Best Luxury Hotels in California

This Forbes Five-Star and AAA Five-Diamond luxury resort has an enviable coastal location in a quiet neighbourhood, along with excellent amenities. There’s an 18-hole Arnold Palmer designed golf course, first-rate tennis courts, a spa with 20 treatment rooms, an adult-only pool and cabanas, waterslides for the kids, and a sociable programme of varied activities ideal for those travelling solo. The Park Hyatt Aviara is sizable – it has 327 spacious rooms and lots going on throughout the day and night. This makes it perfect for families – or single travellers – wanting plenty to do, both in and around the hotel’s perimeter.

Hotel Paradox, located in Santa Cruz, California, combines modern comfort with eco-conscious design in a boutique setting. Established in 1967 and recently renovated, the hotel features 170 rooms, including suites with private balconies. Guests enjoy amenities such as a restaurant with organic cuisine, a full-service spa, an outdoor heated pool, a hot tub, and a well-equipped fitness centre. The hotel’s commitment to sustainability and its central location offer easy access to local attractions like the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, making it an ideal choice for both leisure and business travellers.

Lido House, Autograph Collection occupies the site of the former City Hall and is now a beautiful boutique hotel which perfectly encapsulates an authentic beach house experience. It has a Cape Cod meets nautical feel, designed by Los Angeles-based architect Rob Sinclair and a five-storey lighthouse as part of its makeup. Comprising 130 stylish guest rooms, including five unique cottages with private roof terraces with BBQs. Dining takes place at the Mayor’s Table restaurant with its open kitchen, bar and glass-walled wine room, while outdoors guests can enjoy drinks at Topside, the only Newport Beach wine bar with a rooftop, it’s a sophisticated space with celebration-worthy views. Leisure facilities also include an outdoor pool, 24-hour fitness centre and a Spa.

Set downtown in the lively Gaslamp Quarter, this smart 12-storey hotel opened in 2017. Geared toward a young and trendy crowd, it has a stylish rooftop pool house (the place to party on summer nights), a chic cocktail bar, a nightclub, multiple restaurants, a beer hall, coffee bar, Moët & Chandon champagne vending machine and a bijou boutique. Urban rooms have ocean-inspired artwork, vintage writing desks, 50” TVs and French macarons popped on the pillow during the nightly turndown service. On higher levels, guests can enjoy views across the city and toward the bay.

Occupying 16 acres, this 2009 build (renovated in 2020), has a more resort feel, with sprawling grounds incorporating courtyard gardens, a chic pool terrace and low-rise accommodation. It has 121 bedrooms and a Forbes Five Star rating. Guest amenities include a Sense Spa, an Alex Chases Salon and meeting rooms including a glittering 2,800-square-foot ballroom. Madera is the hotel’s signature restaurant, with a wood-burning kitchen cooking up Bay Area favourites and private dining areas. Additionally, there’s The Library & Bar for cocktails and light bites and The Pool Bar & Grill for snacks, sandwiches and smoothies.

Stay among the gated communities of Rancho Mirage, in this Ritz-Carlton property overlooking Coachella Valley — the hotel’s Edge Steakhouse offers some of the best vistas. The hotel opened in 1988 but has been modernised many times since. It has two restaurants serving seasonal dishes, two pools surrounded by plush exclusive cabanas and a high tech fitness centre. Its spa treatments take their inspiration from the surrounding land, using indigenous botanicals within the treatments. And guests can join yoga classes or request personal training sessions. Bedrooms exude a typical Palm Springs feel, with polished dark wood, offset by light-coloured soft furnishings.

A veteran of the LA hotel scene at over a century old, this grand hotel was rebuilt (to be earthquake-proof) in the 1980s. Flanked by the San Gabriel mountains, its 23 acres include Japanese gardens, a croquet lawn, a badminton area and an outdoor pool. Inside, guests can enjoy a European style vintage opulence. Chinese medicine-based treatments are offered at the Chuan Spa. And meals are taken alfresco on a poolside terrace, or in The Royce Wood-Fired Steakhouse, while an art deco era prohibition-style bar is a sophisticated spot for cocktails.

With 100 rooms and suites, The Exchange brings Hilton’s Curio Collection to a historic bank building in downtown Sacramento. Retaining the grand proportions of its early 20th-century architecture, the hotel now showcases industrial-chic interiors that mix exposed brick, steel detailing and sleek contemporary design. Its location places guests minutes from the Golden 1 Center and the vibrant restaurants of the city centre.

The hotel’s restaurant, Willie’s, is a local favourite for modern comfort food with a Californian twist, while the bar buzzes with craft cocktails and small plates. Guests have access to a fitness studio, and concierge staff can arrange transfers and experiences around town. This is a property that merges history with modernity, creating a boutique-style stay within an urban landmark.

Surrounded by hundreds of acres of vineyards and a backdrop of forests and mountains, the Four Seasons Resort and Residences offers a supreme location. It’s set on a highly esteemed vineyard in Calistoga and is brand new for November 2021. The resort has 85 bedrooms and suites and a stone spa sanctuary with the option of alfresco treatments using local mud. The dining offer includes Truss, with its signature farm-to-table dishes, a Californian-Mexican open-air eatery and a wine tasting room. There are two outdoor pools one of which is adults only and a programme of activities for younger guests, making it ideal for families wishing to relax together.

With 618 rooms and suites, The Westin Anaheim Resort is a polished, modern retreat perfectly placed opposite the Disneyland Resort in Orange County. Designed to bring together Westin’s signature wellness philosophy with California’s sun-drenched lifestyle, the hotel’s light-filled interiors feature warm neutral tones, contemporary furnishings, and locally inspired art.

Guests can dine at seven on-site venues, including Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, Puesto Mexican Artisan Kitchen & Bar, Bella’s Kitchen, and the rooftop RISE Rooftop Lounge, offering panoramic views of the Disneyland fireworks. The resort also houses a large outdoor heated pool, whirlpool, WestinWORKOUT Fitness Studio, and a full-service spa offering facials and massages.

Ideal for both leisure and business travellers, the property includes 47,000 square feet of event space and is within walking distance of the Anaheim Convention Center.

First imagined by the French restauranteur Claude Claude Rouas in the 1980s, this was the valley’s original fine-dining destination. Here hotel guests get a taste of Provence, surrounded by US wine country. There are 50 bedrooms at the property ranging from private Maisons to classic rooms. But of course, it’s the culinary offer that is the highlight at Auberge du Soleil. Three and four-course set menus are offered alongside five and six-course tasting menus – these are sensory experiences that excite the pallet. Meals are accompanied by French-inspired cocktails, bubbles from the tableside champagne cart and of course the extensive wine list. There’s also a bistro and bar for a more relaxed approach to mealtime, with stunning sunset views at the end of the day. Auberge du Soleil has been in receipt of a Michelin star for 14 consecutive years.

Opened in 2009, this 62 room boutique hotel and spa are set on a five-acre site in Yountville. The brand is committed to sustainability with reusable materials, including salvaged wood, found throughout the property. Bardessono Hotel may be eco-friendly, but it’s nevertheless extremely luxurious. The rooms teem with natural light thanks to large picture windows, fountains bubble outside and art adorns the walls. It has a heated rooftop pool with a hot tub and gym, yoga classes and complimentary bike hire for those who wish to get active. Guests seeking the VIP treatment can book a steam spa suite with champagne soaking tubs and massage tables. Many rooms offer 100% Egyptian cotton linens, gas fireplaces, REN toiletries and iPads for use during the stay.