The Grand Dame of Carmel
Issue 006: After 120 years presiding over the bohemian Californian seaside town of Carmel-by-the-Sea, the recently restored La Playa Hotel still has character in spades—and plenty of stories to tell.
Introduction
The first time I set eyes on Carmel-by-the-Sea, I didn’t really. The November fog that had settled over the Central Californian bayside enclave was so dense that it obscured everything further than 50 feet ahead. I was on a roadtrip down the Pacific Coast Highway (Route 1) from San Francisco to Los Angeles with my bestie Brian—mostly pretending we were in the opening sequence of Big Little Lies—and we’d greatly underestimated the amount of time needed to complete the drive and stop everywhere we had planned. Hint: two days is not enough. So due to the lack of visibility and tight schedule, we walked around for about 20 minutes, realized we couldn’t even make out the ocean from the beach, and promptly got back in the car and continued on our way. Perhaps I’ll break down that trip in full another time, it was an interesting one!
Anyway, when I was invited to the opening festivities for a newly renovated historic hotel in Carmel, I quickly RSVP’d with renewed hope that I’d actually get to see the place this time. On a late January weekend last year, I departed New York early morning and encountered a very tight flight connection in Denver, which involved me sprinting from end to end of the world’s second-largest airport in order to reach my gate. I made it despite the odds, and the rest of the journey was thankfully uneventful. I arrived into Monterey Airport, a tiny little regional hub, which after the Denver ordeal was a very welcome reprieve. Within 10 minutes of touching down I was in my transfer vehicle, and 15 minutes later had arrived at my destination.
Carmel-by-the-Sea
Located on the Monterey Peninsula, Carmel-by-the-Sea has been renowned for its bohemian spirit since the early 20th century. Artists, writers, poets, and renegades were drawn here from San Fran by low land values following the 1906 earthquake, and over the years, the city opened several museums, art galleries and studios that have helped preserve its creative and quirky spirit. It’s a uniquely charming place, which frankly doesn’t get enough airtime, and should be high on everyone’s list for a cute West Coast long weekend.
Carmel’s village-like center is organized around Ocean Avenue, an east-west commercial thoroughfare of mostly cafes and boutiques that descends towards the beach. This gradual and persistent slope offers many of the small city’s properties a view of the water, but makes exploring on foot slightly arduous if you’re not at peak fitness (which many of the Lululemon-bedecked residents appeared to be).
Much of Carmel’s eccentricity comes from its architecture. If you typed “English cottage on acid” into an A.I. visual generator, and built all of the various iterations returned to you in one place, this is what I envision would be the result. The wavy shingle-clad roofs, grotesquely oversized chimneys, and rickety fences all evoke something out of Grimms’ Fairy Tales that you’d encounter in a dark forest. These warped storybook residences stand in almost ridiculous contrast to the rather soulless, contemporary glass boxes on the plots in-between them along the aptly named Scenic Road that follows the cliff edge.
One of the only houses on the ocean side of this street is Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1952 Clinton Walker House, which juts out towards the breaking waves like a ship’s prow. As the famed architect’s only coastal building, its low-slung patinated copper roof, tiered red-framed glazing around the hexagonal living room, and sandstone masonry bear all the hallmarks of a classic Wright in the way they respond to the context. It reportedly sold for $22 million in 2023.
We didn’t get a huge amount of time to explore the city, though my friend and fellow travel writer, Paul Jebara, and I took a quick walking tour to enjoy the unseasonably warm and sunny weather for January, and to go in search of a lunch spot. Our stroll along the coast and then inland through the mansion-lined streets took us to the highly recommended Mission Ranch Restaurant, a property overlooking a verdant sheep-tended pasture that rolls down to the Carmel River and estuary beyond. The large terrace facing this vista and the American-influenced menu looked perfect, but for some reason, it was closed. Bummer.
So we looped back into the town center and stopped at our second option, Stationæry, which was bustling but we managed to sit outside in one of the small courtyards that are typical of Carmel. The brunch menu was more than acceptable, and my avocado toast and spritz hit the spot. We also checked out the wide sandy beach, which sweeps around the bay and is flanked by plant-covered dunes, Lone Cypress trees, and bunches of Aloe Cameronii with striking red flowers. A beautiful setting, but still a little too brisk in January.
Carmel Valley
A short, scenic drive inland from Carmel-by-the-Sea takes you into Carmel Valley, a string of small residential areas, high-end resorts, golf courses, and wineries. It was Paul’s birthday, and his friend Laura Corrigan—who was also on our trip with her mum, Kathleen—had organized a celebratory lunch at Bernardus Lodge & Spa. So we Ubered out and enjoyed a meal all together in the resort’s Lucia restaurant, overlooking the picturesque valley.
Afterwards, we ventured a little further up the valley to the same property’s wine-tasting room—a compact space in which we ordered the sampling flight and got suitably tipsy. The tasting room itself was nothing special, but it was a great way to spend an afternoon and an experience I’d recommend if you’re in the area. I would now happily go back and spend a long weekend just in the valley, but for first-timers, definitely stay on the coast.
La Playa Hotel
Affectionately referred to as the “Grand Dame of Carmel,” La Playa Hotel has quite the storied past. The grand mansion was originally built in 1905 by landscape painter Chris Jorgensen for his wife, chocolate heiress Angela Ghirardelli. But after the tragic death of her niece at Carmel Beach, the couple sold the home and it was converted into a hotel by adding 20 rooms, then further expanded to its current size in 1940. It was later the site of an Apple company retreat in 1983, during which Steve Jobs unveiled the first working prototype of the Macintosh computer.
