Something shimmered in a tree branch as I toured Las Ventanas al Paraíso, a Rosewood Resort on the shores of the Sea of Cortez in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
Tarek Cheneier, director of food and beverage, was telling me about the intentional design and attention to detail that went into the resort, and how its architecture is meant to seamlessly blend the property with its natural surroundings: the sea to one side, the desert to the other.
I turned my head away from the object in the tree, looking toward the turquoise waves below and noticing how they seemed to crash into the winding infinity pool we were walking past. The uncontrolled energy of the sea meeting the pool’s subtle, rippling tranquility made me pause, momentarily silencing the spinning thoughts in my head from a stressful morning of travel and placing me in the peaceful present.
For a second, I forgot about the shimmer in the tree. Looking out at the water from the Los Cabos coastline is one of those rare sights stunning enough to stop your distracted thoughts in their tracks.
Just then, the object in the tree swayed again, but it was no longer shimmering alone. I squinted; dangling from the tree’s branches were dozens of glass hearts.
“You’ll find them all around the resort,” Cheneier said, pointing out the heart-shaped “Do Not Disturb” signs hanging from guest-room doorknobs and a wooden board with a red heart stone that guests can use to indicate their preferred aromatherapy blend that comes with turndown service each night.
I left thinking the hearts were a Las Ventanas al Paraíso thing, but when I stepped inside El Taller Art Studio at Four Seasons Resort and Residences Cabo San Lucas at Cabo Del Sol, a row of colorful anatomical hearts was displayed on the highest shelf. And inside every gallery we perused in San José del Cabo’s Gallery District, heart symbols dominated art forms of all kinds.
“What’s the story behind the hearts?” I asked Juan Elizarrarás, MICE Manager for the Los Cabos Tourism Board, who was hosting me on a pre-fam ahead of our Meetings Today LIVE! Corporate/Incentive event October 20-22.
Elizarrarás explained how some hearts depict the Sagrado Corazón, or Sacred Heart, which is widely seen in Mexican religious art, often with flames, a crown of thorns or a cross. Other smaller heart-shaped objects like charms, ornaments and amulets put a colorful twist on the symbol and broadly represent hope, love, faith, health and prosperity.
The vibrant glass-blown and hand-painted hearts fought for my attention in the various galleries we explored, but the most memorable hearts I saw in Los Cabos were the small, flat metal charms known as “milagritos,” which translates to “little miracles.” These tiny hearts traditionally symbolize prayer, healing and protection in Mexican folk art, religion and spirituality—and they’re small enough to fit in your pocket!
Every heart we encountered had a different story and meaning, but in the end, Elizarrarás and I agreed that the real reason why these symbols of love hang from tree branches, adorn entryways and dangle from keychains must be that nothing in Los Cabos is complete without a little bit of heart.
This is why Los Cabos remains a tried-and-true destination for incentive programs: It pulsates with passion, and so do its people, who make every group experience feel like a magical “milagrito.”
[Related: Meetings Today LIVE! Corporate/Incentive Showcases Los Cabos Luxury]
Los Cabos Hotels and Resorts Embody Hospitality and Heart
I could feel the love in Los Cabos as soon as I rolled my suitcase out the airport doors. The sun wrapped me in its warmth, and Nora Valenzuela from VIVO Luxury Services DMC wrapped me in a welcoming hug.
“¡Bienvenida a Los Cabos!” she said, leading me to my transportation for the day: a late-model Cadillac Escalade driven by VIVO’s friendly Galo Hernández, who taught me that Los Cabos is rarely ever as lush and green as it was in late October.
“It’s usually all dry, brown desert and mountains,” Hernández said, but heavy rain and tropical storms hit the area in late summer, resulting in a burst of green growth that even Elizarrarás, who’s lived in Los Cabos for eight years, has never seen before.
“It is a miracle,” Elizarrarás said. “A green desert!” The sight was the first “milagrito” I experienced on my Los Cabos adventure.
After 30 minutes of driving along the scenic tourist corridor, we arrived at our first stop: Las Ventanas al Paraíso, a Rosewood Resort, which shines as one of Mexico’s most acclaimed luxury hotels. This peaceful five-star property features 84 suites, a 1,100-square-foot ballroom and a Prohibition era-inspired speakeasy bar, La Botica.
We ate lunch on property at Sea Grill, which serves up freshly grilled fare, ceviche, shellfish and traditional Mexican dishes, including some of the best guacamole I’ve ever had (and I don’t even like avocados!).
“The resort staff isn’t allowed to say this, but Las Ventanas is where all the stars like to stay,” said Carmen Paredes, cofounder and lead of sales and marketing for VIVO Luxury Services, as she leaned in close over our table. “You can see the Las Ventanas headboards in the background of some of Britney Spears’s dancing videos on Instagram.” (It’s true; I fact checked it myself.)
Las Ventanas was the type of property that made me think, “I can’t believe I’m actually here,” and so, too, was the Four Seasons Resort and Residences Cabo San Lucas at Cabo Del Sol, our second site tour of the day.
Opened in May 2024, Four Seasons Resort and Residences Cabo San Lucas at Cabo Del Sol features 96 guest rooms plus casitas, suites and villas that bring the total accommodations to 131. The resort’s design reflects a modern expression of a traditional “hacienda” and includes three pools, eight bars and restaurants, a spa, nearly 20,000 square feet of event space and a rare find along the Los Cabos coastline: a swimmable beach!
