Monterey's New Layer of Luxury

The seaside town you love has even more to offer.

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You’ve probably visited Monterey before, so you know its natural coastal beauty and relaxed, unpretentious feel. This vibe owes a lot to the town’s history as a tough, hardworking community that, until the mid-1940s, cranked out much of the world’s canned sardines.
 

But Monterey is also sophisticated, with a diverse, international population and a fair share of artists and freethinkers. Now, the town, emphasizing this sophisticated side, offers new reasons to visit. A sleek hotel just opened on Cannery Row, giving the once seedy neighborhood a more upscale look. Older hotels have been treated to stylish updates, luxurious spas have opened, and restaurants serve the bounty of the ocean and nearby farms and vineyards.
 

To Do
 

Explore one of Cannery Row’s beaches and zone out to what Nobel Prize-winning author John Steinbeck called the “rush and drag” of the waves. These beaches belong to the 5,322-square-mile Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary http://montereybay.noaa.gov). The water is crystal clear and brimming with life—seaweed, crabs, starfish, and, further out, seals, otters, and, at certain times of year, dolphins and whales.

A couple blocks up from the aquarium, but officially in the neighboring town of Pacific Grove, is the American Tin Cannery outlet mall, where kids and grown-ups can indulge in the silly fun of miniature golfing in the new indoor, ocean-themed, back-lit Oceans 18 course.

(125 Ocean View Blvd., 831-643-9215, www.americantincannery.com).

In downtown Monterey, visit the small but informative Maritime Museum of Monterey, next door to the Custom House, where a US navy squadron raised the stars and stripes in 1846 to seize California from the Mexicans for the United States

(5 Custom House Plaza, 831-372-2608, www.montereyhistory.org.)

Downtown is filled with historical adobes from the town’s Spanish and Mexican eras, many of which are surrounded by beautiful gardens. For information, visit www.montereyinfo.org.

Besides showing classic films, the beautifully restored Golden State Theatre also hosts plays and concerts by such artists as The Doobie Brothers (October 2), Randy Newman (October 18), and Vince Gill (October 30),

417 Alvarado St., (831) 372-3800, www.goldenstatetheatre.com.

Monterey Movie Tour: This bus tour drives you around to places where Clint Eastwood shot scenes for his 1971 thriller, and where Fritz Lang shot footage of a rising star named Marilyn Monroe playing a Monterey sardine cannery worker in the 1952 noir Clash By Night. Monterey Bay Aquarium also made an appearance in Star Trek IV. www.montereymovietours.com

Monterey’s coastline and streets run into Pacific Grove, where Asilomar State Beach offers great body surfing and adjacent tide pools. Along Lighthouse Avenue, you’ll find a cozy selection of boutiques, restaurants, and coffee houses, including the Works, a combination café, bookstore, and art gallery.

(667 Lighthouse Ave., 831-372-2242, www.theworkspg.com).

In October, Pacific Grove’s Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary at the corner of Lighthouse Avenue and Ridge Road, opens to allow people to watch the natural phenomenon of thousands of butterflies clustering in its pine and eucalyptus trees. For information, contact the museum at (831) 648-5716 or at www.pgmuseum.org.
 

To Stay

The exterior of Cannery Row’s new InterContinental Clement mimics an old dockside warehouse. On the inside, it’s all contemporary minimalism and lush, earth-toned comfort—in the lobby, the ocean-view C Restaurant and Bar, and the rooms, which feature gas fireplaces and big, puffy down comforters. The hotel has a fitness center and lap pool next door to its Energia Spa, which offers a combination 80-minute aromatherapy massage and facial.

750 Cannery Row, (831) 642-2075, www.ichotelsgroup.com.

The Monterey Plaza Hotel and Spa, also built on the site of a former cannery, renovated its guest rooms in 2005 in a traditionally plush style and just opened its new Café La Strada, which overlooks both Cannery Row and the hotel’s Oceanside Terrace, and serves coffee, pastries, and sandwiches. An ocean-view guest room lets you stand on a balcony right over the water and at bedtime fall asleep to the sound of waves. The hotel’s expansive Vista Blue Spa on the top floor offers a range of treatments, including an 80-minute Metabolic Detox massage and wrap. The spa boasts a rooftop deck with a fireplace and two whirlpool baths.

400 Cannery Row, (831) 646-1700, www.montereyplazahotel.com.