Carmel Valley Ranch, An Unbound Collection Hotel 

Need a reason to try out ranch life? Carmel Valley Ranch will give you ten. With plenty of noteworthy add-ons, this sultry and sustainable escape is all at once a holistic hideaway and a wild card of adventure.

Set hilltop in the Highlands, Carmel Valley Ranch has views you’d trade your soul for. As travellers, we’re rarely looking for just one thing from a holiday and this resort answers many calls. Find your flow with yoga and saddle up for horse riding. Take twilight strolls with naturalists and hike redwood-rich trails. You can do little to nothing too. Picnic amongst wild deer, mindlessly lounge by the pool, or drop in at Carmel’s beaches in just a 15-minute drive. Everything you eat and drink here is decisively local; garden-fresh food from the 2-acre organic plot, honey from the beehives, and wine from the hotel’s vines. There’s also an onsite creamery churning out cheese and ice cream in equal measure. Snuggle up with blankets by a fire pit at the Clubhouse Grill and go for country club feels in the Valley Kitchen. Suites all have contemporary oomph, private decks and fireplaces. Nab a Treetop suite and get an outdoor soaking tub too. With 500 acres of vineyards, lakes and valley floor, a shuttle bus will move you around from the golf course to the lap pool and the tennis courts to the spa. Locally Paid Fees & Taxes: Expect to pay approximately $50 per room per night for hotel resort fees and local taxes.

4 stars

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