Where to Stay

Hard Rock vs Nobu Los Cabos: Same Beach, Different Bill

By Cabo Wander

Most people get to this question from one side. You've been looking at the Hard Rock for a family week, or at Nobu for a few nights as a couple, and then you notice on the map that the other one is right next door.

They really are neighbors. Hard Rock Hotel Los Cabos and Nobu Hotel Los Cabos sit side by side inside Diamante, a gated golf development on the Pacific side of Cabo San Lucas. The same company runs both. They share a guardhouse, a beach, a wind and a taxi fare.

So here's my answer. If you have kids or teenagers and you want one price for everything, I'd book the Hard Rock. If you're two adults who want a quiet, good-looking room for a few nights and you're fine paying for every plate, I'd book Nobu. And if your trip includes swimming in the ocean, or more than a couple of evenings in town, I wouldn't book either one.

The thing I'd want you to take from this post is that you're choosing between two ways of paying for the same piece of coast. The brand names make it feel like a bigger choice than that. What actually differs is who the hotel is built for and how the check gets added up, and Nobu's check is a lot bigger than its nightly rate suggests.

The Quick Version

Book the Hard Rock if you're traveling with kids from about 4 up, and especially teenagers, and you plan to stay on the property. It's all-inclusive with tips and taxes in. Book an ocean-view room on a higher floor and ask in writing for no construction view.

Book Nobu if you're a couple, you're staying two to four nights, and you'd pick a calm pool over a show. It's room only. Ask for a high-floor ocean-view room away from the Cortez pool, and book one dinner at Nobu before you fly.

Book neither if you want to swim in the ocean, if it's your first trip to Cabo, if you're coming for three nights with a toddler, or if you'd like dinner in town most nights. I get to what I'd book in each of those cases further down.

What Each Hotel Is

A lot of you searched one name and not the other, so here's each hotel on its own before I put them side by side.

Hard Rock Hotel Los Cabos

The Hard Rock is for families with older kids and teenagers, for groups, and for anyone who wants to pay once and not think about money again until checkout.

It's a big hotel, a little over 600 rooms, and you can only book it all-inclusive. The plan is one of the most complete at its price. Eight restaurants, drinks, the minibar, room service around the clock, tips and taxes are all in the rate. You don't need dinner reservations, with one exception I'll get to in the food section.

What sets it apart for families is how much there is for a 14-year-old to do without you. There's a teen lounge, a music lab, a bowling alley and a pool with water slides, plus a kids' club for ages 4 to 12 that's included. I rank it against the others in the best family resorts in Cabo, where it's my pick for teenagers.

Every room has a balcony with a hot tub on it, and the entry room is a decent size at a bit over 500 square feet.

The hotel is LOUD by design. There are weddings most weeks, live music, shows at night and a nightclub. It also has an upkeep problem that depends a lot on which building and which room you get, and a vacation club that will introduce itself when you arrive. Both of those get their own sections below.

Plan on roughly US$600 to $950 a night for two, and about US$750 to $1,250 for a family of four, with everything in.

It's the wrong hotel if you want quiet, if you have a baby or a toddler, or if anyone in the family is expecting to get in the ocean.

Nobu Hotel Los Cabos

Nobu is for couples and small groups of adults who care what the room looks like and plan to spend a few days between the pool, the spa and one very good dinner.

It's a third the size of its neighbor, 200 rooms, done in pale wood with a wooden soaking tub in the room. There's an adults-only infinity pool, a spa, and the Nobu restaurant, which is the reason the hotel has the name it does.

Nobu is not all-inclusive, and it doesn't sell an all-inclusive plan. You'll still see booking pages that suggest it does. The hotel's own answer is that it's a room-only resort with restaurants you pay for as you go. If a listing offers you "Nobu all-inclusive", read what's actually in it before you pay.

The best thing here that almost nobody photographs is the outdoor hydrotherapy garden at the spa. It's a water circuit with a steam room, a sauna and a hot tub, and hotel guests can use it every day at no charge.

