The Inn at Newport Ranch

"On Northern California’s Mendocino coast (a good 3.5 hour drive north of San Francisco, six if you chose PCH1) this inn on the grounds of a 2,000-acre cattle ranch has more than a mile of cliff top oceanfront and 20 miles of trails to tackle on foot, horseback, with a mountain bike, or on ATV tours. Steep mountains covered in redwood trees provide a dramatic backdrop. Here, it all about spare luxury. It’s the antithesis of lodges further south in Big Sur. Meals are on request (most guests drive 20 minutes in to Fort Bragg for sustenance beyond breakfast), there are no TVs in any of the ten guest rooms housed in modern, cathedral-ceilinged lodges and although a new spa just opened this year, the Inn is best suited for couples and families looking for long, languorous weekends simply watching the weather change in the wildly remote corner of the state. Editor's Pick: Hot List 2016"