Villa Santa Cruz

With barely any rain over the last three years, the Baja desert was dry, dusty and thirsty. The aquifers were low, the landscapes were brown and the sand was hot to the touch. But, the month of August changed all that by bringing glorious rainstorms to Todos Santos and Villa Santa Cruz, Boutique Hotel on the Beach. 

The thunderclouds, heavy with rain, rolled in from the east creating dramatic shadows.

The rain fell in sheets for several days, washing dust off the agave at Villa Santa Cruz, greening up the desert brush and cooling down the earth. The air, cleaned by the rain, was amazingly pure and clear. The best part, without doubt, were the spectacular sunsets. Night after night, we were entertained by the vibrant colors that lit up the rain clouds. From orange and red streaks, to pink and purple hues, and even a few rainbows, these sunsets were some of the best ever.

Summertime is upon us in Baja Sur. With hot long days, occasional afternoon thunder storms and beautiful red sunsets, our Villa Santa Cruz guests are falling into the slow pace of the Todos Santos summer. Sipping cold drinks in the ocean front hammocks, taking evening beach strolls with the dogs and dipping in the pool to refresh and revive, they have become part of the calm and peacefulness that the summer brings us.

Even as we enjoy the unhurried groove of the summer season, we look forward to the events that are already being planned for the coming year. As you start to plan your getaways for 2012-2013, consider the following festivals and celebrations that will make your stay in Todos even more memorable.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS - 2012 TO 2013

October 12 to 16, 2012 - Festival of the Patron Saint of Todos Santos, Nuestra Señora del Pilar

This lively festival commemorates the founding of Todos Santos.  With music, arts, dancing, a parade and horse show, these will be five days filled with celebration and cheer.

January 10 to 26, 2013 - 2nd Annual Todos Santos Music Festival, Organized by Peter Buck of REM

The debut of this 3 week music festival last season was incredible!  With three weeks of live music, big names (Robin Hitchcock, Chuck Prophet, Kevn Kinney & more) and great venues, it is absolutely a "must do" in Todos Santos.  Performances every Thurs, Fri & Sat nights for three consecutive weekends (Jan 10 - 12; Jan 17-19; Jan 24-26).  This is definitely the hottest ticket in town and rooms are going quickly - limited availability remains at Villa Santa Cruz during the first weekend only.  Contact us now to make your reservation.

Photo Credit: Pescadero Surf Properties

February 2 to 9, 2013 - Todos Santos Art Festival

This week long celebration of the arts offers many cultural events - includes art exhibitions, dance and music performances.  Official program to come.

February 10, 2013 - 4th Annual Todos Santos Artist Open Studio Tour

On the heels of the Art Festival, over 30 of our local Todos Santos artists will open their studios and invite in the general public to view their work spaces and chat about their creative practices. You will pick up a map of the studios and take a self-guided tour throughout the town, stopping in to see the artists who most intrigue you. 

Shown: Todos Santos Artist Tori Sepulveda

February 21 to February 28 - 10th Annual Todos Santos Film Festival

Selected films from across Mexico and Latin America are shown at the beautifully restored Manuel Márquez de León Theater, located in the heart of the historic district of Todos Santos.  Before the films begin, have dinner in town and stroll the main plaza where you'll find local vendors selling wine by the glass and sweet treats to take into the theater with you.  So charming!

This is such a promising line up of festivals and events - the 2012 to 2013 season will be here before we know it!  

One of the very best things about visiting Baja and Todos Santos is the amazing food.  From the abundance of fresh produce and seafood to the chefs who magically whip these ingredients into gastronomical delights, visitors to our area are in for a treat.  And, if you are looking for a way to take your culinary experience to the next level, we have just the thing - gourmet cooking lessons at Villa Santa Cruz with Chef Dany Lamote, head chef at the legendary Hotel California.

