Forbes Travel Guide unveiled its annual Star Rating list today, naming Esperanza, An Auberge Resort, the Relais & Châteaux property overlooking the Sea of Cortez in Cabo San Lucas, as a new Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star hotel for 2016. With this announcement, Esperanza becomes a part of an elite group of 154 Five-Star hotels in the world and is one of only two Los Cabos hotels and one of six Mexico resorts to receive this prestigious Five-Star award. Forbes Travel Guide rated 1,262 properties for its 2016 announcement, which included rating Los Cabos properties for the first time since its inception in 1958.

“We are truly honored to receive the coveted Five-Star distinction by Forbes Travel Guide and join a distinguished group of the finest hotels, restaurants and spas around the world,” said Marc Rodriguez, General Manager of Esperanza, An Auberge Resort. “This tremendous achievement would not have been possible without our talented and dedicated staff. Following Esperanza’s re-opening and comprehensive redesign of our entire resort last year, our team has been as committed as ever in providing the best experiences for our guests and continuing to set the standard for luxury in Cabo.”

The Five-Star designation is bestowed to properties that meet the stringent and uncompromising standards of Forbes’ professional and anonymous inspectors with rigorous testing of every aspect of the property experience. The select group of hotels are noted for “virtually flawless service and the finest of amenities … a destination unto itself” according to Forbes.

We are truly honored to receive the coveted Five-Star distinction by Forbes Travel Guide and join a distinguished group of the finest hotels, restaurants and spas around the world,” said Marc Rodriguez, General Manager of Esperanza, An Auberge Resort.

Esperanza’s comprehensive redesign unveiled in 2015 ushered in a new era of luxury and sophistication for the property. The resort underwent an extensive renovation – a complete transformation of all of guest rooms and public spaces and the introduction of a new Pesca Ceviche Bar. Exuding barefoot elegance and sensual relaxation, Esperanza’s contemporary redesign by HKS Hospitality Group and landscape architect George Girvin, provides a fresh take on coastal living in Cabo and creates a true sense of place anchored in the commitment, dedication and love of all of the team members.

Esperanza’s team continues to extend the warm hospitality and service that the resort is known for and continues to introduce new locally-inspired culinary, fitness and Auberge Adventure experiences that connect guests to the destination. The guest programming highlights the beauty of Esperanza and its dramatic and mesmerizing setting – the perfect combination of the desert and the ocean.

Esperanza encompasses a 57-room resort, 60 privately owned villas, 36 private residences, a full-service spa and several signature dining outlets, located on the bluffs overlooking two private coves at Punta Ballena near Cabo San Lucas. The resort is a member of the prestigious Relais & Châteaux collection. For reservations or more information, please call toll-free 866-311-2226 or visit https://www.esperanzaresort.com. Follow Esperanza on Facebook at facebook.com/EsperanzaResort and on Twitter at @EsperanzaResort.

For a detailed explanation of how Forbes Travel Guide compiles its Star ratings, visit
https://www.forbestravelguide.com/about/ratings.

About Auberge Resorts Collection
Auberge Resorts Collection owns and operates a portfolio of exceptional hotels, resorts, residences and private clubs under two distinct brands: Auberge Hotels and Resorts, timeless luxury properties acclaimed for their intimate, understated elegance, and VieVage Hotels and Resorts, a new lifestyle brand that brings together contemporary themes of design, community and wellness in a fresh, active and social environment. While Auberge nurtures the individuality of each property, all share a crafted approach to luxury that is expressed through captivating design, exceptional cuisine and spas, and gracious yet unobtrusive service. Properties in the Auberge Resorts Collection include: Auberge du Soleil and Calistoga Ranch, Napa Valley, Calif.; Esperanza, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; Hotel Jerome, Aspen, Colo.; Malliouhana, Anguilla; Nanuku, Fiji; The Auberge Residences at Element 52, Telluride, Colo.; Hacienda AltaGracia, Pérez Zeledón, Costa Rica; VieVage, Napa Valley; VieVage, Los Cabos; and Auberge Beach Residences and Spa Fort Lauderdale, with several others in development. For more information about Auberge Resorts Collection, please visit https://www.aubergeresorts.com/. Follow Auberge Resorts Collection on Facebook at facebook.com/AubergeResorts and on Twitter at @AubergeResorts.

