Review: The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe

Why book? Pool time, a few rounds of tennis and golf, a steam and a trip to the spa, a long weekend at the Inn at Rancho Santa Fe lets you live the country club dream … without the annual membership dues.

Set the scene Although the hotel is less than 10 miles inland from the iconic SoCal beach towns of Del Mar, Solana Beach, and Encinitas, it feels a world away. For starters, you’re in horse country and are surrounded by gently rolling hills dotted with groves of citrus and stands of olive trees. It’s sunnier here, too (May gray and June doom are alive and well right along the coast). The inn is the focal point of the charmingly throwback town of Rancho Santa Fe and the property has long been integrated into the lives of those who live in the area. When I was there over a weekend in early May, I saw young professionals having drinks at the bar on Friday evening, older couples sipping cocktails on the patio and groups of 30-something friends meeting up for dinner on Saturday night, and on Sunday morning, young families dressed up for brunch. To reach the main building, which houses the front desk, the lobby lounge, and the bar and restaurant, you walk up a bricked path through beautifully landscaped grounds.

While the century-old property is designed in the Spanish Colonial Revival style with white washed stucco walls and a red tile roof, the newly reimagined public spaces have a mid-century modern feel with low-slung leather chairs and sofas, kidney-shaped coffee tables, and bright abstract paintings. Throughout the inn, you can see the deft touch of designer and former owner Steve Hermann (he’s behind Palm Springs stunners like L'Horizon Resort & Spa and Colony Palms), who began the renovations before selling to the current owners. Although there are all the modern touches (on-trend food and beverages, a great spa, morning yoga classes), the verdant grounds dotted with ivy-covered bungalows, the green-and-white striped sun umbrellas at the pool, and the outdoor fireplaces tucked into cozy nooks remind you that this is still the place for a private weekend getaway laced with old school glamour.

The backstory The inn has a fascinating history. In 1921, Lillian Rice, one of California's first female architects and a 1910 graduate from UC Berkeley, created a master plan for the town of Rancho Santa Fe–a village that she hoped would have the charm of a Spanish town with low-density housing and plenty of green spaces. In 1924, she worked with the Santa Fe Land Company to build a guest house that would act as a sort of model home for potential buyers moving to the new town. In 1941, the guest house was sold and turned into the inn, which became a sort of hush hush getaway for big name Hollywood stars, including Bing Crosby, Mary Pickford, and Charlie Chaplin. After a closure and a $50 million-dollar property-wide reimagining of the 11-acre property by designer and hotelier Steve Hermann (as well as finishing details by Nina Chiappa Interiors), the inn reopened in the fall of 2023.

The rooms There are 85 updated guest rooms; a mix of suites, bungalows and residences. Each has access to outdoor space, a terrace or a courtyard, and some rooms have extras, like soaking tubs and fireplaces. The decor is a little different in every room but the overall feel is that you’ve wandered into the Beverly Hills bedroom of a 1920s starlet–I half expected to see a silver handheld mirror and brush set on the vanity in the bathroom. My bungalow had sweet floral wallpaper and white wainscoting on the walls, herringbone wood floors, green velvet drapes (to match the green velvet sofa and overstuffed chairs), beautiful brass light fixtures, and a brick patio with wicker furniture upholstered in lime green. This isn’t to say that rooms are totally stuck in amber–there are plenty of modern touches, including huge walk-in showers with Le Labo bath products and Toto toilets.

Food and drink The main restaurant is Lilian's, named after architect Lilian Rice, and it is in lockstep with the overall ethos of the property: Golden Age of Hollywood meets the present. This means there are design touches like muted green lattice work on the walls and ceilings, herringbone wood floors, tufted green banquettes, and a lovely brick patio area with green-and-white striped umbrellas as well as a menu that spotlights fresh-catch fish and grass-fed meats and a head chef, Moira Hill, who engages in zero-waste techniques and sustainable sourcing. I had an excellent pear and burrata salad and seared scallops with togarashi butter, ginger and lime for dinner. There’s also Bing’s Bar (as in Crosby), appropriately wood paneled and clubby, that does excellent classic cocktails (I sampled both the Boulevardier and the French 75), as well more playful riffs, like, wait for it, The White Christmas, a frothy concoction of gin, Aperol and egg whites. For quick coffees and pastries, there’s a small café off of the lobby lounge with access to a beautiful little courtyard with an outdoor fireplace.

The spa The spa is worth a visit even if you’re not staying here. It’s the first hotel partnership for pioneering skin care maven Mila Moursi, who has been treating Hollywood A-listers at her skincare institute in Los Angeles since the 1980s. Moursi was into things like dry brushing and lymphatic facial massage way before they became Goop buzzwords. The spa offers a wide range of facials and body treatments (for total indulgence, think pre-wedding or a big birthday, go for the Head-to-Toe where two therapists work in tandem to deliver a rejuvenating facial and body detox treatment that includes being wrapped in a sauna blanket and a mid-treatment shower). The spa has a lovely relaxation room as well as an outdoor sauna and cold plunge pool.

The neighborhood/area The town of Rancho Santa Fe basically dead ends at the property and, as mentioned, the inn is an integral part of the town. Rancho Santa Fe has a little mainstreet with a few restaurants and shops (and an outsized number of financial advisors and banks). It’s an affluent, predominantly residential town–worth a stroll to look at the big houses and well-kept gardens, but there’s not much going on. For more action, head to one of the nearby beach towns or to San Diego proper.

The service Attentive but casual–we’re in SoCal after all. Everyone is extremely friendly and helpful, from the front desk to the servers and the home-from-college kids working the valet station.

For families Sure, you could bring the kids (especially if you book one of the bigger residences or a suite with two queen beds) but I think it’s a better place to sneak away for a weekend with your significant other or get your best pals together for a celebratory few days spent lounging by the pool, playing pickleball or golf, going to spa and sipping cocktails.

Eco effort The restaurant sources as sustainably as possible and engages in zero-waste practices. There are glass water bottles in the rooms.

Accessibility There are accessible guest rooms and ADA standards are in place throughout.

Anything left to mention? There is a very chic pool with green latticework (echoing the decor at Lilian’s) and trompe l'oeil paintings on the walls, adobe brick tiles on the pool deck, wicker chaise lounges with lime green upholstery, and green-and-white striped umbrellas and cabanas. The property has a 24-hour fitness center and offers weekend yoga classes, it has access to pickleball and tennis courts at the nearby Rancho Santa Fe Tennis Club and can help you secure a tee time at one of the excellent nearby golf courses, book a horseback ride adventure, or help you organize surf lessons at one of the excellent nearby beaches.