Carmel Valley Ranch

Carmel Valley’s unique microclimate bathes the course in more than 300 days of sunshine each year, giving you 300 chances to chip away at your handicap or best your golf buds. Our E-Z-Go golf carts are equipped with GPS technology to help you go flag hunting. Pete Dye tamed Mother Nature with two signature holes (11 and 13) that boast breathtaking drops into the valleys. Other holes wind through vineyards, lavender fields, ponds and old-growth oak groves, where deer, wild turkey, birdies, eagles and the rarely spotted albatross roam free.

Everything you’ve heard about Carmel (also called Carmel-by-the-Sea), a town of 4,000 or so people in Monterey County, is true. The beaches are splendid, with their smooth and powdery white sands. Carmel’s most famous resident (and former mayor) Clint Eastwood embodies what the local, well-heeled crowd adores about their zip code: discreet wealth. And the town itself is impossibly charming, dotted with fairytale-like cottages by Hugh Comstock, and locally-owned specialty shops and galleries. (Be sure to make a pit stop at Carmel Bakery. It’s the oldest running business in town and doles out gloriously big, puffy, and chewy pretzels.)So, there’s plenty to see and do in the area. But, where should you stay?

This is where Carmel Valley Ranch, a 500-acre, 180-suite luxury resort located a few miles from downtown, enters the picture. It’s also a member of Joie De Vivre Hotels, a collection of 28 American destination-focused properties that embrace and celebrate the unique qualities of their locations. When billionaire and Hyatt heir John Pritzker took over Carmel Valley Ranch in 2009, he had a single goal: to transform the once-stodgy resort into a truly family-friendly destination with fun and well-being in mind. And today, it’s tough to imagine another spot in Northern California that leaves guests from all walks of life feeling as pampered, rejuvenated, and dare I say, healthy, as Carmel Valley Ranch does.