Every year February rolls around in Chicago and we wish we were somewhere warm. Anyone else? Well, this year we finally planned accordingly and booked a trip to Cabo san Lucas, Mexico. We spent 4 days and 4 nights, just the two of us, while the baby was with my parents. We had the best time! Here’s what we did and where we stayed…

TIMING

The timing was honestly perfect. February just stinks in Chicago - its cold. Its snowy. Its starting to get boring. Everyone is hiding out in their apartments…perfect time to getaway to some sunshine! When we got to the airport, it seemed like everyone else had the same idea. We had a glass of champagne while waiting for our flight to board and were in good company with lots of other couples and groups starting their long-weekend trips! Definitely will try to travel on this weekend again next year.

The weather was great this time of year! We traveled on President’s weekend and the temp was usually around 75 degrees during the day and 60s at night. Not too hot and not muggy at all! It also happens to be peak season for whale watching. We saw a TON of whales off the coast from our hotel room and the pool. I loved watching them!

CABO SAN LUCAS

If you’ve never been - put it on your list! This was our second time visiting Cabo and it is really perfection. I think it strikes a nice balance between being a popular vacation destination yet not being too overrun with tourists. On this trip we didn’t leave the resort at all (shocking!) but on our first trip to Cabo we did some really fun excursions:

Sunset sail to El Argo (the arch)

Four wheeling on the beach

Day trip into downtown Cabo

Drinks at “the office” bar on the beach

Horseback riding on the beach

Shopping downtown

Nightlife

STAY: MARQUIS LOS CABOS

We LOVED our resort! After a few weeks of research, the Marquis kept popping up as an adults-only all-inclusive that seemed a bit less kitschy than some other resorts. The all-white buildings with natural landscaping like cactus and rocks were beautiful. Everything felt seamless, from the wooden sculptures and benches, to the restaurant decor. Nothing was overlooked. I’ll get to the pool and rooms next…

There were plenty of restaurants on site, plus a coffee shop for early morning coffees that we took on the beach. The resort has direct access to a beach! It’s not recommended to swim in it but some folks were when the waves weren’t too strong. The lobby is also gorgeous! With an arched entry way that’s sky-high and an ocean view.

ROOMS

Our room was great! We went with a ocean view king room (not to be confused with the ocean front)! The room was massive. There was a soaking tub in the bathroom, which opened up to the large bedroom. And the bedroom opened up to the balcony with an unobstructed view of the ocean! We stayed on the 4th floor and had a great view. We watched the sunrise every day with a cup of coffee, saw whales swimming off the shore, and watched the sunset with a glass of wine while getting ready for dinner. I really felt for this trip, it was worth it to spend a little extra on an ocean view room. We spent a LOT of time on the balcony, just relaxing and soaking in the views or chatting. We basically could always be found at the pool or our balcony :) Some pictures of sunset and sunrise from our room…

POOL

Speaking of the pool - this one was PERFECTION! To start, there are technically 3 (maybe 4) pools on grounds. But only some are heated on any given day. Remember, we were there during off-season, so it wasn’t as warm out (75-80) and the non-heated pools felt very cold to us! We spent a majority of our time perched on the very comfortable beach chairs at the heated infinity pool. There was a bar nearby or pool server would walk around and take drink or lunch orders.

FOOD

Food wise, here are a few things I recommend. The ceviche cannot be missed - there were 6 different kinds on the menu! I especially loved the white fish ceviche and the avocado. We ate our fair share of tortilla chips, salsa, guac, and ceviche on the trip (pretty much any time we wanted a snack, that’s what we got). The rest of the food was great! We really liked the traditional Mexican restaurant and the Italian restaurant. The Japanese restaurant was ok, not bad, just not as good as the other two. I was also able to order mimosas or champagne, wine, margaritas, they really had any drink you could want at the beach! As far as all inclusives go, I was not disappointed in the food!

BEACH

The beaches were gorgeous! Albeit a bit rough and we were advised not to swim (although we could see some people taking chances with a paddle board or a surf board). We went on a beach walk every single morning! It was great. The beach is essentially semi-private. You have direct access from the resort and there are only a few other houses along that stretch of beach.

There are fun little coves and rock formations to check out. I saw some tide pools with crabs and anemones. It was fantastic to walk! The resort also has lounge chairs set up on the beach, if that’s your style. There were a few vendors selling shirts and jewelry on the beach. I actually didn’t find them to be overly forceful and by the last day we bought a few things for my parents to thank them for babysitting!

FINAL THOUGHTS

The resort was great! I highly recommend staying at the Marquis los Cabos if you’re looking for an all-inclusive, adults only vacation. Our next option was The Cape (Thompson Hotels), but it was a bit more pricey and did not include food or drink. The views there look amazing though, and if we had extra time we would’ve gone there for a drink or dinner.

No matter where you choose to stay in Cabo, you’ll have a great time enjoying the warm weather, activities, and food & drinks - cheers!