Loreto, México: Where to Stay for Seaside Adventure

The writer was hosted.



Skipping the crowds for a Golfo de California Baja getaway means finding the perfect place to lay your head when staying in Loreto, Baja California Sur, México. The Loreto hotels provide many choices when readying for seaside adventures.



We’re talking about the best hotels because time’s short on vacation, and who wants to spend it cooking, cleaning, and doing someone else’s laundry when you could be on a boat heading to one of the islands of Loreto?



Read More: Five Incredible Days in Loreto Baja California Sur



The promenade in Centro walks through the Plaza and toward Golfo de México. Photo credit: Eric Jay Toll


Stay in Centro


Everyone has personal preferences, and this writer prefers to stay close to the city center where local life occurs. Loreto, Centro, has a bustling plaza and quiet tree-shaded walkway to El Malecon along the Bahia Loreto.



The open gulf has two names off Baja California Sur. Many call it the Sea of Cortez, but when that name was used by our group of travel writers touring Loreto as guests of Visit Baja California Sur, we were told it’s Golfo de California, Gulf of California. Whatever name is given to the water, the Bahia, the Malecon along its shores, the Parque Nacional, shops, street vendors, restaurants, and history combine to make Loreto a pueblo magico.



Hotel Oasis was the first tourist hotel in Loreto and has direct access from rooms to the beach. Photo credit: Eric Jay Toll


Hotel Oasis


Hosted for five days by Hotel Oasis , the first tourist hotel in Loreto, there was an absolute joy raising the blind in the morning and looking across the beach into the sunrise behind Isla del Carmen. The reds, golds, and pinks of the morning’s first light shimmered across the glass surface of Golfo de California.



The spacious hotel rooms had plenty of workspace and featured a walk-in shower. The hotel sits on a dark volcanic sand beach. Its breakfast buffet is enjoyed leisurely on a terrace looking across the beach into the Bahia Loreto and its wintering home for the massive blue whale.



Located on the south edge of Centro Historica, a seven-minute walk to the central plaza. Hotel Oasis was within walking distance of almost everything to be experienced in Loreto. The Malecon Bayfront walkway ends at the hotel. It is one of the few hotels with the beach coming up to the rooms.



Rooms have been remodeled and upgraded to be very comfortable and safe.




 Free wifi (personal experience, it’s suitable for streaming)



 Air conditioning (the room temperature was very comfortable)



 Restaurant (the beachfront chocolate clambake will have you talking about it for ages)



 Pet friendly



 Free breakfast (honestly, it was okay, but there are better places in town)



 Bar (right there on the patio overlooking the gulf)



 Swimming pool



 Free Parking




Smiles seem to glow from every table in El Zopilote, the brewpub restaurant of Hotel 1697. Photo credit: Eric Jay Toll


Hotel 1697 Loreto


Located on the Plaza in Centro, Hotel 1697 Loreto  is named after the village’s historic settlement and the construction of La Mision de Nuestra Senora de Loreto. It is in the Mexican style and has a courtyard with a patio area, pool, and hot tub.



The El Zopilote Brewery adjoins the hotel with the brewpub’s delightful Mexican foods, a meal-in-itself real cheese nacho dish, excellent guacamole, and ice-cold house-brewed beers. Try the IPA; it has more taste than bitters. Hotel 1697 and El Zopilote hosted our writer group for lunch.



The courtyard pool at Hotel 1697. Photo provided by Hotel 1697 Loreto.




 Air conditioning



 Free wifi



 Restaurant



 Free breakfast



 Bar



 Swimming pool



 Free Parking




Rooms with balconies face the Malecon, a long bayfront walkway in Loreto. Photo credit: La Misión


La Misión Loreto Hotel


La Misión Loreto Hotel has a premiere location on Malecon, facing Bahia Loreto and Parque Nacional, calling itself the ultimate luxury hotel in Loreto. Its restaurant, Los Olivos, was an exceptional dining experience hosted for our group. La Misión is a Spanish-style building that offers standard rooms and luxury suites.



Los Olivos, the second-floor restaurant, is worthy of note. Although not overnight guests, the dinner and dessert in the fine-dining restaurant were extraordinary, tied for the best during the week in the surf and sun. Even if La Misión is not the lodging of choice, Los Olivos should be a dinner destination.



Los Olivos, the restaurant at La Misión Loreto, serves an exceptionally delicious and elegant dinner and dessert. Photo credit: Eric Jay Toll




Free wifi



Air conditioning



Pet friendly



Restaurant



Bar



Laundry facilities



Swimming pool



Free Parking



Airport transfer




Posada des las Flores is right on the plaza. Photo credit: Eric Jay Toll


Hotel Boutique Posada da les Flores Loreto


Walk into the lobby at Hotel Boutique Posada da les Flores , and you’d expect to see Zorro leap from the balcony, grab a massive chandelier, and swing over the heads of the hapless sargento y soldados and crash safely through the louvered blinds of a window.



