Bacara Resort & Spa, Santa Barbara

If Santa Barbara epitomises the California lifestyle, then Bacara Resort & Spa is the distilled essence of the sun-on-the-beach, style-on-the-street atmosphere of Santa Barbara.

Walk along the palm-lined boulevards, saunter out onto the pier towards the seafood restaurant – pelicans wheeling above your head – or jog along the two miles of natural beach with the Pacific Ocean lapping at your toes, and you are living the California lifestyle. To really exaggerate the experience, hire a convertible T-Bird (or a Harley) and drive along State 101, chasing the sun along the edge of the sea. Or specify a stay at the Bacara Resort & Spa.

Poised on the edge of Santa Barbara itself, with two miles of impeccable beach at your feet, the Bacara – with its Californian/Spanish architecture – will become a natural high point of your luxury, tailor-made holiday to the USA. Turn your face to the sun and cue the Beach Boys.