Hotel San Cristóbal

Bunkhouse, the Austin-based hotel group responsible for most of the best hotels in Texas, has finally set its sights beyond the borders of the Lone Star State. Just how far beyond, however, might come as something of a surprise. Hotel San Cristóbal sets up shop in Todos Santos, on the Pacific coast of Mexico’s Baja California. This is a town that’s in the midst of making that familiar transition from fishing village to bohemian getaway to emerging tourist destination — and the San Cristóbal catches it at just the right time, as the first wave is beginning to crest.

If you’ve spent time in their Texan hotels you know Bunkhouse, and their architects of choice, Lake Flato, get the balance right — a bit of boutique polish and a whole lot of charming authenticity. It’s no different here; there’s a bit of boutique style in the form of plush Coco-Mat mattresses, Tivoli radios and Malin + Goetz bath products, but mostly there’s a fun, chill little hotel, right on the beach, with rooms and suites arranged around a central pool and lounge area.

There’s not much in the way of shopping or nightlife in town, so the hotel’s own restaurant and bar pull most of the weight when it comes to social life. Anyway you’re here to surf, or to watch migrating whales, or just to take it easy by the seaside. Suffice to say it’s not the next Cabo, not by a long shot — in fact Todos Santos has some distance to go before it’s the next Tulum. Right now it’s just Todos Santos, and the Hotel San Cristóbal is the place to be.