Children are welcome, and there's a kids' club for ages 4 to 12. I couldn't confirm its hours or whether it costs extra. The mood of the place is adult, though, and I wouldn't pick it for a family.

Plan on roughly US$550 to $1,100 a night for the room once tax and service are added. Once two people have eaten three meals a day on the property, my estimate is closer to US$900 to $1,800 a night.

It's the wrong hotel for a week, for a tight budget, or for anyone who'll resent a service charge on a bottle of water.

What They Have in Common

This is the part that should decide whether you book either one, so I'm putting it ahead of the differences. Everything outside your room door is the same at both hotels, and the location is the weak spot of both.

The Beach

You can't swim at it. That's true at both hotels, and both hotels say so themselves. It's open Pacific, with strong currents and a steep drop right at the shore. The loungers are set well back, there's a rope and a flag, and the staff will ask you to step away from the water's edge. Please do.

It's a beautiful beach to look at and to walk along on the dry sand, and that's what it's for. If a photo shows people playing in the surf here, ignore it.

From mid-December to April you can watch whales from an ocean-view room, which is the nicest thing this coast gives you in return. To get close to them you need a boat from the marina, and that's in my whale watching in Cabo post.

The Wind

From about February into June, this coast is windy, and March and April are the worst of it. Umbrellas come down, the pool water feels cold, and some afternoons a lounger just isn't comfortable. It hits both hotels the same. I couldn't confirm which pools are heated at either one, so if you're coming in winter or spring, ask about each pool by name.

Getting Out

Diamante is about 25 to 30 minutes from the Cabo San Lucas marina, behind a guardhouse and a long private road. There's nothing to walk to.

Uber can bring you to either hotel. It can't come in to pick you up. So a night in town is a taxi out and an Uber home.

The taxi is the part to budget for. From either hotel it's about US$50 to $70 each way, for the car. There's no meter, so ask the bell desk for the price before you get in. The Uber home is a fraction of that. Put together, one evening in town runs about US$65 to $100 before you've ordered anything.

The Hard Rock has had a paid shuttle into town at around US$12 a person each way. Confirm it's running and what it costs now. I haven't found a shuttle at Nobu. The fares from everywhere else, and when a rental car starts to make sense, are in getting around Cabo.

The Airport

Plan on 50 to 60 minutes. Nobu's own website says about 45, and its next-door neighbor says 55, which tells you how much to trust the shorter number.

Book the ride yourself. An independent private transfer is about US$100 to $150 each way for the vehicle, and the Hard Rock's own car is closer to US$170 to $190. How the arrivals hall works is in my Cabo airport guide.

That transfer is why I wouldn't do three nights at either hotel. It's nearly two hours of a short trip spent on the airport road.

Bottom line: if any of this is a dealbreaker, it's a dealbreaker for both. What this whole coast is like, and which of its hotels can walk to town, is in my guide to the Pacific side of Cabo.

Winner: nobody. It's a tie, and it's the reason "neither" is a real answer here.

How You Pay

Here's where the two hotels are opposites, and where most people compare them wrong.

At the Hard Rock, the rate is the trip. Meals, drinks, the minibar that gets refilled every day, room service at 3am, tips and taxes are all inside it. If you don't leave and don't book the spa, there's very little left to pay.

At Nobu, the rate is the room. Then tax and a service charge go on top. I've seen that come to about a third, and I've seen it come to less than a fifth on a booking site, so plan on a fifth to a third and compare the final total, never the nightly number. After that, every breakfast, lunch, drink and dinner is its own check, and each of those carries service and tax too.

The prices on the property are high even by resort standards. Breakfast for two can reach US$100 if you're not careful. A bottle of imported water at dinner can run around US$25, there's a fee of about US$10 on each room service order, and sunscreen in the shop is about US$50. Pack the sunscreen.

So here's the trap. In the cheapest months, Nobu's nightly rate can come in under the Hard Rock's. It looks like the fancier hotel is the better deal. It isn't, because one of those numbers includes three meals and an open bar and the other doesn't include coffee.

