Where to Stay

Best Luxury Resorts in Cabo: The 10 I'd Actually Book

By Cabo Wander

When a friend with a serious budget asks me about Cabo, the question is nearly always the same: which of the fancy ones is actually the best? They usually have three tabs open, each one showing an infinity pool and a rate with four figures in it.

My answer is Chileno Bay, with Montage a very close second. At this level every hotel has beautiful rooms, a big spa and staff who know your name by the second day. What most of them don't have is an ocean you can get into. Three of the ten resorts on this list sit on a beach I'd count on for a swim. A fourth has the best beach of all and is more than an hour from everything else. The other six have a gorgeous view of water you mostly can't use. If I'm paying US$1,500 a night to be on the sand, I think being able to swim there should decide the ranking, so that's how I built this one.

After the swim, I looked at how hard each hotel is to leave, then at the rooms, the food and the service, and last at how far the final bill lands from the rate you were quoted. That gap is about a third before you've eaten anything, and I go through it near the end.

Ranking this way puts a couple of famous names lower than you might expect. Las Ventanas is third and One&Only Palmilla is fifth. Both are lovely hotels, and I'll tell you what each one does better than anybody. And if you're a couple who would never swim in the sea anyway, you could fairly move Las Ventanas or the Waldorf Astoria to the top. I'd understand completely.

The rates I give are for the entry-level room, per night, before tax and service, and they're rough bands on purpose. And if you haven't picked an area yet, start with where to stay in Cabo, because this post assumes you've already decided the resort is the vacation. If your budget stops short of these, the best resorts in Cabo has my picks at every price.

1. Chileno Bay Resort

Chileno Bay is number one because it asks you to give up the least. You get a protected bay to swim and snorkel in right in front of the hotel, modern rooms, and a resort that works for a honeymoon couple and a family with kids in the same week.

The bay is the same one I put first in the best swimmable beaches in Cabo, and this is the only hotel on it. I swim inside the buoys before breakfast, when the water is flat and it's mostly other guests out there. The kayaks and paddleboards at the beach club don't cost extra. There are three pools, one of them for adults only, and the staff are warm and remember your name. Families get a kids' club, cribs and a children's menu at every restaurant, which is not a given at this price.

There are only two restaurants, and by night four I'd been around both of them twice. Comal is the main one, on a lovely terrace, and I've had one dinner there I'd call outstanding and one where the plates were small for the money. Over a week, the food gets repetitive. Service at the pool can be slow, too.

You also share the bay. The public beach is right next door and it's busy from late morning, and the snorkel boats from Cabo San Lucas anchor outside the buoys from about 10am. None of that bothered me at 8am. By noon I was at the pool. The public side is free, and it has its own write-up in my Chileno Bay guide.

And then there's the bill. Mine came out a lot higher than I'd pictured, mostly because you end up eating every meal on property. You're in the middle of the Corridor, 20 to 25 minutes from either town, and a taxi is US$30 to $50 each way. Uber costs less, but getting one to pick me up at the gate after dinner was a hassle. I compare the options in getting around Cabo.

Rooms run from around US$950 in late summer to US$1,600 to $2,500 and up in winter.

Bring your actual passport to check-in. They ask for the physical one, and a photo on your phone won't do.

Bottom line: if you want to swim, snorkel and not think very hard, book this one. If you need four restaurants or a town to walk to, keep reading.

2. Montage Los Cabos

Montage is second by a hair, and for families it's first. It sits right on Santa María Bay, the rooms are big, and the service was the first thing I noticed and the thing I remember.

You can snorkel straight off the sand here, and there are fish close to shore. The rooms have open-air showers and real terraces, and some of the suites have their own pools. Housekeeping came by twice a day. There are several pools, so I never had to hunt for a spot. Mezcal, the main restaurant, was exceptional the night I ate there.

Three things keep it out of first place.

The first is the sand, which is really tiny pebbles. It's uncomfortable under bare feet, and if you've got kids I'd pack water shoes for everyone. The second is that five to ten tour boats anchor in the bay from mid-morning, so the quiet swim is an early one. The third is harder to pin down. Montage is beautiful and a little anonymous, and I could have been at a very nice resort almost anywhere. Chileno feels more like its own place to me.

The prices are also steep, even for this list. Water was US$10 a bottle at every meal. Cabanas and tennis cost extra, and I'd confirm what the kids' club costs before you promise anybody anything. And the loungers at the pool are hard and unpadded, which is a small thing I noticed every single day.

