The Nicest Hotel Stay of My Life
Spending my 30th at the Waldorf Astoria Pedregal in Cabo San Lucas - a Review
First off, I’d like to apologize for being on hiatus and not posting here for quite some time. I was dealing with some personal things (mostly an apartment filled with mold and an apathetic landlord) that occupied much of my time outside of work. But we are back, baby!
My 30th Birthday
I recently turned 30 and to celebrate this milestone, and alleviate my “oh shit oh shit oh shit I’m going to be 30,” freak out, I wanted to plan something really special for me and Kayla. The two ideas I had in mind were to stay at either the Alila Ventana Big Sur or the Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal. Both hotels are considered some of the nicest and most sought-after properties in the Hyatt and Hilton portfolios, respectively.
Ultimately, I decided to go with the Waldorf Astoria for a few reasons, mainly because I had a free night certificate (FNC) with Hilton that was set to expire in July 2024. The Alila Ventana is also only a 3-hour drive away making it easier to go last minute if rooms are available compared to Cabo which takes more advanced planning.
Booking
A while ago I opened up an American Express Hilton Business credit card, which at the time had a sign-up bonus of 150,000 points + a FNC. This was an elevated sign-up bonus and I jumped at the opportunity since I wanted to check out some higher-end Hilton properties, without paying the cash price of course. I earned another FNC after spending $15,000 on the card (a benefit the card offers to everyone, every year) thanks mostly to having to cover Airbnbs for nearly a month while our moldy apartment was being repaired.
The WA Los Cabos had “standard rooms” available over my birthday meaning I was able to book two nights using the two FNCs I had earned. If booked with points, these rooms would have cost 120,000 Hilton Honors points.
FNCs are so valuable because they can be used at any Hilton hotel so long as it has a standard room available, it doesn’t matter if the points price is 30,000 or 150,000 per night. Standard rooms can be hard to come by, especially at sought-after hotels, but as with everything in this hobby, flexibility goes a long way. As a point of comparison, the cash rates for this property are at a minimum of $1,000 per night and often closer to $2,000.
To find standard room availability, I paid for a service, MaxMyPoint, which constantly scans hotels for standard rooms. For $3.99/month you can set up email alerts when specific hotel rooms become available, allowing you to secure a reservation within minutes, or hours, of the rooms opening up for bookings. This worked incredibly well and I secured my two night reservation within a few weeks of setting up the alerts.
The flights were nothing exciting, but I was able to book both of them on points. For the flight to Cabo, we took a direct flight from SFO for only 25,000 Alaska miles total for the two of us, which I transferred over from my BILT credit card (I’ll talk about BILT in my next newsletter) to Alaska. The return flight was on United and cost 29,000 miles total, which I transferred from my Chase Sapphire Preferred to United. I consider both of these flights a good deal considering cash fares were around $180 per person each way, meaning I got about 1.3 cents per point, a decent value.
We arrived at the hotel around noon after an early morning flight and a 45-minute car ride from the airport. Because we took the first flight from SFO, we were able to spend a full 48 hours at the property, which we both agreed wasn’t enough.
Arrival and First Impressions
Off an inconspicuous street near the Cabo San Lucas Marina, you’ll find the front gate of the Waldorf Astoria. An employee at the gate welcomed us to the resort and asked if we would like margaritas or hibiscus water as an arrival beverage. After entering the gate, you drive through a 250-yard tunnel leading you to the outdoor lobby with sweeping views of the ocean. There must have been 5 valets and greeters accompanied by our hotel concierge, Diego, who had our welcome drinks in hand and wished me a happy birthday.
About one week prior to our stay, Diego emailed me wondering if I needed help with any dinner reservations, spa services, or any other requests. This is standard for a lot of nicer hotels and I HIGHLY recommend sending a response. Give them a-n-y reason to do something special for you, in this case, I mentioned it was a celebration for my 30th.
Diego led us to the check-in desk where another employee checked us in, went over all of the hotel amenities and restaurants, and informed us we were upgraded to an ocean-view room (my email response to Diego paid off in this case). Once it was ready, we were shown to our room and given a full tour. For anything we needed, we were told to text Diego and he would make it happen. There was even a hand-written note on the bedside saying “Happy Birthday,” and wishing us a pleasant stay. The first 20 minutes set the tone for the type of service we could expect throughout our two days.
The Room
I’ll start by saying that the smallest rooms are roughly 850 square feet. Every room has a private outdoor plunge pool, partial ocean views at minimum, and a gas fireplace. Our upgraded room had a full ocean view, but otherwise was the same as their standard room (which they call “Pacific View”).
At the entryway of our ground floor room was a small complimentary bottle of Casa Azul tequila branded with “Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos - Pedregal” on the front. Entering the room itself we were greeted by two large armchairs, the gas fireplace, and completely unobstructed views of the Pacific Ocean from the patio. The king-size bed was extremely comfortable and the nightstands had outlets embedded in the sides, something I think every hotel should have.
The bathroom is bigger than our bedroom at home and includes a double vanity, a full-sized soaking tub, a rainfall shower, and a weird semi-circular padded bench next to the shower. There was also a separate water closet with its own door. The entire bathroom can be closed off by a gigantic barn door, for privacy to the rest of the bedroom.
It should be no surprise that the highlight of our room was the patio and the view of the ocean.
