Our quick getaway to Santa Cruz and Big Sur with a stay at Chaminade Resort & Spa in Santa Cruz. An amazing trip but definitely too short!

A few weeks ago, Pat and I had the chance to spend a couple of days in Santa Cruz. My father was visiting for the week and we thought it would be fun to get out of San Francisco to show him one of our favorite places in California – Big Sur.

We checked into Chaminade Resort and Spa for a two night stay. We had such a nice time, I thought it would be fun to share it with you here. Just in case you’re looking for a great place to stay in Santa Cruz.

The rooms at Chaminade were fairly minimal with a few fun accents like the abacuses above the beds. Chaminade recently had a $7.9 million dollar renovation and it shows! It definitely felt fresh and new.

The thing that drew us to Chaminade was their scenic location outside of the city, and the fact that they are dog friendly! They actually have an entire section on the property dedicated to people traveling with their dogs. We had a sliding door and we could open it up and let Maddie out to play easily. Despite all of the dogs everywhere though, our building was perfectly clean with no strange smells. Having Maddie along with us made the trip that much more special.
One night for dinner we checked out Chaminade’s restaurant, Linwood’s Bar & Grill. The food was unbelievable. Their menu features a great mix of well-done American staples like Ribeye Steaks and artichoke hearts. Every dish was perfectly thought out and beautifully prepared. I actually loved my chopped salad topped with seared salmon so much I asked Chaminade’s Chefs Kristen Ponza and Nicholas Church if I could share the recipe! Stay tuned for that in its own special post tomorrow.

The setting is absolutely perfect too. They have a patio that overlooks Santa Cruz and even has an ocean view! Make sure you get there early so you can snag one of the tables that has a fire pit in the middle of the table!

Our waiter recommended that we try Chaminade’s Sticky Toffee Pudding. It was so amazingly sweet and rich it was all I could do to not lick the plate!

Keeping with their dog-friendly theme, Chaminade actually has an entire menu just for your dog! Maddie studied the menu carefully and ultimately decided on a salmon fillet, one of their ‘pupcakes’ and a side of bacon.

She then proceeded to take the pupcake in her mouth and attempt to swallow it whole. I briefly wondered if I was going to have to give her a doggy heimlich, but she managed to get down. It must have been delicious! The rest of her meal was soon to follow. It was so funny to watch!

Chaminade’s Sunset Restaurant has a breakfast buffet, which we also had a chance to check out. They had a ton of fresh fruit, which I really appreciated, and also a made-to-order omelette bar. I had been craving bacon every since I had watched Maddie devour hers the night before, so the all-you-can eat bacon made me so happy!
Santa Cruz is only 45 minutes from the start of the stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway that leads to Big Sur. We spent the day driving along the coast and it was magical as always. It’s honestly one of the most beautiful places in the world. If you’re looking for more information on Big Sur, check out my collection of Big Sur Posts.

Chaminade Resort & Spa

1 Chaminade Lane
Santa Cruz, CA 95065
http://www.chaminade.com

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