“Are you able to consider we dwell so near a lot magnificence,” my companion says to me as we watch the solar slip behind the bluffs on our balcony at The Lodge at Bodega Bay.
It’s not the primary time he’s made this assertion. It’s develop into the mantra we chant each time we enterprise exterior our neighborhood, a relentless reminder that we’re privileged sufficient to name Northern California residence.
However even in a area so beautiful, the Sonoma Coast stands out. She is wild and breathtakingly lovely. She is serene and mysterious. She is spectacular—and the Lodge at Bodega Bay is the proper place to worship her.
The lodge has come a great distance from its humble early days as a 36-room motor lodge perched above Doran Seaside. Since 1972, its present house owners have been reworking it into a sublime inn on 4 coastal acres. For its fiftieth anniversary, they gave the present of a multi-million greenback renovation.
The 83-room Lodge at Bodega Bay is a set of wood-and-stone dwellings constructed to harmonize with the coastal panorama. In its foyer, uncovered beams, an announcement fire, and a sepia ground map of the bay set the tone for the property’s pure, rustic luxurious. Outdoors, a heated pool and infinity scorching tub with plush new loungers, a number of ocean-facing fireplace pits (additionally with soft new seating), and a bocce ball courtroom are unfold throughout the manicured lawns.
The nice and cozy and welcoming foyer at The Lodge at Bodega Bay(Courtesy of The Lodge at Bodega Bay)
The overwhelming majority of this yr’s enhancements are within the lodging. For us mere mortals, there are the coastal Bodega Bay rooms. In every, they’ve gone all in on trendy California coastal, with farmhouse wooden paneling, pinstriped rugs or contemporary hardwood flooring, personal patios or balconies, and deep two-person soaking tubs. Every room additionally has wood-burning fireplaces, up to date baths with Lather merchandise, buttery-soft robes, and 42-inch LCD TVs with streaming and casting skills.
For the very best rollers, there’s the utterly overhauled Captain’s Quarters, a 1,200-square-foot, one-bedroom condo with a king-sized mattress and two Murphy beds, a marble fire, a 12-seat eating or convention desk, a small powder room, and a non-public workplace. The 600-square-foot wraparound sundeck additionally has loads of seating and a granite out of doors bar.
Wherever you lay your head, Drake’s Sonoma Coast Restaurant or the Fireplace Lounge are the place you’ll fill your stomach (on the property, not less than). Drake’s, which has a London-brasserie-meets-California-coast vibe, is the extra refined of the 2, serving dishes like duck leg confit with housemade pepper jelly, and fresh-as-can-be fisherman’s stew.
The adjoining Fireplace Lounge, a comfy membership room outfitted with leather-based armchairs and a hearth, leans extra in direction of consolation and kid-friendly meals like pork stomach mac ‘n’ cheese and a burger topped with native Valley Ford cheese. In case you’d fairly keep cozied up in your room, many of the gadgets on each menus will be ordered to your door.
A freshly renovated coastal room.(Courtesy of The Lodge at Bodega Bay)
There’s extra to the Lodge at Bodega Bay than simply this, after all: a sauna, health middle, and spa; nightly wine receptions; and complimentary yoga and pilates. Most memorable of all are the brackish wetlands separating the lodge from the Pacific the place migrating birds collect all year long. Be a part of one of many lodge’s common guided nature walks or discover them by yourself.
That’s precisely the place I spend the morning we try, watching blue herons stand like statues outwaiting their prey as snowy white egrets roost within the Monterey pines above. Just some minutes stroll away from the trailhead, on the lengthy stretch of sand at Doran Seaside, avocets dip their needle-pointed beaks into the sand and endangered snowy plovers skitter across the tides.
For many, it’s the morning of a lifetime. For us, it’s one in every of a lifetime of mornings that make dwelling in Northern California so magnificent.
// 103 Hwy 1 (Bodega Bay), lodgeatbodegabay.com
