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By John Phane
A golfer’s dream.
A gourmet’s delight.
A fortress of solitude.
All these statements and more only begin to describe the simple elegance that is The Lodge at Torrey Pines in beautiful, seaside, La Jolla, California. With 170 guest rooms and eight incredible suites, the hotel’s 6.5 acres stands directly adjacent to the 18th green of Torrey Pines Golf Course, host of the 2008 U.S. Open. The Lodge offers hotel guests preferred tee times and special golf packages.
For those seeking relaxation, it’s offered in abundance. You can almost feel your soul rejuvenate as you walk the grounds or visit Torrey Pines State Reserve, a California State Park with beaches, cliffs and forests of Torrey Pine – the rarest native pine in the U.S. – right next door. The park offers miles of trails for nature walks. Behind The Lodge is a heated pool with poolside cabanas, whirlpool, croquet lawn, and a large terrace with chaise lounges for those worshiping the Southern California sun.
The Lodge is only minutes from the Del Mar Racetrack, the Stephen Birch Aquarium and Museum, the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, the La Jolla Playhouse, and shopping in the boutiques and galleries of Prospect and Girard Streets. Twenty minutes away is the city of San Diego, with Sea World, the San Diego Zoo, Museum of Contemporary Art, Gaslamp District, Old Town and Balboa Park.
Arriving at The Lodge’s grand porte-cochère, guests are greeted by doormen attired in kilted Scottish Dress. Inside are the rooms and more than 13,000 square feet of meeting and banquet space, a 9,500 square-foot full-service spa and two restaurants.
The Lodge’s signature restaurant, A.R. Valentien, serves contemporary California cuisine. The foodstuffs are replenished on a daily basis, providing the freshest dining experience possible. The head chef has been named the best of San Diego. Casual diners can enjoy breakfast, lunch and dinner at the property’s other eatery, The Grill.
All the rooms have gone high-tech for the business traveler, and they feature large workspaces, high-speed Internet access, personal voicemail, separate data ports, state-of-the-art telecommunications and room safes large enough to hold laptop computers.
Large bathrooms feature natural slab marble and granite floors and countertops, deep soaking tubs, and separate water closets. Rooms facing the golf course have separate marble-paneled stall showers. The rooms contain custom-designed furniture, a granite-topped bar at each room’s entrance, a rich leather chaise lounge by the bed, Tiffany-style lamps and oil-rubbed bronze fixtures. There is a minibar, a coffee maker, custom-made toiletries in each room.
The spa embraces more than 9,500 square-feet of space and has 14 treatment rooms, while offering an extensive menu of massages, facials, rituals, wraps, hydrotherapy, hand and foot treatments. It offers facilities for dry saunas, herbal-infused steam baths, and aromatherapy inhalation.
The Lodge has 10 meeting rooms with capacities from 20 to 350 people.
The Lodge has been honored with the AAA Five-Diamond rating and it deserves the prize. Our two-day stay was a delight of relaxation, entertainment and fine dining.
The Lodge at Torrey Pines®
11480 North Torrey Pines Road
La Jolla, California 92037
(858) 453-4420
Reservations (800) 656-0087.