Carmel Magazine

Carmel Magazine HO15

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L ocated on a bluff on the Gaviota Coast, between the Pacific Ocean and the Santa Ynez Mountains, Bacara Resor t & Spa's 78- acre retreat epitomizes the "American Riviera." Stunning luxury cars line up like sentinels in front of the hotel's grand entrance, while celebrities in flip flops, Armani jeans and sundresses check in at the proper ty's gracious lobby. There is a sense of comfor table grandeur in the Spanish and Moorish influ- enced architecture. "The experience is what I would call quintessential California," says Managing Director Kathleen Cochran. "We have a touch and flavor of what California used to be and maybe is not necessarily now. We have all the things we think about with the California lifestyle." Those features include comfortable indoor/outdoor settings, where Bacara bunnies hop lazily across the lawns, luxurious guest rooms, attentive, friendly service, and a stunning pair of centrally located saltwater pools against the backdrop of the ocean. "We try to operate the hotel kind of like a village," Cochran explains. "Guests love the different little vistas and different places to sit and read a book and enjoy a cup of coffee." A quick bike ride to nearby Goleta Butterfly Grove is the perfect place to watch thousands of migrating Monarchs flapping their orange wings among Eucalyptus trees against the blue sky. The coastal watershed has rich biodi- versity and the last intact Mediterranean ecosystem in the state. "Our location at the end of the Central Coast has a unique ecosystem— one of only eight like it in the world, and none in the United States," Cochran says. "It was the site of a major Chumash Indian village, and we feel like we are stewards of the land." BACARA RESORT & SPA S a n t a B a r b a r a , C a l i f o r n i a B Y S A B R I N A S P E I D E L D E S T I N A T I O N S C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • H O L I D A Y 2 0 1 5 177 Photos: Courtesy of Bacara Resort & Spa

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