The Heart’s Hideaways

‘There’s nothing half so sweet in life as love’s young dream.’--Thomas Moore

It’s Cupid’s cue.

Romantics will rendezvous this week while love’s sweet song is played out in dozens of valentine shelters, from the Mill Rose Inn at Half Moon Bay to Pelican Cove in Carlsbad.

Some will travel only as far as Barnabey’s Hotel in Manhattan Beach, while others will motor north to Lili and Doug Vieyra’s peaceful Chalet de France and to the charming Apple Farm Inn in San Luis Obispo.

If the heart is full but time is running short, Barnabey’s promises Old World charm barely 30 minutes from downtown Los Angeles. Especially on Valentine’s Day with a romantic package that will include Viennese dining, cocktails and dancing in the hotel’s London pub. This along with 24-hour chauffeur service and guest rooms that promise the enchantment of a European inn.

In Europe, proprietors Pete and Sue Post gathered antiques that grace their hotel. Barnabey’s guest rooms feature canopy beds and fireplaces, brass lamps, lace curtains and loads of books. Beveled glass windows were imported from a 16th-Century chateau, and fountains spill musically in the gardens. As a valentine offering, we give Barnabey’s four hearts: ****.

For couples seeking serenity farther afield, Doug and Lili Vieyra will set a special table Tuesday at their Swiss-like Chalet de France near Eureka. Later, Doug and Lili will deliver complimentary cordials, with a champagne breakfast served the following morning. With only a couple of guest rooms, Chalet de France is popular with couples seeking total seclusion.

“No noise save for the whisper of the wind,” Doug Vieyra says. Guests spin records on a 1917 Edison gramophone, and play darts and croquet while deer graze just outside the window. Perched on a mountaintop, Chalet de France provides a view without so much as another rooftop to mar the scene. A three-heart valentine hideaway: ***.

Six guest rooms furnished with antiques await romantics at an English-style B&B; with the fetching name of Mill Rose Inn south of San Francisco at Half Moon Bay. On Valentine’s Day proprietors Eve and Terry Baldwin will serve homemade cheeses, valentine chocolates, cookies and liqueurs. (A champagne breakfast will be delivered to one’s room the following morning.) Within walking distance of the ocean, the Mill Rose Inn isn’t the stereotyped B&B.; Window boxes flow with flowers, the garden is abloom with hundreds of roses and a spa steams nearby. Romantic? Indeed. A three-heart valentine: ***.

For dreamers nationwide, thoughts of Valentine’s Day relate to San Francisco--and particularly The White Swan Inn on Bush Street, where guests with stars in their eyes have the choice of 26 rooms, each with fireplaces and beds loaded with beribboned pillows. The Swan displays antiques along with fashions by Laura Ashley and French doors that close off the library (an intimate hide-out for couples in love). Red roses will be on order Tuesday along with chocolates. Because The White Swan Inn continues to receive raves from our readers, it gets our own valentine rating of three hearts: ***.

Along the coast near Monterey, valentine treats will be offered during teatime Tuesday at the romantic Seven Gables Inn at Pacific Grove. Sweethearts take note: The Gables, with its museum-like antiques, is only a two-minute stroll from Lover’s Point, and there are smashing views from the inn’s 14 rooms. Another three-heart valentine: ***.

South a few miles at Big Sur, those with a soul for tranquillity check in at the Ventana Inn, with its candlelight dinners and classical melodies. The Ventana is a rare retreat that distances itself from the troubles of the world, particularly on Valentine’s Day. The mystic sense of aloneness is all the more pervasive should the fog roll in to envelop towering redwood trees.

Beyond the windows, deer peer from the forest as do squirrels and raccoons. While guests dine of an evening, classical melodies recall Bach and Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin and other composers in a civilized setting of candlelight and fine wine. Romantics choose from 60 rooms and suites, several with private hot tubs. One whose hearth features a pair of love seats offers a private deck for studying the stars. Named the nation’s No. 1 “country house hotel” in a national survey, the Ventana Inn gets our valentine bid of five stars: *****.

Backtracking up the coast a moment, we would be remiss if we failed to mention Stonepine (profiled in the Travel Section Oct. 4, 1987). Set in Carmel Valley, Stonepine attracts romantics of all ages with its carriage rides and gourmet treats, and its elegant Mediterranean-style chateau surrounded by hundreds of acres of emptiness, making this the perfect place to get lost, to meditate . . . and to be close to the one closest to one’s heart on Valentine’s Day. Stonepine: *****.

