Little Sur Inn, Moonstone Beach, Cambria

The thousands of elephant seals jostling at the Elephant Seal Rookery at Piedras Blancas, 7 miles north of San Simeon, are a treat for the eyes and an amazing spectacle for any city slicker passing along the Pacific Coast Highway to or from LA or San Francisco. The coast here is also very well known for whale watching with schools of dolphins frolicking and cavorting just offshore. Moonstone Beach in Cambria, shrouded in a misty fog and the tang of the fresh and salty ocean wind, is one of the most beautiful and lonesome beaches in California, and it really tugs at your heart strings when you hear the cry of the sea otters. Photo credit - Marinebio.net

The area is also well known for landmarks like the Hearst Castle, Piedras Blancas Lighthouse and Nitt Witt Ridge. All this is in addition to the magnificient surfing, beach front resorts and ocean view diners lined up at Carmel, Big Sur, Monterey and all along Highway 101.

Ok, so now you get that a Pacific Coast Highway road trip to this area would make for a truly refreshing getaway from LA or San Francisco. What about lodging on this leg of your trip? If you want to explore in full the pleasures of San Simeon, Big Sur and Cambria, what you need to do is put up at the Little Sur Inn. It's minutes away from Hearst Castle, and centrally located for an extensive tour of everything in the area. Out of all the San Simeon and Cambria hotels, the best one I found - in terms of price, location and amenities & services provided - was the Little Sur Inn.

Guest rooms and suites at the Little Sur Inn are clean and spacious and equipped with a fireplace, cable television, movie channels and VCR with free videos available on request, refrigerator, bottled water, microwave, private bath and bath tub, shower with marble bathrooms, table with chairs, coffee maker, hairdryer, and iron & ironing board. Photo credit - TripAdvisor

The ocean view rooms additionally have a balcony or patio with a whirlpool jacuzzi tub. Room rates start at $175 plus taxes for a standard room with 2 queen beds and a capacity to accomodate 4 guests. That includes a continental breakfast with fruits and rolls and coffee/tea, and afternoon snacks with cheese and crackers. There's also a neat seafood joint right next door called the Sea Chest Restaurant & Oyster Bar.

If you divvy up the cost of the room as a group of 4, and subtract the cost of breakfast, that makes for heck of a cheap hotel in a central beachfront location with an ocean view and plenty of amenities and services provided. Can't really ask for more.

Info: 6190 Moonstone Beach Dr, Cambria, CA 93428; (805) 927-1329

Chaminade Santa Cruz Hotel

Built high on a mountain ridge, the Chaminade Santa Cruz resort hotel has a sweeping view of Monterey Bay on one hand and the backdrop of the Santa Cruz mountains on the other. There's plenty of upscale Santa Cruz hotels, but the Chaminade tops all that, and sets a very high bar for Santa Cruz luxury hospitality. What I'm trying to say, I guess, is that even for a CA hotel reviewer pampered by five star hotels in LA, San Francisco and San Diego, the absolute decadence and opulence of the Chaminade is stunning. That could be because its so spacious and looks like one of those Spanish palaces you see in the movies, being lived in by a rich Columbian druglord or something like that. Be that as it may, fact remains that the Chaminade knows how to pamper guests.

Its more of a resort than a hotel, with the rooms spread out in multiple buildings all over the grounds, with a full service spa, extensive amenities and services for business travelers and conferences, including a 24 hour business center with 12,000 sq ft of meeting space, 12 meeting rooms, fully catered and hosted indoor and outdoor event organization and management services and a state-of-the-art presentation equipment. There's also an inviting fitness center with free weights, treadmills, rowing machines, yoga classes and a steam, sauna and whirlpool. Additional amenities and services for guests at the Chaminade include a concierge, an ATM machine, a gift shop, safe deposit boxes, dry cleaning services, heated swimming pool, two outdoor jacuzzis, four tennis courts, and additional space and arrangements for volleyball, badminton and croquest, long with hiking trails leading off the grounds.

The Chaminade was recently and extensively renovted at a cost of about $6 million, and all that money shows up in the 156 plush guest rooms and suites with contemporary Spanish decor and the solid granite bathrooms with Aveda bath products, the private patio with a view of Monterey Bay, in-room access to high speed internet, refirigirator, wet bar, a coffee maker, iron and a safe. And the bed and the pillows and cushions are something you can really, literally sink into and enjoy a feeling of being wrapped in a cocoon of luxury. Room rates start at $199 plus taxes, and a junior suite clocks in at $249 plus taxes.

Catering, room service and dining at the Chaminade are in the capable hands of the chefs at the highly regarded Sunset Restaurant and Linwood's Lounge. Sunset whips up one heck of a Sunday Brunch, with slow roasted prime rib, an omelette station and a choice selection of entrees. Usual meals, including breakfast, lunch and dinner are available, and the Sunset's specialties are Texas barbeques and seafood cookouts. Linwood's is the perfect place to unwind after a full day of shopping, sightseeing and visiting the local attractions. In addition to an outdoor firepit and patio seating with a spectacular view of the Bay, Linwood's also has televisions, a sull service bar where you can kickback with some drinks and watch a game, or play some pool.

Info: 1 Chaminade Lane Santa Cruz CA 95065; (800) 283-6569; Images copyrights & courtesy Chaminade