Santa María faces south, so a summer or fall swell can close the beach for days, and September is the worst month for it. And this is a wedding and event hotel, so when you book, ask whether anything is planned near your building. The whole stretch of coast, kilometer by kilometer, is in my Tourist Corridor guide.

Rates start around US$900 in September, which is the cheapest month here, and run US$1,600 to $2,500 and up in winter.

For a family that wants a swimmable beach, a kids' club and a big room, this is the one. For a couple, I'd give Chileno the edge.

3. Las Ventanas al Paraíso

Las Ventanas has the best service in Los Cabos, and I don't think it's close. It's third on my list for one reason, which is that you can't swim here.

The service is the reason to book. Every room gets a personal butler, whatever category you're in. At lunch one day my server walked over with the paper already half peeled off my straw, so I wouldn't have to do it. When I checked out, six members of staff stood at the entrance and waved. I felt a little silly and a lot looked after.

I also think it has the best set of hotel restaurants in Los Cabos. There are several, plus a tequila and ceviche bar, and Árbol is the headliner. The checks can startle you. One light dinner for two, an appetizer to share and a fish, came to well over US$200.

The beach is wide and beautiful, and it's for looking at. If you want an ocean swim, it's a walk down the sand to the little breakwater cove in front of the Hilton, a hotel that costs a fraction of the price. There are a LOT of pools to make up for it, including a lazy river and swim-up bars, and for plenty of couples that's all the water they need.

Before you book, look closely at the entry-level room. It's a big junior suite with a patio, and it doesn't come with a plunge pool or a hot tub. I also don't think it's the freshest room at this price anymore, with newer hotels up and down the highway. The junior suites with a rooftop terrace are the upgrade I'd pay for. And kids under 16 aren't allowed in the oceanfront junior suites, so in practice this is a couples' hotel unless you're taking a villa.

It's one of the most expensive of the classic names, from around US$1,200 in late summer to US$2,000 to $2,900 in winter. There are minimum stays over Christmas and New Year's, so check those before you get attached to dates.

I'd put this first for an anniversary or a honeymoon where being taken care of is the whole point. If you're a swimmer, it's four figures a night for a beach you can only look at.

4. Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal

If I were ranking for couples only, the Waldorf might be number one. Every single room has its own plunge pool, the whole hotel was recently renovated, and it's the only resort at this level where you can walk to dinner in town.

That last part is what sets it apart. The hotel sits on the Pacific side of Cabo San Lucas, behind a private tunnel through the mountain, and the town end of the tunnel is about ten minutes on foot from the marina. Everywhere else on this list, dinner out starts with a fare. Here you can stroll to the marina, eat, and stroll back, and what's at the other end of that walk is in my Cabo San Lucas guide.

The rooms are the best all-around package on this list. They're lighter and fresher than they used to be, and every afternoon at four, guacamole, chips and two cold beers show up at your door without anyone asking. It's a US$2,000 room and I looked forward to the free beers all day. Everyone gets a personal concierge. In winter I've watched whales from my room.

It's fourth because the beach is on the open Pacific, and nobody goes in. And this is the windy side of the cape. From late winter into spring it blows hard enough that I've had an afternoon where the umbrellas were down and the main pool was no fun at all. The plunge pools are heated, but only to the high 80s, which feels cooler than it sounds on a windy February evening. If you get cold easily and you're coming between February and April, I'd pick a hotel on the bay side.

It's also a wedding hotel, and private events sometimes take over part of the pool area.

For dinner, El Farallón is the cliffside restaurant here, and it's the one view restaurant in Cabo I think is worth doing once. I've also waited half an hour past my reservation for a table there. What to order and what it really costs is in is El Farallón worth it.

This has the highest starting rate of the established hotels, around US$1,500 in the quiet months and US$2,000 to $3,000 in winter.

For a honeymoon with a plunge pool, a cliff and a town to walk to, book it. For a beach vacation, it's the wrong coast.

5. One&Only Palmilla

Palmilla is the name everybody knows, and it's on this list for its two coves and its address. The rooms and the restaurants used to lead the field. I don't think they do anymore.

The hotel sits on a point with two sandy coves, and they're the calmest hotel swimming on the whole Corridor. The water is flat enough that this is where I'd bring a toddler, with an adult right alongside. There are life vests for kids, the paddleboards are free, the kids' club doesn't cost extra, and the family pool has a gelato cart.

