Oakland
Artist and activist Traci 'B-Love' Bartlow rents out part of her funky, friendly West Oakland home, which is cannabis friendly and includes a garden with…
Must-see hotels in California
Russian River Area
This lovely lakeside park, 4 miles from downtown is open year-round, with lake swimming (complete with a floating playground) in summer. Take 4th St…
Kings Canyon National Park
Sentinel is Cedar Grove’s busiest and most centrally located campground, near the visitor center and campfire ranger programs (open in summer only)…
Lake Tahoe
This recently upgraded lodge features modern rooms with new bathrooms, pillow-top mattresses and flat-screen TVs, afternoon tea and cookies, and a guests…
Mono Lake Region
A swanky spot for these parts, Double Eagle has sleek two-bedroom log cabins and comfortable balconied hotel rooms. Worries disappear at the elegant spa,…
South Lake Tahoe & Stateline
A refashioned motel with hipster edge, here recycled, rescued and re-envisioned building materials have made a LEED-certified property an aesthetically…
North Coast & Redwoods
The motel is a marvel: it’s paneling came from a single curly redwood tree that measured over 18ft thick in diameter. Progressively restored and polished…
Marin County
A crusty old place dating to 1851, Smiley’s has simple but decent rooms (no TV or phone), and last-minute weekday rates can be a bargain. The bar, which…
Redding & Around
Just steps from the Sacramento River Trail, this modern, ranch-style home has three comfortable upstairs rooms, two with decks. It’s a bit suburban, but…
Marin County
Wake up to grazing deer and dew on the ground at this spartan 1907 military compound snuggled in the woods. It has comfortable beds and two well-stocked…
The Deserts
Rooms are snug but modern and come with black-out draperies and triple-paned windows at this three-story, 65-room motel near the freeway. There's a pool…
Berkeley
A gorgeous 1928 arts-and-crafts building that was originally a women’s club, the Bancroft is just across the street from campus and two blocks from…
San Diego
Wake up to the sound of surf crashing onto the rocky shore at this privately owned 1950s charmer wrapped around a flower-bedecked courtyard with a heated…
Gold Country
Among a handful of restored Victorian hotels in the area, City Hotel is the most elegant, with rooms that overlook a shady stretch of Main St. Adjoining…
Mono Lake Region
The 1923 Virginia Lakes Resort has snug cabins (accommodating two to nine people, usually with at least a three-day minimum stay) with kitchens, a cafe…
Greater Palm Springs
At this 1947 gem, designed by William F Cody, groovy lobby tunes usher you to a saltwater pool and ineffably chic mid-Century Modern rooms. The pricier…
Coastal Orange County
The only motel within walking distance of Main St and the beach, this friendly, 71-room spot has rooms with down comforters and comfy mattresses. The…
San Fernando Valley
This 1950s motel boasts a vintage neon sign, beds are draped in animal-print bedspreads, and framed poster art adds charm to rooms that are otherwise on…
Central Coast
Expect a superwarm welcome from the hands-on owners of this vintage motel, which has a pretty cottage garden with Cape Cod chairs and ocean views. Some of…
North Coast & Redwoods
Elk roam this popular campground, where you can sleep under redwoods or at the prairie’s edge. There are hike-in sites, four six-person cabins and hot…
Coastal Highway 1
This historic 1860s estate 2 miles south of town has organic gardens, grazing llamas (with daily feedings at dusk), chickens for those breakfast eggs,…
Leo Carrillo State Park Campground
Malibu & Pacific Palisades
This kid-friendly campground sits on a famous 1.5-mile stretch of beach. Offshore kelp beds, caves, tide pools, plus the wilderness of the Santa Monica…
Kings Canyon National Park
An atmospheric building hung with historical black-and-white photographs, this is a place to lay your head and still feel like you’re in the forest. Wide…
Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Brentwood & Westwood
What was once an apartment complex for stars of the silent-movie era is now the Crescent, its eclectic fireside lounge splashed with turquoise accents,…
Northern Mountains
Even though it feels like a B&B, it’s a bit of a misnomer. Without breakfast, Ada’s is just an excellent B. No problem, as each of the three brightly…
Jalama Beach County Park Campground
Santa Barbara County
If you like the wind to clear the cobwebs from your head, book ahead for this beachfront campground in an untamed, remote location about 60km west of…
The Deserts
Turn back the clock at this romantic B&B where rooms are spread across an arts-and-crafts lodge and a dozen cozy cottages are spaced around a garden with…
Kings Canyon National Park
The 121 well-spaced, but often sunny and exposed, sites open intermittently as overflow space is needed near Cedar Grove (eg on summer weekends and…
Mt Shasta Region
Made up of two houses in the center of town: one is a meticulously kept Victorian cottage stuffed with fussy knickknacks; the other a Spanish-style two…
Napa
Eight pristine cottages of quality construction – made for romantic hideaways, with extralong soaking tubs, indoor gas fireplaces and outdoor campfire…
San Fernando Valley
A fun, great-value boutique property and walkable to Universal Studios in about .5 miles, the BLVD has 69 spacious, IKEA-chic rooms with pillow-top beds,…
Santa Cruz
In a classy Victorian house west of the wharf, this boutique inn’s quaint rooms mix seagrass wicker, dark wood and jaunty striped curtains. The most…
The Peninsula
Remodeled to keep up with Silicon Valley techies and venture capitalists through 2019, this sleek downtown boutique hotel has its own tech concierge and…
Gold Country
There was some controversy when they started gutting the beloved American Exchange, which had stood in repose for more than 150 years. The bricks and…
San Joaquin Valley
These campgrounds line the 10-mile stretch between Lake Isabella and Kernville, and several more lie north of Kernville on Mountain Hwy 99. There are…
Russian River Area
At Railroad Sq, Hotel La Rose has rooms in a well-kept historic 1907 brick hotel and across the street in a 1980s-built 'carriage house,' which feels like…
Napa Valley
The outdoors flows indoors at California’s first-ever (for what it's worth) LEED-platinum-certified green hotel, made of recycled everything, styled in…
Los Angeles
Around a leafy courtyard lined with shops and cafes, the Metropole has spotless rooms with dark wood floors, crisp white bedding, fireplaces, soaker tubs…
Mammoth Lakes
It’s amenities galore at this pretty inn at the end of a commercial strip, with down comforters and fluffy terry robes, a sauna, hot tub and a fun pool…
West of I-5
This very quiet and rustic motel is tucked under ponderosa pines at the west end of town, just off Main St, next to the library. It’s a set of red wooden…
