This may come as a shock, but I am not a fancy man. Ok, that’s probably not going to surprise anyone. But when it came to this visit to Cabo, fancy was the name of the game. Hyatt had just opened the brand new Park Hyatt in the Cabo del Sol development, and as a partner at Cranky Concierge, I was offered two nights at no charge to come and experience the hotel in its first month. I’m glad I did, but then after, I went to La Paz for a night. This part of the journey really made me realize how different places that are so close to each can be. And how much more I prefer one than the other.
- Introduction to Cranky’s Mexican Adventure
- Cross Border Express is Great, But It Can Be Tricky
- Viva Kicks the Trip Off the Right Way
- Mexicana is Weird, But the E2 is a Delight
- The Spectacular But Distant AIFA Airport
- Mexico City is More Than Worth the Visit
- Aeromexico Does It Right in the Air but Not on the Ground
- Señor Air Has the Best Name and an Experience to Match
- Los Cabos and La Paz Couldn’t Be More Different
- TAR Was a Wild Ride
- Volaris, the Purest ULCC
I will gladly admit that I’m not the biggest fan of Los Cabos. Cabo San Lucas itself is a small town that has been built up mostly to serve the tourist market. Further east, San José del Cabo has more of a sense of place with locals, but it’s also not where most tourists spend their time. When this area developed into a tourism hub just a two hour flight from Los Angeles, hotels were built along the ocean shores, usually nowhere near town at all. The “Corridor” is exactly that. Between the two towns, there isn’t much other than resorts catering primarily to foreigners, and most of them don’t even have swimmable beaches.
Even in the towns, Americans never need to speak a word of Spanish or even exchange their dollars into pesos. It might as well be the US. If I’m going to another country, I don’t want a carbon copy of what I already live every day.
This isn’t to say that the Park Hyatt wasn’t spectacular. It absolutely was. And I can imagine a lot of travelers falling in love with the place.
My wife flew down for this part of the trip to meet me, and she really liked what she saw. We spent most of the days by the pool watching what looked like a literal playground for whales. We took a class in the kitchen making tortillas out of masa. And I have to say I looked amazing wearing that hat around that they provided in the room.
This is the luxury version of visiting another country, but it certainly sanitizes the experience. For some, this is the right balance. For me, I was ready to move on.
My wife hopped on a plane back home, but I got in a bus for the three-hour drive up to La Paz. La Paz sits on the Sea of Cortés, but it is north-facing in a protected bay with several islands ringing the area.
The first thing I noticed when I arrived was that there was an actual sense of place in La Paz. This was a city, a city where people worked and lived. It’s also a city where I could wander freely and not feel any safety concerns.
I stayed at a one La Paz, the lowest rung on the food chain of the Fiesta Americana brand. It promises (and delivers) spartan but clean accommodations with free breakfast and a good price. I got a travel agent rate of $65, and I was happy enough.
After wandering from the bus depot to the hotel and dropping my bags, I immediately walked back toward the water, because… isn’t that what you do? And La Paz has a sizable and bustling malecón that stretches all along the bay.
What’s more, they have created several art installations ranging from old statues…
… to more modern endeavors.
There were a couple of piers, one for transport and another ostensibly for fishing though I saw nobody actually doing that. Along that main street, there were several restaurants and hotels. Some were very touristy and completely unappealing while others seemed to hold a story from the past that I would have liked to learn.
When it was time for dinner, I followed the advice of the Park Hyatt. Ok, so it wasn’t the hotel itself, but it was the advice of two of the bellmen who suggested I get some lobster at Bismarckcito. This looked pretty touristy in its own right, but I had a solid lobster fettucine, and really, can you go wrong with a view like this? (If you read TripAdvisor, apparently you can.)
After, I strolled the streets and did a little shopping to bring something back to the kids. Then, I found something so rare, most of you have probably never even heard of it…
I didn’t actually go into Sears at all, but I did like going into some of the local shops and puttering around town with nothing pushing me in any particular direction. People were out and enjoying themselves.
It is impossible to compare La Paz to Cabo San Lucas since they couldn’t be more different. La Paz and San José share more similarities, but San José is still much more tourism-focused while La Paz is certainly not.
In Los Cabos, it’s fun to go and sit on the beach, even if many aren’t swimmable due to strong current. I don’t ever think about wanting to go back there. In La Paz, I’d like to go back and explore a lot more. This visit was just an introductory taste. I didn’t get to any of the islands or explore the areas outside of town. It looks like there is a lot to see, and with Alaska flying there now, it is probably worth a return visit.
