan on 10 to 20 minutes to the marina, depending on the hotel.

The east side. Past the riverbed are the three Villa resorts. This is the quietest sand on Médano that still comes with a reasonable swim. The beach is steeper here, and the surf is rougher in the swell months of summer and fall. The marina is 25 to 30 minutes on foot, or a short ride.

The far east end. The three Riu resorts sit out here, 40 to 45 minutes on foot from the marina and about ten by car. The sand is wide and uncrowded. It's rough in the swell months, and the beach directly in front of the Rius is NOT a swim beach.

At every hotel in this post, stay inside the buoy lines, because water taxis, glass-bottom boats and jet skis work this bay all day. And look at the flag before you get in, every time, because "usually calm" is the most any beach here can promise.

The beach itself, with the vendors, the clubs and where to sit, is in my Médano Beach guide. How these hotels compare with the swimmable coves elsewhere is in the best Cabo resorts with swimmable beaches.

The Marina End: Hacienda Beach Club and Breathless

Two very different places share this corner. One is the most expensive address on the beach, and the other is an adults-only party hotel. What they have in common is the water, which is the gentlest on Médano, and a walk to the marina that's short enough to do in sandals.

Hacienda Beach Club & Residences

For a big family group that wants Médano, this is the one I'd look at first. It puts the calmest, shallowest water on the beach in front of a place with enough bedrooms for everybody.

You're renting a residence here. They run from one to four bedrooms with full kitchens and a washer and dryer, and a two-bedroom is over 2,000 square feet. The beachfront villas have four bedrooms and their own pools. It's room only, and I'd plan on about US$750 to $1,600 a night for a residence.

On a normal day the swim out front is as easy as this beach gets. The boats are the thing to watch, so keep everyone inside the buoys.

The noise question is one I can't fully answer. The club strip is only a few minutes along the sand, so I'd ask the hotel how much of the afternoon music reaches the residence you're booking. I also know less about what it offers kids than I do at the big resorts. A kids' club, a children's pool and babysitting are all listed, so ask for the ages, hours and prices before you book.

It's for grandparents, parents and kids traveling together, who want their own doors and a kitchen and a walk to dinner. A couple who just needs a room will pay a lot here for space they won't use.

Breathless Cabo San Lucas

Breathless is my pick for a group that wants the party, because it's the party hotel where everything is on one price.

It's adults only, 18 and up, and all-inclusive, with about 169 suites. The marina bars are five to ten minutes on foot, and that's a big part of the appeal. The hotel is the warm-up, and town is right there. Plan on about US$600 to $850 a night for two with food and drinks in, and closer to US$1,450 for the top suites.

There's a DJ at the main pool every day, with foam parties and theme parties, and rooftop events at night. By midday in March it's loud. There is a quiet pool, on the marina side of the building, without many umbrellas. Nights can be noisy too, from the hotel and from the marina.

The beach out front is a small patch that you share with the public beach and its vendors. It's swimmable on most days.

The food is the weak point. The restaurants don't take reservations, and on a busy night the wait for a table can eat a good part of your evening. There's a vacation club desk to say no to as well.

Ask for an upper-floor ocean-view room. The lower floors on the marina side get the party boats, the fishing fleet leaving before dawn, and the sea lions, who keep earlier hours than the DJ. And if you're not sure this is your kind of loud, the hotel sells an all-inclusive day pass for about US$155 to $160 a person. That's a cheap way to find out before you book a week.

Bottom line: book it for a group that wants the pool by day and town by night. If food matters to you, or sleep does, it's the wrong hotel. The quiet adults-only options are all somewhere else, and they're in the best adults-only resorts in Cabo.

The Club Strip: Corazón Cabo and Casa Dorada

This is the loudest sand on the beach. The water is still gentle, and it's still a short walk to the marina. What you're signing up for is the afternoon, with microphones from about midday, vendors every few minutes, and boats and jet skis loading right off the sand. If that sounds fun, these two put you in the middle of it. If it doesn't, keep going east.

Corazón Cabo

Corazón is the one for a group that wants the noise and doesn't need the hotel to be adults only. It sits on the pedestrian alley that's also the public way onto the beach, with a big beach club on the sand and a rooftop bar upstairs. The marina is about ten minutes on foot.

