Downtown, Civic Center & SoMa
The clear choice for traveling baseball fans, Hotel VIA right across from AT&T Park sports a fabulous guests-only rooftop bar with giant heat lamps, fire…
Must-see hotels in California
Mammoth Lakes
Close to Canyon Lodge, rooms here have modern knotty-pine furniture, thick down duvets and DVD players. Ski lockers, fireplaces, flat screen TVs and a…
Coastal Highway 1
Just south of Mendocino, this bright, woodsy place has 10 modern rooms (all with flat-screen televisions, gas fireplaces and spa bathtubs), and guests…
Humboldt Redwoods State Park Campgrounds
North Coast & Redwoods
The park runs three campgrounds, along with environmental camps, trail camps and a horse camp. Year-round Burlington Campground is beside the visitor…
Downtown, Civic Center & SoMa
This 1909 hotel was cleverly converted into a sharp-looking hostel with a college-dorm vibe and international students chilling out in the lounge. Private…
South Lake Tahoe & Stateline
Don’t let the Marriott chain-gang brand put you off this modern ski lodge with an enviable position, where you can watch the Heavenly Gondola whoosh by…
Hollywood
Location, location, location! This tower hotel soars beside the Hollywood & Highland shopping center, right in the heart of Hollywood. Rooms are clean,…
Point Reyes National Seashore Campgrounds
Marin County
Point Reyes has four extremely popular backcountry campgrounds with pit toilets, water (not always potable) and picnic tables (no fires). All require a 1…
Anaheim
About five minutes on foot to Disneyland, the large, four-story motel is recently renovated (though won't win any awards for chic design) around a large…
Sequoia National Park
This friendly campground, right outside the Ash Mountain Entrance to Sequoia park, is one of the best options in the area. It has free showers, clothes…
San Francisco
A portal to the Castro's disco heyday, this Edwardian townhouse is decked out with '70s-mod furnishings, trippy artwork and a jungle's worth of exotic…
Lake Tahoe
Upgraded with thick walls, soundproofed windows, and kitchenettes and gas fireplaces in every room, the family-run Firelite is a good-value stay in a…
Santa Monica
The friendly, family-run lodgings at this comfy 25-unit motel put you just a Frisbee toss from the beach on happening Main St (quadruple-pane windows help…
San Luis Obispo
On a tree-lined street near SLO's train station, this avocado-colored hostel inhabits a converted Victorian, giving it a bit of a B&B feel. Meet fellow…
Coastal Highway 1
Located a few minutes' stroll from the beach, try and reserve the Porch Suite with its cozy feel. All four rooms have fridges, microwaves and coffee…
Santa Monica
Across the street from Palisades Park and the Pacific beyond, this eye-catching, 1933 art deco landmark has a snug ocean-view veranda for breakfast (get…
Long Beach & San Pedro
Get rocked to sleep by the waves aboard your choice of five yachts sleeping three to five people. Each yacht is different, but all have galley kitchens…
La Jolla
This 1926 pink-walled, Mediterranean-style landmark was designed by William Templeton Johnson. Among its 115 rooms, those in the main building are rather…
Central Coast
Located at the quieter southern end of the Embarcadero, this recently renovated property features 33 chic and spacious rooms, some with excellent views of…
Santa Monica
Modern with clean lines, lots of woods, whites with pops of orange and aqua, this is Santa Monica's only gold LEED-certified (low carbon footprint) hotel…
Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Brentwood & Westwood
Mid-century modern gets a 21st-century spin at this fashion-crowd fave, which was Marilyn Monroe’s old pad in its days as an apartment building. Funky…
Sonoma
On a historic farmstead surrounded by rolling hills, rooms in this Swiss-chalet-style house are adorned with little balconies and country-style bric-a…
Gold Country
A quarter mile off Hwy 49, just south of the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park, this site is more built-up than other area campgrounds. There’s…
Lake Tahoe
These cottages consist of a cluster of about 20 little storybook houses in the pines, with name tags fashioned from hand saws. They sport beautiful…
Downtown, Civic Center & SoMa
The city's most famous doormen, clad like cartoon Beefeaters, greet you at this 1920s tower. The Spanish-Moorish lobby is magnificent, but the smallish,…
San Fernando Valley
Ignore the oh-so-corporate moniker. This tower hotel with a frosted-glass facade has class and value around a soaring atrium lobby. All rooms are suites,…
Napa Valley
This boutique hotel has just 20 rooms, each with its own style, but a playful hacienda-meets-Tuscany-meets-Yountville motif running throughout. The bath…
Venice, Marina Del Rey & Playa del Rey
Set in a string of boho studio and apartment hotels overlooking the Boardwalk, rooms here are fairly large with new wood floors, wall-mounted flat-screen…
Yosemite National Park
Set amid the magnificent high country, about 60 miles from Yosemite Valley off Tioga Rd, this option attracts hikers to its 69 canvas tent cabins with two…
San Diego
Family-owned and operated, Beach Cottages has everything from plain motel rooms to cozy 1940s cottages, just across the bike path from the sand. Sure,…
Russian River Area
Rooms surround a swimming-pool courtyard (with Jacuzzi) at this 14-room adults-only resort, gussied up in minimalist modern style. The look is austere but…
Sonoma Valley
The hippest Hampton Inn you'll ever see, this boutique-style offering is situated in the gorgeous 1892 historic Petaluma silk mill. Rooms come with high…
Along Highway 101
Located right on the main road, so handy for shops and restaurants, these funky little cottages are a delight. Sizes and facilities vary greatly, but all…
Downtown, Civic Center & SoMa
This is one of SF's most storied hotels – Gerald Ford was shot right outside, and Reagan was kept awake by Union Sq protests. Tower rooms offer stellar…
Napa Valley
This sprawled out central Yountville hotel is what your Napa dreams are made of: large rooms come with fireplaces and tasteful modern furniture; upstairs…
Death Valley National Park
With no TV, no wi-fi and soft mattresses, don't come to this sprawling motel looking for luxury. But what it lacks in comforts, it makes up in kookiness…
Downtown, Civic Center & SoMa
A tourist-class hotel in a prime location, the Mosser has tiny rooms and tinier bathrooms – but rates for rooms with shared bathrooms are (sometimes) a…
Huntington Beach
The sprawling, lounge-filled poolside is reminiscent of Vegas, but then you see the backdrop: miles and miles of gorgeous deep-blue sea. As you enter,…
Sequoia National Park
These nine cottages, cabins and chalets (most with kitchens and the rest with kitchenettes) border the park and are great for families or groups. Most…
Orange County
On a former dairy farm in Brea Dam State Park, 6 miles north of Disneyland, this two-story hacienda houses 20 beds in three dorm types (male, female,…
