La Bahia Hotel & Spa now open in Santa Cruz

ForrestPerkins design for the 155 room property is intended to evoke a Mediterranean escape

Slowly but surely, Santa Cruz is turning into one of the next breakout destinations along the California coast. La Bahia Hotel & Spa, which opened in September, is on my list for exciting new openings to visit on the coast this year. There are already a couple of other notable hotels in the area, namely Hotel Paradox, which is part of Marriott Bonvoy’s Autograph Collection, but this opening is the first luxury hotel in the city.

Sounds like the property has actually been in the works for a while now, according to the press release architect and UC Berkeley professor William C. Hays “envisioned a splendid oceanfront enclave of apartments and an accompanying hotel” almost a century ago. Now, the hotel is finally open (sans apartments) and aside from the oceanfront location, has more amenities than anywhere else nearby. You can read more about the property and its historic connections on their site.

Four separate restaurants are helmed by executive Chef Fernando Reyes: A signature restaurant, High Tide, the Low Tide bar and grill (which also serves breakfast), a champagne bar called Pearl, and the poolside snacks and bar Plunge. All that plus the spa and an oceanfront roof deck that’s over 5,000+ square feet. Rooms include bespoke amenities like Italian-made Frette bathrobes, Le Labo bath products, and headboards adorned with painted murals.

An honor bar system is in place at the hotel, as these seem to do well on the central coast when people might be in and out exploring all day and just want something casual to take back to the room, and finally, there is beach butler service if lounging on the sand is your thing. Looks like there’s a lot more to experience onsite as far as activations, like a local coffee partnership too. I haven’t visited yet, but my initial take is that this will probably be an excellent stay. Book a room here.