When you arrive at Terranea Resort, you’re greeted with a glass of bubbly and jaw-dropping views of the Pacific. The warm welcome sets the tone for your stay at the five-star Rancho Palo Verdes resort, where the ocean plays an integral part—from the stunning restaurant views and spa treatments to the water activities and unique culinary program.
Located just south of Los Angeles, this Mediterranean-style oasis sprawls across 102 acres on the secluded Palos Verdes Peninsula. The resort offers 582 elegant guestrooms and suites—including 20 oceanfront bungalows, 50 ocean-view casitas, and 32 villas—as well as eight restaurants, four pools, and a 50,000-square-foot spa. There’s even a private cove and beach.
Start your day with a yoga or spin class in the ocean-view exercise studio, where you might catch a glimpse of Catalina Island in the distance. Refuel with a sprouted avocado toast or acai bowl at the Solviva before recovering with a Revitalizing Marine Massage or Volcanic Clay Wrap at The Spa at Terranea.
The activity concierge can help you create a custom itinerary for your stay, whether that includes a naturalist-guided hike on the resort’s trails or a kayaking, stand-up paddleboard, or surfing experience right from the cove. Other activities that can be booked include whale watching, horseback riding, stargazing, guided fishing adventures, plein air painting, mandala painting to-go kits, archery, and scavenger hunts. Golfers will want to play a round on the nine-hole oceanfront course, a collection of par-three holes.
While Terranea offers the perfect setting for a romantic getaway, it’s also an extremely family-friendly destination. The resort goes beyond just allowing young ones—it readily caters to them with healthy kids’ menus, family and toddler activity boxes, water slides, and adventure day camps where they can explore tide pools or learn about the resort’s falconer program.
Car enthusiasts will take to the Terranea Road Trip Series, which offers three GPS-led drive itineraries for guests to experience, along with the use of one of Lexus’ latest vehicles. Each themed drive package—one for families, one with romance in mind, and one for the adventurous—includes recommended stops and attractions, goodies for noshing on the road, and special themed amenities to match each itinerary.
A point of distinction for Terranea is its thoughtful culinary program. An on-site garden supplies much of the produce for its eight restaurants, including the resort’s signature eatery mar’sel, and honey from its four nearby beehives is used in pastries, candies, and salad dressings. Executive Chef Bernard Ibarra also opened a Sea Salt Conservatory in 2015 to harvest ocean water into high-quality sea salt in a natural evaporation greenhouse. You can learn about the harvesting process in a Saturday morning Sea Salt Workshop or at the least, take home Terranea sea salt from the gift shop, available as pure or infused with such as rosemary and Meyer lemon.
End a perfect day at Terranea with a cocktail by the fire—there are 200 fire pits throughout the property—or a custom gelato cookie sandwich at Sea Beans. Or why not just try both?
