This year, celebrate the season with a new family tradition: taking a vacation that makes the holidays actually feel like a vacation. Whether it’s Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, or New Year’s Eve, there’ a California hotel where the cooking, light-hanging, or sometimes even the package-wrapping are done for you. Set aside enough time to build a gingerbread house (and then let someone else clean up afterward). Take the kids to meet Santa, and then step outside to ski—or, depending on your destination, even stroll on the beach. Start planning a blissful holiday at one of these California hotels and inns, listed north to south:
Harvest Your Own Christmas Tree at McCloud Mercantile Hotel, McCloud
This Siskiyou County inn offers a winter wonderland experience thanks in part to easy access to nearby Mount Shasta Board & Ski Park. The Shasta Cascade hotel also offers a range of winter getaway packages, including its Tree Cutting special that includes a permit and map of available trees, as well as an overnight stay with breakfast, packed lunches, and cookies. You can also create a holiday-season getaway with other winter packages that bundle in lift tickets or cross-country gear.
Sit Down to a Holiday Victorian Tea at the National Exchange Hotel, Nevada City
Steep yourself in Dickensian ambience, minus surly old Ebenezer Scrooge, at this beautifully preserved 1856 hotel in Gold Country’s Nevada City. Enjoy the hotel’s Victorian Teas on Dec. 11 and 18, book your spots for holiday feasts (prix fixe dinners for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve), and make the most of nearby festivals. The Nevada City Victorian Christmas offers vendors and period-dressed characters strolling the downtown streets (Sundays and Wednesdays from Dec. 8–22) while neighboring Grass Valley celebrates Cornish Christmas on Friday evenings from Nov. 29–Dec. 20.
Feasts at Elk Cove Inn, Elk
Enjoy a peaceful and well-fed holiday at this Mendocino County inn where major holidays come with major meals: a salmon and crab-accented turkey feast for Thanksgiving, followed by special menus for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day, with dishes such as a whole roast pig and a bûche de Noël. Plus, you’re just a 30-minute drive from the twinkling Festival of Lights at Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens.
Santa’s Torchlight Parade at Granlibakken, Tahoe City
With its chalet-style decor and a famous sledding hill, the Granlibakken resort in Tahoe City is an idyllic holiday destination. Join the Torchlight Parade on Christmas Eve, when Santa and his elves arrive on a Sno-Cat, then feast on the resort’s Christmas Dinner on the 25th.
Holidays at Montage, Healdsburg
Head to this Sonoma County resort during the holiday season and let the kids build gingerbread houses while you sample cheese platters and sip mulled wine. The Montage celebrates with a wide range of activities from Thanksgiving through New Year’s—such as decorating dreidels, making ornaments, and feasting on winter s’mores. Down in Laguna Beach, the Montage Laguna Beach celebrates, too, with a variety of special dinners, teas, and entertainment.
Gift- and Wreath-Making at the Inn at Park Winters, Winters
Bliss out at this 1865 farmhouse inn on a flower farm in Winters during the holiday season. Come during November and December to create gifts or centerpieces while also making the most of the farm’s floral bounty during the dried-flower and fresh winter wreath-making sessions. The property also offers seasonal brunches and has a new Pizza at the Pavilion restaurant. Learn more about Yolo County and this unique property on this episode of the California Now Podcast.
The Gingerbread Mansion at the Fairmont San Francisco, San Francisco
During the holiday season, San Francisco’s stately Fairmont San Francisco embraces Victorian architecture—and in an edible form at that. Inside the lobby, the hotel’s pastry and engineering teams create a two-story Victorian gingerbread house that's about 25 feet high and 35 feet wide, made with roughly 8,000 house-made gingerbread bricks covered with royal icing and candy. To get an up-close look, book a private dinner for up to eight people inside the house. This time of year, you can also partake in one of the daily Holiday Teas, or book the Santa Suite package, which includes a stay in a decked-out luxury suite.
Teddy Bear Tea at the Ritz-Carlton San Francisco, San Francisco
Bring your tea party fans plus their stuffed-bear friends to this grand tradition at the Ritz-Carlton San Francisco in Nob Hill. The special kids’ menu offers hot chocolate, assorted sandwiches, scones, and sweets, while adults can enjoy traditional tea cuisine and adult beverages. Everyone can enjoy the afternoon show, typically starring an elf and his giant teddy bear sidekick, then take a picture with the bear afterward.
Après Village and Skating at Four Seasons Silicon Valley, East Palo Alto
Stay at this Four Seasons on the San Francisco Peninsula for a ski chalet experience without the snow drifts. Skate on the outdoor skating rink on weekend evenings, pose for pictures on the winter sleigh with a snow globe backdrop, and graze at a food truck with a menu inspired by après-ski cuisine from around the world. For an upgrade, book the semi-private chalet seating. The holiday lasts a delightfully long time too, running on select dates from November into January.
Serenity Season at Ojai Valley Inn, Ojai
This Central Coast resort offers a low-stress holiday that includes ornament-decorating, wreath-making, and gratitude yoga sessions The lineup of events also includes a turkey trot, holiday dinners, menorah lightings, and a Breakfast with Santa at the resort’s Farmhouse restaurant. In addition to its spa and golf course, the Ojai resort has an Artist Cottage & Apothecary where you can relax while making gifts such as soap or jewelry.
Holidays at the Langham Huntington, Pasadena
The sprawling Langham Huntington Pasadena, which first opened in the early 1900s, is the picture of traditional elegance—which, combined with the balmy weather, makes for sunny holiday bliss. For big feast days, choose from luxurious dining options such as the resort’s Thanksgiving buffet or the Teddy Bear Teas, where kids get a special-edition Paddington bear. The Pasadena resort is also a prime spot to stay for the Rose Bowl and Rose Parade.
