Side-by-side
One&Only Lord Howe Island vs One&Only Palmilla
One&Only Lord Howe Island takes the higher Fat Score, 17.5/20 to 17.0/20 — but it's a genuine choice: pick One&Only Lord Howe Island for dining, One&Only Palmilla for wellness.
Scored across five dimensions — Service, Design, Location, Dining, and Wellness — from signals across luxury travel communities, editorial publications, and verified guests.
Scoreboard
| Dimension | One&Only Lord Howe Island | One&Only Palmilla |
|---|---|---|
| Tier | Fat Favorite | Fat Favorite |
| Overall Fat Score | 17.5/20Wins | 17.0/20 |
| Service | 18.5 | 18.0 |
| Design | 17.0 | 16.5 |
| Location | 19.0 | 18.0 |
| Dining | 17.0 | 15.5 |
| Wellness | 15.0 | 17.0 |
The Verdicts
One&Only Lord Howe Island
Capella Lodge is as close to a perfect argument for a specific place as Australian luxury hospitality gets. Perched on a bluff facing the twin volcanic peaks of Mt Gower and Mt Lidgbird — with zero civilization in the sightline — the views here rival anything Bora Bora or Kauai can offer, which is saying something. At just nine rooms, the lodge operates with the intimacy of a private house: staff know your name before you do, menus change nightly, and packed beach picnics arrive complete with tablecloths and napkins. The one honest caveat is that the wellness infrastructure — a compact deck pool and limited e-bikes — doesn't quite match the ambition of the rest of the experience. For what it is — an ultra-boutique escape on one of the world's most protected islands — Capella Lodge is genuinely irreplaceable.
One&Only Palmilla
One&Only Palmilla is the sentimental favorite in Los Cabos for good reason — a property that opened in 1956 when Cabo had 300 residents and has been refining the art of understated Mexican hacienda luxury ever since. The setting is genuinely remarkable: lush, hand-cultivated grounds that feel like a cool oasis the moment you pass through the copal smoke at the entrance, framed by crisp white colonial architecture tumbling down a dramatic Sea of Cortez coastline. What truly separates Palmilla from the newer competition — the Four Seasons, the Rosewood, the Waldorf — is its service culture: a 48% return-guest rate doesn't lie, and the staff's warmth (the hand-over-heart greeting is sincere, not performative) and proactive personalization consistently outpace peers. The rooms carry some age, and the food and beverage pricing is genuinely aggressive even by ultra-luxury standards — a $35 guacamole and $30 margaritas will test your zen. What you're buying here is something the newer properties haven't yet earned: a soul.
Strengths & trade-offs
One&Only Lord Howe Island
Strengths
- Unobstructed views of Mt Gower and Mt Lidgbird with no competing structures in the sightline
- Nine-room intimacy drives staff personalization that larger properties simply cannot replicate
- Nightly changing fine-dining menus with premium wine inclusions and pre-dinner canapés at sunset
- Full-board package includes curated beach picnics delivered to your chosen cove
- Complimentary loan of e-bikes, snorkel gear, and golf carts for island exploration
Trade-offs
- Pool and deck are small relative to the price point — not a destination wellness property
- Limited e-bike fleet creates competition among guests during peak island days
- Value proposition questioned by some guests given overall package pricing
One&Only Palmilla
Strengths
- Service culture is class-leading in Cabo — proactive, warm, and deeply personalized with dedicated hosts
- One of the very few swimmable beaches in Los Cabos, with rocky coves, floating beds, and dedicated beach butlers
- Lush, decades-old hacienda grounds create a genuine oasis in the desert — unmatched atmosphere in the corridor
- 25,000 sq ft spa with Temazcal ceremony, wet shave, thermal circuit, and complimentary pool-side foot massages
- Dual-zone layout (family and adults-only) with assigned pool loungers — no 5am chair-saving required
Trade-offs
- F&B pricing is shockingly aggressive even for ultra-luxury — $30 margaritas and $35 guacamole are consistent complaints across multiple guest cohorts
- Rooms and bathrooms feel dated compared to newer Cabo competitors like Four Seasons Cabo del Sol
- Inconsistent service recovery — management responsiveness and spa scheduling errors surface across recent reviews
- No on-property water bottle refill station or cooler access, creating friction for hydration between service windows