It's a hotel of about 300 rooms, sold room only, at about US$250 to $450 a night. There's an optional meal plan on top, and the hotel doesn't publish the price, so get it in writing before you compare it with anything.

You won't be asleep before midnight. The membership presentations run two hours and more, so decide ahead of time that you're saying no. The air-conditioning struggles in some rooms. And if you're booking several rooms for a group, confirm the room assignments in writing.

Its beach club also sells a day pass, about 800 pesos a head, roughly US$45, that comes back as food and drink credit. If you're staying somewhere quieter and want one loud afternoon, that's the smarter way to do Corazón. The clubs are ranked in the best beach clubs in Cabo.

It's my runner-up to Breathless for a group. With small kids or a light sleeper in the room, I'd pick a different stretch.

Casa Dorada

Casa Dorada is the hotel I'd book for a family with teenagers. It has one and two-bedroom suites with full kitchens right on the sand, and the marina is a short walk, which is exactly what a 15-year-old wants from a vacation.

A one-bedroom sleeps four and a two-bedroom sleeps five or six. There are two pools and a small kids' pool. It's room only, at about US$230 to $470 a night in the entry category, and a bigger suite costs more.

The catch is the address. It's on the club strip, where the boats and jet skis load and the beach clubs play all afternoon. With teens that's a feature. With a toddler who naps at one, it's the wrong hotel on the wrong stretch.

I know less here than I'd like. Ask about the kids' program if that matters to your trip.

The Middle: ME Cabo and the Two Pueblo Bonitos

This is where I'd put most people. The water is gentle, there are lifeguards, the hotels rope off their frontage, and you can still walk to the marina for dinner. It's quieter than the strip without being silent, and the first hotel in this stretch is the reason.

ME Cabo

ME Cabo is a beach club with rooms attached. Book it for the scene, with a swim thrown in.

It's adults only, 18 and up, and it sits at the near end of the middle, 10 to 15 minutes on foot from the marina. A DJ plays house music most of the day, the hotel's beach club runs the sand and takes outside guests, and a rooftop bar takes over after dark. Weekends are the loud days, and weekdays are milder.

ME Cabo is room only, and every drink goes on the check. Plan on about US$450 to $850 a night for the room with tax, and cocktails start around US$24. In winter the room alone costs about what Breathless charges with food and drinks included. On weekends there are fees for daybeds and loungers too.

The water in front is gentle. It's also thick with vendors.

Staying at the hotel doesn't put you ahead of the day-club customers for a daybed. And rooms facing the pool get the bass through the balcony door, so ask for the highest floor on the side away from the pool. I haven't found a sales desk here, but ask when you book.

I'd book it for a bachelorette or a group of friends who want a beach club and Cabo San Lucas at the door, and who've set money aside for the bar. If you want a nap, or US$24 a drink will bother you by day three, pick Breathless.

Pueblo Bonito Blanco and Pueblo Bonito Rosé

These two are my pick for a first trip, and for most people who ask me where to stay on this beach. They sit side by side a little farther east, Blanco first and then Rosé, about 15 to 20 minutes on foot from the marina.

The reason is the balance. The roped water out front is gentle, the microphones are behind you, and you can get to dinner on foot. I can't say all three about any other hotel on Médano.

Both are suite hotels sold room only. Rooms run about US$300 to $600 a night at Rosé. Blanco starts in about the same place and runs higher at the top of its range.

Between the two, Rosé's suites have a kitchenette with a stove, and there's one big pool with shallow areas, so I lean toward Rosé for a couple or a family who'll cook breakfast. Blanco is where the kids' club is, for ages 4 to 11, and kids staying at Rosé use that one. Families should know that an oceanfront suite at Blanco has one bathroom.

Both hotels are dated, and I'd book them for the beach and the location, knowing that. Both have a vacation club sales desk. What you're turning down is in my post on the Cabo timeshare presentation. And "quiet" is relative in the middle. Some of the beach music carries during the day, the water beyond the buoys is busy with jet skis and water toys, and March is spring break on this beach.