On a recent Sunday afternoon, Chef Dany arrived at Villa Santa Cruz  ready to guide me, Matt and our friends through the preparation (and consumption) of an exquisite four course dinner. Chef Dany was ready to get down to business, armed with everything needed for a serious gourmet cooking class - fresh shrimp and yellowtail fish, colorful produce and aromatic herbs, and, of course, a creme brulee blowtorch.   We were celebrating a milestone birthday for one of our dear friends, Laura, and loved the intimacy and group togetherness of the cooking class.  The Villa, with an open social kitchen, butcher block island, ample counter space, and big chairs (aka "king and queen thrones") in which to relax, is a perfect venue for a group cooking experience.

After toasting to the promise of a great meal with a crisp glass of white wine, Dany gathered the group to introduce us to his cooking philosophy.  Originally from Belgium, he explained that his signature style is to combine Mexican ingredients with European techniques.  He loves to make exotic Mexican foods more familiar - we'd be incorporating nopales (cactus paddles), cuitlacoche (corn mushroom know as "Mexican caviar") and ancho chile peppers into our meal.  He then split the three couples into three groups - each in charge of a different course - and we were on our way down the culinary road.

Max and Laura were in charge of the appetizer course.  Their menu included yellowtail sashimi marinated in soy sauce and ginger, shrimp skewered on rosemary sprigs with an orange-saffron-habanero-coconut sauce, pineapple salsa, and crab and goat cheese stuffed peppers (the stuffed peppers were definitely a group favorite). 

Amy and Dustin were assigned the salad and dessert courses.  The dessert, an ancho chile creme brulee, was the most time intensive dish, so they started on that first - boiling the ancho chiles, cream and cinnamon, melting the chocolate, combining the ingredients, pouring into ramekins, and baking for 35 minutes.  Once the desserts went into the oven, they jumped over to the preparation of the salads and crostini.  They worked on a nopal cactus salad with goat cheese and tomatoes, a mixed salad with agave glazed pecans topped with duck and arrachera steak, and a crostini of puffed pastry, nopales, goat cheese and cuitlacoche.

Matt and I prepared two sauces for the fish course, one with tomatillos and one with tamarind.  We peeled and roasted the tomatillos and then boiled and strained the tamarind, creating two flavorful bases for fresh yellowtail and halibut.  We also made a sweet potato gratin spiced with ginger and Chef Dany's amazing flavored curry salt.

At this point, we were all starting to bulge around the middle, but were ready for the evening's grand finale - creme brulee adorned with huge strawberries.  We all gathered in the kitchen to watch Dustin wield the blowtorch to create a perfectly caramelized crust.  With a hint of ancho chiles, it was a winner - definitely a recipe to keep in your back pocket to recreate for your friends at home.  It was tough to get a lot of birthday candles into those little ramekins, but we made it work!

We send our warmest thanks to Chef Dany for such a fun and special evening.  Sitting outdoors under the covered patio, listening to the crashing waves, enjoying the warm ambiance of the Villa's gas lamps and soft candlelight, delighting in a gourmet meal with good friends over glasses of wine...life doesn't get much sweeter than this. We highly recommend that all our Villa Santa Cruz guests put it at the top of their Todos Santos "to do" list.   

Classes offered daily from 11am to 2pm at Santo Vino (Hotel California’s Bistro Restaurant). Chef Dany is available to host an evening class at Villa Santa Cruz on Sunday nights (4+ persons). $100 USD/person for basic class, $175 USD/person for upgrade with wine/tequila (includes 1 glass wine/tequila per person per course).  For more information, visit our Cooking Lessons Activity link.

Villa Santa Cruz, Boutique Hotel on the Beach, in Todos Santos, Baja Sur, is an amazing wedding venue for a bride and groom with beachy boho style!  Just take a look at Kea & Lorrin's fun and festive wedding from Saturday night.  The couple's funky and creative details brought the wedding to life - we love the seating chart mounted on a custom surfboard, their colorful sparkle sombreros and tasty margarita cupcakes made with tequila!

