Rancho Bernardo Inn

Twenty-five minutes north of San Diego in the San Pasqual Valley, the Rancho Bernardo Inn offers the sort of secluded and tranquil experience that’s hard to come by in overbuilt and hyperactive Southern California. Still, this is no austere eco-retreat; focusing on top-notch recreation facilities and fine dining, Rancho Bernardo is rather more like a country club with a full-service luxury hotel attached.

As for style, though, it’s anything but the anonymous golf-resort standard—here, whitewashed stucco walls, exposed ceiling beams and Moorish-via-Spain columns and archways mark the public spaces, and guest rooms are rich and elegant in browns and whites, meticulously decorated and looking more like residential interiors than hotel rooms.

El Bizcocho, the formal French restaurant, is possibly San Diego’s finest, and the outdoor Veranda Grill is a worthy offering as well. Business facilities are extensive, with meeting capacity in the hundreds—but it’s leisure that attracts most guests.

Outdoor recreation is the Rancho Bernardo’s bread and butter. The Tennis College features no fewer than twelve courts, including two stadium courts, and offers two-, three- and five-day instructional programs. Golfers enjoy the Resort Course, one of the area’s most picturesque, and the hotel’s spa offers everything from massage and beauty treatments to yoga, fitness, and diet analysis. Not exactly Walden Pond, to be sure, but a welcome respite from Southern California urban life, with just the right blend of convenience, seclusion, leisure and activity.