California's Best Hotels

When vacationing in California, swimming is nearly always an option — for the kids and the adults. So if you're looking for the best hotel pools — or the best hotels for a romantic getaway or for a decidedly unromantic stay with the kids — this article is the right place.

Best all-around family hotels

A good kid-friendly hotel can make all the difference between a classically good vacation and a classically bad one. The following are some great family-friendly hotels in the state:

• The playful Argonaut Hotel in San Francisco shares lobby space with the Maritime Museum, and its enviable location next to the Cannery near Fisherman's Wharf means you'll be close to many kid-pleasing attractions.

• The moderately priced Hotel del Sol in San Francisco has a heated outdoor pool, treats for the kids, and a few units with kitchenettes. Plus, the parking is free!

• Up in Calistoga, the enormous mineral pool at Indian Springs is all that your kids need for happiness. The easygoing resortlike atmosphere is relaxing for the grown-ups as well.

• The new Treebones Resort in Big Sur offers an alternative to both hotels and camping by housing guests in gorgeous yurts. Reserve the yurt with the ping-pong table and then try to get the kids outside to hike.

• Asilomar Conference Grounds in Pacific Grove resembles an organized camp with better sleeping accommodations. Find the kids on the beach or playing ping-pong.

Best hotels for a romantic weekend

Not traveling with the kids? Ahh, you're in for a treat at these fine destinations for two:

• In San Francisco, romantics have a couple of choices. The new Hotel Vitale on the Embarcadero has a small spa with two semi-secluded outdoor baths and rooms with knockout views of the bay. If you need to duck the paparazzi, the St. Regis Hotel is a self-contained oasis you and your partner won't want to leave.

• Cocoon at the ultracomfy and chic Milliken Creek, convenient to the town of Napa but providing a sense of being somewhere much more glamorous. If you'd rather really be in the relative country of the Sonoma Valley, hide away at the beautiful Kenwood Inn and Spa, our pick for honeymooners.

• Mendocino is a popular romantic getaway. Lots less fancy than Kenwood, but private, relaxed, and well tended, is the village's Alegria Oceanfront Inn & Cottages. The beach access and excellent breakfast make it extra nice. If you're seeking a Mendo retreat with all the extras, the wonderful Stanford Inn by the Sea has more comforts than you'll find at home, plus on-site spa services and a very good vegetarian restaurant.

• The northernmost hotel on this list is Ferndale's Gingerbread Mansion Inn. You may never see anything quite like the over-the-top Romanesque (as in Caesar) Empire Suite.

• For pure pampering and four-star dining, Château du Sureau in Oakhurst will not disappoint, plus you'll be close enough to Yosemite to enjoy a day in the park.

• There's nothing like endless ocean views to stir the senses, and you'll find them, as well as a splendid breakfast and unobtrusive service, in Monterey/Pacific Grove at the Grand View and Seven Gables inns.

• It's tough to choose between Big Sur's Post Ranch Inn and Ventana Inn & Spa — both are splendid examples of luxury properties. Post Ranch is smaller and has the ocean view; Ventana is friendlier.

• Santa Barbara's Four Seasons Biltmore is right on the beach and is a divine old (built in 1927) hotel run by the most pampering of hoteliers in the country.

• When in L.A., consider the Chateau Marmont, where the Art Deco and Beaux Arts castle-style main building and individual bungalows remind us of the noir days of Los Angeles, where a rendezvous in a dark corner seems like a very good thing indeed.

• La Jolla's Lodge at Torrey Pines is a dreamy, breathtaking, five-diamond resort full of Craftsman furniture and luxe touches; however, as a resort, it may be a bit more bustling than you want.

Best hotel pools

Just when you thought a hotel pool is a hotel pool is a hotel pool, along come these two heavenly respites:

• Children under 16 aren't actually allowed in the spa at the Huntington in San Francisco, so the lovely, large pool, which reflects an eastward view of downtown, is the purview of the grown-ups. If you are searching for the best hotel spa, the Huntington would get the nod there as well, although the St. Regis spa is magnificent, too.

• Many Wine Country lodgings have pools, but none as inviting as the Olympic-sized mineral pool at Indian Springs in Calistoga. The view from the deck chairs is awesome as well.