LOOKING LIKE A MILLION

I stepped from the marble whirlpool bath, padded across the marble floor and entered the marble shower. I sat on the marble bench as water fell from a shower head the size of a Frisbee. The press of a button summoned clouds of hot, soothing vapor from a steam nozzle. Had I not already excused the butler, he could have defogged the glass door, allowing me a clear view of the NBA playoffs on the TV sitting between the twin sinks.

My girlfriend, Andrea, and I had checked into Ocean Villa Six at La Valencia Hotel, a luxurious, relaxed Mediterranean-style hostelry in the tony coastal village of La Jolla, 20 minutes north of downtown San Diego. Our visit was one stop on a tour of three celebrated San Diego area hotels that have recently been renovated and renewed.

Besides La Valencia, we sampled the Grande Colonial (formerly the Colonial Inn), a boutique hotel that’s also in La Jolla, and the Hotel del Coronado, the rambling seaside resort in the town of Coronado on the ocean south of San Diego. Each of the revamped hotels enjoys a storied past, complete with Hollywood con-nections, and is among 18 California properties on the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s list of hotels. Our experiences were different at each of them--and at different prices--but all of these hotels have incorporated modern comforts and amenities without compromising too much of their sense of nostalgia.

This was our first jaunt away from home since Andrea and I ended a yearlong around-the-world journey in December. We weren’t traveling far this time--the three hotels lie within a dozen miles of our house--but we did find a very different world from our budget-minded global trek.

La Valencia

La Valencia has added 15 villas as part of a $12-million renovation that includes redecorated rooms in the main building and a new pool. Each villa has a patio and fireplace, and you can see the Pacific from nearly all of them, except for ours, which faced the pool. At $650 to $4,000 for a night, La Valencia is a dear sleep, but among the extra touches for your dollars, you have a butler at your beck and call who is eager to provide any service that falls within the law, from making restaurant reservations and golf tee times to unpacking, drawing a bath or finding an anniversary present.

La Valencia opened in 1926 as an apartment hotel and is still called the Pink Lady of La Jolla because of its rose exterior. A striking gold mosaic-tiled tower atop the hotel was used as a lookout for enemy planes during World War II. In the 1930s, stars such as Greta Garbo, Charlie Chaplin and Lillian Gish found it an ideal hideaway. In later years, La Jollan Gregory Peck, a co-founder of the La Jolla Playhouse, played host to fellow actors Dorothy McGuire, Mel Ferrer and Ginger Rogers, among others, in the hotel bar.

As we pulled up to the curb on a Saturday afternoon, two valets rushed to our doors before the car was in park. We strode over clay pavers along a colonnade that flanked a palm-shaded patio before reaching the lobby, where we were greeted by a sea breeze. La Sala, a long, thin lounge with a Moorish-style hand-painted ceiling, led to a full-length picture window overlooking La Jolla Cove, palm-fringed and gleaming blue under a cloudless spring sky.

Within moments, Robert, our butler, was summoned to show us to our villa, which was at the bottom of steeply terraced grounds of lawns, lemon trees and bougainvillea. There Robert took us through a tutorial in the high-tech appointments: besides the aquatic gadgetry of the spacious bathroom, which included a separate WC equipped with phone, there was a wall-mounted CD/cassette/radio sound system, whose programmed stations I could never master, leaving us the choice between silence and light jazz, and a Jetsons-esque TV that popped up from a cabinet in the center of the room at the touch of a remote control. The old-world elegance of the hotel’s public areas hasn’t been carried over into the new villas, and that seemed oddly out of character. The villas are decidedly contemporary, as are the rooms in the main building, which have received new earth-tone wall coverings, bedding, carpeting and drapes, and black granite accents in the bathrooms.

Our unit had a muted beige decor, exposed white fir beams and mirrored walls, perhaps to make the smallish room look bigger than its 400 square feet. Wood-shuttered sliding doors opened to a large patio with chaise lounge and table and chairs.

