Carmel-by-the-Sea hotels

Mere steps from Carmel Beach, Carmel Beach Hotel is one of the town’s most ideally placed and private properties. The hotel has just 26 guestrooms, many with Pacific Ocean views, and guests have exclusive access to the on-property spa, fitness studio and restaurant.

Guestrooms and suites are spread across seven historic buildings and feature fireplaces, Waterworks fixtures, Victoria & Albert soaking tubs and private decks that are some of Carmel’s largest and most luxurious.

This is one of the best hotels in Carmel-by-the-Sea for food-loving travellers. The hotel’s award-winning chef, Justin Cogley, serves only the freshest local ingredients, as well as excellent wine. He can even prepare picnic baskets for a breezy beach lunch.

Set in a garden, the hotel’s three-treatment-room spa offers caviar and collagen facials and CBD body treatments, as well as activities like yoga, QiGong and Tarot readings for a dose of new-wave wellness.

Carmel already feels like a storybook setting, but staying at L’Auberge Carmel immerses you deeper into a French fairy tale. One of the best luxury hotels in Carmel-by-the-Sea, it has Relais & Châteaux distinction – fitting when you realize the three-story, 1929 wood and stucco building is modelled on a French château.

The 20 elegant guestrooms are old-world, with custom European fabrics, antique tiles and hand-hammered copper sinks. However, they still offer modern conveniences like bathrooms with heated floors, Bose docking stations and flat-panel TVs.

I love the excellent breakfast of fresh-squeezed orange juice, pastries, jam and eggs included in the room rate (the best hotels in Carmel-by-the-Sea often have breakfast included).

The hotel’s restaurant, Aubergine, with its deep blue walls and hand-made silk lighting, is known for eight-course tasting menus that celebrate coastal ingredients – think Pacific gold oysters with lemon and capers – and has had a Michelin star for nearly a decade.

Personal and intimate, owner Avi Brosh – who founded the Palisociety Hotel Group – thought through every detail at Le Petit Pali at Ocean Avenue. A sage green hue graces the walls and jute rugs add texture to the 34 guestrooms.

Vintage art and floral textiles bring that touch of whimsy found in the best hotels in Carmel-by-the-Sea. The common area, with its roaring fireplace, wood furniture and layered patterns, feels like a West Coast twist on an English beach cottage.

Guests are offered a continental breakfast with tableside Taittinger, green juice, freshly brewed coffee and sourdough bread with bright marmalade.

The hotel's sister property, Le Petit Pali at 8th Ave, also among the best hotels in Carmel-by-the-Sea, is just a few blocks away and has guestrooms in a California craftsman style.

Linus bikes, fresh-baked cookies every night and hot water bottle service also make your stay memorable.

Tucked away in Northwest Carmel, Tradewinds Carmel offers a different but still transportive take on a tranquil coastal getaway, consistently placing it among the best hotels in Carmel-by-the-Sea.

The hotel, built in 1959, draws on Asian and Californian influences. Complete with bamboo and tropical plants, the meditation garden inspires guests to leave life’s stresses behind, at least for a while.

The 28 airy guestrooms, many with ocean views, are also an oasis of calm and are decorated with furniture from Bali and China. To truly achieve inner Zen, guests receive a Balinese-made Kimono robe for use during their stay.

While the hotel doesn’t have a full-service restaurant, it’s still one of the best hotels in Carmel-by-the-Sea and close to all the restaurants and shops in Carmel Village. Added bonus: the hotel offers complimentary parking, which can be hard to come by in Carmel.

The French-country-style Carriage House Inn is one of the most romantic hideaways and best hotels in Carmel-by-the-Sea. It’s just one block from the heart of the village, so it’s easy to go gallery hopping and shopping, but the side street location makes it feel removed from the bustling town centre.

Rooms and suites have vaulted ceilings, fireplaces, stocked mini-fridges and flat-screen TVs. Feather beds with luxurious Italian linens feel like sleeping on a cloud.

Premium suites offer a whole other level of relaxation and indulgence, with oversized two-person jetted tubs and separate sitting rooms. With just 13 rooms, friendly staff can and do pamper guests with afternoon cookies, wine and cheese service in the library every evening and complimentary continental breakfast delivered directly to the rooms. Turndown service is also available.