The location is the other big draw. You're ten minutes from San José's plaza and 20 to 30 from the airport, and a supermarket, a pharmacy and Carbón Cabrón, my favorite dinner on the highway, are all about five minutes away. It's the easiest hotel on the Corridor to live in. An evening in town from here is a short, cheap ride, and I plan one in my San José del Cabo guide.

The entry-level rooms are the smallest on this list, and you don't get a bathtub until you move up to a junior suite. Every room does have an ocean view and a terrace. But some of the rooms and fixtures are showing their age, and at these rates I noticed.

The food is good, and I'd stop short of great. I ordered the guacamole that's supposed to be made at your table. It was US$35 and it showed up already made. Breakfast has been included in my rate, which helps, so check whether it's in yours.

The butler is reachable by WhatsApp and is shared between rooms at the lower categories. Mine was lovely. I also had to chase a billing mistake after I got home, so read your final bill at the desk before you leave.

Rates run from around US$900 in late summer to US$1,700 to $2,800 in winter.

With small kids, or if you want San José close, Palmilla is still a great pick. Just know that what you're paying a famous-name rate for is the beach and the location.

6. Four Seasons Resort Los Cabos at Costa Palmas

The best hotel beach in this whole post belongs to number six. It's two miles of sand on the Sea of Cortez with water calm enough for kayaks, and you can walk straight in.

It's sixth because it isn't really in Cabo. It's on the East Cape, in the opposite direction from Cabo San Lucas. The hotel says 45 minutes from the airport, and I'd plan on an hour. The transfer is about US$280 each way. San Lucas is an hour and a half to two hours away, so the Arch, the boats and both towns are basically off the table. On a three-night trip, too much of it goes to the road. What else is out there is in my East Cape guide.

If you can live with that, it's a superb resort. There are seven pools and the service is very good. The restaurants are big names, Estiatorio Milos and an outpost of Mozza among them, and they're priced like dinner in an expensive city.

There isn't much shade and it's breezy, so you're out in the sun and the wind more than you'd guess from the photos. In winter the north wind can chop the water up in the afternoons. The ground-floor rooms with plunge pools don't have much privacy. The development around the hotel is still being built out, so ask what's going up near your building. And it is VERY quiet. I've had evenings there when I wanted a little more life in the place.

Rates start around US$900, sit more often around US$1,500, and go to US$2,700 or so in winter. Both Four Seasons resorts in Los Cabos can be booked through a Four Seasons Preferred Partner travel advisor, which adds daily breakfast for two, a US$100 hotel credit and upgrade priority at the same rate as booking direct.

It's for people who've done Cabo before and want a calm beach and silence, families who are happy to stay put, and divers, since it's the closest of these hotels to the reef I cover in my Cabo Pulmo day trip. I wouldn't send a first-timer.

There are two Four Seasons in Los Cabos, well over an hour apart. The other one is number eight on this list. Double check which one is in your cart.

7. Grand Velas Los Cabos

Grand Velas is here for anyone who never wants to see a check. It's the best luxury all-inclusive in Los Cabos, and once you add everything up, it's less of a splurge than it looks. If you're weighing it against the adults-only all-inclusive up the road, that's Grand Velas vs Le Blanc.

The entry-level suite is enormous, well over a thousand square feet, and every one of them faces the ocean. You get a personal concierge for your suite. And the rate includes Cocina de Autor, the tasting-menu restaurant with the only Michelin star in the state. Outside guests pay a deposit to eat there and can't find out the price until they call. Hotel guests just make a reservation. It's adults only with a real dress code, and I think it's the single best thing that comes inside any all-inclusive rate here.

The food in general is well above what all-inclusive usually means. The weak spot is the poolside menu, which I found bland. Room service has taken more than an hour to reach me. You'll need reservations for the good restaurants, and several of them have dress codes, so pack accordingly.

Then there's the swim. The beach is not for swimming, and the hotel says so itself and points guests to the public beach at Chileno, a short ride away. So this is a pool resort with an ocean view. The pools come in three tiers, one for families, one with activities and one for adults, and they're kept warm. In the busy months, finding a lounger took some effort.

It's also a big place, with about 300 suites. If you like a small hotel, you'll feel that.

The rate is quoted per person with tax and tips already in it. For two, plan on roughly US$1,400 to $1,700 a night in summer and US$2,200 and up in winter. That looks like the highest number in this post until you remember that every other number here grows by a third and doesn't include dinner. I do that math in the cost section below, and the bigger question is in my post on whether a Cabo all-inclusive is worth it.

