European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 28, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Hot spots the land that time remembered by Christopher Reynolds los Angeles times maybe somewhere there s a destination forgotten by Dock and Calendar. But the stretch of coastline along los cabos Mexico is the land that time remembered. First after millennia of starry nights unbaked Days scorpion tracks and Peninsular Calm we northerners joined with the mexican tourism Industry to Rouse southernmost Baja California and Heap it High with conveniences of 20th-Century North America. Paved roads airports time shares a most of the comforts of Home. Now we seem to be bringing in the rest of the world As Well. Baguettes. Italian coffees. Half acre lots for $750,000. Even if you saw los cabos just a couple of years ago there May be a few surprises waiting for you. The lounge chairs swimming pools and beaches Are still Here of course. But these Days a visitor can stroll by the Marina in Cabo san Lucas nip into a coffeehouse for a cappuccino contemplate a payment plan on a new Condo or play a round on a Golf course designed by Jack Nicklaus. Then there might be lunch in an Ocean View restaurant surrounded by Antonio Gaudi comes to Hearst Castle architecture. Later that afternoon that visitor can stroll Down to the Scales watch the Marlin boats haul in their catches and reminisce about the old Days a but soon the Call will come to revel in this season s nightspots of Choice. \ later that night the visitor retreats to the tropically Lush Sanctuary of the landmark hotel Palmillas or browses Between the swim in bar and native desert cacti of the hotel twin Dolphin or chooses among the Many other hotels along Highway 1. But if a visitor comes looking for the sleepy mexican fishing villages that first lured americans Here in the 1950s, the search could last a Long longtime. Quot Cabo is coming of age Quot said Frank Maury 48, who used to sell real estate in Southern California and now runs Francisco s cafes Del Mundo near the Marina. Quot a degree of sophistication is finally coming  of course not everyone feels the Way he does. One successful local restaurateur disturbed by what los cabos has become confided that he has started investigating possibilities in Costa Rica. But this place has its charms i visited several weeks ago just before the Winter crowds were due to descend on los cabos. Just As a Busy corridor of traffic and resort hotels is melding the towns of Cabo san Lucas and san Jose Del Cabo so has the tourist Industry condensed their names into los cabos a Quot the  there s life in los cabos for you hell raising fish catching and real estate speculation. And in Between snorkelling sunbathing shopping and sloth. Los cabos International Airport is neat Small modern and not to be lingered in. Within their first Steps visitors face the carnival bark i baying of Young men pushing time share Tours hotel packages and the like. Presumably most visitors have made their lodging plans already and can dash past that tiresome scene into the clean air the desert landscape and the twin towns of los cabos. First comes san jos6 Del Cabo eight Miles South of the Airport. The town dates to 1730, its Center a modest Warren of streets congregated around a 1927 City Hall building. Estimates of the population vary from 7,000 from the _ _ los Angeles times a Giorgio an italian restaurant Between san jos6 Del Cabo and Cabo san Lucas features a Bluff top Terrace. Automobile club of Southern California to 22,000 from Veteran Baja author Tom Miller but All sides agree that most of these people weren t around 10 years ago. Half a dozen hotels lie just outside town and a succession of restaurants and tourist oriented shops line Boulevard Mijares Calle Zaragoza and the City Plaza where those main streets meet. Still san Jos Del Cabo is quieter than a Cabo san Lucas and its business District includes More a restaurants than raging nightspots. From san Jos Del Cabo Highway 1 veers Southwest toward the other More famous Cabo. Along the Way lies the corridor Quot a 21-mile stretch of Hills coastal views resorts and rapidly dwindling open space. With the weak american Economy lingering it s not always easy to Tell the Boom of rising projects from the. Echoes of those in arrested development. One example eclipse a nightclub named to capitalize on the great astronomical event of 1991, has already closed its doors. But other offerings continue to multiply. Around the hotel Palmillas four Miles Southwest of san jos6 Del Cabo Developer Donald m. Koll has Crews at work on 27 holes of Golf designed by Jack Nicklaus 18 of them Are now open for play along with condominiums houses and half acre Ocean front residential lots. These Are not modest plans. The mexican government has agreed to reroute Highway 1 in order to accommodate them and a sales representative says Koll s asking prices on the Halfacre lots Start at $750,000. I stayed one night at the Palmillas and another nine Miles Down the Road toward Cabo san Lucas at the hotel twin Dolphin,.and came away with a sort of. Lodger s Yin Yang experience. The 36-year-old Palmillas though it s the elder of the two hotels feels younger. Desert climate notwithstanding the site has been transformed into a Palm crowded Retreat on a Rocky waterfront Point. Greenery on All sides. Whitewashed Walls. Cool tile floors. Handsome furniture and an Ever vigilant staff. The twin Dolphin 15 years old and in the same general Price Range takes an entirely different approach to its location it yields to the desert. Owner David Halliburton has surrounded its 50 rooms with Sand Cactus