The Spanish Colonial hotel on the plaza in Centro has uniquely decorated rooms and suites, a creative cuisine restaurant, Raiz, and a rooftop swimming pool with glass insets looking down into the lobby. The rooms are works of art, and some luxurious suites overlook the Plaza.



Every room in Posada des las Flores has a distinct artistic decor. Photo credit: Eric Jay Toll



As the sun set on a glorious Loreto day, we dined aire libre in a Plaza courtyard in front of the hotel. Some of the freshest and tastiest seafood I’ve ever enjoyed came from Bahia Loreto (outside the Parque Nacional waters. Under early star glow, the dinner was tied for the best meal in Loreto with Los Olivos.




Free wifi



Air conditioning



Pet friendly



Restaurant



Bar



Laundry facilities



Swimming pool



Free Parking



How do I get to Loreto?


The Baja Peninsula’s best-known destinations are Cabo San Lucas at the very tip and the state capital, La Paz. Loreto is not as famous, making it a hidden gem with fewer crowds.



For 2024, there are nonstop flights into the modern Loreto International Airport from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, several cities in Mexico, and in the United States, from San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas, and Phoenix. The U.S. airports are all major hubs, making connecting flights to the less-crowded getaway simple.



Friendly dogs are found around the Plaza in Centro. Photo credit: Eric Jay Toll


Can I bring my dog with me to Mexico?


If the entrance requirements are satisfied, it’s possible to bring your dog to Mexico while on vacation. Health certification is no longer required. Instead, Mexican officials inspect the dog at the border.



Although the Plaza and Malecon hosted many people walking their dogs, and many hotels are pet-friendly, during the week in town, very few “vacationing” dogs were spotted.



However, there are other requirements. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has an up-to-date article, “ Pet travel from the United States to Mexico ,” on its website with all the details. Follow the steps and check with the nearest Mexican consulate or embassy.


Selecting hotels


Lodging in Loreto includes many options and broad price ranges. All hotels offer free parking and English-language check-in. Make a list of what is a must for your hotel choice. Some of the items for your list could include:




Air conditioning



Bed sizes. Some hotels offer twin beds; others doubles, queens, and kings



Bathtub and shower as opposed to a walk-in shower



Swimming pool or hot tub or both



Room to lounge around in the pool area



Free wifi and good cell signals



Some hotels offer kitchenettes, many have a refrigerator, and some offer in-room microwaves and coffee



Filtered water availability (do not drink tap water or use it for brushing teeth)



Elevators for multi-story hotels




I stopped by several hotels with signs in the lobby promising discounts and special rates when booking directly with the hotel. Comparing direct-booked rates with booking websites is likely worth the international phone call.



When looking at websites, remember that the symbol for a Mexican peso is also the same as a U.S. dollar sign ($). When seeing prices over $1,000 per night, check if those are pesos.



The town of Loreto has hotels within all price ranges. Hosted by Baja California Sur, our writers stayed at the Oasis but dined and visited others. Personal notes are included with the descriptions. The list is not comprehensive, but a long list can be found on the website Hotels.com, which has combined with Expdia.com and Booking.com  to offer bookings.



While snorkeling in the blue waters of Isla del Carmen, sea lions plopped into the Golfo de California and gently interacted with the human swimmers. Photo credit: Eric Jay Toll


What’s there to do in Loreto?


Loreto offers extraordinary adventures inland with canyons, historic Spanish towns and missions, and the Loreto Bay National Marine Park, the Parque Nacional Bahia de Loreto. Many reviews refer to the ocean views visitors love, but the water is simply the Gulf of California. It’s big, more than 240 kilometers (149 miles) from the peninsula to the mainland.



Many activities can be enjoyed when just hanging around a resort, like golf, tennis, beach walks, and dining. Loreto is also a place of adventure, with tours taking you deep into the canyons to hike to towering cliff walls with ancestral rock art. Boat charters take you to quiet turquoise coves for snorkeling, kayaking, gulf swimming, or paddleboarding.



Dating from the 1690s, La Mision de Nuestra Senora de Loreto is the second Spanish mission built in North America. An earlier mission was built north of Loreto but abandoned to build the one still in use today in Centro. Photo credit: Eric Jay Toll



The parque nacional encompasses a vast open-water aquarium of fish and sea mammals. Trips take you to the three main park islands: Isla Coronados (Coronado Island), Isla del Carmen, and Isla Danzante. Charters to Coronados and del Carmen leave from Bahia Loreto. Charters to del Carmen and Danzante Bay leave from Puerto Escondido, about 30 minutes to the south.



The historic town is the original BCS state capital and the home of the second oldest Spanish mission in North America, La Mision de Nuestra Senora de Loreto, sometimes called La Misión Loreto.



Whale watching is one of the village’s most popular attractions in winter. Several species, including the largest mammal on earth, the blue whale, winter among the islands of Loreto.



With the balconies and massive chandeliers in Hotel Boutique Posada da les Flores, it is easy to expect Zorro to jump from the balcony and out through the windows. Photo credit: Eric Jay Toll The post Loreto, México: Where to Stay for Seaside Adventure appeared first on She Buys Travel .