Pacific Grove, the low-key coastal town on Monterey Bay better known for Victorian cottages and monarch butterflies than luxury hotels, has a new anchor property — and it keeps adding reasons to book. The Kimpton Mirador Pacific Grove opened in early 2026 and has spent its first year layering on amenities, from a revamped restaurant to guided whale-watching outings.
The big draw for food lovers is The Caledonian, the hotel's signature restaurant, which now includes a raw bar alongside whole-roasted local fish and a California-leaning wine list. The room itself leans dramatic: a floor-to-ceiling emerald tile wall, a green marble bar and a patio for warmer evenings. There's also a 3,100-square-foot courtyard with a two-story fireplace, used for events like Mirador Marketplace, a recurring series showcasing local artisans that launched in May, and Prism, a pre-Pride celebration held in June.
The hotel itself is a 99-room, four-story new-build with Spanish Revival-style architecture designed by San Francisco's Narrative Design Studio. Rooms come in 22 configurations — many with private balconies, soaking tubs or fireplaces — and are stocked with Parachute robes and Atelier Bloom bath products. The welcome ritual is a warm slice of house-made olive oil cake with a handwritten note, and evenings bring a coastal-botanical aromatherapy mist to the rooms.
Wellness is built into the rate rather than tacked on. Through a partnership with local studio Monterey Bay Moves, guests get complimentary daily yoga, sound baths, fitness classes and guided nature walks along the coastline. Kimpton's standard extras apply too: the Kickstart morning coffee hour and an evening Social hour with cocktails and light bites. Free bicycles make it easy to reach nearby highlights like the Point Pinos Lighthouse, Lover's Point Beach and the Monarch Grove Sanctuary.
Where the hotel gets more interesting is its packaged experiences. The Whale Watching & Picnic for Two combines a stay with a guided marine safari on Monterey Bay, where humpbacks, blue whales and dolphins are regularly spotted. The Big Sur Picnic Road Trip hands you a chef-packed picnic basket from The Caledonian's kitchen plus a mapped route down the coast toward Big Sur. And the Mirador Masterpiece pairs premium rooms with private gallery tours or hands-on sessions with Monterey artists. Even meetings get a rethink: the Monarch Room swaps the corporate boardroom look for a hospitality suite aimed at intimate dinners and small retreats.
For travellers, this fills a real gap. Pacific Grove sits between the aquarium crowds of Monterey and the fairways of Pebble Beach, and until recently the area's upscale stays skewed corporate or resort-heavy. This is a boutique option with genuine local programming — a base for whale season, Big Sur day trips and coastal walks, all with dinners worth staying in for.
Story via Global Traveler.