These are rough planning ranges per night, low season to winter, and they could easily be off either way. Christmas week is above all of them.

• Hard Rock, two adults, everything in: about US$600 to $950
• Hard Rock, family of four, everything in: about US$750 to $1,250
• Nobu, the room for two with tax and service: about US$550 to $1,100
• Nobu, two adults once you've eaten: about US$900 to $1,800
• Nobu, family of four in one room once you've eaten: about US$1,000 to $1,800

The Nobu food number is my own estimate, and I want to be clear about that. I've used US$300 to $500 a day for two people eating and drinking on the property, built from the menu prices. You could spend less by skipping lunch, and it's very easy to spend more.

On those numbers, Nobu costs two adults somewhere around US$300 to $800 a night more than the Hard Rock. Over four nights that's real money. Whether the general math favors a meal plan for your kind of trip is in whether a Cabo all-inclusive is worth it, and my rule there applies here: the harder a hotel is to leave, the more the plan is worth. These two are hard to leave.

A few smaller things. Both add an environmental fee of about US$5 a night per room, and there's a state visitor fee of about US$25 a person that you pay online. The Hard Rock puts a hold of about US$100 a night on your card. Nobu's hold is bigger, and I couldn't pin down the amount, so ask. And at Nobu, read the final folio at the desk before you sign it. With that many separate charges, mistakes happen.

Winner: the Hard Rock, clearly. Nobu can still be the right hotel. Just go in knowing what the week costs.

Who Each One Is Built For

The Hard Rock is built for families and groups. Nobu is built for two adults. That sounds obvious, and it still decides more bookings than anything else in this post.

With Kids and Teens

The Hard Rock wins this without a contest. A teenager gets the teen lounge, the music lab, the bowling alley, the slides and food whenever they want it, and you get to not see a check. The kids' club takes ages 4 to 12 and it's included. The hotel doesn't publish the club's hours, so ask when you book. A sitter can be arranged with a couple of days' notice.

Two things to ask before you price it. Teenagers of 13 and up are usually charged as adults at all-inclusives, so ask how yours will be charged. And connecting rooms are only confirmed when you arrive, so put the request in writing and have a plan for being down the hall.

At Nobu, a family of four fits in one room on paper, and at a little over 500 square feet it's tight. There are no slides and nothing built for a teenager. You'd be paying more for less to do.

With a baby or a toddler, I'd pass on both. It's an hour's transfer to a windy coast with no ocean to wade in. For that age I'd look at the hotel that wins Hyatt Ziva vs Dreams Los Cabos, which is 15 to 20 minutes from the airport. What works at each age more generally is in Cabo with kids.

As a Couple

Nobu wins, and by less than you'd think.

What you're paying for is calm. The Infinity Pool is adults only and quiet, and the hydrotherapy garden is free. In the slow months, service gets very attentive.

There's a wrinkle, though. Nobu's main pool, the Cortez pool, has a DJ, and the music carries into the rooms that face it. Meanwhile the Hard Rock's adults' pool is mellow enough that people who came for a party find it a little dull. It's kind of funny, and it's worth knowing which pool you're signing up for at each.

In summer Nobu can also feel very empty. Some people love having the place to themselves. Others find it flat.

If you're two adults who mostly want to drink by a pool for a week and never see a bill, the Hard Rock is honestly the cheaper and easier week. The Rock Royalty rooms are listed for ages 18 and up and come with a personal assistant. Just expect noise. And if what you really want is adults-only and all-inclusive, neither of these is that, and the ones that are sit in the best adults-only resorts in Cabo.

At Night

The Hard Rock has shows and a nightclub that runs until one or two in the morning, and in some buildings you'll hear music and the hallway late. Nobu has MBar, a cocktail bar that turns into a club, with bass that reaches the restaurant next door. Neither is a real night out. That's in town, a taxi away, and where to go is in my Cabo nightlife post.

Winner: the Hard Rock with kids, Nobu for two.

