Ritz Carlton Laguna Beach Hotel Review

The destination of choice on a recent winter vacation was Laguna Beach, just south of Los Angeles.

Being huge fans of the arts, we’d heard that Laguna Beach was a great place to visit for just that. The hotel of choice was the Ritz Carlton Laguna Beach.

Actually - I think it’s called the Laguna Niguel. We met a good friend from Canada down there who was also staying at the hotel on business. Since it was February, the temperatures during the day were mild, but warm. Whereas at night, the air was quite cool and you would definitely need a jacket.

The hotel is a few hours south of Los Angeles and not far north of San Diego. Having stayed at a number of excellent properties - I must say this is one of the best I’ve been to. I say this because of three reasons.

One, I love Southern California. Two, I love the Pacific Ocean - and this hotel is SO WELL positioned to take advantage of the Pacific for both views and accesibility. Third, I loved the architecture of this hotel - it’s sort of a neo-Tuscan design that feels very warm and inviting.

The service was excellent (with a minor mis-communication at the front desk regarding taxi service into town). The breakfast buffet is insane - bring pants with an elastic waist. And the property was simply awesome. Of course there is the usual spa facility with attractive ladies in white coats waiting take your credit card for what ever treatments you would expect at a resort like the Ritz.

The gym is the best I’ve been to, not because of the equipment (which I thought was actually mediocre), but because of the view. Oh man is that view a great way to kill some time burning off breakfast.

Inside the lobby area is a real wood burning fireplace which adds a to the already fantastic ambiance and was great on the cooler winter evenings.

This is definetily NOT a city hotel - rather, this is a quiet place for one of two things. Either relaxing and unwinding or for holding a conference or corporate retreat. I think the hotel is well suited for both options.

Every day we watched the sunset from the cliff directly in front of the hotel on the grass. A few bottles of Southern California wine, some adirondack chairs and the sights and sounds of the mighty Pacific Ocean are a great way to ease into the evening…you’ll want to do this while you’re there.

Speaking of the ocean - you can walk from the hotel property down to the beach very easily. Walking the beach is a blast. The surf is big in the winter and there were lots of very good surfers to watch. I found the sand to be clean and easy to walk on. It’s a great thing to do any time of the day - and I did it every day we were there.

Here are some pictures I took while staying at the Ritz Carlton Laguna Beach (31 of them to be exact):