Full disclosure: I am an ‘A’ type who has traveled extensively for business for two decades. I do exhaustive research on new properties in advance, coordinating every detail with the concierge. All of that to warn you that I have extremely high standards, so if you are a particular luxury traveler, you will find my review helpful and if you go with the flow and don’t stress over the details, you may want to skip it.
We landed 15 minutes early at the Cabo airport and, like seasoned pros who have visited Cabo for two decades, bulldozed through the crowd of folks trying to sell us a timeshare and the second crowd trying to pitch us a taxi. You’ll need to walk across the street to find the property specific shuttles and private transportation. By the time I figured that out I had called the concierge at the Solaz Luxury Collection twice. Eventually we found a nice fellow holding an iPad with Solaz Luxury Collection on it. He advised our private suburban was five minutes away and we should grab a drink. Not the best first impression, but the drinks at the outdoor airport bars are strong and by the time I got to the bottom of my Sex on the Beach I was agreeable to the delay.
The first thing to know is that the Solaz property is actually 3 properties in one: Solaz residences (where one is currently listed for sale for $4.9M and with private amenities); Solaz A Luxury Collection (the Marriott hotel, where we stayed); and the Solaz Time Share section. The Luxury collection and time share share amenities and the time share sales team will work over time to convert hotel guests to be time share owners.
Upon arrival at 1:25pm on a Monday in the last week of April 2021, we were greeted by Guillermo Villa, who was our designated artisan. An artisan is the Solaz’s version of a personal butler. Guillermo took our card, handled payment, got our bags, and introduced us to Michelle. Ah, the obligatory time share pitch, which included a tour of the museum. I would literally have paid a fee to skip this entirely. Whatever you do: do not make the very ignorant decision of buying a time share on vacation. Seriously, get home, do your research, talk to your financial planner, then smarten up. Guillermo immediately swapped cell numbers with us, which made real time communication easy. Guillermo immediately got busy on dinner reservations for us for the week, both on property and off.
We travel with our 5 pound attack chihuahua: Nacho. Nacho is a 12 year old seasoned traveler who has seen more countries than our children, so he was happy to find that the property, staff, and fellow guests were all dog friendly. He was displeased to discover he was one of seven dogs staying at the property, as they all wanted to be his friend and he was having none of that. The pet fees were very reasonable: $100 one time fee and $25 per day cleaning fee. So over our five day stay it was $225USD. They do have posted signs stating dogs are not allowed at the pool and you sign an exhaustive agreement saying you will be a diligent dog owner. However, we found that if your dog is well mannered they are welcome to sit on your chaise by the pool, walk alongside you on paths away from people, and join you outdoors at any of the restaurants for meals. From a pet perspective Solaz Luxury Collection gets a 10/10 from us. I hope they always continue with bending these rules because it made it a truly joyful vacation with our pup.
Check in at the Solaz is at 3PM, so Guillermo explained our room was not ready. Using one of the many golf carts on property he drove us down to the ocean front casual dining restaurant Mako. The view was stunning and the fish tacos were exceptional. My travel partner had the chicken quesadilla, which was equally tasty. A tip: don’t hesitate to ask for items that are not on the menu. I enjoy sangria and I wish I had done this earlier in our trip. Instead I bounced around the signature cocktails and wished I had not. They were good, but they weren’t what I really wanted.
Around 3:45PM I had texted Guillermo twice because it was past check in time and we just wanted to get to our room. Guillermo came to pick us up in the golf cart and took us to our room: 1003. We did the king plunge pool partial ocean view room. We like having a private pool and the hammock on the patio sold me on the upgrade when I booked online. The room is exquisite! You enter a courtyard to an outdoor shower that connects with the indoor shower. Lighting is perfection, the entire room has Crestron controls, and the patio was totally worth it. The patio has two huge chairs with ottomans, a hammock, and a partially private pool that I would best describe as being a Luke warm 3 foot deep hot tub. The desert landscaping by the pool and throughout the property is stunning. If you have a small dog be aware that there are several native hawks in the area. None that got aggressive, but I would never leave your tiny dog alone on the beach or in the back patio area. The bedding was perfection, the layout was ideal, and the TV was all set up for streaming, which allowed us to watch hockey games without missing a goal. Our favorite part of the room was the showers. A slider opens from the indoor shower to the outdoor shower and both offer a rainfall experience with water pressure that is divine. The water heats up in no time and feels like heaven. Too many hotels neglect these aspects, but Solaz really gets it right.