For Valentine’s Day, Molly Lynch plans to whip up heart-shaped coffeecakes for guests at her J. Patrick House in Cambria, where she’ll pass out valentine candies. (For guests who call ahead, orders will be taken for flowers and champagne.) Molly’s is one of those B&Bs; that seems to have been created specially for valentine couples, a country house with rooms with private baths, individual fireplaces and hooked rugs. The J. Patrick House gets our three-heart award: ***.

A new discovery that guarantees to make for a happy valentine is Kathy and Bob Davis’ Apple Farm Inn in San Luis Obispo, a modern version of a Victorian showplace featuring a choice of canopy, four-poster, enamel or brass beds. The mood is accentuated by love seats, country wallpaper and cheery log fires.

Windows frame San Luis Creek, a swimming pool and spa and a working grist mill re-created from bits and pieces gathered by Kathy and Bob in Indiana and Missouri. Their restaurant specializes in home-style cooking: smoked ribs, chicken and dumplings, home-baked corn bread, garden fresh salads, apple dumplings and fruit cobblers.

Although newly opened, the Apple Farm Inn has received the AAA’s coveted four-diamond award. A special valentine rate of $99 includes room, dinner and breakfast in bed the following morning. (The rate--for single or double--will apply through April, Saturdays excepted.) Take someone special to this four-hearts inn: ****.

What promises to be a turn-on for lovers this Valentine’s Day will be a “romantic package” provided at Gisela and Mike Baida’s Old World B&B; in Ventura--La Mer. With only five rooms (each representing a European country), La Mer is a warm and friendly old Cape Cod-style cottage set on a hillside overlooking Ventura.

On Valentine’s Day, guests will be gifted with complimentary bottles of champagne. In addition, La Mer’s “romantic package” will include dinner at a French/Italian restaurant as well as Gisela’s popular Bavarian buffet-style breakfast. Besides breakfast, Gisela prepares homemade picnic lunches with European specialties: Black Forest ham, French bread, imported cheeses and German cold cuts. La Mer, a three-heart hideaway: ***.

Candlelight dinners promise to make the heart grow fonder on Valentine’s Day at the sprawling San Ysidro Ranch in Montecito. With 43 cottages, San Ysidro displays Jacuzzis, wet bars, hot tubs and wood-burning fireplaces. Forest Cottage sits alone on two acres with a Jacuzzi tucked into a redwood deck that overlooks a creek.

San Ysidro, with its peace and privacy, has been host to celebrities Paul Newman, Burt Reynolds, Burt Bacharach and Diahann Carroll. Names of an earlier era are recalled: Somerset Maugham, Sinclair Lewis, John F. Kennedy, Winston Churchill, John Steinbeck and others. The ranch is described as a “place for lovers of privacy, lovers of hiking, lovers of horses--and just plain lovers.” San Ysidro, five hearts: *****.

For Valentine’s Day other candlelight dinners will be served on the terraces at Mel Haber’s Spanish-style Ingleside Inn in Palm Springs, which Haber unabashedly describes as “a place where lovers get lost.”

With only 26 rooms, the Ingleside is old Palm Springs, holding tenaciously to the original village atmosphere. Surrounded by adobe walls with a lineup of Rolls-Royces, guests get the impression they’ve stepped into an episode of Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel, “The Great Gatsby.”

A note in the bar (signed by actress June Allyson) declares that “everyone should get married at Ingleside at least once in their lifetime.” Ingleside Inn: *****.

Valentine’s Day couldn’t pass without another brief mention of that old romantic, Ken Irwin, and his fashionable Palm Springs spa, La Mancha Club & Villas. On Valentine’s Day, Irwin will present red roses and champagne to guests. And to make the heart skip a beat, strolling violinists will invade individual villas to play favorite love songs.

Along with push-button fireplaces, a sky full of stars and poems composed by Irwin, La Mancha’s “Romantic Interlude” is expected to play to a full house during valentine week. Once again, this most romantic of desert resorts (50 villas with individual swimming pools/Jacuzzis) rates five hearts--at the very least: *****.