About Forbes Travel Guide
Forbes Travel Guide, formerly Mobil Travel Guide, is the originator of the prestigious Five-Star Rating system, and has provided the travel industry’s most comprehensive ratings and reviews of hotels, restaurants and spas since 1958. Forbes Travel Guide has a team of expert inspectors who anonymously evaluate properties against up to 800 rigorous and objective standards, providing consumers the insight to make better informed travel and leisure decisions. Forbes Travel Guide is the gold standard for luxury hospitality ratings worldwide. For more information about Forbes Travel Guide, visit ForbesTravelGuide.com.

ForbesTravelGuide.com combines the objectivity and heritage of the Forbes Travel Guide Star Rating system with insightful recommendations from a hand-selected group of travel experts, taste-makers and Forbes Travel Guide inspectors. ForbesTravelGuide.com is the sole online destination for Forbes Travel Guide’s list of Star Rated hotels, restaurants and spas, and gives its registered members exclusive access to special offers and curated experiences from select Forbes Travel Guide partners.

When you wake to the sight of the Sea of Cortez stretching out before you, chances are it will be a very good day indeed. Such is the promise of each morning at Esperanza, whose subtle yet stunning transformation is proof positive of Cabo San Lucas’s resurgence. If you had any doubts that the Baja California resort town would fully recover after last year’s Hurricane Odile, Esperanza is enough to dispel them.

There’s obvious pride at work here, from affable general manager Marc Rodriguez to the sincere and warm-hearted staff, and the mood is reflected in the surroundings. For its redesign, the Auberge Resorts property tapped Mary Alice Palmer of Dallas-based firm HKS Hospitality Group. Palmer’s interiors expertly balance showstopping moments and areas of restraint, an effect that parallels the sensibility of the landscape. You feel alternately lulled into serenity (the sea, the spa treatments, the excellent margaritas) and then startled into realizing the sheer beauty of your surroundings. As Palmer says, “It’s about melting into a more natural state.”

The public areas

Set on the cliffs known as Punta Ballena (“Whale Point”), the resort takes full advantage of the drama of its setting. The sound of wind chimes greets guests upon arrival, and the view unfolds in superbly calculated fashion: the washed-gray and sandstone hues of the hardscaping and the ceviche bar’s sun-bleached palapa roof direct the eye to the water. Center stage in the entry plaza: a minimalist fire feature of COR-TEN steel by Portland, Oregon artist Elena Colombo that calls to mind an elegant beach bonfire.

The understated decor of the property’s signature restaurant, Cocina del Mar, does justice to its water’s-edge location. Pesca Ceviche Bar, however, while staying in the same color family, is a bit more playful: the central light fixture, with its glowing orbs, evokes bits of beautiful flotsam and jetsam.

The guest rooms

“Think of this as a reinterpretation of Mexican craft,” says Palmer of her interiors. “It can be quite different from the bright folkloric designs we’re used to; it can be done in a softer palette.” Natural materials, including woven leather headboards and driftwood-hued furnishings, create a sensuous backdrop for hand-embroidered Oaxacan textiles in soft blues, grays, and whites. Metal sconces and lanterns made in Guadalajara add to the all-important mood lighting. Thanks to expansive sliding doors and a private terrace, the delineation between room and landscape is a delicate nuance.

The spa

Down pebble-lined paths and past trickling fountains and heavy wood doors lies a secret garden filled with sculptural plants. The atmosphere is of a gracious hacienda; chairs are lined under the shade of a palapa, with healthy snacks and lemon-and-mint-infused waters within easy reach.

The details

Working with some of the country’s most renowned artisans, Palmer and her team honed every element to a considered whole. At the heart of the ceviche bar, artist Adrián Guerrero of Guadalajara created an eye-catching wall installation inspired by barnacles on the rocks. Latilla-screen cabanas amid the palms are draped for extra privacy. And the multilevel pool, with its indigo tile and in-water chaise longues overlooking the beach, is what once-in-a-lifetime moments are made for.

Original article published here