Top 10 🧳 Weekend Away

Guesthouse Lake Tahoe

Truckee

01🏆 TOP SPOTThe place we’d send you first$$$$

⭐Bucket List

Guesthouse Lake Tahoe rethinks the mountain getaway as something between a private home and a boutique hotel. Set in Truckee near the historic downtown core, the campus pairs beautifully designed spaces with an unusually hands-on hospitality model built around a private chef, house captain and local guide.

The move

Book this for a group weekend and lean into the service. Let the private chef handle a major dinner, use the local guide to shape one day outdoors, and still leave time to walk into Truckee for drinks or a change of scenery.

The Sea Ranch Lodge

Sea Ranch

02TOP 3 · #2One of our three strongest picks$$$$

❤️Date Night☀️Outdoor

The Sea Ranch Lodge is the kind of Northern California escape where the architecture, landscape and food all feel like parts of the same idea. Its 17 guest rooms sit against the dramatic Sonoma Coast, with immediate access to ocean bluffs, trails and the larger Sea Ranch community.

The move

Arrive early enough to walk the Bluff Trail before sunset, have a drink in the Bar + Lounge, then make The Dining Room the centerpiece of the night. The next morning, grab coffee or picnic provisions from The Café before heading back outside.

Little River Inn

Little River

03TOP 3 · #3One of our three strongest picks$$$

🏛️Historic Spot❤️Date Night👨‍👩‍👧Family Friendly

Little River Inn is the classic Mendocino Coast weekend: ocean views, fireplaces, soaking tubs and a family-run sense of hospitality that has endured for generations. With more than 60 rooms, its own restaurant, an iconic bar and a golf course tucked into the redwoods, it feels less like a boutique hideout and more like a small coastal institution.

The move

Get an ocean-facing room, have a pre-dinner drink at Ole's Whale Watch Bar, eat at the restaurant and leave the next morning open for a slow breakfast and a drive up the coast.

Everline Resort & Spa

Olympic Valley

04$$$$

👨‍👩‍👧Family Friendly

Everline Resort & Spa is the full-scale Tahoe answer on this list: 405 rooms, suites and rental lodgings at the base of Palisades Tahoe, with ski-in/ski-out access, mountain views and enough resort infrastructure to make a weekend easy for couples, families or larger groups.

The move

Use Everline as headquarters. Ski or hike during the day, return for the spa or pool, then do dinner without getting back in the car.

The Village / Solstice

Big Sur

05$$$

🤯Cool & Unique☀️Outdoor

The Village earns its Weekend Away spot differently from every hotel on this list. This is a Big Sur destination built around food, community and place, with Solstice as the culinary anchor and Big Sur Bodega adding a more casual layer to the stop.

The move

Build the afternoon and evening around The Village. Give yourself time for Big Sur before dinner, eat at Solstice and browse Big Sur Bodega rather than rushing in for a single reservation and immediately leaving.

Harbor House Inn

Elk

06$$$$

⭐2 Michelin Stars⭐Bucket List❤️Date Night

Harbor House Inn is the food pilgrimage of the Weekend Away list. The tiny Elk property has only 11 accommodations — six rooms in the main house and five standalone cottages — perched above the Pacific, but its gravitational center is Chef Matthew Kammerer's intimate Harbor House restaurant.

The move

Stay on property rather than driving back after dinner. Book early enough to take advantage of preferred restaurant access, arrive with daylight left to explore the property and let dinner be the main event.

North Block

Yountville

07$$$

🔥🔥 Hot Right Now❤️Date Night👥Group Friendly

One of Yountville's better choices when you want excellent food without the formality the town can sometimes bring. Handmade pasta, sourdough pizza and live-fire cooking make it easy to have either a serious dinner or a relaxed night in the courtyard.

The move

Start in the courtyard, order the spicy pepperoni pizza with Calabrian honey, then add a pasta such as the squid ink chitarra carbonara or whatever seasonal pasta looks strongest. Stay for another glass instead of treating dinner like a reservation to check off.

Signia by Hilton San Jose

San Jose

08$$$

Signia by Hilton San Jose is the urban curveball in this group: a downtown hotel that turns San Jose into a low-effort one-night escape. The rooftop pool, central location and surprisingly ambitious AJI Bar & Robata give the property more weekend personality than its business-hotel scale might suggest.

The move

Use the rooftop pool in the afternoon, make AJI the first stop of the night, then walk into downtown San Jose rather than treating the property purely as somewhere to sleep.

Timbri Hotel San Francisco

San Francisco

09$$$

🌙Late Night❤️Date Night☀️Outdoor

Timbri Hotel gives the Weekend Away list a San Francisco option built around the simple pleasure of checking into the city instead of commuting home from it. The rooms place you in central San Francisco, while 13th-floor Rise Over Run gives the hotel its own rooftop destination for cocktails, food and skyline views.

The move

Check in, head directly to Rise Over Run for sunset drinks and shareable plates, then go deeper into the city. Come back knowing the elevator is the only transportation left.