They sell a meal plan, and I'd skip it. It has a three-night minimum, everyone in the room has to be on it, three of the restaurants carry a surcharge and each room-service delivery adds a small fee. It also costs a lot less prepaid than at the front desk. With good food a walk away, either hotel is a better buy room only.

Just past Rosé is Club Cascadas, and then the dry riverbed. I don't have enough on staying at Club Cascadas to rank it, so I'm leaving it out.

The East Side: The Three Villa Resorts

Past the riverbed, Villa del Arco comes first, with Villa La Estancia and Villa del Palmar beyond it. If you want a kitchen, a quieter beach and kids in the ocean, this is your stretch. The frontage is roped, there's little boat traffic, and far fewer people are selling.

The swim comes with less margin than the middle. The beach is steeper out here, and in the swell months of summer and fall it's rougher. The resorts post their own flags, so check them every time, and ask the hotel how often you can swim out front in the month you're coming.

The other trade is the walk. The marina is 25 to 30 minutes away on soft sand, and the beach is dark at night, so dinner in town means a ride of five to ten minutes each way.

All three are vacation club resorts. Expect a long check-in, a sales pitch that runs long if you say yes to it, and pool and beach loungers claimed by six in the morning. Turn down the welcome gift and read your bill line by line at checkout. This is also the part of Médano that spring break touches least.

Villa del Arco

Villa del Arco is the one I'd book with a baby or a toddler. The one and two-bedroom suites have a full kitchen and a washer-dryer, and cribs are free. The two-bedroom has three bathrooms and sleeps six.

Skip the entry-level studio, which only has a kitchenette. And don't book it "for the kids' club", because the club is next door at Villa del Palmar. The hotel's restaurant is a pirate ship sitting in the pool. I suspect parents of toddlers will care more about the washing machine.

Plan on about US$400 to $900 a night, room only.

Villa La Estancia

Villa La Estancia is the nicest of the three, with suites up to three bedrooms and full kitchens, and its guests can use the neighbors' pools and the slide. I'd look at it for a multi-generation group that wants bedrooms on the quiet side of the beach.

I don't have a rate for it that I trust, so I'm not going to give you one. Price it against Villa del Arco for the same dates and see what the difference buys you.

Villa del Palmar

Villa del Palmar is the cheapest way to sleep on this beach with a kitchen, and it's my budget pick for Médano. Rooms run about US$180 to $480 a night, room only. Every unit has a kitchen, starting with the junior suites, and the two-bedroom has three bathrooms.

It's also the better one for kids from about 4 to 8. The kids' club, for ages 4 to 12, is on site, and the family pool has a slide shaped like a whale. Ask whether the club is included if you don't buy the meal plan.

The catch is that it's an older hotel than Villa del Arco, and the lower rate reflects that.

All three sell a meal plan as an add-on. It runs somewhere around US$140 per adult per day, with kids at about half, and a three-night minimum. The hotels don't publish the price, so get it in writing. With a kitchen in the suite and a town a short ride away, I'd skip it. Watch for "premium" drinks either way, because they get charged without much warning.

Don't mix these up with Villa La Valencia, which belongs to the same group and is nowhere near here. It's in the middle of the Corridor, on a beach you can't swim at.

How these stack up against the family hotels in the rest of Los Cabos is in the best family resorts in Cabo.

The Far East End: The Rius

The three Riu resorts have a Médano address, and the beach in front of them is not a swim beach. The sand gets steeper and the surf gets rougher the farther east you go, and in the swell months this end is rough. I can't promise you how much calmer it runs in winter, so I wouldn't count on a swim out front in any month. Book a Riu for the pools.

Judged as pool resorts, they're good at what they do. All three are true all-inclusives, with food and drinks built into the rate, and nobody is selling memberships. That second part is rare on this beach.

The trades are the same at all three. Dinner doesn't take reservations, so it starts with a line at the restaurant door. The food is the weak spot. And you're a long way from town. On foot the marina is 40 to 45 minutes, most of it soft sand that's dark at night, so every evening out is a cab. Before you plan one, ask the front desk where rideshare pickups happen, because it may be a walk out to the road.

I'm confident the three sit together at this end. I'm less sure which is which along the sand, so I've listed them by who they suit.