With a simple wood trellis decorated with strands of beach shells, Kea & Lorrin exchanged vows in front of friends and family.  Local Todos Santos officiant, Steve Monaco, presided over the ceremony.  

After escorting his mother down the aisle, the groom gave her a sweet hug.

The guests enjoyed cocktails and delicious appetizers catered by the Hotel California.  The menu included pineapple salsa, flautas with roasted peppers and goat cheese, and, of course, margaritas.

This custom surfboard, a gift to Kea & Lorrin from a friend who owns a surfboard shaping company, has an illustration of the Villa and agave fields right on the front!  It was the perfect set up for the seating chart.

Barb & Jan of Pueblo Magico Weddings were on point with the flowers & decor for Kea's beachy boho theme.  From the handmade rag ropes and antique lace tablecloths to the succulents, paper flowers and beer bottle rose vases, the table settings were fun, bright and authentically Mexican.

The Villa's aqua beach buggy funks up this photo shoot!  Kea & Lorrin enjoyed tooling around Todos Santos in this crazy rig during their wedding week.

After hours of dancing on the Villa's back patio, the party moved to the beach where guests kept warm next to a bonfire and released Chinese wish lanterns into the night sky (notice that the rag ropes that decorated the reception chairs became "stylish" headbands as the night wore on!).  

It was a gorgeous wedding for Kea & Lorrin.  We wish them love to last a lifetime.

Considering a destination wedding in Mexico?  Look no further than Villa Santa Cruz, Boutique Hotel on the Beach, in Todos Santos, Baja Sur.  Recently featured on The Destination Wedding Site, Villa Santa Cruz is highlighted as an ideal venue for an authentic Mexican beach wedding.  Their post vividly describes the experience at Villa Santa Cruz, noting that it is "probably what most people picture when they close their eyes and try to imagine the perfect beach wedding."  We certainly agree!

Click the image below to read the full article and watch the slideshow and video of beautiful Villa images.

Villa Santa Cruz, Boutique Hotel on the Beach in Todos Santos, Baja Sur, Mexico was proud to have hosted the beautiful wedding of Emma Bates & Joshua Zar on Saturday, April 28, 2012, with celebrity officiant Neil Patrick Harris.  NPH shared his love of Villa Santa Cruz by sending out this tweet to his 3.2 million Twitter followers:

@ActuallyNPH - And here's a view from the rooftop of the Villa where the wedding was held. villasantacruzbaja.com.  Thanks Matt & Jessica!  pic.twitter.com/b1PmTvEs  

Check out the lovely write-up and photos on the infamous, Pink is the New Blog, in which blogger Trent Vanegas describes the Villa as "one of the most beautiful estates I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing."  Don't forget to visit his follow up blog post that has another great photo of the newlyweds with NPH.

Here are more details and photos of the beautiful wedding:

Under a canopy of papel picado streamers and a bamboo chuppah decorated with flowing white fabric, the couple exchanged vows while their friends and family cheered them on.

After NPH declared that Emma & Josh were now husband and wife, mariachis poured on to the balconies overlooking the back lawn and congratulated the couple with lively Mexican music.

The couple headed inside for another kiss...

The guests then found their way up to the Roof Terrace and out to the Pool for delicious cocktails and appetizers.

The weather turned a little cool, so the party moved inside for dinner and toasts.  The beautiful candles around the fountain, gas lamps, and calla lily centerpieces made for a warm and cozy evening.

After dinner, the party moved outside under a canopy of lights to dance the night away.  The evening was capped off with the release of Chinese Wish Lanterns from the Villa's Beach.  We wish Emma & Josh the best in their new life together!

The US State Department has finally recognized what we have known for a long time - that Todos Santos is one of the safest regions in North America.  When you visit Villa Santa Cruz, Todos Santos Hotel on the Beach, you will relish the privacy and seclusion of the Villa, enjoy the natural beauty of the ocean and leave your cares the moment you walk through our grand front entryway.  Although the State Department may be late with its recognition of the safety of the area, we are so glad it is finally sending the right message about Baja Sur!