The Food

The Hard Rock gives you more places to eat. Nobu has the single best meal. Over a week I'd take the Hard Rock, and over three nights I'd take Nobu.

At the Hard Rock, the food is good for a big all-inclusive and it's uneven. The three I'd plan around are UMO, which is Yucatecan and the most interesting kitchen at the hotel, a teppanyaki table at Zen, and Toro, the steakhouse. Ciao, the Italian one, is the weak spot, and I'd use it for the breakfast buffet and skip it at dinner.

You don't need reservations, and that's a real plus with kids. The one thing I'd book is the teppanyaki table at Zen, because there are only a few seats. For everything else, here's my tip: eat early. Dinner starts at 5:30. At Christmas and spring break the wait at Toro or Zen can pass an hour, and Toro can run out of the good steak before the evening is half over. In September the hotel opens fewer restaurants each night, the way most resorts on this coast do.

At Nobu, the restaurant with the name on the door is the draw, and it's mostly very good. Book it for sunset and order the black cod with miso and the yellowtail jalapeño. By my math, dinner for two with a few shared dishes, dessert and a couple of drinks each lands around US$350 to $500 once service and tax are on. That's an estimate from the menu, so treat it as a planning number. It's an open-air room, so in late summer it's a warm evening. And in winter I'd book the table before you fly.

Breakfast at Nobu is the other meal worth getting up for. After that it thins out. The steakhouse is expensive and people split on whether it earns it, the Mediterranean restaurant is the weakest, and by the fourth night you'll be looking at the taxi desk. If you do go out, my picks in town are in where to eat in Cabo San Lucas.

Can a Hard Rock guest eat at Nobu? Yes. It takes reservations from the public, so you book it like anyone else and pay for it like anyone else. It isn't part of the Hard Rock's plan, and I haven't found any discount between the two hotels. I'd assume you'll need a card and can't charge it to your room next door. For a family at the Hard Rock, one dinner at Nobu without the kids is a nice way to break up the week.

Winner: the Hard Rock for variety and value. Nobu for one dinner.

Rooms, and What Shape They're In

Nobu has the better-looking and better-kept room. The Hard Rock has the more useful one for a family, as long as you get a good one, and that "as long as" is carrying a lot.

At the Hard Rock

I'll start with what's good. The rooms are a nice size, every one has that hot tub on the balcony, and in the better buildings they feel new and clean. Plenty of people check in and have nothing to complain about.

The hotel does have a wear problem, though, and it's been going on long enough that I don't think of it as a bad month. Leaks, the odd ceiling panel giving way, elevators and hot tubs out of service and short power cuts have all turned up in more than one season. In summer you can add damp rooms with a mildew smell and air conditioning that struggles. It depends heavily on the building and the room.

The other issue is the view. Diamante has been a building site for years. A "partial ocean view" room can face construction, and a "resort view" can mean the back of the property.

So here's what I'd do:

• Book a full ocean-view category on a higher floor, and write "no construction view" into the booking.
• Ask which side of the hotel the building work is on before you pay, and ask to be away from it.
• Look out the window and run the air conditioning before you unpack. If it's a crane, or the room smells damp, go back to the desk in person right then.
• Know where the raves come from. The stays people love most are in the Rock Royalty rooms and suites, which come with a personal assistant. The entry room doesn't. If the trip is a celebration and the budget allows, that tier changes the stay.

At Nobu

The rooms are the reason to book. The entry room is about the same size as the Hard Rock's, and it's calmer and nicer to be in. If you want space, the junior suite is about 740 square feet.

I'd book a Deluxe Ocean View on a high floor, or a Junior Suite Ocean View. The swim-up rooms are fun if you don't mind people passing at ground level. I'd stay away from rooms facing the Cortez pool, from garden view if you're paying to see the Pacific, and from anything near MBar if you go to bed early. Put the request in writing, because a preference mentioned on the phone doesn't always make it to the desk.

