To call it a bed and breakfast would be accurate, but frankly wouldn’t do it justice. San Luis Creek Lodge combines an intimate, low-key residential-style concept with the kind of design you typically only find in a proper luxury boutique hotel. And with 25 rooms divided among three distinct buildings, it’s larger and more varied than the typical B&B. The setting, right in the heart of San Luis Obispo, is as convenient as it gets, but of course this charming town is no great metropolis — here the heart of town is still a perfectly relaxing place to be.

The idea of Hollywood may be synonymous with glamour, but nearly a hundred years after the so-called Golden Age, the actual place is a bit more complicated. The Prospect Hollywood, however, is a return to form: a 1939 Hollywood Regency building, rescued from an advanced state of disrepair by designer Martyn Lawrence Bullard and transformed into what is, beneath its retro styling and vintage furniture, a thoroughly contemporary boutique hotel.

California’s Central Coast is less famous than the big cities that lie at either end, and that suits it just fine — Cambria is a place where you go to get away, not to see and be seen. And the brand-new White Water is a beautifully stylish place to do it, especially in this moment’s road-tripping, self-secluding mood. Creative director Nell Freudenberger took inspiration from Danish modernism as well as classic Californian design to create a seaside escape that’s both invigoratingly stylish and soothingly sedate.

When you think of palm-fringed SoCal desert oases, the words “Palm Springs” naturally come to mind. But it’s actually the whole Coachella Valley you’re picturing, from Palm Springs proper to Indio, and everywhere in between. This includes the upscale resort town of Indian Wells, which is perhaps most famous for its annual tennis tournament, but which, it turns out, is a worthy destination year-round. And thanks in part to the newly rejuvenated Sands Hotel and Spa, it’s got a luxury boutique hotel that’s on a level, both aesthetically and in terms of comfort, with the best in the region.

At Holiday House, a 28-room boutique hotel in downtown Palm Springs, there’s no messing about with superior, deluxe, and the like: the room categories are Good, Better, and Best. And the good is pretty good, indeed. Good means bright and cheerful, with original artwork, bath hardware by Waterworks, and custom textiles by Mark D. Sikes, the same Hollywood-based designer who reimagined the hotel’s interiors during recent restorations. Better means bigger, in this case, with a wet bar for good measure. And Best means mountain views, plus a private balcony or patio where you can properly enjoy them. (If the Best isn’t quite good enough, look into one of Holiday House’s top-of-the-line options, the aptly named Big Room or The Suite.)

The proprietors here argue that their hotel occupies part of the last piece of unspoiled, undiscovered beach town along the central California coast — and they’re trying to keep it that way. But this is a part of the country that deserves to be explored, enjoyed, and protected. And the Cambria Beach Lodge, a Highway 1 roadside hotel in that stunning stretch of country between San Francisco and Los Angeles, allows a traveler to do just that.

The days when Laguna Beach was an undiscovered hideaway or a sleepy little artists’ colony are some years in the past. But they’re not so far out of reach that the right hotel can’t recapture a bit of the vibe. Though to call the Casa Laguna Hotel & Spa a hotel might be overstating matters a bit. With just twenty-two units it’s slightly larger than the archetypal bed and breakfast, but only just, and given the insular nature of the accommodations, the quiet garden courtyard, and a breakfast that’s got something of a national reputation.

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