US State Department Recognizes Safety of La Paz and South Baja

For the First Time, New Travel Notices for Mexico Specifically Separate La Paz and Other Regions, Confirming It as One of the Safest Cities in North America

La Paz

LA PAZ, Baja California Sur, Mexico– In a significant move that recognizes the safety of La Paz and Baja California Sur, the U.S. State Department’s latest 2012 travel update states no security concerns for the region. For the first time, the regular update includes “no advisory” in effect for La Paz and the entire South Baja region. The move reaffirms the reputation of La Paz as the city of peace and abundance on the Sea of Cortez, and one of the safest places in the world to live in and visit.

“We applaud the U.S. State Department for recognizing what every visitor to La Paz experiences here: That it is a beautiful, peaceful city, and – along with the entire South Baja region – it is an entirely secure and rewarding place for vacations, for owning a second home, or for retirement,” said Agustin Olachea, President of La Paz Tourism Board, and spokesperson for the La Paz Developers Tourism Council. “Travelers can feel confident coming here, knowing that the peace that one quietly encounters in La Paz extends directly from the abundant ocean life and cultural richness that sets La Paz apart from any place on the planet.”

The report marks the first time that the State Department has broken down its Mexico travel update into specific populated areas and regions. According to an unnamed State Department source, the “granularized” report was compiled at the request of American business groups interested in employee security. It was not done to appease various boosters of Mexican tourism. Previous to this report, the US State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs issued travel warnings to larger, more general areas for Americans visiting Mexico. The result was confusion, with some tourists curtailing plans for visiting Mexico in spite of huge areas of the country unaffected by recent drug-related violence.

The safety of Baja Sur in particular was also underscored by the presence of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other international leaders at last month’s G20 Foreign Ministers Summit in Los Cabos.

Our pueblo of Todos Santos, a bohemian artist community, was in true form on Sunday, February 12 when over 30 local artists opened their studio doors and welcomed in the public for the 3^rd Annual Artists’ Open Studio Tour.  From Villa Santa Cruz, Todos Santos Hotel, we headed into town and started the tour at the neighborhood café, Cafelix, to receive our self-guided tour map and official red wristband.  We also browsed Cafelix’s Visions Gallery which had on display one work from each artist on the Studio Tour.  As novice art enthusiasts (notice the emphasis!), we set out on the tour, looking forward to chatting with the artists and learning about their craft.

We headed up the main drag and stopped in at the Galeria de Todos Santos to visit with artists Michael Cope and Erick Ochoa.  Their studio, an outdoor garden space draped in weather-resistant tarps, let in natural sunlight and a soft breeze while beautifully exhibiting their large oil works.  (They also have an Asian inspired restaurant, Michael's at the Gallery, on Friday & Saturday nights).

We then stopped at Diane Knight’s Purple Door Studio and enjoyed her work – lovely paintings inspired by life in Mexico.

At Tori Sepulveda’s studio, we were hypnotized by her paintings of strong women and horses. 

Next door, we visited with Nanette Hayles and ogled her vibrant mosaics and discussed her emotionally charged pieces that depict the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Bobby Kennedy.

Jill Logan’s lovely garden studio displayed her colorful and sensual landscapes, broken tile murals and bold abstracts.

As we headed back towards La Pastora Beach to Villa Santa Cruz, we stopped at the Studio of Gloria Santoyo Ruenitz.  She explained how she combines encaustic,  found objects and photography into her works.

Our last stop was to see Jan Marie Sessler, whose serene abstracts featuring ocean colors and found materials were calming.

We were proud to have supported the artist community of Todos Santos during the Studio Tour.  We are continually impressed by the ingenuity and beauty in the works they create.  Our sincere thanks to the artists for sharing your spaces with us!