Photo: Courtesy of Paradero Todos Santos
What should you try?
Sidle up to the bar at the sleek open-air kitchen and stay for dinner. I favor the corner seat by the woodfire-heated clay comal, where the angled perch allows me to watch the tortillas being made by hand and spy any late revelers by the pool.
If you’ve never done a temazcal treatment, Paradero’s peaceful setup would be a perfect place to try it. Otherwise, the spa’s body treatments (like the Yenekamu Ritual, which includes a hot stone massage, hip adjustment, and foot massage) will have you feeling newly realigned in no time. Massages also begin with a small energy clearing ceremony, and end with a hot tea and bowl of nuts, if you want to get the good juju without the time investment of the temazcal.
There is a calendar of wellness-related activities that are included in the room rate, including group physical training sessions (TRX and kettlebells), yoga, surf, and meditation classes, guided art tours in Todos Santos (about a 15 minute drive from the hotel), and most enthrallingly, a 90-minute out-and-back morning hike to a cliffside sea lion colony in Punta Lobos with incredible ocean views. For those who like to hike, or adventure seekers looking to survey even more of the incredible landscape, I recommend seeking out Hernando, who has lead the hikes for Paradero since it opened, and who can either recommend or lead you on a more cardio-intensive journey (think: totally private beaches, freshwater waterfalls, and palm tree groves). “This is a very special place,” he told me, detailing the five distinct ecosystems native to the area—from the desert, with its 200-year-old Cardon cacti, to the miles of unspoiled beaches along the pacific coast. “What we offer is very different from a traditional beach resort.”