Ventana hotel - Big Sur, USA

For four decades, Hollywood producer Lawrence A. Spector’s Ventana Inn has been a favoured hideout for reclusive movie stars as much for its incomparable location on the Pacific coastline, as for its 160-acre property bristling with ancient redwoods, oak trees, and meadows. 

And now, after a resort-wide renovation by Carmel-based architects Ray Parks & Associates and San Francisco-based interiors firm Brayton Hughes Design Studio, it has reopened under the banner of the Alila Hotels and Resort group. The 59-room property, which also includes a new glamping programme with 15 safari-style canvas tents, marks the Asian hotelier’s long-anticipated debut in North America. 

Happily, Kip Stewart’s original design of weathered cedar has been retained, with San Francisco-based interiors firm Brayton Hughes Design Studio adding Asia-lite fabrics and patterns, and Japanese hot baths. 

Meanwhile, in the Sur House kitchen, chef Paul Corsentino pairs lofty views of the Pacific with locally sourced seafood, free-range meats, herbs and vegetables harvested from an onsite organic garden, and a 10,000-bottle cellar.