and the occasional Lizard and asks that guests turn on their water Heaters 15 minutes before showering. Acknowledging the presence of beetles and other native insects the staff supplies cans of raid in bathrooms next to the posh Caswell Massey Almond body lotion and offers a guide to the plants and animals of the area the hotels of los cabos however have not cornered the Market on striking architecture in panoramic settings. Just a Little farther along the Highway toward Cabo san Lucas lies a restaurant that should be counted among the contemporary wonders of los cabos. A Giorgio is the restaurant s name and the cuisine is italian but the food May be the most unremarkable of its attractions. Forty feet overhead slants a thatched roof. Here and there Stone columns 6 feet around jut into the sky. Tile mosaics glitter underfoot Freshwater pools spill into one another. The restaurant designed by mexican architect Marco Antonio Mulroy opened in october 1991 and serves breakfast lunch and dinner. My advice to the frugal traveler co for Coffee or dessert and drink in the View. In Plaza Bonita a pinkish Mauvis three Story mall that stands on Lazaro Cardenas Between the sea and downtown Cabo san Lucas Frank los Angelea to my a the hotel Palmillas sits on the Beach outside san jos6 Del Cabo on the Southern tip of Mexico s Baja California. Kayaker and boaters left play in the Waters at the rugged land s end. Maury chats up the customers at Francisco s. He came he says because he one Day realized that Quot there s never been a decent cup of Coffee Down Here.  last summer Maury opened Francisco a offering cups of cappuccino for $3 each unlocking the doors at 6  to catch the blinking gringos on their Way to the fishing boats. When i found him he was claiming to sell the on cappuccino in town. Maybe for a while he was a but if los cabos offers any lesson at All it s that times change fast. Just three blocks away a sign at Molly s american bakery and Sandwich shop advertises that same sought after fuel. Los Angeles times los Angeles times guests relax poolside at the hotel Palmillas near san jq$6 Del Cabo. Travel Erst tips a getting around rental cars Are readily available. For those who expect to spend More time lounging at a single resort than exploring it May make More sense to take taxis. A cab ride Between san jos6 Del Cabo and Cabo san Lucas costs about $18. A where to stay keep in mind that 10 percent tax is added to room charges and a 10 percent to 15 percent gratuity May be included in your Bill. The 50-unit hotel twin Dolphin seven Miles East of Cabo san Lucas on Highway 1. Offers a Hilltop location desert landscaping Pool nearby snorkelling and double occupancy Winter rates of $260-$410 from nov. 1 to May 31. The hotel bar surrounds a massive Stone fireplace the restaurant serves fixed Price meals lunch for $16, dinner for $30. The 72-room hotel Palmillas five Miles West of san Jose Del Cap on Highway 1 1-800-6372226 charges Winter rates nov. 1 to May 31 that begin at $185 a night on sundays mondays tuesdays and wednesdays $220 on thursdays fridays and saturdays double occupancy a separate five bedroom cottage fetches $900. $1,500. The hotel recently opened an 18-Hole Golf course designed by Golf  Jack Nicklaus. For tighter budgets there is the Tropicana inn blvd. Mijares no. 30, Sian jos6 Del Cabo 1 -800794-6835a tidy tile floored two Story 40-room hotel with a swim in bar and a restaurant in downtown san jos4 Del Cabo it opened in mid-1991. Double occupancy rates which Sank to $40 nightly during the Ipp demand Days of october Ruh $75 dec. 20 through april 21. The 22-year-old, 100-room hotel finisterre Cabo san Lucas is built into a Cliff above the Beach 1-800-347-2252. Double rooms begin at $85 nightly through april and the hotel s newly completed Palpa Beach club offers 87 More units starting at $120 nightly. At the 18-year-old solar suites beachfront in Cabo san Lucas 1 -800-344-3349a renovation is being completed expanding the number of units from 69 to 80. Double occupancy Winter rates begin at $130. The 3-year-old, 299-unit Melia Cabo real Kilometre 19.5 on Highway 1 Ren amp double rooms beginning at $145 nightly from january to april 11. A where to cat los cabos is filled with seafood restaurants and an increasing number of places offering other specialities. Ivan s blvd. Mijares no. 16, san jos6 Del Cabo no phone features a pan european menu from English pork chops to Spaghetti bolognese and a View of the old san jos6 Del Cabo City Hall across the Street. Entrees run $9-$15. Damiana restaurant blvd. Mijares no. 8, san jos6 Del cab relatively venerable at 10 years of age includes three Levels colourful textiles on the Walls. Mexican. Entrees $8-18. A where to have sangria squirted into your Mouth by a waiter with a Fum Gator s Spray gun squid Roe at Marina Boulevard and Lazaro Cardenas in downtown Cabo san Lucas it s the longtime leading nightclub Choice among americans seeking loud music dancing and drinking. For a slightly less frenetic scene there is the Rio Grill about a Block West for More information the 17-year-old Mexico West travel club . Box 1646, Bonita Calif 91908 offers discounts on insurance accommodations and restaurants and helps in. Obtaining fishing and Hunting permits. It also publishes a monthly newsletter and acts As a resource to members travelling in Baja California. Membership is $35 yearly. Other sources Are the mexican government tourism office 10100 Santa Monica blvd., suite 224, los Angeles 90067 and Baja California tourism 1-800-522-1516. A Christopher Reynolds o aps amps l 14 stripes Magazine january 28, 1993 january 28, 1993 stripes Magazine 15