Welcome to our second edition of Eye Candy Fridays! Where The Bamboo Stiletto features real beach houses owned by real people and real holiday places at terrific destinations by the sea or up in the mountains we’d all love to visit – and not just the fantasy places that exist in the make-believe worlds of TV & the movies. So that we can all have something to dream about over the weekend!
Last week on Eye Candy Friday, we visited the beautiful cliffside beach home, a genuine labour of love, by a lovely Australian-Filipino couple in Bali, Indonesia. Today, let’s venture north all the way to northern California, over two hours’ drive from San Francisco and just a little way past the postcard-perfect, picturesque town of Carmel, to a cozy oceanfront cabin up in the dense, rugged hills of the Carmel Highlands, with staggering, jaw-dropping views of the coast of Big Sur.
I do love the uniquely northern California vibe of utilizing lots of natural wood and stones organic to the area, that palette of browns and greys so different from the tropical whites and bright colours that I’m used to – and also love – in Asia. There’s also something very soothing about that northern California palette and the roaring thunder of ocean waves nearby makes a nice rhythmic soundtrack.
After a delayed flight out of Shanghai, a missed trans-Pacific flight in Hong Kong followed by a sleepless night in San Francisco (that’s a whole another story altogether…), we were just dogbone-tired and weary. A real kick-ass, extra chilled vacation stay at this serene sanctuary of a cabin in a five-star resort overlooking the Pacific was exactly what we needed:
The cabin is part of the Park Hyatt Highlands Inn, Carmel and the one we stayed in – officially known as a One Bedroom Oceanfront – has two storeys. Accommodation is very residential in style (which we love) but also, as befitting a Park Hyatt, luxurious (we can’t complain!) Upon entering the cabin, one is immediately greeted by the kitchen to the side and a living area/dining area in front, with doors opening out to an oceanfront balcony.
A quick look at the compact yet functional kitchen:
And the staircase leading to the bedroom and bath downstairs:
The entire lower floor is devoted to a spacious bedroom and equally spacious adjoining bath – loved it!!! Tall windows on one side of the bedroom face the ocean. At night, all you can hear is the peaceful sound of ocean waves crashing against the cliffs, lulling you to blissful sleep:
In the evenings, after one of those incredible dinners that seem to just proliferate in this part of the world, with the abundance of fresh, organic ingredients, amazing seafood and the California people’s inherent pride in and appreciation for good eating – it was always delightful to come back home to the cabin by the ocean and snuggle up to the warmth of this:
And simply glorious to wake up to the sight of this:
To book your own dream vacation at the Park Hyatt Highlands Inn, Carmel, browse the resort’s site here. Make sure to tell us about it!
The Monterey area of California remains one of The Bamboo Stiletto’s most favourite places in the world and from these photos, you can see one of the reasons why. Doesn’t this make you just want to hop onto a flight to San Francisco and drive to Carmel…like, NOW???
Thank God It’s Eye Candy Friday, everyone!
The Bamboo Stiletto 