Luxury Travel Advisor - February 2008 - (Page 26) HOTELS For top-of-the-line service in a breathtaking location midway between Los Angeles and San Diego, send your clients to The Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel (www.ritzcarlton.com), which sits atop a 150-foot bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. With residential properties on both sides, and Southern California landscaping throughout, we found that The Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel achieves a true country club ambience. The property, which completed a $40 million renovation in 2005, has glorious ocean views throughout, with 30 percent of the rooms, including 13 Ocean View Suites, looking out over the Pacific. For the ultimate experience, reserve one of the three oceanview Ritz-Carlton Suites; each measures 1,550 square feet and has separate living rooms, dining rooms that seat six and, an unexpected touch in SoCal, fireplaces. Ritz-Carlton Suite number 4022 is on the Ritz-Carlton Club floor, while the other two suites (3022 and 2022) have Club access. Nice perk: Aside from food presentations served throughout the day, guests of the RitzCarlton Club are provided with complimentary local transportation, full use of spa facilities and preferred appointment times, enrollment for children in the Ritz Kids Club, pressing of up to two items daily and preferred seating in Restaurant 162’. Because of its “hotel within a hotel” ambience, the Ritz-Carlton Club is popular with honeymooners. Hint: We hear that the Club’s Oceanfront Rooms—those with even num- The Ritz-Carlton, LAGUNA NIGUEL bers 4004 through 4020—are the most sought after. Overall, the resort has 60 sets of connecting rooms. Nine suites, including the Ritz-Carlton Suites, have connecting rooms. (Note: A touch we liked in all guest rooms and suites was the handcrafted and lighted glass art panels imported from Europe, each presenting an oceaninspired abstraction in blue, gray and silver. We dug a little deeper and learned that these panels used a little-known process called “frit,” in which glass is crushed and then melted onto other glass to produce patterns and color.) The resort’s main restaurant, Restaurant 162’ (so named because it’s 162 feet above sea level), takes full advantage of dramatic cliffside views. Put in an early request for one of the 26 LUXURY TRAVEL ADVISOR | February 2008 http://www.ritzcarlton.com
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