Orange County Hotels

The gates in front of the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort and Spa may be Vegas-glitzy, but this is actually a sophisticated, soothing place to spend the day. At the St. Regis, a regular Jane can hand the valet the car keys and walk a few steps to the hair salon, boutique or Spa Gaucin, where $20 buys access to the facilities, indoors and out. There's no requirement that you buy a spa treatment, though it's tempting. You can also schedule a personal training session in the fitness center for an additional fee.

Though most hotel guests prefer to reach the beach on foot, a stretch golf tram can carry spa visitors across the golf course and drop them in front of the Monarch Bay Club, a private club that won't accept your cash. To reach the beach by tram, you may have to wait your turn until all the registered guests with dinner reservations at the club have been transported.

That was the official, intimidating line, but my friend and I suffered no questioning or demands to show a room key. On the ride down, an Orange County couple -- without prompting -- told us how they love to come here for the spa treatments, go to the beach, have dinner and then go home. Great idea.

Once the winding ride is done, we're on our own at the shore. Beach butlers are tending fire pits for the dinner guests, who sit like Girl Scouts at camp. The place is really, really quiet, and swept clean of the seaweed piles that litter the sand a few yards away. There are, however, no beach chairs, no snack carts and no nearby source for sustenance. But I have my book, and courtesy of the spa, a towel and bottle of water. The place is ours to walk, splash and swim till dark. When we get hungry, we have a choice of eight places to eat, or better, dine graciously.

Had I not arrived late in the day, I might have discovered that Club 19, the restaurant in the resort's golf clubhouse, is open to the public and is a great place to sip a cocktail at sunset (and they can pack you a sandwich for the beach).

Instead, that afternoon I have a California Pinot Noir for $9 on the lobby terrace overlooking the 172-acre resort's gardens, pool and golf course. I'm haunted, positively haunted that I'm not hungry enough for the $16 Aqua burger -- two patties of grilled Angus, horseradish aioli, melted cheese and beer-batter onion rings.

Tranquilized by the wine, I breeze past the reservation desk toward Aqua, an outpost of the San Francisco seafood restaurant that chef Bruno Chemel oversees here. A table is available, giving me a few hours to loll about the spa and fitness center (where a membership is, gulp, $300 a month, plus a $650 initiation fee).

Inside, I dip a toe in the outdoor lap pool with underwater music and the indoor whirlpool with jets so strong the bath is like hydrotherapy. With a locker room outfitted with more hair and body products than anywhere else I'd encountered, I have a fighting chance of looking decent for dinner.

When I emerge, famished and freshly scrubbed, the sun is setting, the music in the cocktail lounge is tinkling, and I'm already planning a return trip.

The tally for the day: $135 (about $35 if you skip dinner at Aqua), including valet parking.

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My Favorite Weekend
Craig Susser, Maitre D' at Dan Tana's, told The Times' Vicki Jo Radovsky:
"For a weekend escape [from L.A.], we love the St. Regis Monarch Beach. It's peaceful, and you never have to leave -- there's a spa, restaurant, golf course. It's a chance to work out, get a massage and eat well -- they have great lobster salad and cold poached salmon. You feel like you've been away for a week." (Jan. 17, 2008)

- Valli Herman, L.A. Times Staff Writer (July 8, 2004)