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phere that feels less like a hotel and more like someone's stylish living room," says Alissa O'Briant, director of sales and marketing at Bernardus Lodge & Spa. French oak floors, Italian stone, beamed ceil- ings and flowers spilling from oversized vases give the main lobby an especially cozy feel. Leather seats are clustered around a fireplace near the check-in desk, and a nearby nook dubbed Cooper's Den accommodates guests who carry laptops by day and wine glasses in the evening. Eclectic chandeliers and richly tex- tured rugs add a dash of low-key glamour to public spaces. Sidewalks between the main lodge and the property's elegant suites and villas ramble past shrubs, succulents and rugged stonework. Set against a Santa Lucia Mountain backdrop, the Valley Villa Suites offer living room and bedroom fireplaces, bars stocked with snacks and Bernardus wine, sleeper sofas, rain showers and two-person hammered-copper tubs, along with French doors that open to private balconies. The ground-level Vineyard Villa Suites have sim- ilar fixtures, plus secluded bath patios with out- door showers and open-air seating. Two larger bungalows, Villa Sol and Villa Carmelo, take wine country luxury to a new level. The two-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath- room accommodations feature vaulted ceilings, vineyard views and dual bathroom patios with 184 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G / S U M M E R 2 0 1 8 Bernardus Lodge & Spa in Carmel Valley has recently been redone to feel "less like a hotel and more like a stylish living room." (Above) the welcoming new lobby and (below) the Villa Carmelo bungalow.