Exploring The Marriott Collection
There is something particularly exciting about travelling to a destination for the first time—especially when that destination is Los Cabos, Mexico, and the invitation is to experience the Marriott CALA Summit firsthand.
Stepping off the plane, the first thing that struck me was the landscape. Mountains and rugged desert terrain stretched across the horizon, creating a dramatic backdrop unlike the lush Caribbean scenery I am accustomed to across the Caribbean. Then there was the heat—intense, dry and unmistakably Cabo. The airport experience itself was refreshingly smooth, and from the moment I arrived, it was clear that the CALA team had paid attention to every detail. Transportation was already waiting, and within minutes I was comfortably tucked inside a fully air-conditioned van for the approximately 30-minute journey to the JW Marriott Los Cabos Beach Resort & Spa.
Arriving at the JW Marriott set the tone for what would become an impressive few days of hospitality. I was warmly greeted, provided with my summit credentials and, thankfully after the long journey, my room was already prepared. I met members of the hosting team before finally having a little time to settle in and take in my surroundings.
And then there is the view. My room overlooked the ocean, offering exactly the kind of romantic setting couples demand on their honeymoon. It was hard to look away but it was nice to relax and recharge before heading into the first official event of the summit, the welcome reception. It was the perfect introduction to the days ahead.
The evening featured a variety of food stations, cocktails and opportunities to meet members of the Marriott CALA team. Beyond simply enjoying the evening, I had the opportunity to hear about Marriott’s diverse portfolio of properties throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. There is so much to offer for romance travellers!
As someone attending from the media, this was perhaps one of the most valuable parts of the experience—being able to have conversations with the people behind the properties and better understand the destinations, experiences and hospitality concepts they represent. We got all the details from reception options, culinary offerings and special packages.
The following day shifted from cocktails and introductions to learning more about the Marriott portfolio. Various members of the Marriott team delivered presentations highlighting the brands, properties and experiences within the CALA region and what distinguishes them in an increasingly competitive hospitality landscape.
For someone who travels frequently, it is easy to think of a hotel simply in terms of the finished product—the suite, the restaurant, the spa, the service or the view. What experiences like the CALA Summit provided, however, is a glimpse behind that finished product. You begin to understand the people, planning and philosophy responsible for creating the experience a guest ultimately encounters. The presentations were engaging, informative and, perhaps most importantly, left me with an even longer list of Marriott properties I now want to share with our audience.
Our afternoon was originally supposed to take us onto the water for a cruise around Cabo but weather made us have a change in plans. What happened next became one of the moments that impressed me most during the entire trip. Instead of the planned cruise, arrangements were made for the group to have dinner at Solaz, a Luxury Collection Resort.
The property was beautiful, but what stood out to me even more was what happened behind the scenes. The Solaz team found themselves preparing to accommodate dinner for a very large group with remarkably little notice. Yet, as a guest, you would hardly have known that this was not the original plan. Dinner came together beautifully.
That ability to adapt says something important about hospitality. Luxury is not simply about beautiful surroundings or expensive finishes. Sometimes it is demonstrated most clearly when something doesn’t go to plan and a team has to respond without allowing the disruption to become the guest’s experience. Watching the CALA and Solaz teams pivot so quickly was impressive and became an unexpected demonstration of precisely the kind of service the summit had been discussing.
The following day brought us back to Solaz for a more immersive experience of the resort. It is spacious and stylish property and still offers design touches that are authentically Mexican. We got to enjoy a hands-on culinary experience making taco shells and partaking in sumptuous cocktails, a very memorable taste of Mexico.
Back at the JW Marriott, the summit concluded with a final dinner—and it was a fitting way to end the experience. The evening showcased food and flavours inspired by different countries across the CALA region, bringing the diversity of the Caribbean and Latin America together in one setting. For me, it also brought the purpose of the summit full circle. Over the course of just a few days, we had heard about Marriott’s properties, met many of the people responsible for bringing those experiences to life, sampled different culinary influences and experienced firsthand how hospitality teams respond when circumstances change unexpectedly.
Los Cabos itself left an impression—the dramatic mountains, desert landscape, ocean views and beautiful resorts make it a destination I know destination wedding seekers and honeymooners would enjoy. There is so much to experience at the properties but still ample space to do completely nothing privately. The perfect place to share romance. What I will also remember from the Marriott CALA Summit is the hospitality. It is relatively easy to execute an event when everything goes according to plan. It is much more revealing to see what happens when it doesn’t.
From having transportation waiting when I landed, to the welcome at the JW Marriott, the conversations with the CALA team, the presentations, the last-minute dinner at Solaz and the final celebration of flavours from across the region, there was a clear effort to make every guest feel considered.
I arrived in Cabo expecting to learn more about Marriott’s properties across the Caribbean and Latin America. I left having experienced something equally important: the people and hospitality behind them.
Shrimattee Ault
Caribbean Bride Director