There are two huge infinity pools for your use and there are bars and servers waiting to serve you. Unlike many properties in Cabo where you may be used to getting a deal, you should expect to pay American prices. We found the menu on property to be very comparable to what we are used to in Las Vegas, but the quality was also comparable, so we had zero complaints. I would not stay at Solaz if you’re a fan of all inclusive resorts or looking to snag a bargain. It is a five star resort and you’re going to pay for that. One tip on the pools: the servers are excellent. Go out at 8AM and leave your beach bag (if you don’t bring one the resort provides one in your room for use during your stay) on whatever chairs you want. For a $10USD tip each morning we had the best chaise lounges and excellent service.
The first evening we had dinner at the Italian restaurant on property: La Deriva. The table was right next to the beach with beautiful ocean views. The menu was good, but nothing we ate wow’d me. It was just OK. Overall the location and excellent service earned a 3/5 from us. We were traveling for my birthday and I hate when people sing happy birthday, so I appreciated that the manager gave me a heads up and respected that I did not want that. They still brought me a desert with birthday wishes, which was very thoughtful. Overall this would not be my first choice, but the staff seemed dedicated.
The second evening we did the Japanese restaurant on property: Misaki. It is located just off the lobby and offers stunning ocean views. The service was excellent, with 2-3 servers ready to help with anything we needed. We ordered a couple of appetizers (edamame and gyoza) and a couple of sushi rolls with a glass of white wine and a Kirin beer for my travel partner. Everything was fresh and delicious, but the best part was the bill: $48USD. More affordable than what the exact same meal would have cost us back home in Las Vegas. This made our experience there 5/5.
Our third evening was truly experiential. Just off the lobby is Al Pairo. This is a farm to table restaurant without a prefixed menu, so it is driven by the in season fresh ingredients from the area. We were offered a 10 course tasting menu for $70USD per person that included beer and wine, so we decided to do it. We started at 6PM. What followed can only be best described as a parade of non stop gourmet flavors that will stay with us for life. From a fresh beet salad that was heaven (and we don’t even like beets) to a bone marrow chorizo dish that was delightful, by the time we finally finished at after 8PM my Instagram was full of food porn and we could not possibly have eaten another bite. The service throughout was amazing! Friendly, attentive, and we always had 2-3 people ready to assist us. If you are a foodie and dietary allergies or restrictions don’t hold you back I would absolutely recommend Al Pairo’s tasting meal no matter the season. The concept of farm to table was on trend and the service was unmatched.
Each evening as the sun set we made a point to do a beach walk with our dog and the beach is one of the best stretches of sand in Cabo. With a lifeguard on duty during the day, a large mattress you can swim out to in the ocean, and tide pools for exploring, this was one of our favorite aspects of the Solaz property. There are chaise lounges on the beach that are serviced by the bar and have umbrellas, plus several nice outdoor showers for cleaning off before you hit the pool.
On our final evening in Cabo we went to our absolute favorite restaurant in the area: La Forchetta in the San Jose del Cabo area. It is a 20 minute, $30 cab ride each way from the Solaz, but it continues to be worth it year after year after year. We were so relieved it survived the pandemic. We ordered a shared Caesar salad, sangria, some beers, the Corleone calzone, and fresh made bacon, pear, and ricotta ravioli. Then we followed it with their signature dessert: Sfera di cioccolato. You must try this. It’s amazing. A globe of chocolate that holds ice cream and a brownie inside. So they pour hot chocolate over the entire thing to reveal the desert inside. It’s beyond decadent. The entire bill was $76USD. Worth the trip and totally worth continuing to support this Cabo small business.
As this was April 2021 post COVID-19 pandemic, we needed a Covid-19 test within 3 days of flying back to America. Solaz has that completely covered with on-site testing for free daily at noon located in a ballroom just off the lobby. We got our nasal swab test done at noon and had the results in our email before dinner.
On our final day we did not need to leave until around 1PM, but check out was at noon. Guillermo was right on top of it, meeting us at the room at 11:30AM to pick up and store our luggage while we enjoyed a final lunch overlooking the ocean at Mako. The shrimp nachos were perfect, followed by an authentic tres leches cake for dessert. By the time we arrived in the lobby at 12:45PM Guillermo was loading our bags into the Suburban and we were already planning our next trip back to Solaz.
Overall I would highly recommend Solaz to any discerning traveler looking for an exceptional location alongside five star luxury customer service. The only improvement would be to allow you to opt out of any time share talk.