Westin Los Cabos mini-review

[eagle29]

Hello all

Heading to Cabo in 3 weeks with my wife (5-night stay in a 1 bedroom at Baja Point)!
We are renting a car from Cactus. Would love some restaurant ideas between San Jose and Cabo San Lucas. Planning to do the "dog hike" at Mt Solmar.

 

[eagle29]

Hello all
My wife and I will be heading to the Westin Los Cabos in 3 weeks (5-night stay in a 1 bedroom at Baja Point)!
We are renting a car from Cactus. Would love some restaurant recommendations between San Jose and Cabo San Lucas.
We are planning to do the "dog hike" at Mt Solmar.
Thank you!

(sorry for the duplicate...didn't think the 1st post went through )

 

[RnU]

Hello all

Heading to Cabo in 3 weeks with my wife (5-night stay in a 1 bedroom at Baja Point)!
We are renting a car from Cactus. Would love some restaurant ideas between San Jose and Cabo San Lucas. Planning to do the "dog hike" at Mt Solmar.

Not technically between the 2 towns, but we like Acre (it's a farm to table restaurant) for weekend brunch. In San Jose: El Toro Güero, Taquerita El Paisa or Taco Macho.

 

[Eric B]

Monte Cardon in East Cape. Kitchen Table in SJC. Lateral Taco. Santo Pulpo. Ziggy's. Rooftop at The Cape.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Had a wonderful visit to this resort recently. Thanks to all for your recommendations.

I noticed that there is a nightly charge for Room Tax - Occupancy 229.46 pesos plus Environmental 158.40 pesos which comes to about $20/night for a 1 bdrm in Baja point and 354.84 Mex plus 158.40 environmental about $25/night for a 2 bdrm in the main Westin Cabo.

One reservation was using SOs and one was an II exchange so the method did not matter.

I never noticed this before. Is this new?

To compare...we also stayed at Cabo Azul on a DEX exchange and there were zero resort fees or taxes for this stay.

One more DP: They told me that we would not have housekeeping for one of our rooms because it was less than one week but the housekeeper showed up every day for both rooms to offer towels and supplies and did at least 1 - 2 tidy's with no fee even though they gave us a schedule of fees if we wanted housekeeping.

 

[daviator]

Had a wonderful visit to this resort recently. Thanks to all for your recommendations.

I noticed that there is a nightly charge for Room Tax - Occupancy 229.46 pesos plus Environmental 158.40 pesos which comes to about $20/night for a 1 bdrm in Baja point and 354.84 Mex plus 158.40 environmental about $25/night for a 2 bdrm in the main Westin Cabo.

One reservation was using SOs and one was an II exchange so the method did not matter.

I never noticed this before. Is this new?

To compare...we also stayed at Cabo Azul on a DEX exchange and there were zero resort fees or taxes for this stay.

One more DP: They told me that we would not have housekeeping for one of our rooms because it was less than one week but the housekeeper showed up every day for both rooms to offer towels and supplies and did at least 1 - 2 tidy's with no fee even though they gave us a schedule of fees if we wanted housekeeping.

The environmental sanitation fee is mandated by the Los Cabos government (it’s a couple of years old, I think, but the collection was spotty early on.) My understanding is that it’s supposed to be MXP$79.20 per room per night, which is around $3/room/night. Not sure about why the charge is MXP$158.40 except that perhaps our larger villas get the fee doubled because they accommodate more people? The occupancy taxes are not new.

There is also a tax you’re supposed to pay online before arriving in Los Cabos, it’s called “EmbraceIt” and the form and info is here: https://embrace.bcs.gob.mx/ . It’s MXP$488 per person.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Never heard of this tax. Why don't they mention it when you enter the country and fill out the form?

According to Claude this is a new tax that was implemented in mid 2025 and they are still setting up communication. It is not tied to the taxes you pay on the airplane ticket. I asked whether I should pay this retroactively. Here is what Claude said.

"No, I wouldn't retroactively pay for your previous visit. Here's why:

Practical reasons:

• The payment system generates a QR code tied to specific travel dates
• It's designed for upcoming/current trips, not past visits
• There's no enforcement mechanism for trips that have already concluded
• No indication that authorities are tracking or penalizing tourists who already left

For your next trip: Just pay the 488 pesos when you plan your next visit. You can pay it:

• Before you travel (recommended - less hassle)
• Upon arrival in Baja California Sur

The system asks for your travel dates when you pay, so you'd simply enter your 2027 dates and get a QR code for that specific trip.