Bottom line: families, multigenerational groups and anyone who eats and drinks well will get their money's worth. Swimmers won't.

8. Four Seasons Resort Cabo San Lucas at Cabo del Sol

This is the Four Seasons that's actually near Cabo, about 15 minutes from San Lucas, and it has the best restaurants of any of the newer hotels. It's eighth because of the beach, which gets described more generously than it deserves. If you're not sure which of the two you were looking at, I sort that out in Four Seasons Cabo del Sol vs Costa Palmas.

The hotel calls its beach swimmable. In practice it depends on the day. There are rocks, a reef and a current, and even in the calm months I've stood on the sand and decided against it. On a flat winter morning a strong, confident swimmer can get in. I wouldn't bring a child here for the ocean, and I wouldn't book it for the swim. Treat it as a bonus if you get one.

What I'd book it for is everything else. Every room has an ocean view, the entry-level rooms are a good size, and the casitas, many of which have plunge pools, are the upgrade worth asking about. There are four restaurants, with a Japanese-Peruvian one and a rooftop among them, and the food was the highlight of my stay. Prices are what you'd expect, with cocktails in the low twenties and breakfast dishes around thirty dollars before tax and service.

Families do well here. There's a zero-entry family pool, a separate adults' pool, and the kids' club is included. An open-air mall with shops and restaurants is in the same development, and in winter you can watch whales from the room.

The service has been warm and, a couple of times, more by-the-book than I expected from this brand. It didn't spoil anything. It just isn't the mind-reading you get at Las Ventanas.

Rates run from around US$850 in late summer to US$1,500 to $2,800 in winter. Like Costa Palmas, it can be booked through the Four Seasons Preferred Partner program for breakfast and a hotel credit at the same rate.

It's a great pick for Four Seasons loyalists, families and couples who care about dinner and want San Lucas close. Come for the pools and the restaurants.

9. The Cape, a Thompson Hotel

The Cape is my value pick, and it earns that. Every room looks straight at the Arch, Cabo San Lucas is ten minutes away, and it costs about half what the hotels above it do.

Rates run from around US$600 in the quiet months to US$1,000 to $1,300 in winter. That's still a lot of money. It's also the only hotel on this list where the winter rate looks like somebody else's summer rate.

It feels different from the others, too. It's a design hotel on a cliff above a surf break, closer in spirit to a city hotel with Land's End in the window, and the crowd is mostly couples and groups of friends. I saw very few kids. Being this close to town also means Metate, my favorite dinner in Cabo San Lucas, is a short ride away.

You can't swim here. The water below is surf over rock, and a saltwater pool stands in for the ocean.

The hotel's restaurant, Manta, is one I've been split on. I've had a dinner there I really liked and one that fell flat for the price. I'd go once, before sunset.

Ask for a room that isn't directly under the rooftop bar, and skip the first-floor rooms above the bar and restaurant. On a rooftop night I could feel the bass in my room until midnight.

The little charges here are oddly petty for a hotel this nice. I was billed US$7 for a candle on a birthday dessert.

If you want the view, the design and San Lucas close by, and you're fine with a pool, this is the smart money on the list.

10. Zadún, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve

Zadún has some of the best rooms on this list, and I've put it last because of what's around them.

The rooms really are something. The entry level here is a one-bedroom suite of about 1,500 square feet, with a terrace, a plunge pool and glass walls that fold away. There's no "standard room" to be disappointed by. Each suite has a personal host you reach by WhatsApp. On one stay mine was always there when I needed something and invisible when I didn't. The adults-only pool has fewer than twenty chairs, which tells you how quiet it is. Candil, the bar, is a standout, and at Humo, the wood-fire restaurant, the picanha is the thing to order.

The beach is a mile of sand for walking and whale watching, and the surf is too rough for swimming. There are three restaurants, which is thin for a week, and the casual one closes when it rains. I spent about US$250 a person a day on food. On another stay, service at the pool and the beach was slow even though the hotel wasn't busy.

Zadún is in Puerto Los Cabos, 10 to 15 minutes by car from San José's plaza, in a development that's still being built. Nothing is walkable, and the land around the resort is a mix of finished buildings, dirt lots and concrete shells. Construction next door is a fact of life on this coast, and here it can face your terrace. Before you book, ask the hotel what's being built beside your building, and ask for a suite on the other side. Ask about height as well, because some of the units higher up the hill have a partly blocked view.