A short walk uphill from the beach, the 75-key hotel was taken over in 2012 by Marc & Rose Hospitality, who spent $20 million and over a decade bringing the property back to life—a process that was not without its surprises. Working with such an old structure that had endured a century of storms and salty air, more than not had to be replaced. And at one point, some surprising artifacts were found under the floors in one of the meeting rooms. Once those were accounted for, La Playa began welcoming guests back in Fall 2023 and rightfully reclaimed its Grand Dame title.
During the opening party, a large and rather rowdy group of us who were convinced the hotel is haunted broke away from the festivities, and Paul fashioned a ouija board using paper, a pen, and an empty cigarette packet. All appropriately dressed in black per the event dress code, we gathered around the pool loungers with our laughably makeshift equipment in an attempt to conjure the spirits that reside at La Playa. But we were all too tipsy to take the summoning seriously and the results were disappointingly inconclusive.
Architecture & Design
For its most recent incarnation, La Playa was updated by New York design studio Post Company, which restored the original Spanish Colonial-style building in a respectful manner while introducing new elements to enhance its character. Red roof tiles, whitewashed exterior walls, dark green window awnings all define the hotel’s personality, and the interiors are imbued with worn-in warmth through antique furniture.
The moody and atmospheric lobby features terracotta floors, a dark coffered wood ceiling and textured plaster walls, and is furnished with a variety of vintage pieces. The floral-patterned sofas and a cozy niche set into the wall are great spaces to hang out with a book or cocktails close to the fireplace.
From the lobby, a sweeping staircase leading upstairs to the guest rooms is adorned with patterned tiles on its risers and thin iron railings. A stained-glass window illuminates the stairwell with colored light, and another star-shaped version in one of the ground-floor guest rooms is visible from the street corner surrounded by foliage on the exterior.
Guest Rooms & Amenities
In the guest rooms, Post Company took a lighter approach to the decor, choosing cream for the walls and the linen curtains, while keeping the ceilings and furniture dark brown. Pieces with a vintage vibe are complemented by modern sconces and original plaster shell pendants by Frances Adler Elkins. Each room has a curated bar, while the bathrooms have been updated with colorful tiles and blackened nickel fixtures.
Several guest rooms open directly onto the hotel's gardens, and a handful are located in the pavilion that faces the outdoor swimming pool. The grounds are landscaped with flowerbeds and lawns, criss-crossed by brick pathways and stairs that connect arched colonnades with patios and the pool terrace. There’s a host of seating areas to bring cocktails and bites out to, which I’m sure are much more popular in the summer, and even a giant chess set. To note: there’s no gym or exercise facilities on-property, so you’ll have to jog along the beach or spend a morning surfing to burn those calories.
My room was on the top floor of the main building. Inside, the balance of contemporary and historic design was just right, and it felt fresh and comfortable to stay in. The best part by far was the view of the sunset over the ocean. The silhouette of a huge palm tree was outlined against the orange and purple undersides of fluffy clouds on my first night, while the slither of a crescent moon against a gradient of yellow to midnight blue put on a different but equally stunning show on the second.
Dining & Drinking
The hotel's bar, Bud's, is named after Howard E. “Bud” Allen—a Carmel local who took over the hotel in the 1960s. He introduced a full-time bar, as well as a 10-minute happy hour during which drinks cost only a dime each. This tradition has been brought back with La Playa’s reopening, and is enacted at the bartender’s discretion (exact change required; generous tips advised).
The bar space is dark and intimate, with plenty of wood panelling, leather-upholstered booths and banquettes, and decorative unlacquered brass and carved details. As a fun touch, regulars can hire lockers in which to stash their unfinished bottles of booze for their next visit. Elevated “pub fare” such as grilled cheese, burgers, and a giant ice cream sundae can also be ordered at Bud’s, and it’s pretty solid.
Another La Playa signature is its Champagne Breakfast, which is served buffet-style in the Library space and can by enjoyed on the covered terrace that extends towards the ocean. Fire pits at the far end and string lights overhead transform this space into a cozy spot for enjoying evening cocktails while watching the sun disappear behind the trees.
Point Lobos State Natural Reserve
Another group expedition that spontaneously transpired during the trip was a hike around Point Lobos, a nature reserve on a peninsula surrounded by rocky coves just south of Carmel-by-the-Sea. Our Uber dropped us off at the park entrance, and we followed the trails around the headland with no real sense of where we were going. As we wandered through the pine, oak, and cypress forest and emerged amid the clifftop shrubs, the air was wonderfully fresh and the scenery was breathtaking. Several groups of sea lions could be heard barking and splashing around the rocks below—we managed to spot a few of them basking—and the teal color of the churning waters all made for the most stunning morning stroll. I could’ve stayed there all day.
Thank Yous
SO many to get through this time, it was a big group! Firstly, to Anthony DeWitt and Hannah Redfield from JamesBlack PR, huge thanks for inviting me to such a special weekend and coordinating my travel. Thank you so much to the Marc & Rose team, particularly John and Ginna Grossman, and Mary Crowe, for hosting us all so graciously. Andy Baraghani, thank you for preparing a beautiful dinner for everyone, and introducing me to the Ome Dezin team on the hour that my article about their project was published—fate! Big thanks to the IAMA Theatre Company for putting on such an original and immersive performance during the opening party. All of my trip buddies: Paul Jebara, Laura and Kathleen Corrigan, Sean Santiago, Evan Ross Katz, Billy Jacobson, Michelle Avina, Rachel Gallaher, and everyone else I met over the weekend, thank you for making it such a fun and silly time! D x