Cambria Lodge

I booked a king room at the Cambria Beach Lodge through Airbnb, but you can also book directly through their website.

Airbnb rating: 4.78

My rating: 478,000

Airbnb listing here

Hotel's website here

Quick Facts

• Location: Cambria Beach Lodge, located just south of Big Sur in CA.

• Cost: $143/night for king room. The room is small and pretty basic, but very cute boutique hotel-esque decorations, and I think you're paying more for the location.

• VERY nice common spaces, including a roof terrace with lounge chairs overlooking the beach and an indoor lounge area also overlooking the ocean

• Free (I think?) bike rentals to cruise around town.

• You can also buy a craft beer from the lobby and enjoy it on the roof for sunset. I would pay $143 for that any day.

• Month & average temp: January, average temp 59 Fahrenheit (I've lost sight of why I'm including this info, but now I feel like I have to).

What I did

This was a last minute two day, one night, solo trip. I did a lot of boppin' around and drove back to Oakland up Highway 1 to see the sights. Here are some specifics:

• I bopped around Cambria, walking from the hotel to the downtown area that is very cute & quirky.

• Walked the length of the boardwalk and finished off sunset with a beer on the rooftop terrace

• Had solo dinner at a nice English pub downtown where they served me bread in a planter that was so yummy and fluffy and warm.

• Watched the season finale of Cheer in my king size bed at night.

• Hiked in the Ventura Wilderness.

• Drove through Big Sur and stopped at an oceanside cafe/art gallery on Highway 1.

• Stopped at Bixby Bridge again and took some cliche photos from different angles.

• Stopped at any/all cute beaches on the drive back until I got tired and headed inland around Monterey.

If I had to complain about one thing it would be:

• There is a huge, super nice suite overlooking the ocean at this hotel and they did not upgrade me for free for no reason.