If you're bringing kids, the children's program is more of an educational nature program than a drop-off club, so don't count on it for a free afternoon.

Rates run from around US$900 in late summer to US$1,700 to $2,500 in winter, which I think is fair for a suite this size.

It's a strong choice for space, privacy and whale season near San José, if you get the right suite. I'd email before I paid.

The Ones That Didn't Make It

None of these is a bad hotel. A few are very good, and each one lost out for a specific reason.

Esperanza. It's small and romantic, with a very pretty cove and pools right at the edge of it, and the staff handle an anniversary beautifully. You can't swim in that cove, though, and this is the hotel where the extras wore me down. After a large service charge on the room, I was still billed by the hour for the pickleball court and per person for a morning hike. There are also a lot of stairs and uneven paths. By the way, you'll see it advertised as having a private beach. No beach in Mexico is private.

Park Hyatt Los Cabos. Big rooms, a huge spa and a lower rate than its neighbor, the Four Seasons at Cabo del Sol. The beach isn't swimmable, and there's a golf hole between the hotel and the sand. If you collect Hyatt points, it's worth a look.

Viceroy Los Cabos. It's the best-looking hotel in Los Cabos, all white cubes over reflecting water, and one of the least expensive ways into this conversation. It sits on San José's hotel-zone beach, where swimming isn't advised, and it's a short Uber from the plaza. I'd book it for a design-minded couple on a short trip who plan to eat in town. Watch your step on the stairs, which don't have handrails.

Solaz. A handsome, low-key resort in the middle of the Corridor. I've heard it both ways on whether you can swim there, so ask. The butlers were great for me on one stay and no help on another, and the rooms facing the highway get traffic noise. It sells a day pass, around US$200 with about half of it back as food and drink credit, which is a cheap way to look before you book. The ones on the sand in town are in the best beach clubs in Cabo.

Nobu Hotel Los Cabos. Good-looking rooms at the lowest rate of any big name here. It's on the windy Pacific side, where you can't swim, and it's a long way from anything. A cab into town is US$50 and up each way. The restaurant with the name on it is the draw, and the rest of the food disappointed me. If you go, ask for a room away from the DJ pool. It shares a gate with an all-inclusive, and I compare the two in Hard Rock vs Nobu Los Cabos.

Amanvari. It's new, it's tiny and it's the most expensive room in Los Cabos. I can't rank it yet.

And if you read the Grand Velas entry and thought "yes, but for less money", here are the two all-inclusives I'd look at:

• Le Blanc is adults only, with food that's much better than the all-inclusive norm and butlers who are good at their jobs. For two with everything in, it's roughly US$1,150 to $1,650 a night, well under Grand Velas. It's a bigger, busier place, and the beach is not swimmable at all.
• Garza Blanca is a tier below the rest of this post and priced that way, from a few hundred dollars a night. The suites are big, it sells rooms with or without the meal plan, and you can't swim at the beach.

What Luxury Really Costs Here

Okay, now the part nobody mentions until the front desk prints it out.

At the hotels that sell rooms without meals, which is every hotel in my top ten except Grand Velas, the rate you see is about three-quarters of what the room will cost you. Tax adds about a fifth. Then there's a service charge of around 15%, and it's on the room itself as well as on what you eat and drink. Plan on about a third on top. A US$1,200 room is really about US$1,600. A week at that rate shows as US$8,400 when you book and comes out near US$11,400 at checkout, before a single dinner.

There isn't a flat "resort fee" at most of these hotels. The service charge does that job, and it's bigger.

Then you eat. Here's roughly what I spend on property at this level, all in unless I say otherwise:

• A cocktail: US$20 to $25 before tax and service
• Breakfast, where it isn't included: US$35 to $50 a person
• Lunch by the pool for two: US$90 to $150
• Dinner for two with wine: US$250 to $450
• A day of eating and drinking for two: US$450 to $700

So a realistic number for two people at the top hotels is US$2,000 to $3,500 a night with everything counted. I know. I'd still rather you saw it here.

This is also why Grand Velas isn't the splurge it looks like. By my own rough arithmetic for two people on an ordinary night outside the peak weeks, a US$1,200 room at Chileno Bay or Montage becomes about US$1,600 with tax and service, and a day's food and drink takes it past US$2,000. Grand Velas for the same night is around US$1,900 with all of that already inside. What you give up for the simpler bill is the swim.

