Kimpton Shorebreak Hotel

Among the legendary towns on the California coast Huntington Beach is afforded an almost mythic status. This is Surf City, quite possibly one of America’s mellowest places, and as such it’s finally got the hotel it deserves, courtesy of the Kimpton hotel group: the Shorebreak Hotel, right on the Pacific Coast Highway overlooking the Huntington Beach Pier.

The Shorebreak is free to fully inhabit its niche as a laid-back coastal escape, all sunny charm without a hint of pretension and with some high-end comforts that belie the surf-shack ambience: flat-panel HDTVs, iPod docking stereos, and a fully equipped fitness center, complete with yoga studio.

If you’re a surfer, the charms of a place called Surf City hardly need enumerating. But even if you’re not, you’ll find Huntington Beach conducive to pretty much any kind of outdoor activity, from the strenuous to the deeply relaxed. Aside from the miles of beaches you’ve got any number of al fresco cafés and restaurants, especially on the Strand — and meanwhile back at the ranch there’s Pacific Hideaway, the Shorebreak’s open-plan show-kitchen eatery, serving Latin- and Asian-inflected California cuisine in a near-perfect seaside setting overlooking the Pacific.