Bedroom, The Mansion
Waking up in villa two at Las Ventanas al Paraiso, Rosewood’s stunning luxury Cabo San Lucas resort in Baja California, is total bliss – see the photo above. Look out at the Sea of Cortez and just feel on top of the world. The gal was lucky enough, however, to see around another villa, the premium Ty Warner Mansion. On the left is one of its two master bedrooms, both ensuite, of course. The mansion, as show in two videos below, is one of the word’s most luxurious villas, with two floors, three bedrooms, gym, games room, screening room, and rooftop spa beds standing in a decorative pool.
Inner lobby, with retractable roof
Even the entrance to the Mansion is pretty special, its walls living greenery. The entire Mansion, by the way, was designed by Las Ventanas’ MD Frédéric Vidal, who not only has the typical style of a good Frenchman but his design flair is extraordinary. He, like the property’s owner, Ty Warner, knows that when it comes to luxury every minute detail is of prime importance. Hence the value of getting everything right. In my villa, for instance, I had literally dozens of really covetable books, all hardback and all from Assouline. I read about Diana von Furstenberg one night, and Dior the next, and if I had stayed longer I would have learned about Harlem, too.
Looking up from a spa room’s private garden
Over half of those who stay at Las Ventanas are repeats, and average stay is seven nights (there is an eight-nine minimum stay over Christmas-New Year). More than a quarter of all arrivals come by private jet. This is old money, by the way, and it is confident enough not to need dress codes – bring t-shirts not gold lamé. Bring a sense of fun (the guitar casually propped up in the Mansion was left behind by Justin Bieber and is yours, while you are staying there). Guests here know how to interact with staff. Frédéric Vidal tells me of one couple of guests recently who asked him if they could invite their butler, who was recovering from a motorbike accident, to dine with them in the hotel. Of course. I really admired my own butler, Edson, who knew instinctively when to be around, and when to be invisible, and the eggs he cooked for me one morning, in the full kitchen that was part of my villa, were perfect. But then so much was perfect here – I loved the spa, where after a 90-minute ‘signature massage’ I was able to look out at the spa room’s private garden, and its greenery.
Herb Garden kitchen
And I ate magnificently. There are so many dining opportunities at this luxury resort and I was lucky to be there on a Saturday night, Barbacoa night. I missed its preamble, which starts at 11.30 a.m., when chunks of lamb, wrapped in maguey leaves, are put into a pit that has glowing charcoal at its base. At 7.30 p.m., when we were gathered in the Herb Garden open-air dining area, the meat was hauled up, for our main course. First, five of us had had a tasting of mezcal and tequila, with guacamole and other preprandial snacks. Then came a broth made of juices from the lamb, and finally the meat (was there room for dessert? You bet, especially when it included coconut sorbet). Somehow everything I ate throughout my entire stay was perfect, here, which goes to show that the late, and much-missed, Kurt Fischer was so right when he said, years ago, that dining is simply food and wine, plus service and ambience. Tonight, what could have been better than eating traditional food in the herb garden of this true-luxury hotel? AND NOW SEE VIDEOS OF VILLA TWO, THE MANSION’S ENTRANCE, THE MANSION’S ROOFTOP, AND BARBACOA NIGHT.