A few smaller things:

• Tipping. The service charge is on every check, so read the check before you add 20% on top. I still tip the butler and the pool staff when they've been great, and nobody has ever told me I had to.
• Small fees. There's an environmental fee of four or five dollars a night per room, and a state visitor fee of about US$25 a person that you pay online.
• The transfer. It's rarely included. A private car to a Corridor hotel is about US$75 to $95, and the arrival is in my Cabo airport guide.
• Season. The discount at the top is thinner than you'd hope. Winter runs about one and a half times late summer, and the gap is wider at mid-priced hotels. Rates by month are in the best time to visit Cabo.
• Christmas and New Year's. Expect minimum stays, and ask about them before you plan around a date.

On where to book, I'd just compare the totals. The hotel's own site usually has the member rates and the offers, and at the chain hotels it's how your loyalty status gets counted. Booking sites sometimes show a lower number and display tax and service differently, so look at the final figure. Some travel advisor and credit card programs add breakfast and a hotel credit at the same public rate, which is worth knowing exists.

The rest of the trip budget is in how much Cabo costs.

The Verdict

If you can only pick one, book Chileno Bay. It's the hotel on this list where I'd change the least.

Here's what I'd pick for you:

• Swimming: Chileno Bay for adults and snorkelers. One&Only Palmilla for the calmest water.
• Service: Las Ventanas, with the Waldorf Astoria next.
• Food: Las Ventanas. Grand Velas if you want the Michelin-starred dinner included.
• Families with small kids: Montage for the whole package, with water shoes. Palmilla if the kids are tiny and soft sand matters most. Grand Velas if you want all-inclusive and the pool is enough.
• Honeymoon: Las Ventanas if being looked after is the point. The Waldorf Astoria if you want a plunge pool and a town to walk to.
• Design: The Cape on this list. The Viceroy if you'll go off it.
• Value at the top end: The Cape for the rate. Grand Velas for the total.
• Privacy: Zadún, with a plunge pool on every terrace, in a suite on the quiet side. A villa at Las Ventanas if money is no object.
• Getting out to town: the Waldorf Astoria, on foot. Palmilla for San José, The Cape for Cabo San Lucas.

I'd steer swimmers away from anything on the Pacific side. First-timers should skip Costa Palmas. And if you get cold easily, think twice about the Waldorf between February and April.

Would I book a US$1,500 room on a beach I can't swim at? For a honeymoon with a plunge pool, yes. For a week when I want the ocean... no, and that's really the whole ranking.

If you're down to two, or shopping for a particular kind of trip, I've gone deeper in Montage vs Chileno Bay, Las Ventanas vs One&Only Palmilla, the best Cabo honeymoon resorts, the best adults-only resorts in Cabo and the Cabo resorts with swimmable beaches.

Book Chileno Bay if you want to swim, and Montage if you've got kids. Las Ventanas for service, Waldorf if you want to walk to dinner. Palmilla is about the beach now. Add a third to every rate, then add food. Ask every hotel two things before you pay: what color is the flag most days, and what's being built next door.

Quick Answers

What is the best luxury resort in Cabo? Chileno Bay for most people, because you can swim and snorkel right in front of it. Montage if you have kids, Las Ventanas if service matters more to you than the sea, and the Waldorf Astoria for couples who want a plunge pool and a town within walking distance.

Which luxury resorts in Cabo have a swimmable beach? Chileno Bay, Montage and One&Only Palmilla on the Corridor, and the Four Seasons at Costa Palmas out on the East Cape. The Four Seasons at Cabo del Sol depends on the day and is for strong swimmers only. Las Ventanas, the Waldorf Astoria, Grand Velas, The Cape and Zadún are not swimmable.

Is One&Only Palmilla still the best? It has the calmest hotel beach on the Corridor and the best location at the San José end. The rooms are showing their age and the food is good without being great, so I no longer think it's the automatic first choice.

Which Four Seasons should I book? They're well over an hour apart and they're different trips. Costa Palmas has a two-mile swimmable beach and nothing around it. Cabo del Sol is 15 minutes from Cabo San Lucas, with better restaurants and a beach you'll mostly look at.

How much does a luxury resort in Cabo really cost? Entry-level rooms run roughly US$800 to $1,300 a night in the low season and US$1,500 to $3,000 in winter, with about a third on top for tax and service. With food and drinks, two people should plan on US$2,000 to $3,500 a night at the top hotels.