Esperanza Resort - Cabos San Lucas, Mexico Review

Esperanza is simply one of the most beautiful hotels I have ever seen. It is set on a hill overlooking the coming together of the Sea of Cortez and the Pacific Ocean at the tip of the California Baja Peninsula which is in the area of Mexico called Cabos San Lucas.  The area is also known at Los Cabos which means "The Capes".   Los Cabos is about a 1,000 mile drive from the U.S. border.  There are direct flights from many U.S. cities.  It is about a 4 to 4.5 hour flight from Chicago.

My wife and I have been lucky enough to travel throughout much of the world and stay at some of the best hotels available and this one was right at the top of the list.  

Here are some of the features of Esperanza that I really appreciated:

1. The weather was great.  We went in April and it was 80 degrees every day getting down to 60s at night.
2. The setting was absolutely stunning.  See the pictures that I uploaded, but they do not even do it justice.  The view of the ocean, the cliffs, the waves were just amazing.  Right off a postcard.
3. The pools were huge, perfectly designed and tons of seating.  A pet peeve of mine is when we go to a great hotel and you have to jockey for a chair at the beach or around the pool.   This was not the case here.  Whatever time of day we went out to the pool we could find chairs available for the whole family.
4. We were in a 2 bedroom villa which had a nice set up.  The living room had a large L shaped sectional couch, two chairs and two huge out door porches.  One porch had a table for 8 people and one porch had two large comfy chairs.  Both had a direct and unobstructed view of the ocean.  The doors on both porches went all the way back so that the living room could basically become an extension of the porches. The master bedroom was very nice but not huge.  The 2nd bedroom was small, but fine. The bathrooms in both rooms were quite nice and spacious.  You will notice that I put in my "I am" tag that I am an Ultimate Resort club member.   We used our privileges in this club to stay at Esperanza.
5. The food was generally very good but very expensive.  I highly recommend the Shrimp Burger and the Cucumber Avocado cold soup. 
6. On two of the nights we attended out door events that the hotel organized with live music and an amazing buffet.   We attended Mexicanisimo and Carnivalisimo.  I would say we enjoyed Carnivalisimo the most because it was right on the beach and the kids really got into the dancing to the band.  Also the paella was very good and the rice pudding was to die for. For the exact menu see this link  http://www.esperanzaresort.com/pdf/Carnavalisimo_06.pdf
7. The staff was generally very helpful, friendly and flexible.  Things seemed to move a little too slowly, but the more I was there, the less it seemed to matter.
8. House keeping was good, prompt etc.

My only nitpicks for Esperanza are as follows:

1. They ran out of towels a few times.
2. The price for a margarita was $13 and then with the VAT and 15% tip it was $17.  That is just flat our crazy.  The issue of over priced food is not unique to Esparanza but it does take away from the experience a bit.

BOTTOM LINE:  Absolutely amazing over the top with a price to match.  If you don't mind spending, and are looking for the best, give this one some serious consideration.

Other luxury hotels/resorts that we have stayed at (for a basis of comparison)

1. Ritz Carltons in Maui, Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach, San Francisco, Singapore and Naples, FL (all great hotels, predictably "luxe", a bit stuffy)
2. Oriental in Bangcock (which is over rated)
3. Amanwana, Amankila, Amanpusa in Indonesia (which were amazing)
4. Hyatt in Grand Cayman (while beautiful, we had to fight for a beach/pool chairs. not really at the same level as the others listed)