Two small things. There's no fridge in the room unless you ask for one. And in your first hour I'd check that the air conditioning is cooling properly and the automatic blinds work, and call down right away if they aren't. At these prices you shouldn't spend a night finding out.

Winner: Nobu. At the Hard Rock, the room you're given matters more than at almost any hotel I write about.

The Sales Pitch and the Resort Credit

Both of these hotels sell property as well as rooms. At the Hard Rock you'll notice it. At Nobu you might not.

The Hard Rock has a vacation club, and someone will offer you a presentation when you arrive. It can be pushy, and it sometimes comes with resort credits attached. Say no once, politely, and don't trade a morning for the credits. What you'd actually be sitting through is in the Cabo timeshare presentation.

You'll see the club at the pool, too. The hotel has five pools, and one of them, with its own swim-up bar, is for members only.

Then there's the resort credit, which trips a lot of people up. Bookings made directly with the Hard Rock have come with a credit of around US$200 a night. It isn't US$200. You can spend it on a short list of things, mainly spa treatments, the salon, bowling and some tours, and each time you use it you pay a service charge in cash. That charge was 35% when I last read the terms, so a US$200 massage "paid for" with credit still costs you about US$70. The front desk can't always explain how it works, either. It's a discount on the spa and that's a fine thing to have. Check the current terms before you let it sway which hotel or which booking site you pick.

At Nobu, you may be offered a look at the residences next door when you check in. It's light, and plenty of people never hear about it. Nobu's own offers have sometimes included a daily spa credit, and it has the same catch. You still pay about a third of the treatment price in service and tax, and the credit may only stretch to a short massage.

Winner: Nobu. Less selling, though neither credit is worth what the headline number says.

The Golf and the Spa

Golf is a good reason to book either hotel, with a few questions to ask first.

Diamante has two big courses, one designed by Davis Love III and one that was Tiger Woods's first design. It's a private club, and guests of the Hard Rock and Nobu can play when there's room. Staying at one of these two hotels is about the only way on short of owning there.

What you won't find is a published price. The only number I have is a few years old, around US$350 a player, so ask for the current fee before you book a trip around it. Ask how far ahead you need to reserve, too, and whether guest play is still offered on your dates, because the club has said it's heading toward members only. A caddie at the Hard Rock is about US$50 with a day's notice. And I didn't see golf on the list of things the Hard Rock's resort credit covers.

One date to avoid. A PGA Tour event takes over the Tiger Woods course for a week in early November every year. That week you can't play it, and both hotels are fuller and more expensive.

If golf is the point of the trip and you don't need these two courses in particular, the ones any visitor can book are in the best golf courses in Cabo.

The spa is an easy win for Nobu. The hydrotherapy garden being free every day is the best perk at either hotel, and I'd build my mornings around it. Treatments are expensive, with a facial running US$400 to $500. The Hard Rock has a full spa too, at regular resort prices, and it's where that resort credit is most useful.

Winner: a tie on golf. Nobu on the spa.

When to Go

The calendar is the same for both, since the weather doesn't know which lobby you checked into.

• December to February: the most expensive months, with whales out front from mid-December. Evenings are cool. In Christmas week at the Hard Rock, towels are on loungers by 8:30 in the morning and the restaurant waits are at their longest.
• March and April: the windiest stretch. Spring break also fills the Hard Rock. If you feel the cold, I'd pick a different coast for these two months.
• May and June: still windy, and quieter.
• July to September: the cheapest rates, and a breeze that the rest of Los Cabos would love to have. It's also hurricane season, the surf is at its biggest, and this is when the Hard Rock's damp rooms and tired air conditioning show up most. Nobu is very quiet.
• October and November: rates climb back, and early November is the golf tournament week.

If I were picking, I'd go to Nobu in late fall or in January, when the wind is down. I'd take a family to the Hard Rock over winter break or in early summer, knowing June can still blow. The whole region month by month is in the best time to visit Cabo.

