The Lodge at Torrey Pines

Character and identity

Perched on a bluff above the Pacific in La Jolla, this 170-room lodge is a meticulous homage to early California Craftsman architecture, modelled on the Greene & Greene Gamble and Blacker houses in Pasadena. Expect post-and-beam construction, stained glass, hand-carved woodwork, clinker brick, and Stickley-style furnishings throughout, with kilted doormen at the porte cochère setting an idiosyncratic tone. The 18th green of the Torrey Pines Golf Course sits next door, with Torrey Pines State Reserve beyond. A.R. Valentien handles serious farm-to-table dinners, The Grill does the famous Drugstore Burger, and the spa runs 12 treatment rooms plus two pools. Service reads country-club polished without the snobbery.

Who's it for

Bottom line

The defining experience here is the package: a Craftsman-era estate next door to one of the country's great public golf courses, with cooking and a spa programme strong enough to justify the trip on their own. Book a Palisade Suite for the private patio and ocean-and-fairway views, ideally with a North Course tee-time package, and lean into the foggy mornings when the in-room fireplaces earn their keep.