In August 2021, I found myself in Turks and Caicos for a friend’s wedding. Then about two months later, in early October, I traveled to Cabo
for a stay in Los Cabos. We stayed at spectacular resorts, indulged in amazing food, and enjoyed the local sites, activities, and vibe on both trips. I am starting to think that maybe we like beach vacations a little more than we thought!
A luxurious stay at Grace Bay in Turks and Caicos sold me on the island. We stayed in a Junior Suite Villa with an oceanfront terrace (we had a tiny view of the water) that was spacious, modern, and stocked with snacks. We spent our mornings playing tennis and working out at the gym before our indulgent and amazing buffet breakfasts. We did not stay on points but had a reasonable wedding/summer rate of about 550 per night. However, I messed up and we did not earn Leaders Club points on this stay! Rookie mistake!
We spent our days lounging on the beach or at one of the pools, one of which was the adult pool and the other with a swim-up bar. You can take fun pictures at one of the pools as there is a window to see into the pool. Rob had fun posing for these pictures, but even more fun posing with friends post-wedding after many drinks. 🙂
The resort has a private beach with cushy lounge chairs situated on the calm and warm sea. You can order drinks and food at the beach, which we did most days. I think one day I was in the water for about 2 hours. 
It was like a gentle bathtub.
A few restaurants are overlooking the beach, and although our meals were catered through the wedding, the venues were spectacular, and the food, from the morning breakfasts to the clam bake to the wedding meal, was delicious.
The resort does have some water activities available, but we didn’t do any. We were happier just hanging out with friends on the beach. I did take a walk one morning to “town” and checked out some of the local shops. But, my favorite shop was the one at the actual resort, Coco Boutique, which also has a location in town. It had such chic and cute merchandise. I bought a flowy long sleeve shirt, and Rob bought a swim shirt, which he needed to protect himself from the glaring sun. It was hot!
As for some of the logistics…
The resort provided us all with covid tests before we returned to the US. The tests were easy to schedule and were administered onsite at the resort.
The Turks & Caicos airport is crowded and chaotic, and we were advised by friends who went before us to purchase the FAST PASS, which we did. It was not cheap. It was about $140 each for both ways for Rob and me. But it was worth it, especially on the departure, as we basically had a staff member holding our hand as we checked in, presented covid tests, and made our way to the gate, avoiding most of the hubbub.
Overall, it was such a fantastic weekend, and thanks to Tanya and Stephen for hosting us in such an incredible event and setting! We were all so sad to leave. But, a mere six weeks later, I was heading back to sun and sand in Los Cabos, Mexico.
And welcome to the Montage Los Cabos! All I can say is WOW!
Before this trip, I had been to a Montage Hotel only to eat at the restaurant, like in Deer Valley twice and in Laguna. I have also dined and spa’d numerous times at the Montage in Palmetto Bluff when we visited my friend’s place each year. Each time I went to a Montage Hotel, I was so jealous of the people that actually were staying in the hotel. And finally, this past October, it was my turn. Before this trip, the best hotel I had ever stayed in was the Little Nell in Aspen for my 50th bday. There is now a new hotel at the top of my list!
Let me start with our gigantic, modern room with a little slice of an ocean view. The bed was reminiscent of one of the big fluffy marshmallows that we discovered at the Four Seasons Maui on our honeymoon. We slept like babies! Every day we had a fresh fruit platter delivered to our room; it was such a nice touch and always sweet and delicious. We had a huge terrace, but each time I tried to sit on it, I broke out in a sweat in minutes, even early in the morning. It was hot! And here is my favorite part, we had an outdoor shower (and a regular shower). I looked forward to my outdoor shower each evening before dinner. I never spent so long in a shower then I did on this trip.
Now I’ll be honest; this room did not come cheap. With taxes and fees, the five nights ran me about $6500. But it was our first empty nest trip, an extraordinary occasion for us. I had taken advantage of so many incentives that Amex offered during covid that I had an abundance of Amex points. So I redeemed about 650,000 Membership Rewards points for this stay thru Amex’s pay with points feature. So, um, FREE STAY! The hefty price was worth it! And this hotel was an Amex Fine Hotel and Resort, so I received tons of benefits at the resort thru Amex.
One of my favorite times during my stay was the mornings. Rob and I would get up early to play tennis (we needed to make a reservation at one of the two clay courts), but the two real pickleball courts were always free. Bring your pickleball rackets! From our competitive match (where I always win), we would head to breakfast, my truly favorite part of the day. There were countless items to order (I tried something different each day, and finally, we got pancakes for the table!). Everything I popped into my mouth was unbelievable, from the daily smoothies to the oatmeal, granola, creative egg dishes, and bacon. And to start, the waitstaff comes around with a choice of fresh complimentary baked goods that feature croissants, donuts, scones, and our “best muffins we have ever had in our life” blueberry muffins. I don’t think I ever ate so well for breakfast. And back to Amex for a second, since this was an American Express Fine Hotel and Resort, we had a $70 breakfast credit each morning, which, although it didn’t cover breakfast each day (it is that expensive), knocked a big chunk off of our breakfast bill. By the last day, we only were a tiny bit over $70 as we learned what we needed to cut. We had fun with our friends seeing who could get the bill the closest to $70.