When I'd Book Neither

I said at the top that "neither" is a real answer, and I mean it. These are both resorts on a coast where you can't swim and can't easily leave. For a lot of trips that's the wrong starting point, and I'd rather tell you now.

• You want to swim in the ocean. With kids on a normal budget, that's the Hilton Los Cabos on the Corridor, which sits on a protected cove, or one of the Villa hotels on Médano. The full list is the best Cabo resorts with swimmable beaches.
• It's your first trip to Cabo. Stay on Médano, where the beach, the boats and dinner are all a walk away. I've ranked them in the best hotels on Médano Beach.
• You're planning three or more dinners out, or a few boat mornings. At US$100 or so per outing, the cab fares add up to a room upgrade somewhere else. Stay in town.
• You have a baby or a toddler. Hyatt Ziva, for the short transfer.
• You want all-inclusive AND quiet. That's neither of these. On this same coast it's Pueblo Bonito Pacifica, which is adults only with no amplified music at the pool. On the Corridor it's Marquis. Both are in the best all-inclusive resorts in Cabo.
• It's your honeymoon. Nobu's DJ pool and thin dining keep it off the top of my list. I'd look at the Waldorf Astoria, which is on the Pacific too and walks to town, or the others in the best Cabo honeymoon resorts.
• You want Nobu's level of room and you'd pay more to get a better hotel around it. Start with the best luxury resorts in Cabo, where Nobu sits at the bottom of my list because the brand is really the restaurant.
• You're coming February to April and you get cold easily. Stay on the bay side.

And if you haven't settled on an area at all, back up a step to where to stay in Cabo before you compare any two hotels.

The Verdict

With kids or teenagers, I'd book the Hard Rock. For two adults on a short stay, I'd book Nobu. For a lot of other trips, I'd book something on another beach.

The Hard Rock is the better buy. One price covers a family for a week on a property with enough going on that a teenager won't ask to leave, and that's worth a lot on a coast where leaving costs US$100 a time. I'd book a full ocean view on a high floor, get "no construction view" in writing, check the room before I unpacked, say no to the presentation, and eat at UMO and the teppanyaki table.

Nobu is the nicer hotel. The room, the adults' pool, the spa garden, breakfast and one dinner at the restaurant make a lovely two to four nights for a couple in a month without wind. I just wouldn't call it good value, and I wouldn't stretch it to a week... by the fourth night you've eaten everywhere worth eating and paid a lot to do it.

What flips it is pretty simple. Kids in the party flips Nobu to the Hard Rock. A fixed budget does the same. A low tolerance for noise and for maintenance hiccups flips the Hard Rock to Nobu. And wanting the ocean or the town flips both of them to somewhere else.

Where both of them land against every hotel at every budget is in the best resorts in Cabo.

Here's how I'd text it to a friend. Same beach, same wind, same $60 cab, and you can't swim at either. Kids or teens, Hard Rock, ocean view up high, no construction view in writing. Just the two of you for a long weekend, Nobu, away from the DJ pool, one dinner at the restaurant. Nobu's rate doesn't include food so add a lot. Want the ocean or the town... book somewhere else.

Quick Answers

Is Hard Rock Los Cabos all-inclusive? Is Nobu? The Hard Rock is all-inclusive only, with tips and taxes in the rate. Nobu is room only and doesn't sell an all-inclusive plan, whatever a booking page implies.

Can you swim in the ocean at the Hard Rock or Nobu Los Cabos? No, at neither one. It's open Pacific with strong currents and a steep drop-off, and the staff will ask you to stay back from the water's edge.

Are the Hard Rock and Nobu next to each other? Yes. They're side by side inside the gated Diamante development, run by the same company, and they share the entrance and the beach.

Can Hard Rock guests eat at Nobu? Yes, by booking a table and paying for it. The restaurant takes reservations from the public, and it isn't part of the Hard Rock's all-inclusive plan.

Can I take an Uber from the Hard Rock or Nobu into town? Uber can drop you off at either hotel and can't pick you up there. Plan on a taxi out at about US$50 to $70 each way for the car, and an Uber back.