Just east of Carmel-by-the-Sea, sunny Carmel Valley has wine-tasting, family-run farms and plenty of rustic yet luxurious getaways, such as Carmel Valley Ranch.

Located on 500 acres in the foothills of the Santa Lucia Mountains, the 179-suite property is a dreamy Western-style ranch retreat. There’s an on-site farmstead featuring an organic garden, a four-acre pinot noir vineyard, an apiary, a hen house and a goat barn.

Take it from me: Carmel Valley Ranch is one of the best hotels in Carmel-by-the-Sea for children and horse lovers, with equestrian activities showcasing how horses can improve mental health and wellbeing.

While there are opportunities to get your hands dirty with beekeeping and honey harvesting, the hotel also has a tree-top spa, an 18-hole Pete Dye-designed golf course, three swimming pools and a splash pad.
The Ranch’s rustic yet contemporary restaurant, Valley Kitchen, showcases fresh, local ingredients – many grown on the property.

Carmel is known for its beautiful residential architecture. Some of the most stunning homes in California are in the Carmel Point neighbourhood, including an oceanfront home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Just a block away, Villa Mara Carmel, one of the best hotels in Carmel-by-the-Sea, is a luxurious spot for travellers who prefer their hotel stays on a residential scale.

The property features beautiful landscaping with water features and plenty of places to enjoy a glass of wine, from the intimate bar Jesena’s to the outdoor fireplace.

Guest rooms, done up in soothing pastel hues and decorated with light wood furniture, have heated floors and well-stocked minibars. While it isn’t a long walk to Ocean Avenue, it is hilly.

Villa Mara Carmel offers a complimentary shuttle service and bikes. Adults only, this is one of the best hotels in Carmel-by-the-Sea for couples.

While Carmel has mild weather year-round, mornings and evenings are notoriously cool. The coastal coziness of the Candle Light Inn, a few blocks from Ocean Avenue, is a welcome sight.

Guests instantly feel at ease beside the roaring fire in the inviting lobby. Larger guestrooms have fireplaces and jetted spa tubs; all rooms have fine French linens and comfortable contemporary furniture.

I loved sitting by the outdoor fireplace with a glass of wine at night – it’s the little things like this that make it a stand-out stay and on par with the best hotels in Carmel-by-the-Sea.

Candle Light Inn staff are very knowledgeable about the area and are happy to help guests arrange restaurant reservations (my favourite Carmel restaurant, Chez Noir, is less than a block away), wine-tasting tours, and golf tee times. The freshly-baked cookies served daily are the icing on the cake.

One of the best hotels in Carmel-by-the-Sea, this was once a mansion for a well-heeled family. La Playa Hotel is now another piece of Carmel history turned boutique hotel, with its own take on coastal luxury.

Understated elegance is the theme here. The 1905 architecture has been preserved and added to over the years. There’s a garden and 75 beach-cottage-inspired guestrooms with custom “barmoires” – where guests can fashion cocktails to their liking – dark wood bed frames and bathrooms with marble counters.

La Playa’s culinary offerings are excellent and indulgent. The bar and restaurant Bud’s is a tribute to Carmel’s artsy, bohemian roots, and I highly recommend the afternoon sangria receptions.

The champagne breakfast buffet with European meats and cheeses, house-made pastries and the freshest fruit, along with flutes of bubbly served in the library and on the terrace with ocean views, will make you feel like a turn-of-the-century aristocrat.

Coachman’s Inn combines the sophisticated services of a boutique hotel with the warmth and amenities of a bed and breakfast.

I loved starting my day with a thoughtfully prepared morning meal before heading out for a day of activities like walking through the cypress trees to the white sands of Carmel Beach – I once spotted seals and whales there, so keep your eyes peeled.

Shopping along Ocean Avenue before returning to the hotel for a complimentary glass of wine and platters of small bites during the afternoon wine hour was the perfect way to end the day.

Maintaining status as one of the best hotels in Carmel-by-the-Sea is competitive. All 30 guestrooms were updated in 2024 with a coastal colour palette and equestrian accents, like brown leather chairs the same hue as a well-worn saddle and tweed bed runners. Rooms also have the latest technology.