The newest hotel in San José del Cabo is also the oldest

It felt appropriate that the grand opening party for Tropicana Los Cabos, a boutique 70-room Hilton Tapestry Collection hotel, took place on a Thursday night; Jan. 16, to be exact. After all, Thursday nights during the tourist season in San José del Cabo are the occasion for Art Walk, which is both a celebration of the galleries in the historic downtown Gallery District and of the work of local artists, whose work is shown less formally on easels that lined in front of City Hall and indeed throughout Plaza Mijares.

It was appropriate because Tropicana is itself a secular temple for art, from the Leonora Carrington and Alejandro Velasco sculptures currently displayed throughout the property to the onsite galleries spotlighting the work of local and Maya artists. It was appropriate, too, because Art Walk isn’t just a celebration of art but of the downtown heart of the city, and this new downtown hotel has been one of the centerpieces of the Centro for more than 40 years. 

Rather remarkably, Tropicana Los Cabos has, by my reckoning, pulled off the neat trick of being simultaneously the newest and oldest hotel in San José del Cabo.

The evolution of hotels in Los Cabos and San José

When the tourist age began in Los Cabos during the 1950s, the first hotels were in or around San José del Cabo. That made sense. Not only was San José del Cabo more populated than Cabo San Lucas, but it had been around longer and was the seat of local government. But after Casa Fisher, the first guesthouse in the area opened in 1951 in the center of San José, and Abelardo “Rod” Rodríguez Jr.’s Hotel Palmilla opened just outside the then town’s borders in 1956, developments largely moved elsewhere for the ensuing decades. 

The landmark early hotels like Palmilla, Hotel Cabo San Lucas (1961) and, sometime later, Twin Dolphin (1977), were built in what is now called the Tourist Corridor: the 20-mile coastal stretch that connects the cape cities. From there, development moved on to Cabo San Lucas, first with Rodriguez’s Hotel Hacienda (1963), followed by Hotel Finisterra (1972), Hotel Mar de Cortés (1972) and Hotel Solmar (1974). 

It wasn’t until 1981 when the Hotel El Presidente was opened on what is now referred to as the Playa Hotelera that the town began to flourish as a tourism destination. The Tropicana Inn, built on the site of a locally owned Mini Market that had been a grocery and gathering place for locals since the 1950s, became a hotel in 1985 thanks to its then-Canadian owner.

Importantly, it was opened near the town square, Plaza Mijares. Benchmark properties in the area today like El Encanto Inn (1998) and Casa Natalia (1999) wouldn’t open until more than a decade later. The hotel thus occupied an important location and its iconic sidewalk restaurant became a major downtown attraction.

Tropicana Inn was not the first hotel in San José. That had been Casa Fisher when San José had an estimated 1,200 residents. Nor was it the oldest extant as long as El Presidente was around— which it was for decades, under the imprimatur of hospitality brands such as Stouffer, Intercontinental and Holiday Inn. But when that esteemed property shuttered for good during the COVID-19 pandemic, Tropicana, via sheer attrition, became the most historic lodging in what was now a thriving city of 136,235 people.

What the new look Tropicana has to offer

As someone who occasionally visited the Tropicana in its previous incarnation, before four years of recent renovation, I was gratified to see that the new look version has much the same laid-back vibe as its predecessor. It’s bigger now, to be sure — with 70 rooms, it has nearly doubled the occupancy of the old 38-room hotel — and it’s significantly nicer, too. Having Hilton as a partner has that effect. 

Some old touches are recognizable, though. Many traditional chairs and barstools appeared to have been transplanted wholesale from the old property. A corner of the new courtyard is graced by the same 90-year-old huanacaxtle tree that towered over the previous version and now spills over the second story to shade morning yoga classes. The facade is nicer but retains the basic character of the original, and the sidewalk café that was a gathering place for generations of locals is once again open, albeit newly designed and with a new name and menu concept: Cocina de las Californias. 

The hotel is trying to remain true to what it once was: a local stomping ground that is also a stylish and comfortable accommodation for tourists who want to be right in the heart of the downtown area. That’s not to say there won’t be pushback from locals. Nostalgia runs strong, particularly for such an iconic property. But without periodic improvements and upgrades, old hotels don’t last. 

Tropicana’s accents and amenities are intended to reflect its central location. For example, the hotel maintains complimentary bicycles — old-school Huffy cruisers — that guests can grab for downtown jaunts. Complimentary yoga and mixology classes, among other things, are a staple of the weekly calendar. 

Mixology, as much a San José specialty as farm-to-table dining, is showcased inside Cocina de las Californias, albeit in a much airier design than the dark, wood-paneled version used for the restaurant’s previous incarnation. A second-story aerie at the front is reserved for private parties and can accommodate about 40, with room for 25 in the private dining room. Just outside the restaurant but in the hotel’s interior, is a patio used for breakfast service and framed by two gently gurgling fountains. 

The spacious courtyard area, complete with a swimming pool and hot tub, is flawlessly landscaped and manicured and is surrounded by rooms and suites, with a spa on the second floor near the morning yoga terrace. Accommodations feature king-sized beds and artsy accents, from wall paintings to Talavera-style bathroom tiles and Saltillo-esque tile floors. There are several communal areas of note, including a game room with a billiard table and a smaller table for chess and backgammon games, with a second more artisanally-themed bar nearby. 

A mix of accents and amenities new and old, just as one might expect.