Upon arrival, guests are greeted by a fortune-telling bird in a cage (this bird was made of wood, but traditionally, it would be a canary or parakeet). Inside the cage, tiny, folded pieces of paper hold different messages, and the bird decides which one is meant for you.
“Deja volar tus sueños; el Cielo no tiene límites,” my fortune read. “Let your dreams take flight; the sky is limitless.”
Just next door to the Four Seasons, Park Hyatt Los Cabos at Cabo Del Sol is set to debut as the first Park Hyatt in all of Mexico. We had the chance to tour the 163-room property before it welcomes its first guests on November 14.
Park Hyatt Los Cabos at Cabo Del Sol will bring another 34,500 square feet of event space to the coastal destination, 28,000 of which takes advantage of the Los Cabos sunshine. The remaining 6,500 square feet of indoor meeting space was already being utilized for staff training when we toured the property, though it didn’t seem that they needed it.
Elizarrarás and I weren’t official Park Hyatt guests, and the hotel had another month until its doors would open, but we were greeted and treated like we were checking into a fully functioning luxury resort. As we walked toward a dining outlet on the property, six staff members rushed to open the door for us, and as we took a look around, they stood tall with their hands behind their backs, just in case we needed anything.
“They don’t do it because they feel a need to,” said Rich Ramirez, director of sales and marketing for the Park Hyatt, when I mentioned how welcoming and hospitable his team already was, even for a simple site tour. “This is just the kind of people they are. It’s what they do, and they genuinely love to do it.”
We discovered that same level of hospitality the next morning at Nobu Hotel Los Cabos, where we enjoyed breakfast at the property’s namesake restaurant overlooking the Pacific. The high-end hotel offers 150 guest rooms, 50 suites, a 4,724-square-foot ballroom and the stunning Shiawase Terrace in the center of it all.
As I munched on my avocado toast—another “milagrito” (I really don’t like avocados)—I could taste how much heart the chef put into his creation.
[Related: 3 Luxurious Los Cabos Resorts for Incentive Travel Programs]
Colorful Cultural and Coastal Experiences
Enter any Los Cabos hotel and hospitality is what you’ll find. Get out and explore the downtown areas of Los Cabos, and you’ll discover the destination’s hospitable heart beats on its streets, too.
We’d just began our tour of San José del Cabo’s Gallery District with Marco Morales from VIVO Luxury Services when we heard a crowd cheering in the distance. We turned the corner onto Plaza Mijares, and walking out the arched entryway of the Misión San José del Cabo church, in the heart of the town square, was a bride and groom.
Kids danced with sparklers while friends and family waved streamers. Elizarrarás and I couldn’t help but join in the celebration as the happy couple drove away in a car sporting a “¡Recién casados!" sign on the back.
In its place, a stretch limo pulled up, and out walked a princess, the star of yet another celebration: a quinceañera.
Love was in the air, and it followed us through the Gallery District to the innovative Ivan Guaderrama Art Gallery, lined with colorful, contemporary abstract art, religious-themed paintings, interactive pieces and more.
Elizarrarás beckoned me toward a large painting of a rainbow heart with seven black stars sprinkled across the canvas.
“Tap on one,” he instructed, and when I did, “Shallow” by Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga started playing. I tapped another star and Benson Boone’s voice took over. Another star, Taylor Swift. “Ivan Guaderrama is also an AR and AI specialist,” Elizarrarás winked.
Stepping inside the creative world of Guaderrama felt like experiencing a million “milagritos” all at once. On one wall, a painting of a piano actually lets you play the middle 15 keys. And just across from that, another painting of a featured technology that lets music flow through your fingertips—literally. Using the natural frequencies running through my body, Guaderrama’s art turned my energy into a love song.
From downtown Los Cabos, we took our adventure to the Pacific coast, where Cactus Tours was prepared to give Elizarrarás and I the total thrill package at its outdoor adventure park. We started with sky bikes, which are exactly what you’d think. Soaring above the sand and sea is a 2,800-foot aerial bike route—the world’s longest—supporting four bikes simultaneously, with cables and harnesses built to hold up to 17.5 tons of weight.
Then, we rode up and down the beach on the backs of camels, all of which were rescued by Cactus Tours after being abandoned following Mexico’s 2015 ban of animals in circuses . A decade later, they’re living peacefully in the adventure park’s camel sanctuary, where a calf was born just hours before Elizarrarás and I arrived that morning—another “milagrito.”
Our final activity with Cactus Tours was their signature side-by-side UTV adventure, an adrenaline-inducing, off-road journey through the desert. We whipped through clouds of butterflies, swerved past a pair of donkeys and raced alongside the rushing ocean, then dusted ourselves off for dinner.
Don Sanchez Restaurant, serving contemporary Mexican cuisine and artistic culinary creations, is one of the best dining establishments in downtown San José del Cabo. Its menu explores local flavors and products from the land and the sea. We dined on charred beets with caramelized pecans and a fermented hibiscus vinaigrette; beef brisket that was baked overnight in a wood-fire oven, then cooked sous vide for eight more hours and served with creamy rice; wild Mexican mushrooms and roasted vegetables.
For dessert, Elizarrarás and I split a two-layer meringue cake, stacked between two rows of fresh fruit and drizzled with chocolate and honey. When I placed a piece on my plate, two strawberry slices slipped off the meringue, landed on the napkin in my lap and, of course, formed a perfect heart. One last “milagrito” from Mexico.
Leaving Los Cabos, my heart—and my stomach—were more than full.
Connection