Bottom line: Think of it like a parking ticket you never got - if you weren't caught or stopped, and you're no longer there, there's no practical reason to go back and pay it. Just make sure you're compliant for future visits. The state is clearly still working out the communication and enforcement kinks with this new tax, so I wouldn't stress about the past trip.


Save your money for your next visit when you'll actually need to show the QR code!"

 

[Eric B]

Never heard of this tax. Why don't they mention it when you enter the country and fill out the form?

According to Claude this is a new tax that was implemented in mid 2025 and they are still setting up communication. It is not tied to the taxes you pay on the airplane ticket. I asked whether I should pay this retroactively. Here is what Claude said.

"No, I wouldn't retroactively pay for your previous visit. Here's why:

Practical reasons:

• The payment system generates a QR code tied to specific travel dates
• It's designed for upcoming/current trips, not past visits
• There's no enforcement mechanism for trips that have already concluded
• No indication that authorities are tracking or penalizing tourists who already left

For your next trip: Just pay the 488 pesos when you plan your next visit. You can pay it:

• Before you travel (recommended - less hassle)
• Upon arrival in Baja California Sur

The system asks for your travel dates when you pay, so you'd simply enter your 2027 dates and get a QR code for that specific trip.

Bottom line: Think of it like a parking ticket you never got - if you weren't caught or stopped, and you're no longer there, there's no practical reason to go back and pay it. Just make sure you're compliant for future visits. The state is clearly still working out the communication and enforcement kinks with this new tax, so I wouldn't stress about the past trip.


Save your money for your next visit when you'll actually need to show the QR code!"

Who the heck is this Claude guy and why should anyone trust him? Why does he believe there will be less hassle if I pay this tax before I travel rather than just ignore it as I've done in the past? Is Claude unaware of the time-value of money?

 

[dioxide45]

Never heard of this tax. Why don't they mention it when you enter the country and fill out the form?

According to Claude this is a new tax that was implemented in mid 2025 and they are still setting up communication. It is not tied to the taxes you pay on the airplane ticket. I asked whether I should pay this retroactively. Here is what Claude said.

"No, I wouldn't retroactively pay for your previous visit. Here's why:

Practical reasons:

• The payment system generates a QR code tied to specific travel dates
• It's designed for upcoming/current trips, not past visits
• There's no enforcement mechanism for trips that have already concluded
• No indication that authorities are tracking or penalizing tourists who already left

For your next trip: Just pay the 488 pesos when you plan your next visit. You can pay it:

• Before you travel (recommended - less hassle)
• Upon arrival in Baja California Sur

The system asks for your travel dates when you pay, so you'd simply enter your 2027 dates and get a QR code for that specific trip.

Bottom line: Think of it like a parking ticket you never got - if you weren't caught or stopped, and you're no longer there, there's no practical reason to go back and pay it. Just make sure you're compliant for future visits. The state is clearly still working out the communication and enforcement kinks with this new tax, so I wouldn't stress about the past trip.


Save your money for your next visit when you'll actually need to show the QR code!"

Cancun (the state of Quintana Roo) has a similar tax on departure. They can't include it with the price of the airline ticket because it is a state tax and the airports are federal. The payment of the tax is supposed to be done online before departure or at kiosks in the airport. You then get a QR code that someone is suppose to check. When we left Cancun back in 2023 we forgot about it, no one asked about it or checked that we had paid it. It seems payment of the tax is mostly on the honor system.

 

[dioxide45]

Who the heck is this Claude guy and why should anyone trust him?

Claude is one of the AI generative language models and is generally considered to be one of the best ones.

 

[Eric B]

Claude is one of the AI generative language models and is generally considered to be one of the best ones.

I suspected as much but still wouldn't trust him. One of the best ones is only as good as what the best ones are, after all.

 

[dioxide45]

I suspected as much but still wouldn't trust him. One of the best ones is only as good as what the best ones are, after all.

Based on my understanding of the tax, Claude is correct. There are other reliable and official sources for the same information. Claude, or any AI chatbot, simply answers the question based on what it is asked. As for the tax, the confusion all comes down to the enforcement. All seems good until you are the 1 in 500 that are asked to provide proof that you paid but didn't.

 

[Chrispee]

Just wanted to say thanks for this review and subsequent discussion with lots of good info. We have spent the last 10 days at the Westin Los Cabos and are having a great time.

For the past 15 years we have taken a couple of annual Hawaii vacations, and we were a bit trepidatious about switching it up and going to Mexico this year. We've really enjoyed our time at the Westin Los Cabos, and I'll be sure to post a full review in the TUG review section when we get home.

In the meantime if anybody has any questions about the resort I'd be happy to try and answer while I'm here still.