The Montage Resort Laguna Beach, CA
WHY WE’VE STAYED AT THE MONTAGE, LAGUNA BEACH 18 TIMES AND WILL KEEP COMING BACK.
I’m not typically a creature of habit, and as a Travel Advisor, I try to familiarize myself with as many vacation choices as possible. However, when it comes to personal family trips, nothing beats the Montage.
The resort is located on one of the most beautiful beaches in Southern California near the village of Laguna Beach, with a plethora of fantastic restaurants, art galleries, and shopping. The coastline is stunning and the setting rivals those that we’ve seen at luxury resorts in Hawaii and Mexico. Every area is situated with the most spectacular views and and includes the picturesque walking path and parks along the cliffs and coves.
It’s extremely upscale with a newly renovated, modern/classic, coastal theme but very friendly and casual. The service at Montage has always been impeccable and they are willing to go out of their way to make their guests feel at home. The spa is top notch and the food is delicious.
The most important reason we keep coming back is because there is no other place where feel like we are on a far away beach resort even though we are on the main land and an hour from home! Even if we lived a plane ride further away, we would keep coming back, but it’s a nice feeling knowing we are saving on airfare when we splurge on our “stay-cations”.
We have built wonderful memories here that we love to re-live with each trip.
Here are just a few:
Easter brunches, petting zoos and egg hunts on the lawn overlooking the beach
The times we played with our toddlers and now teens in the beautiful, ocean view, salt water
Evening s’mores at the fire pit overlooking the well lit ocean waves
The amazing lunches with live music at the Mosaic overlooking the incredible coastline view of four cove beaches
The falcons on their trainer’s arm, walking around the grounds
Playing card games and having tea and biscotti at the ocean view lobby, listening to our favorite pianist, Steve Sui singing and playing all the current songs for 14 years
Looking in the tide pools with the onsite marine biologist
Spending the afternoon in a quite section of the cove beach, with full pool service, lounge chairs and umbrellas (in the summer!)
Seeing lavish garden weddings from our lounge chairs on the poolside balcony
Playing tag and imaginary games with our little ones as they chase the wild bunnies that live on the property
Going for a dip in the spa at night
Working out to the gym, facing the ocean
Casually chatting with stars like Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Elizabeth Berkley, Kevin Nealon, Mark Kuban and J Lo!
Spotting pods of dolphins and seal lions while bodysurfing in the waves
Most of all, my family keeps coming back because it feels like home. A really, really nice version of home!
PS:
When people ask me what prompted me to become a travel agent, I always talk about how I had been to Montage fifteen times without ever getting an upgraded room, so one day, I asked the reservationist, “Well then… How does someone get an upgrade here.” And he said, “You need to book with a Virtuoso Travel Advisor.” “What?” I said, “That’s it?!” So I looked up Virtuoso, and found out they are a consortium of the very best luxury travel companies, hotels and agencies, and instead of finding myself an Advisor, I became one! Now we finally get the upgrades and we have been staying in suites ever since! ( Typical Virtuoso upgrades include room or cabin upgrades 2 free breakfast daily, a $200 a day resort credit, 4pm checkout and sometimes even a spa treatment. )
My family at the Montage poolside restaurant, Mosaic.