Riu Palace Baja California

This is the adults-only one, 18 and up, with about 600 suites, and it's the budget pick for a group of friends. Plan on about US$400 to $650 a night for two with everything in, and drinks around the clock.

The pools are social and loud from mid-morning, and there's no quiet pool. The big foam and neon parties happen next door at Riu Santa Fe, though. Palace guests can go over for them and come back to the calmer hotel to sleep, which I think is a pretty good arrangement.

The rooms are worn. The Elite Club upgrade gets you a lounge, a private restaurant and better drinks, and I'd pay for it, mostly to get around the dinner lines.

Riu Santa Fe

Riu Santa Fe is the cheapest all-inclusive on this beach, at about US$250 to $500 a night for two. It has more than 1,000 rooms, 12 restaurants, a slide park and a kids' club, and party nights with foam and DJs several times a week.

That makes it work for two very different groups. Spring breakers get the party. Families get the slides, as long as they don't mind the soundtrack. With a child who naps, I'd pass.

The room matters a lot here. Avoid anything facing the party stage and the ground-floor rooms by the main pool. The walls are thin, so pack earplugs either way. The food repeats and the bars run short-staffed at busy times, and at this price I think that's a fair deal.

Riu Palace Cabo San Lucas

This is the family version of the Palace, with the same lines at dinner and the same beach you can't count on. The rooms are dated. At the bottom of its range, about US$350 to $600 a night for two, it's honest value. I know less about it than the other two, so that's all I'll say.

For how the Rius compare with the all-inclusives in the rest of Los Cabos, see the best all-inclusive resorts in Cabo. And if the low rate is what brought you this far east, there are rooms at that price much closer to dinner in the best affordable Cabo hotels.

A Block or Two Back: Bahia

Bahia Hotel & Beach House is the small hotel I'd pick in Cabo San Lucas if Médano is the point and a wristband isn't. It's 89 rooms, one block back from the sand at the club strip end of the beach, and the marina is 10 to 15 minutes on foot.

It isn't on the beach, and I'd rather you hear that from me than from the map. What it has is its own beach club, SUR Beach House, on the sand about five minutes away. The perk is that hotel guests get loungers at SUR without the minimum spend that outside visitors commit to, which is about 1,750 pesos a head, roughly US$100. A golf cart will run you down if you ask.

The hotel takes kids, it's room only, and breakfast comes with some direct-booking rates. There's a heated pool, a modest one, and it closes on the early side. Plan on about US$285 to $560 a night for two with tax.

The downside is noise. The hotel's own bar has live music every night, and the beach clubs are right behind it. Ground-floor rooms and anything over the bar are the loud ones, so ask for a high floor away from it. The standard rooms are plain next to the public areas, and the plunge-pool suites are the category I'd stretch for.

I'd book it for a couple or a few friends who want Médano and the marina on foot and plan to eat out every night. If you need silence, or you want to step from your room onto sand, it's the wrong one.

One more name comes up behind the beach, the Medano Hotel. All I know about it is that it sells a pool pass, so I can't rank it. The other small hotels in town are a longer walk from the sand, and they're in the best boutique hotels in Cabo.

What Staying on Médano Is Like, Day to Day

Whichever stretch you pick, a few things come with the address.

You'll be sold to. At the west end, someone stops at your towel every few minutes from about ten until late afternoon. They're polite, and one "no, gracias" works each time. It just doesn't stop the next person. A deep, roped hotel frontage keeps most of it on the far side of the rope, which is one more reason the middle and the east side are easier to live with. The selling doesn't stop at the far east end either, where souvenir stalls set up along the hotel line.

The music keeps hours. The clubs get going around midday and the contests run through the afternoon. Before ten in the morning the whole beach is quiet, the water is flat and nobody has started selling. That's the hour to swim, at every hotel in this post.

The sand is public and the loungers aren't. Anyone can put a towel down in front of your hotel. The chairs and umbrellas belong to the hotels and are for guests.

Boats leave from the sand. The small boats to the Arch load near the clubs. About US$20 a person round trip is the price, and you'll be asked for double that first. You wade out to board. The whole trip is in my guide to El Arco and Lover's Beach.