Included is a full non-alcoholic minibar with juices, soda, and no less than four 1-liter bottles of filtered water which were refilled twice a day. There is also a Nespresso machine and plenty of pods to last throughout the day. Every afternoon, a complimentary bowl of chips, guacamole, salsa, and two small Coronas are also delivered to your room to snack on.
There was only one downside to our room: the sliding patio doors didn’t keep noise and bugs out because there was a small gap between the door and the floor. While we loved falling asleep to the sounds of waves crashing, we didn’t like getting bitten by mosquitos in our room. I’d read there used to be bug spray in the rooms, but I couldn’t find any, although there is a pair of binoculars to whale watch during the migration season.
The Service
There are only 119 total rooms and we must have encountered at least 75 or 100 staff members each day, so the property feels very intimate and well-run. Every employee greets you, including the landscapers and housekeepers. It got to the point where Kayla and I almost felt it was too much because it’s just something we aren’t accustomed to experiencing.
Even though we knew staff are told to greet passing guests and always have to respond with “my pleasure,” to a simple “thank you,” it felt like the employees were generally happy to help. There were a few specific instances of small gestures that made this hotel stand out.
At breakfast on our first full morning, we sat outside and it only took a few minutes for a group of bees to hover over our plates. We asked the hostess to move indoors since Kayla is allergic, and within seconds there were no less than four employees at our table picking up and moving our plates and coffees to a table inside. They then set up a small table fan to keep flies and bees away.
The next morning the same hostess was working again, and, remembering us from the previous day, greeted us by saying “We have a table inside for you so you can avoid the bees.” Because the hotel is so small, it allows the staff to remember the guests and their preferences so our needs were anticipated before we could even ask for accommodations.
On the night of my birthday, we ventured into town for dinner and had an extremely disappointing meal. After coming back to the hotel, we decided to get dessert at one of the resort’s restaurants and our server asked us why we were only having dessert. We wound up talking to him for a while about our dinner in town, how we should have stayed at the hotel to eat, and how impressed we were with the food at the resort—especially their many vegan options.
He actually brought out their chef, Angie, to come and talk with us about their dinner menu (we ate dinner there the previous night) and felt so bad about our experience in town that our server comped both of our desserts. I’ve had servers comp an entrée or an appetizer after complaining about a truly terrible dish (something I rarely do), but I’ve never had them comp something for an experience I had at a different, unaffiliated restaurant.
Dining
There are four different dining options (not including room service), a coffee bar, a champagne bar, and a tequila/mezcal tasting bar. Don Manuel’s is their all-day restaurant, serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner located just behind the adults-only pool. There is Crudo - the poolside restaurant and bar, The Beach Club - a lunch-only casual restaurant, and finally El Farallon - their fine dining dinner-only option located between the mountainside and the ocean that serves primarily seafood.
We ate almost exclusively at Don Manuel’s, except for lunch at The Beach Club on the first day and some food at Crudo while at the pool. While the food at Don Manuel’s was still very expensive for an “all-day restaurant,” the price reflected the quality of ingredients and service you get.
Because I have Hilton Gold Status (included as a benefit of my Amex Platinum Card), we got continental breakfast for free at Don Manuel’s each morning with the option to upgrade to their full buffet for $20. The continental breakfast consisted of a fruit plate, a basket of pastries, and the option of yogurt with granola, cereal, or oatmeal.
They even made Kayla a massive acai bowl as a vegan substitution with no added charge. I upgraded to the buffet the first morning and it was very meat-forward but still worth it for this pescatarian. For $20, this is the cheapest dining option at the hotel and offers the greatest amount of food.
For dinner, Don Manuel’s takes on a more formal approach adding tablecloths and more ambient lighting. The menu even has a backlight that turns on as you open the menu, which took both me and Kayla by surprise the first time it happened. I felt like a kid opening and closing the menu over and over (I’m sure a few people were staring, oh well). The drinks are incredibly expensive (think $24 for a cocktail) but were on the larger side and man oh man were they good.
Overall Thoughts
Like most of my birthday vacations, the goal was to eat good food, drink many cocktails, and sit by a pool that preferably has a view and a warm breeze. Kayla and I accomplished exactly that and my only regret was that we didn’t book a third night. It’s hard to fully explain just how relaxing and over the top (in a good way) the hotel was. I mean, every morning they rake the landscape installations that use sand to create visually pleasing lines, something I never realized I needed in my life.
If you’ve been a TJJ subscriber, you know I would never spend $1,000 to $2,000 per night on ANY hotel. This hotel was no exception, but it was absolutely worth using my FNCs and I would happily blow 120,000 Hilton points per night to come again. If you have the points/FNCs (or the disposable income you’re willing to spend) I can’t recommend this hotel enough. My suggestion would be to try and come during whale migration season which I’m sure adds a whole new element to the property.
Do you have any questions about my stay? Want help trying to find availability on points at this (or any other hotel)? Leave a comment below and consider sharing this newsletter with a friend or family member who loves to travel.
Take me back to that pool! Honestly still so grateful for how vegan-friendly the WA dining was. They even removed the cheese from the complimentary afternoon chips and guac, when you kindly asked on my behalf. 10/10
So jealous! This sounds like a dream vacation! Adding to my list 🤩 🤗