Cabo Condos Provide Luxurious Alternative

Reed Travel Features

APTOS, Calif. -- Earth, Sea & Sky Tours is courting clients seeking an alternative to hotel stays in Los Cabos.

The company, which specializes in luxury villa and condominium rentals in Los Cabos, unveiled its most comprehensive product to date, according to owner Don Hirschaut. The firm's inventory in the beach destination at the tip of the Baja California peninsula includes an additional seven luxury villas for 1998 (see information below). The offerings bring the total number of properties featured by Earth, Sea & Sky to 32, split between 20 villas and 12 beach resorts.

The company, which was founded in 1987, has boosted business to Los Cabos over the past few years, Hirschaut said, attributing the increases to growth within the destination and efforts by the firm to improve its products and services. "We have grown with Los Cabos' increasing popularity, but we're also becoming recognized among [villa] owners as one of the best services," he said.

The launch of flights from cities such as Phoenix, Dallas and St. Louis has enabled the firm to expand beyond its traditional Western markets. Although the West Coast remains Earth, Sea & Sky's largest market, Hirschaut said, the company has seen a large influx of clients from the Midwestern and the Eastern U.S.

Los Cabos also is experiencing a building boom of private luxury homes that can be incorporated into Earth, Sea & Sky's villa product line, he said. Many of the newer villas are situated within areas ideally suited to discriminating travelers desiring a departure from a busy resort property, he added.

Upscale, gated communities with villas featured by the firm include Palmilla Norte, Costa Brava and Cerro Colorado. "A lot of our clients are Cabo enthusiasts who have stayed in hotels and are looking for something different," Hirschaut said. "And a villa can be a much better value than staying in a hotel."

Earth, Sea & Sky has made improvements to meet the demand for villa vacations and high-end services. The firm beefed up its staff by adding three reservations specialists and also hired a quality-control expert in Los Cabos who provides enhanced services such as airport greetings, flowers in rooms and welcome cakes. Special arrangements also can be made to stock villa units with beer, wine and refreshments; hire French chefs, or fulfill requests such as renting a cellular phone or booking tee times at any one of Los Cabos' championship golf courses.

Earth, Sea & Sky also can provide clients with private drivers and arrange deep-sea fishing and scuba-diving excursions. "With these services, clients feel like they are getting the quality they expect," Hirschaut said.

Earth, Sea & Sky programs are commissionable to agents at 10%. An override program, which enables agents to earn from 1% to 5% in additional commission, is available. Agents who want to stay in a luxury villa or condominium through Earth, Sea & Sky can take advantage of familiarization rates, which range from 30% to 50% off regular rates.

For more details or to make reservations, agents can call (800) PIK-CABO. Information also is available via the firm's Web site, located at http://www.cabovillas.com.

The company enhanced the Internet site to feature more than 100 pages of information on the Los Cabos product line and the destination, including a large portion of the villa and condominium choices.

Earth Sea & Sky's 1998 roster features seven additional luxury villa options for clients: Villa Casablanca, Villa del Amanacer, Villa Melon, Villa Oceano, Villa Paradiso del Mar, Villa la Cuesta and Villa la Quinta.