Getting home at night depends on your stretch. The club strip stays lit and busy into the evening. Past the hotel lights, the sand is dark and empty, and I wouldn't walk it at night. From the Villa resorts and the Rius, plan on a ride home after dinner.

A cab is cheap if you ask first. Inside town, US$10 to $15 is fair, and you may be quoted more. There are no meters, so agree on the price before you get in. Uber is a few dollars for the same trip, and it works best if you request it from the street instead of the hotel entrance. The options are in getting around Cabo.

The meal plan is rarely the deal it looks like. At the hotels that sell one as an add-on, it runs somewhere around US$140 to $185 per adult per day. Add roughly US$280 to $370 a day for two before you compare one of them with Breathless or a Riu. Dinner a few blocks inland costs a lot less than dinner on the beach, and where I'd go is in my Cabo San Lucas guide.

Some weeks are louder. Cruise ships fill the west end from mid-morning to about 3:30 on the days they're in. Spring break lands on this beach in March, hardest at Breathless and the Rius, and least at the Villa resorts. The airport is 40 to 50 minutes away in any month.

The Verdict

Pick the stretch, and the hotel mostly picks itself.

If you only look at one, look at Pueblo Bonito Rosé. It's dated and there's a sales desk, and I'd still book it, because it's the hotel on this beach with gentle water out front, a walk to dinner and the party a comfortable distance away. Book it room only.

Here's where I'd put you:

• First trip, no car: Pueblo Bonito Rosé or Blanco, in the middle.
• A couple who wants a small hotel: Bahia, a block back, on a high floor.
• A baby or toddler, and you want a kitchen: Villa del Arco.
• Kids from 4 to 8, on a budget: Villa del Palmar.
• Teenagers: Casa Dorada.
• Three generations and a big budget: Hacienda Beach Club. Price Villa La Estancia against it.
• A bachelorette or a friends trip: Breathless. ME Cabo if the beach club is the point and the bar tab is covered.
• A group on a budget that only needs a pool: Riu Palace Baja California.

And who I'd steer away from what:

• Light sleepers: skip the marina end and the club strip, and ask for a room away from the pool at ME Cabo.
• Swimmers: skip the Rius.
• Anyone who wants to walk to dinner every night: skip the Villa resorts and the Rius, or budget for the cab.
• Anyone who hates a sales pitch: the Rius don't have a sales desk. Almost everywhere else, practice saying no.
• Families with small kids in March: I'd pick a different month, or the east side.

Would I pay for all-inclusive on this beach? Only at Breathless, for a group that'll use it, or at a Riu if the pool really is the plan. Everywhere else the town is too close and too good.

So on Médano, pick the stretch first. West is the party, the middle is the balance, east is quiet and a cab from dinner. Rosé or Blanco for most people, Villa del Arco for a kitchen, Breathless for the group. You can't count on a swim at the Rius. Swim before ten, stay inside the buoys, check the flag... and say no to the welcome gift.

Quick Answers

What is the best hotel on Médano Beach? For most people, Pueblo Bonito Rosé or Blanco in the middle of the beach, booked room only. Villa del Arco if you want a kitchen and quiet, and Breathless for an adults-only group that wants a party.

Can you swim at every hotel on Médano Beach? No. The corner by the marina and the middle are usually calm, and the Villa resorts on the east side are a reasonable swim with less margin in summer and fall. The beach in front of the three Rius is not a swim beach. Check the flag wherever you stay.

Which part of Médano Beach is quietest to stay on? The east side, at the three Villa resorts, is the quietest stretch that still has a reasonable swim. The middle is quieter than the club strip without being silent.

Which Médano Beach hotels are all-inclusive? Breathless and the three Riu resorts are true all-inclusives. Corazón Cabo, the two Pueblo Bonito hotels and the Villa resorts sell an optional meal plan on top of the room. ME Cabo, Casa Dorada, Hacienda Beach Club and Bahia are room only.

Can you walk to the marina from the hotels on Médano? From the marina end and the club strip, in ten minutes or less. From the middle it's 10 to 20. From the Villa resorts it's 25 to 30 on soft sand, and from the Rius 40 to 45, so most people take a ride at night.