The luxe side of Los Cabos, Mexico

There is the Los Cabos, Mexico, that is Sammy Hagar’s Cabo Wabo Cantina, where crowds of sunburned tourists (many disgorged from cruise ships docked nearby) suck down “Waboritas” made with his signature tequila and rock out to ’80s cover bands. Then there is the Los Cabos that is the fancy, five-star variety — chic, pricey oceanside resorts favored by privacy-seeking celebs and featuring gourmet restaurants that are among Baja’s best.

And sometimes these two very different Los Caboses overlap: On my visit last fall, a tattooed group in Van Halen T-shirts lounged poolside at Esperanza, an Auberge Resort (esperanzaresort.com), where rooms start at $575 a night. (They were there for Hagar’s birthday celebration, a raucous event at Cabo Wabo that promised, in one guest’s words, to be “epic.”)

But make no mistake, Esperanza is an extremely grown-up, super-luxe resort.

Take our top-floor deluxe suite, where everything we could ever want was at our beck and call. Another round of expertly mixed margaritas? Si! And maybe another carousel of that super-tasty ceviche? Claro que si! One phone call summoned our 24-hour butler, who promptly arrived and prepared fresh drinks in the living room’s wet bar. We carried them out to the spacious private terrace, hopped in the outdoor Jacuzzi and soaked up views of the Sea of Cortez and the distinctive rock arch, “El Arco,” beyond.

Still, on this hot day, the sparkling two-tiered seaside infinity pool beckoned. It’s one of four pools at this expansive resort (which has 57 rooms, 96 private residences, four dining options, a spa and fitness center, a game room and tennis courts, set on 17 tidily manicured acres) — just big enough to require a map and a ride in a golf cart if the day gets too sweltering.

And it does get toasty in Los Cabos — from late May to October, temps regularly soar into the 90s (springtime weather is ideal, hovering in the mid-80s). All those pools will come in handy, too, because the ocean in much of Baja is, sadly, unswimmable year-round because of strong currents. (Esperanza does, however, have several lovely little sunbathing beaches tucked into the rocky coves.)

What the sea lacks in swimmability, it makes up for in drama, with waves crashing spectacularly into the craggy coastline. It was best experienced from on high, at the resort’s signature Cocina del Mar restaurant, with open-air terraces carved into the cliffs. While dining on chef Gonzalo Cerda’s seafood-centric menu — starting with the tortilla soup dense with lobster, scallops, shrimp and clams, followed by the simply prepared catch of the day, all paired with surprisingly good Mexican wines — the pounding surf made the ideal vacation soundtrack.

The luxe side of Los Cabos, Mexico