Terranea Traditions, Rancho Palos Verdes
This Rancho Palos Verdes resort, tucked into the bluffs of Los Angeles County’s South Bay, celebrates the holidays with menorah lightings and a giant Christmas tree on the grounds. The family-friendly hotel offers lots of activities in November and December: This year includes a Coca-Cola Christmas Caravan party, a Gingerbread Lounge, and two circus-themed NYE parties for both families and just grown-ups.
Festival of Lights at the Mission Inn Hotel & Spa, Riverside
If you seek out light displays during this time of year, the Mission Inn Hotel & Spa in Riverside is your dream holiday hotel. The 1876 National Historic California Landmark exudes old-world grandeur with its turrets, domes, and flying buttresses, but at this time of year, the ambience goes up a few notches, thanks to roughly 4 million lights and 400 animated figures (Nov. 23–Jan. 6). The hotel also offers several seasonal specials that bundle different kinds of holiday cheer, from a stocking in your room to dining credits or even carolers singing outside your door.
The Holidays at La Quinta Resort, Greater Palm Springs
Frank Capra is rumored to have written It’s a Wonderful Life during one of his many stays at this Greater Palm Springs resort. So every year, the Spanish-style La Quinta Resort & Club morphs, as best it can, into a cactus-dotted version of Bedford Falls, the fictional town where Jimmy Stewart’s George Bailey has his holiday awakening. Carolers often stroll the grounds and revelers can roast chestnuts at firepits, look at the decorated windows, and listen for the occasional bell ringing. On some nights you might even get to watch the 1946 classic or other holiday movies on the resort lawn.
Holidays at the Disneyland Resort Hotels, Anaheim
During the holiday season, the theme parks at Disneyland Resort are festooned with lights, baubles, and a wealth of holiday goodies. The Anaheim resort’s onsite hotels offer their own holiday ambience, plus up to 15 percent off with a holiday deal. Check out the enormous Arts and Crafts–style gingerbread house at the Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, and the kitschy decor and drinks (like the Mele Kaliki-Mocha) at Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar inside the Disneyland Hotel. At Thanksgiving, some of the hotels’ restaurants do their own feasts, too, often with a buffet and strolling characters.
Holidays at the Balboa Bay Resort, Newport Beach
Don’t want winter weather for the holidays? This Forbes Four-Star, AAA Four-Diamond resort in Newport Beach offers holiday fun for people who like twinkling lights but also enjoy paddleboards, Duffy boats, and an Olympic-sized pool. Feast on turkey, seafood, and waffles at the Thanksgiving Brunch in November, or enjoy the resort’s carolers and holiday brunches during December. From Dec. 13–17, stay here to get a prime viewing location for the famed Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade.
Fire & Lights Festival, Newport Dunes Waterfront Resort, Newport Beach
Even if you are familiar with this bayside enclave from summer visits, you won’t recognize it during its Fire & LIghts Festival. Starting Nov. 29, the resort transforms into a winter wonderland, complete with inflatables, an igloo bar, fire pits with s'mores kits, “fire dancing,” and more than 50 illuminated holiday decorations set afloat on the bay. Enjoy a cocktail or roast marshmallows for a bit of family fun. You can even buy a Christmas tree.
Holidays at the Fairmont Grand Del Mar, San Diego
This luxury resort in San Diego’s North County pulls out all the stops for the season. Start with a sumptuous Thanksgiving feast or build a holiday trip out of the outdoor ice rink, afternoon teas, onsite Nutcracker performances, and holiday-themed spa treatments.
Holiday Celebrations at the Lodge at Torrey Pines, La Jolla
Canopied by pretty Torrey pine trees, this blufftop resort in La Jolla makes for a picture-perfect holiday, with its Arts and Crafts decor and a full roster of holiday treats and activities. Check out the hot chocolate and adult-beverage tastings in the lobby (like eggnog or mulled wine), gingerbread-house decorating, Westminster carolers, and guided nature walks. Save room for holiday meals at the acclaimed A.R. Valentien and The Grill at Torrey Pines, including special Hanukkah menus and a Chimney Roasted Prime Rib Dinner.
Holidays at the Bahia Hotel and Catamaran Hotel, Mission Bay
Two sister hotels on San Diego’s Mission Bay offer distinctive holiday celebrations. The Catamaran Resort embraces its Polynesian ambience with gingerbread Hula Huts, a Christmas tree adorned with tikis and leis, and carolers singing island-style holiday songs. The nearby Bahia Hotel, meanwhile, gets decked out in midcentury style, complete with a 1950s aluminum Christmas tree, an old-fashioned TV, and a leg lamp that will be familiar to anyone who watches A Christmas Story every year.
Guests at both hotels can take Jingle Belle Cruises aboard a sternwheeler that offers Whoville-inspired decor, photos with Santa, and lots of holiday treats; cruises depart from both resorts December 20–24. Both the Bahia and Catamaran offer the same enticing deal this time of year too: save 20 percent on a three-night stay, 25 percent on a 5-night stay and 30 percent on a seven-night night stay using promo code HOLIDAY24.
Holidays at the Del, Coronado Island
The Queen Anne–style Hotel Del Coronado boasts of having the first electrically lit outdoor Christmas tree, dating back to 1904. These days, the Coronado hotel’s two-story evergreen goes up in late November and becomes the focal point for nightly light shows. The beach becomes its own winter wonderland: Make “jingle s’mores” in the firepits, watch outdoor movie screenings, or glide around the beachside ice-skating rink, only available this time of year (and accompanied by the requisite coffee and cocoa stand). Indoors, take part in Gingerbread house-building, or have elves bring goodie bags to your room for the kids. Festivities run from Nov. 21–Jan. 5.