Turning south along the coast, hosts Bob and Celeste Hale will be featuring a valentine theme the entire month of February at the Pelican Cove Inn in Carlsbad. Chocolates and roses will be delivered to each room. And for the couple that disdains driving, the Hales will be waiting at Amtrak’s stop in nearby Oceanside. Pelican Cove provides four guest rooms with fireplaces, private baths, featherbeds and loads of tender loving care. Here is a three-heart valentine: ***.

In La Jolla on Valentine’s Day the staff at Hotel La Valencia will play Cupid by passing out candies and fruit baskets. La Valencia is the pink-stuccoed landmark that’s entertained such celebrities as Greta Garbo, Clark Gable, David Niven, Gregory Peck, Mel Ferrer, Audrey Hepburn and dozens more. Red tile floors gleam beneath wrought-iron chandeliers, and a grandfather clock ticks softly near the door.

Outside, banks of flowers shower

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the hotel’s charming patio where lunch is served. To get an idea of La Valencia’s romantic attractions, the hotel was once described by a national magazine as “one of the 10 best places in California to stay with one’s husband--or someone else’s.” We give La Valencia five hearts: *****.

--Barnabey’s, Sepulveda at Rosecrans, Manhattan Beach 90266. Telephone toll-free (800) 732-1540 (California), (800) 421-0341 (outside California) or (213) 545-8466. Romantic package: $69 per person, double occupancy. Other rates: $88/$395.

--Chalet de France, Star Route Box 20-A, Kneeland Road, Eureka, Calif. 95549. Telephone (707) 443-6512 or (707) 444-3144. Rate: $195 per couple (includes room, open bar, full gourmet breakfast and dinner with wine).

--Mill Rose Inn, 615 Mill St., Half Moon Bay, Calif. 94019. Telephone (415) 726-9794. Rates: $145/$215.

--The White Swan Inn, 845 Bush St., San Francisco 94108. Telephone (415) 775-1755. Rates: $155/$250 (includes a full breakfast plus afternoon hors d’oeuvres with wine).

--Seven Gables Inn, 555 Ocean View Blvd., Pacific Grove, Calif. 93950. Telephone (408) 372-4341. Rates: $85/$155.

--Ventana Inn, Big Sur, Calif. 93920. In California call toll-free (800) 628-6500. Outside the state call (408) 667-2331. Rates from $145.

--Stonepine, 150 E. Carmel Valley Road, Carmel Valley, Calif. 93924. Telephone (408) 659-2245. Rates from $150.

--J. Patrick House, 2990 Beach Drive, Cambria, Calif. 93428. Telephone (805) 927-3812. Rates: $85/$105.

--Apple Farm Inn & Restaurant, 2015 Monterey St., San Luis Obispo 93401. Telephone (805) 544-2040 or toll-free (800) 255-2040. Rates: $60/$130.

--La Mer, 411 Poli St., Ventura 93001. Telephone (805) 643-3600. Rates: Romantic package, $165; others, $80/$115.

--San Ysidro Ranch, 900 San Ysidro Lane, Montecito 93108. Telephone (805) 969-5046. Rates: $160/$425.

--Ingleside Inn, 200 W. Ramon Road, Palm Springs 92264. Telephone (619) 325-0046. Rates: $85/$375.

--La Mancha Private Club & Villas, 444 Avenida Caballeros, Palm Springs 92262. Telephone (619) 323-1773. Rate: $140/up. (Special three-night valentine package: $495 with candlelight dinner for two.)

--Pelican Cove Inn, 320 Walnut Ave., Carlsbad 92008. Telephone (619) 434-5995. Rates: $85/$125 (includes an “extended continental breakfast”).

--Hotel La Valencia, 1132 Prospect St., La Jolla 92037. Telephone (619) 454-0771. Rates: $115/$350.

Others:

--Britt House B&B;, 406 Maple St., San Diego 92103. Telephone (619) 234-2926. Rates: $90/$110. (Angel food cake and other pastries will be served on Valentine’s Day.)

--Toll House Inn, P.O. Box 268, Boonville, Calif. 95419. Telephone (707) 895-3630. Rates: $65/$108.

--Gingerbread Mansion, 400 Berding St., Ferndale, Calif. 95536. Telephone (707) 786-4000307. Rates: $75/$150.