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Hotel Del Coronado in-suite living room. Banner image above: Hard Rock Hotel
San Diego’s Suite Life
The perfect Valentine’s getaway would include a flight to Paris, reservation for lunch in the Eiffel Tower on February 14, and a gorgeous suite at Hôtel Plaza Athénée, Le Meurice, or George V.
If you overlooked making these arrangements, take heart. San Diego’s homegrown hotels offer world-class settings and a wide range of celebratory options.
Cuddling In Coronado
Loews Coronado Bay Resort seems to have been designed for romantic getaways. Located on a private 15-acre peninsula three miles south of downtown Coronado, the resort’s 440 spacious rooms all have ocean, bay, marina, or pool views. In addition, the four Bayside Villas enjoy a private location nestled above Coronado Bay. Here, water runs directly under the villas, and guests enjoy a front-row view of the San Diego skyline.
The Gondola Company, located at Loews’ 80-slip marina, offers the St. Valentino Cruise, the Sunset Cruise, and the Valentino Musica Cruise — all move quietly through the canals of Coronado Cays while passengers nibble chocolate-dipped strawberries and sip on the beverages of their choice. A violin or mandolin player serenades those who opt for musica. (619/424-4000, www.loewshotels.com)
Also in Coronado, the landmark Del is hosting a Sweetheart Gala in their historic Ballroom on February 14. The evening will include a four-course meal and dancing to the classic rock sounds of The Mar Dels. The suites to seek at this grand property are the new ones in the ultra-luxe Beach Village — an exclusive enclave within the oceanfront resort. Guests enjoy private pools and hot tubs, personalized concierge service, and private access to the beach. (619/435-6611, www.hoteldel.com)
Pampering In PB
The Sweet Suites and the Sanctuary Suites at Tower23 (T23) in Pacific Beach offer a sensual shared bathtub experience that seems designed for Valentine’s celebrants. The chromatherapy tub creates Champagne-like bubbles and features LED computerized lighting. These accommodations also come with king beds, Tempur-pedic mattresses, feather pillows, and Italian linens.
The Valentine’s package includes suite lodging, valet parking, welcome Champagne, a two-hour couple’s in-room spa service, as well as room service dinner and breakfast. According to T23 owner Brett Miller, the Valentine’s package was designed so that guests "won’t want to and don’t need to leave the room." (866/TOWER-23, www.tower23hotel.com)
Groovin’ In The Gaslamp
Premium guestrooms at Ivy Hotel, located on the corner of Sixth and F Streets, feature glass-enclosed tub-showers overlooking downtown San Diego. The Valentine’s package here includes Premium King Accommodation with a rose petal adorned bed, a bottle of Veuve Clicquot, chocolate-covered strawberries, bath butler service with Molton Brown bubble bath and scented candles, and VIP admission to Envy, the hotel’s popular underground nightclub. Unlike other San Diego destinations, Ivy — which opened last May — has an edgy L.A. vibe that fits in perfectly with the Gaslamp area. (619/814-1000, www.ivyhotel.com)
Blocks away, the Hard Rock Hotel offers love rock and roll style with the Between the Sheets package. Lovers are offered a custom playlist of songs to get you in the mood, sparkling wine in-room upon arrival, $200 credit in Rock Spa (which can also be used towards in-room treatments), $50 daily dining credit, and a surprise welcome gift. (619/702-3000, www.hardrockhotelsd.com)
Bedding Down In Bankers Hill
The Britt Scripps Inn, on the corner of Fourth and Maple streets, dates from 1887 and was once the "town home" of the Scripps Family. Today it is an impeccable nine-room bed-and-breakfast hotel replete with oriental rugs, well-cared-for antiques, beautiful chandeliers and wall sconces, and the original stained-glass windows. All rooms have Victorian decor and either a shower or a claw-foot tub. Upstairs rooms have San Diego skyline views.
On Valentine’s Day, hosts will offer a five-course dinner accompanied by a pianist playing the hotel’s antique Steinway baby grand. Package options include long-stemmed red roses and a bottle of Champagne with Waterford crystal flutes. (888/881-1991, www.brittscripps.com)
Lovin’ In La Jolla
La Valencia’s 15 Ocean View Villas exemplify the suite life La Jolla style. All offer views of the Pacific, king beds with down duvets, and a casually elegant home-away-from-home atmosphere, and most come with fireplaces. However, it’s the private butler service that sets the Ocean Villas apart from the hotel’s other gracious accommodations. This unprecedented level of service includes pre-stocking the refrigerator with a guest’s favorite pâté, filling the wet bar with a selection of single malt scotches, and making a Valentine’s dinner reservation in The Sky Room — easily the most romantic spot in the village. (858/454-0771, www.lavalencia.com)
On Valentine’s Day, Estancia La Jolla Hotel and Spa is initiating the sweepstakes of a lifetime for one lucky couple. The winners will be given a two-night stay in one of Estancia’s deluxe guestrooms, breakfast for two each morning, a half-day Ferrari F430 rental, limousine transportation to a three-hour luxury yacht cruise off the beautiful La Jolla coast, and a fabulous couple’s massage in their lush spa. Entries can be made online.
