San Ysidro Ranch 2010’s World’s Best Awards

For 15 years, Travel+Leisure has put together their World’s Best Awards for the top travel destinations in the world. This year, San Ysidro Ranch ranked #1 as the top resort in the United States and Canada. The ranking is a prestigious honor for the resort, as the travel magazine is one of the most respected and read travel publications in the industry. Read by over 4.8 million readers, this year’s poll yielded a record number of votes.     San Ysidro, located in Santa Barbara, has been wowing visitors for years. Originally part of land titled in 1769 by the King of Spain, the Ranch served as a way station for Franciscan monks in the late 1700s, a working citrus ranch in the 1800s, and hosted its first guests in 1893.  But it wasn’t until the 1930s when the actor Ronald Colman and Senator Alvun Weingand transformed the mission in into an elite hideaway for Hollywood celebs that the Ranch first became known as the world-class getaway it’s considered today. 

Over the decades, the Ranch saw a string of the world’s most famous personalities enjoy the land, including Audrey Hepburn, Lucille Ball, Bing Crosby, Groucho Marx, Winston Churchill, and Julia Roberts. Oprah Winfrey is also known to put her guests up at San Ysidro. The most recent ranking is nothing new to the iconic ranch. For instance, last year San Ysidro was named 2009’s Best Hotel in America by Forbes Traveler. In its glowing essay on the Ranch, much focus was put on the Kennedy Cottage, the most-respected unit. They wrote: “This 1,800 square-foot retreat features two master suites with private bathrooms larger than many hotel room, three fireplaces and the Rach’s largest private deck.” It also goes on to describe the Ty Warner Cottage, which is a 2,200 square-foot residence-style unit reminiscent of a “lush European country home.” While it also features two master bedrooms and three fireplaces, it has one thing the Kennedy does not: a view of the Channel Islands and a private 33-foot swimming pool. TripAdvisor, the world’s largest travel website, recently named the top 10 celebrity honeymoon hotels in the world, where San Ysidro ranks 7. Just a few of the reported celebrities who spent their honeymoon here include Marc Anthoy and Jennifer Lopez and John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy. The site describes the resort as a “fantastic mix of beautiful scenery, privacy and superb service [that] has attracted a litany of famous faces...over the years.”

Part of what makes the San Ysidro experience so specialis that all of the 41 charming rooms, suites, and cottages that they offer are individually decorated with luxury interiors, fireplaces, plasma televisions and private patios. Furthermore, suites and cottages feature sunken hot tubs and outdoor rain showers. The dining at the Ranch is perhaps the most compelling of all reasons to visit here. For instance, the 19th-century citrus packing house Stonehouse restaurant was recently rated as one of the top 50 restaurants in the United States by OpenTable (www.opentable.com), a leading provider of free online reservations for diners and guest management systems for restaurants. The restaurant was also ranked in the top 50 for being the Most Romantic and having the Best Service in America. Other dining options at San Ysidro include the cozy Plow & Angel, or guests can just gather for a delectable complimentary wine and cheese reception, served on the patio overlooking the Ranch’s beautiful gardens or fireside in the Hacienda. For more information on San Ysidro Ranch, you may contact them at (805) 565-1700, or visit their website at www.sanysidroranch.com.