We had the first night’s dinner at the hotel because it was easy and we were tired. We ate at the Montage’s signature restaurant, Mezcal, upscale Mexican. The meal was good, but the portions were small and fancy. If I could do it again, I would have eaten at the resort’s Thai-inspired food truck-like restaurant, Talay, which had a cool vibe away from the hubbub of the resort. Although not Mexican, we had plenty of upscale farm-to-table Mexican each night thereafter, so we could have done Thai that first night. There is also Marea, the restaurant on the beach serving lunch and dinner. The views from Marea are spectacular! We didn’t have dinner there because that is where we hung out each day when at the pool/beach and ordering food.
While on the topic of food, there were a bunch of other restaurants that we loved. Tamarindos in San Jose del Cabo was an organic farm & restaurant. It was our first night’s meal outside of the resort, and the setting and the food were beyond spectacular. On our last night, we headed back to the San Jose del Cabo area to visit the highly touted and recommended by everyone who came before us, Flora Farms. We had another amazing meal here in a packed and lively atmosphere. If you are in Cabo, I highly recommend both restaurants even though they are far from the resort. But so worth it!
Two other nights, we headed in the direction of Cabo San Lucas for dinner, which was much closer to where we were staying. We enjoyed our meal at el Huerto, another farm-to-table restaurant, but definitely not as good as Tamarindos or Flora. But the place was lively, and the food was quite good. The other night we headed to El Farallon, the restaurant at the Waldorf Pedegral that you can see carved into the rocks from the water. From our boat (see below), it looked like an amazing place to be. And it was in terms of the views; they were beyond spectacular, from our drinks at the bar to our dinner at the El Farallon restaurant. However, I found the food to be ok (my least favorite meal of the whole trip), and it was our most expensive meal. You are definitely paying a high price for the view! The hotel, however, was gorgeous, and I would consider staying here another time, especially if I could use a Hilton award night like I have done in the past at the Grand Wailea in Maui and the Waldorf in Park City. I am not sure if I would pay for a stay here as it is in a remote location (which may appeal to some), and the beach is way too wild to swim in. We will see if I ever end up back here.
And while speaking of Cabo restaurants, how can I not mention the wildly popular restaurant The Office on the Cabo San Lucas side. Unfortunately, the restaurant was under renovation when we were there, so we missed it, bummer!
As for activities, having no kids, we did a lot of, um, nothing. We did get a private yacht for a 1/2 day thru the Montage (u can imagine how reasonable that was 🙂 ). However, our 32 footer that we booked was unavailable, so we were upgraded to a 54 footer, which made the price a bit more palpable. During our time at sea, we had a delicious lunch with many drinks and took great pictures with the notorious Arch of Cabo San Lucas (check). We jumped into the balmy Pacific several times and had fun relaxing on the big rafts that they provided.
We traded in our 54 footer for some smaller kayaks on the hotel’s sunrise kayak tour, one of the few things complimentary at the hotel. They only make room for 8, so book this in advance. We needed to be on the DARK beach by 6:30 am (easy for me and Rob, who usually get up at 5) to start our paddle out to sea to take in the gorgeous sunrise. The paddle out is about 20 minutes because you need to get around a big mountain for the best view. While rowing, I dipped my hand in the water a few times, and it felt like a warm bath, even that early in the morning. This was truly a spectacular and memorable experience, and I couldn’t recommend it more.
And one drizzly afternoon, we headed to the town of Los Cabos and meandered among the trendy boutiques (leave the Square to find them), touristy shops (in the Square), and tequila stores. We had fun sampling the different types of tequila at one shop and left there with pretty bottles of our favorite drink. But as fun as an experience, it was, this is where I think Rob’s Capital One visa was compromised despite Capital One confirming our purchase in advance. On a side note, with $12,000 fraud charges later, Capital One swiftly removed the charges and issued Rob a new card. It was a pleasure dealing with them!
Lastly, I also want to mention how we got around while in Cabo. The Montage does have a private taxi company that they work with, and they can easily and swiftly get you a car. However, we often did not have a problem getting Ubers, and they were about 1/4 of the price. Just two times out of the many times we needed rides, we had to wait a bit for an Uber. So consider this as a mode of transportation while here.
Now back in cold New York, I think I can state that eight days and two resorts later, beach trips aren’t terrible, and in fact, they are quite luxurious and fun! Although we don’t have any more coming up in the future, and unless we have another destination wedding to go to, I still think we may keep it like that. 🙂
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