An Exclusive First Look at the World’s Ultimate Resort Villa

Nearly a decade after establishing a new high for hotels, a toy-and-travel tycoon unveils the resort world’s ultimate retreat.

In the December 2007 issue of Robb Report, senior correspondent Jack Smith reported on a new crop of over-the-top suites crowning Manhattan’s premier hotels. Setting the standard for this elite assemblage was the Ty Warner Penthouse at the Four Seasons Hotel New York, a nine-room, 4,300-square-foot extravagance that Smith described as the “most dazzling . . . and expensive” suite in the world. 

Nine years later, Warner is at it again. This time, however, the billionaire best known as the creator of Beanie Babies is bringing his flair for the dramatic to the beaches of Baja California. In addition to the Four Seasons New York, Warner is the proud owner of one of Mexico’s—and the world’s—finest coastal resorts, Las Ventanas al Paraíso, on the Baja peninsula’s Los Cabos corridor. This July, the Rosewood-managed retreat will unveil its new La Mansión del Señor Warner, a $35,000-per-night villa that promises to do for resort rooms what the Four Seasons Penthouse did for city suites.  

“Mr. Warner said, ‘I have the best hotel penthouse in the world,’ ” says Frédéric Vidal, managing director of Las Ventanas. “ ‘Now I want the best hotel villa in the world.’ ” 

In this Robb Report exclusive, we take the first look at this unmatched accommodation, which spans 22,500 square feet from its vertical-garden courtyard entrance to its 328-foot-long, 136,000-gallon private wraparound infinity pool overlooking the Sea of Cortez. Throughout the estate, a team that included Vidal, local architect Jorge Torres, and New York–based interior designer Robert Couturier saw to it that Warner’s vision was executed down to the very last square inch.