Couples, Catrinas, and Coffeehouses in Cabo

By Susie Reese

Adults-only pool at Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos

Adults-only pool at Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos

The electronica music pulsed six levels up, a steady but unobtrusive rhythm that created a soundtrack for my walk back to my guestroom. Or, rather, it created a soundtrack for my dance — as I was alone in the hallway of the sixth floor of Building C at Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos, so I danced like no one was watching (and hopefully no one was — though I only had one drink at dinner, thank you).

As it was night, the adults-only pool glistened just over the walkway’s railing, a lovely glowing aqua that offered a cool backdrop to the pink and blue lights of the party set off to the left, a wedding of five or six tables. When I finally reached my room, I leaned over the edge (safely) to get a better look at the beautiful set up of white table cloths and colorful flowers with candles offering elegant touches to the formal celebration.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get a glance of the happy couple, but the obviously blissful reception made me think twice about my plans to get hitched in Vegas.

 

Get a sneak peek of your wedding.

Los Cabos is a premier destination wedding locale in Mexico with direct flights from most major U.S. cities, and Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos offers stunning settings, delicious dishes, and unparalleled luxury (plus a coffeehouse). But you need more assurances than that — you want to taste the tapas from the Spanish restaurant, squint while drinking the tequila, and bury your feet in the powdery sand to know for certain this is the resort where you’ll start your happily ever after.

That’s why Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos offers The Big Day Preview.

Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos

“It’s a new program where the couple can come down and stay with us for two nights,” says Gina Johnson, wedding coordinator for Playa Resorts, Hyatt Ziva’s parent company. “The couple meets with the onsite coordinator. They get the wedding site inspection. They can do a tasting, and just really immerse themselves.”

The two-day stay is a way for the bride and groom to experience the ambiance of the resort and meet with local vendors, which Hyatt can arrange. The cost is $500 for the couple but notes Gina, “If they end up booking their wedding with us, we’ll give them that money back toward their wedding package.”

 

Have yourself a merry Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos celebration.

Wedding gazebo at Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos

Wedding gazebo at Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos

According to the Associate Director of Sales Gabriel Lazcano, the resort hosts up to two wedding per day, but “they have to be at totally different types, never in the same area.”

The resort’s most popular locale is the oceanfront gazebo. “Everyone wants to get married there,” says Gabriel, but the resort also boasts a Sapphire Beach, “which is our ballroom under the stars.”

The hotel has other picturesque areas, such as a platform between two of the family pools and the adults-only pool, which is tucked away for a more intimate ceremony.  The Peninsula Ballroom offers an elegant indoor setting for those couples who wish to avoid the warm embrace of a Los Cabos evening.

But Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos celebrates some weddings in the morning, like the free wedding for two, which is complimentary for the couple if they stay six nights or longer in a minimum qualifying category.

Adds Gina, “Gabriel and I are working on signature packages, so each resort will have their own signature wedding package that will really embrace the destination.”

Beach at Hyatt Ziva Los CabosAvailable in Los Cabos now are Ocean Breeze, Moonlight, and Ziva and More, but they will be updated within the next year, plus corporate packages from Playa Resorts, which manages Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos. Gina and Gabriel will also launch a new South Asian wedding package next year, which includes all three-days-worth of events and up to 75 people.

“We do quite a few of them here,” says Gina, “and it’s great property for it because there’s plenty of rooms, plenty of areas. You have the kids’ area. You have the adults’ areas; huge beach areas.”

But couples do not have to stick to the wedding packages. Though the hotel has never hosted a themed wedding, Gabriel remembers a unique rehearsal dinner the hotel planned.

“The couple was getting married during the Halloween days, so they did the rehearsal with a Halloween, but Mexican, theme. In Mexico, we all celebrate on November 2 the Day of the Dead, and we have different customs. So they were dressed like Catrinas.”

According to Gabriel, Catrinas are the female skeletons dressed in elegant clothing, whose origins date back to when the Spanish first came to Mexico.

“They also decorated their tables with the very red, orange flower, very aromatic and beautiful.”

 

More than just a pretty resort

Not many resorts can match Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos’ picturesque quality. Standing at the lobby and looking across the evening landscape with the floating fire pits, glowing orbs, and aqua pools leading to the sugar white beach—one cannot help but gape at the spectacular backdrop, an elegant setting for a romantic getaway or family vacation, a perfect accent to any destination wedding.

Waterpark at Hyatt Ziva Los CabosWedding guests will enjoy the many unique amenities and offerings, from the coffeehouse to the poolside quesadillas to the kids’ water park.

Explains Francisco Silva, general manager of the property, “We try to create all of these experiences for you as a guest. That’s something our company is looking for—the new experience.”

For Adam Okimatsu, a guest at the resort for a conference, “The best part was having that sports bar on property, so I could watch the Mets in the playoffs.”

The sports lounge, Spirit of 1968, celebrates the year Mexico hosted the Olympics and impresses with numerous 40-inch TVs, billiard tables, and a brick décor to give that “bar-around-the-corner” feel.

Adam also used the “spectacular” Wi-Fi to keep in touch with his fellow fans back home via social media.

For Melissa Gusman, a marketing manager, “I loved sitting in the adults only pool, sipping my margarita in the peaceful silence while basking in the warm sun.”

The five-star resort effortlessly balances families and adults with its serene oasis for adults and a main pool for families, including a volleyball net, sun loungers, and a nearby snack bar, Coco Loco, which serves traditional Mexican food like tacos, burritos, and ceviche. But there’s never a bar or a waiter far, ready to refresh your drink or offer meal service — or even move your umbrella to save you from the unsavory sun.

Where the hotel truly shines is the authentic tequila bar with certified tequiler. Three distinct activities—a tequila tasting, a top-shelf tequila tasting with tapas, and a private dinner with a tequila tasting — serve adult guests with some Mayan history, the tequila-making process, scrumptious pairings, and perhaps even a hangover.

“My favorite tasting is the private dinner,” explains Juan Manuel Garcia Yeo, the onsite tequiler. “It’s very personal, and you enjoy a pairing with tequila and food. All the dishes the chef makes are Mexican dishes. It’s local food, local fish, local seafood, like the octopus ceviche.”

El Agave Tequila Bar Hyatt Ziva Los CabosThe dinner serves four courses with three different tequilas and one mezcal in a private room at El Molino restaurant while the other tequila tastings take place at the Agave.

Besides tequila and snacks, the all-inclusive Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos offers specialty restaurants like DoZo, which recently saw an expansions to five teppanyaki tables and a large sushi bar, and the seaside Zafiro with rustic Italian food. Senior Sous Chef Marlon Petrick recommends the Spanish restaurant, which now offers a new tapas bar.

Emphasizes Marlon, “My favorite restaurant is the El Cortijo because there are Mexican restaurants and Italian restaurants and seafood restaurants everywhere, but a good Spanish restaurant is not common here.”

Paella is the restaurant’s signature dish, and El Cortijo serves three different kinds. Marlon recommends the black rice.

Though the food was first-class, my favorite amenity at Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos was the coffeehouse, which offered delicious pastries and those must-have lattes, available from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day.

Room Service Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos

But whether you travel for a romantic getaway, a family vacation, or that spectacular wedding, you will enjoy your at this luxury escape by the Sea of Cortés.

Emphasizes Silva, “It’s not party, party, party, all day long. We try to balance the activities for family, so you as a couple or you as a family can do something special.”

Read more about the family-friendly getaway of Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos in Paradise in Los Cabos!