Region · California

Top Hotels in California

The finest properties across California, ranked by editorial merit.

Editor's Pick · The Rest, In No Particular Order

Auberge du Soleil

Rutherford · California

Napa's original luxury hotel, high on a hill in Rutherford — an olive grove, a Michelin kitchen, and Cabernet country at your feet.

Hotel Bel-Air

Los Angeles · California

Twelve acres of hidden gardens in Bel Air — Grace Kelly's favorite, with a swan lake and a La Prairie spa.

Meadowood Napa Valley

St. Helena · California

A 250-acre Napa estate with its own croquet lawns — being rebuilt after 2020's fires, but the Cabernet cellar survives.

Post Ranch Inn

Big Sur · California

Big Sur's cliff-edge sanctuary — tree houses and ocean houses a thousand feet above the Pacific.

Shutters on the Beach

Santa Monica · California

The only actual beachfront hotel in Santa Monica — Cape Cod shingle and an ocean at the door.

The Resort at Pelican Hill

Newport Coast · California

Palladian bungalows on a 500-acre Newport Coast bluff — two Tom Fazio courses and a 136-foot circular pool.