Innovation at Las Ventanas
The Industry’s Ultimate Innovator and the World’s Most Imitated Resort
Las Ventanas al Paraíso, A Rosewood Resort boasts a 14-year history of unsurpassed innovation that built the resort’s reputation as one of the world’s premier properties. Innovation also has generated the highest form of flattery over the years that continues to this day – imitation, that is, both by resorts in Los Cabos and around the world.
At opening in 1997, Las Ventanas was the first true luxury resort in Los Cabos, asking rates that were unheard of in the region at that time (from $325 per night). It opened with such dramatic design and service innovations (many of which have since been widely copied) as:
- Infinity-edge swimming pools
- Swimming pools of different temperatures with “pebble-tech” bottoms that are gentle on the feet and change color to mimic the sky and ocean
- Personal telescopes in every suite for viewing the heavens, the Sea of Cortez and migrating whales, along with a monthly sky summary and instructions on how to use the chart.
- Decorative inlaid pebble walkways (i.e. “stone carpeting”)
- First holistic spa in Cabo with treatments featuring the biological bounty of the local deser
- Pristine, white-sand gardens that are raked to create a sculpted look
- Desert landscaping (xeriscaping) that mimicks the surrounding terrain rather than the imported lush-tropical look of other resorts
- Baja-Mediterranean Cuisine combining Baja ingredients and flavors with Mediterranean techniques and preparations
- No “front desk” – instead, an open-air lobby with private check-in conducted in your suite.
- A line up of employees to greet every arriving, and departing, guest
- No sign: You have to know where the entrance to Las Ventanas is to find it
- One-bedroom luxury suites with private pool and outdoor shower in a personal rock and cactus garden.
- Privacy bead necklaces to hang on the door in place of “do not disturb” signs
- Robes and slippers sized for the guest, based on the airport host’s input after pickup
- Underground tunnels for service personnel to move quietly and invisibly around the resort and hide much of the activity, from room service deliveries to maid’s carts, creating an aura of peacefulness even when the resort is 100% full.
Las Ventanas launched the luxury sector in Cabo and was the catalyst that saw it quickly develop into Mexico’s most upscale destination. At the same time, as it gained worldwide recognition for service and amenities, Las Ventanas led the way in turning Cabo from being a playground exclusively for Americans into an international destination. Today, poolside at Las Ventanas is an international jet-set scene of guests from every continent.
Las Ventanas’ luxury, privacy, intimacy, service and amenities quickly attracted the entertainment industry, and the air corridor from Hollywood to Baja became filled with private jets carrying celebrities – a trend that continues to this day. Over the last 13 years, Las Ventanas has probably accommodated more celebrities than any other resort in the world.
Every year since its opening, Las Ventanas has introduced first-of-a-kind innovations – unique services, amenities, programs and luxuries that often set new standards – inviting others to follow. Among them in recent years have been:
- LVPAir: gourmet meals to go for the flight home (originally conceived for guests arriving on private jets, but quickly became popular with guests on commercial flights as well)
- Personalized Sewing Kits in colors that predominate in the guest’s wardrobe with pre-threaded needles
- Computerized stargazing on the beach using a large telescope.
- 24-hour personal butlers for all suites, with dedicated butlers for the one-, two- and three-bedroom suites
- Department of Romance whose mission it is to fulfill guests’ romantic desires and needs by planning everything from romantic dinners on the beach to devising imaginative marriage proposals
- Pool Butlers who see to guests’ every need, from providing sunblock and the latest novels to read to refreshing guests with Evian spray mists and serving frozen sorbet cups
- iPods offered poolside, pre-loaded with music; followed by Sony LocationFree TVs for checking emails and watching your favorite TV programs by the pool
- Sunglasses cleaning service poolside
- Binoculars offered to guests at the restaurants and pool during whale-migrating periods
- Hammocks under palapas for naps on the beach with a unique wake-up service (raise a flag to indicate the time, and the attendant wakes you with an ancient Mexican percussion instrument)
- Ceviche, Sushi & Tequila Bar offering innovative ceviches, first-of-a-kind Mexican-Japanese sushi fusion, Mexico’s finest 100% agave tequilas and tequila lessons taught by tequileros.”
- Pet Program offering everything from special menus and dog massages to a portable pet cabana that goes where you go, so your pet may relax protected from the sun
- Guaycura Dinners: A sampler of dishes from a traditional Mexican barbecue with tableside preparations and spectacular fire dancers on the beach
- Dining room service rivaling the world’s finest with napkins to match your clothing, a selection of bifocal lenses and hand-held lights for menu reading, table-side stools for women to keep their purses on, and soft white serapes if you’re chilly
- In-suite aromatherapy, with a choice of aromas, as part of the evening turndown service
- Airport Hosts who ease the check-in process and assist guests with any airport needs
- Ultra-luxurious Spa Suites offering a self-contained “total spa lifestyle” where guests are immersed in a beauty, fitness or weight-loss program
- A luxurious bed sheet menu with a choice of four different types of linens
- Porsche Boxsters and Mini Cooper S convertibles for guests to rent – and drive the 180-mile “Cabo Loop” crossing the Tropic of Cancer while enjoying desert & ocean vistas
- The only fleet of Mercedes G500 SUVs in Mexico for airport transfers
- Cinema Paraíso: Private movie screenings under the stars on the beach, while sipping fine wines and nibbling on gourmet appetizers
- State-of-the-art Fitness Center that, for a small property of 71 suites, is extraordinarily spacious with 2,900 sq. ft. and offers a range of equipment and accessories found only at professional fitness clubs.
Never content to rest on its growing laurels, over the past several years Las Ventanas has introduced some of the most imaginative and innovative amenities and services yet:
- Dinner & A Bath: Receive a bath menu along with your dinner menu in The Restaurant and your after-dinner bath experience is prepared while you dine.
- Holistic Twilight Ceremony: At sunrise and sunset daily at The Spa, exquisite crystal bowls are played to create a harmony of tonal music, encourage thoughtful meditation and empower the spirit.
- Cocina del Fuego: The ultimate grilled food, served at the Sea Grill, is cooked on wood-burning grills or in the wood-burning, brick-and-clay oven.
- Organics & Herbs: Dinners in the aromatic herb garden under the stars focusing on locally produced organic foods, fresh herbs and fine Mexican olive oils.
- Men in White: The gentleman is a culinary star for the evening, impressing his wife or significant other with the fabulous meal he prepared (with the help of Las Ventanas’ chef ) while having a fun, romantic and delicious time.
- Cinema Proposal: The gentleman can have a videotaped marriage proposal secretly and professionally produced that, when they turn on the DVD to ostensibly watch a movie snuggled up together in their suite at Las Ventanas, he surprises her with.
- Hot Type: Read advance copies of novels at poolside, by your favorite leading writers, from six weeks to six month before they even hit the shelves in bookstores.
- Helicopter Proposal: This dramatic proposal completely surprises the lady when the supposed helicopter sightseeing tour flies over Las Ventanas and she sees the words “Marry Me!” written in huge letters on the sand.
- Full Moon Gourmet Dinners on the Beach: With huge bonfires, guitarists playing Gypsy Kings-themed music and telescopes for star gazing.
- Sleeping with the Stars at Las Ventanas: Couples sleep outdoors under the incredibly starry skies of Baja on the rooftop terrace of their suite where a luxurious and intimate bedroom has been set up.
Today, Las Ventanas al Paraíso is still the only Five-Diamond resort in Baja, with the highest year-round occupancy levels and average daily rates in Los Cabos. With Las Ventanas now well into its second decade, the innovations continue to come. Stay tuned...