For those who don’t want to chance it, reservations can be made for Estancia’s Sweetheart Package, which features overnight accommodations in a lavish estate room, a Loving Hands couples massage, two glasses of Fireside Cabernet and handmade chocolates, a couple’s footbath, a candlelight dinner for two at Adobe El Restaurante, and a rose petal turndown service with sparkling wine and assorted fresh berries. (858/550-1000, www.estancialajolla.com)
Feasting At The Four Seasons
The Four Seasons Resort Aviara offers three luxury suites with separate king bedrooms, large marble master baths, formal living rooms, powder rooms, and large balconies or landscaped terraces from which to enjoy views of the golf course and lagoon.
From February 13-18, chef Stefano Paracucchi from Sarzana, Italy, will be the guest chef in the resort’s Vivace restaurant. Each evening, including Valentine’s Day, guests can choose from a four-course dinner for $75, a five-course meal for $95, or a unique "Duet" menu featuring selections from both Paracucchi and the Four Seasons’ chef Bryant Wigger for $125. (760/603-6800, www.fourseasons.com/aviara)
— Elizabeth Hansen
The Westin Monache lobby
Mountain Mogul
The Westin Monache Resort, Mammoth
The new Westin Monache Resort in Mammoth Lakes now offers mountain aficionados an upscale, full-service property. A heated driveway, candlelit lobby, and friendly concierge greet guests upon arrival at the 230-condominium resort, which also features an in-house ski valet and rental shop. Luxurious one- and two-bedroom suites offer gas fireplaces, Westin’s signature Heavenly Beds (a perfect embrace after a day on the slopes), plush bathrobes, flat screen TVs, and wireless high-speed Internet access. Centrally located in The Village at Mammoth, the Westin Monache is adjacent to Mammoth’s 15-passenger express gondola, which provides direct access to the Mountain’s 3,500 acres of terrain.
The resort’s Whitebark Restaurant is headed by executive chef Brandon Brocia, who returned to Mammoth after several years in Las Vegas, where he most recently served as executive banquet chef at the Hard Rock Hotel. Brocia speaks passionately about creating a menu for the restaurant that serves as a culinary playground in which he can give his creativity free reign. "I’m able to incorporate all the different aspects of all the different restaurants in Las Vegas," he says, adding, "both ones where I’ve worked and ones where I’ve visited — into one restaurant. It will create a very unique dining experience." Noted dishes include tajine offerings, a process by which moisture is circulated above a Moroccan clay dish to infuse flavors into the likes of sea bass with ginger, sake, and baby shiitakes.
Whitebark’s décor is equally unique. Reclaimed chestnut wood from barns in Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Virginia make up the 16-foot ceiling above the open fireplace — chestnut trees no longer grow in the U.S. as they were completely wiped out by a virus in 1920. The bar in the restaurant is made up entirely of a single 200-year-old walnut tree from Portland, Oregon, felled from a windstorm in the mid-1970s. Utilizing this downed and reclaimed wood eliminates the need for new growth cuts and allows for a more environmentally friendly atmosphere. The bar area is adorned with 375 California river rocks. Seven larger river rocks are also suspended at the entrance of the restaurant.
Skiers and snowboarders will be thrilled to know that Mammoth Mountain has invested more than $11 million within the past year in upgrades both on and off the mountain. A new high-speed six-pack chairlift, Cloud Nine Express, whisks skiers from the Eagle Lodge side of the mountain to 10,371 feet near Dragon’s Back in just over six minutes, providing access to hundreds of acres of intermediate and advanced terrain and cutting lift time in half.
Family Fun Terrain Park at Canyon Lodge has undergone a $250,000 renovation in preparation for this season. The relocated new park, renamed Wonderland Park, remains focused on freestyle development, offering entry-level terrain that includes box tops that sit on the snow, short rail slides, banked turns, rollers, and jumps. The 375-foot-long Mini Halfpipe has also been relocated. To accommodate the pipe, 3,500 feet of plumbing and 25 snow guns have been added to the area.
In addition, Mammoth has installed 3,000 feet of new snow fencing around the mountain to catch snow in areas without snowmaking capabilities — this includes the cat track from the top of the Panorama Gondola to the top of Chair 23. Five new snowcats have also joined Mammoth’s large grooming fleet this season, and four of the rental shops have undergone complete remodels.
With the addition of the Westin Monache and significent improvements to the mountain itself, there’s no question that Mammoth is California’s go-to ski resort, and one of the fastest-growing destinations in North America. (760/934-0400, www.westin.com/mammoth; www.mammothmountain.com) — Mia Stefanko
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