New York-based Jeffrey Beers International (JBI) has completed an extensive renovation of the One&Only Palmilla in Cabo San Lucas following damage caused by Hurricane Irene.
The refurb includes the property’s Suviche, Market, Breeze Café, and the Vista pool.
Palmilla opened in Mexico in 1956 with just 15 rooms, and JBI has maintained the site’s historic integrity with a warm and intimate environment for the hotel, which features a classic European aesthetic mingled with Moorish elements.
Connected, the Suviche and Seared restaurants feature stepped terraces, arched windows, and high-pitched, white plaster ceilings with added rustic wood ceiling joists in reference to the gabled churches of Southern Spain. Reclaimed tumbled marble floor tile laid in herringbone patterns references both Aztec geometry and Spain’s iconic Alhambra.
Seared itself is a tall, gabled space with two plinth-like walls clad in striated Auburn Sienna marble punctuated by wood-framed niches to hold candles and locally made pottery. Complemented by glass carriage lantern pendants suspended by embossed leather straps from wood ceiling beams, bronzed mirror and carriage-style glass sconces sit in recessed wooden panels along the perimeter. Banquettes clad in traditional Mexican-patterned upholstery offer views of an expo kitchen, a glass-walled meat curing room, and a jewel-like wine decanting room, while two private dining alcoves flank a trellised outdoor dining area bordered by stone fireboxes.
Suviche’s muted color palette is highlighted by an illuminated display of orchids sitting behind centrally fixed banquettes beneath a cluster of Moroccan-style cast-glass pendants. A 12-seat sushi counter made from local Parota wood lines one entire wall of the space, and a 30-seat enclosed veranda terrace is framed in drapery.