There were no drawers to store our clothes (that hidden TV takes up a lot of space), but it was hard to be too critical while nibbling on complimentary strawberries the size of tennis balls. Besides, if the villas are good enough for Oprah Winfrey, Billy Joel and Pearl Jam (front man Eddie Vedder once worked as a La Valencia security guard, fired for playing his guitar instead of performing his rounds), who are we to complain?

The hotel’s old, small kidney-shaped pool has been replaced by a large rectangular one ringed by a glass windscreen, market umbrellas and potted geraniums. The Mexican tile Jacuzzi and poolside cafe are new, and the gym has new exercise equipment, saunas and massage rooms. During our stay, the pool drew a mix of cannonballing kids and tattooed hipsters as well as champagne-quaffing guests who wandered over from one of the wedding parties that take place most every weekend at the hotel.

La Valencia’s three restaurants also got a facelift. The Whaling Bar and Grill, a favorite of locals, boasts deep red leather banquettes, authentic New Bedford harpoons and lanterns, and displays of scrimshaw. We feasted at the Mediterranean Room’s Sunday buffet brunch, which is distinguished by mounds of shellfish, carving stations and a huge basket-shaped ice sculpture filled with fresh strawberries.

When I phoned the Sky Room, the hotel’s gourmet restaurant, the man who took our reservation offered a money-back guarantee if we didn’t enjoy ourselves, and with good reason. All 12 tables and booths in the intimate restaurant atop the hotel have a commanding view of the Pacific. From our candle-lighted table we gazed up the coast at sunset toward the cliffs below Torrey Pines Golf Course and beyond, to the hot-air balloons floating above Del Mar.

If I had not been seated, I might have collapsed, so knee-buckling divine were my king crab ravioli appetizer and entree of Hudson Valley foie gras over dry aged prime rib eye. Ditto Andrea’s abalone and scallop mousse “steak” and filet of Angus beef with sweet potato terrine. Chocolate cake with vanilla bean ice cream and a chocolate cup holding coconut pudding, almond ice cream and fresh berries, all drizzled with raspberry sauce and served with a cookie spoon, ended our most pleasant 21/2 hours in recent memory.

Our turndown service included a hand-printed weather card forecasting the next day’s surf conditions and ocean temperature. A tray of delectable candies, including triangular shards of chocolate standing on end like sails, also awaited us. Stuffed and content, we fell into bed, too tired to call the butler to come light the fireplace.

The Grande Colonial

Down Prospect Street from La Valencia sits the Grande Colonial, a custard yellow inn in the style of a traditional European hotel. Less splendid than its neighbor but with its own rich character, the Grande Colonial enjoys the same proximity to La Jolla’s many galleries, designer boutiques and shops, as well as the Museum of Contemporary Art, but priced well below La Valencia.

When it opened in 1913 as an apartment hotel, a room with bath cost $1 a night. Thirteen years later, the wooden building (now suites) was moved to the rear of the property to make way for a bigger concrete structure, advertised as the first fireproof hotel west of the Mississippi. In 1928 La Jolla Drug Store became part of the hotel’s frontage. It was later bought by Silas O. Putnam, Gregory Peck’s father, who added a sidewalk ice cream parlor, where locals gossiped over sodas. During World War II the Colonial housed top brass from Camp Callan. It was home to Groucho Marx, Jane Wyatt, Charlton Heston and others when they performed at La Jolla Playhouse.

The new owners have spent $3.5-million in renovations. The hotel’s 75 rooms and suites were refurbished with new wall coverings and carpeting, but they retain period touches such as glass doorknobs and crown molding. In the lobby, the original semicircular leaded glass windows over French doors look out onto the grounds, the pool and the Pacific.

We stayed in Room 305, an “ocean view junior suite,” bright and comfortably elegant; its brochure rate is $319.

Five wood-framed windows, with plaid shades and white chiffon curtains, reached nearly from the floor to the high ceiling. Four windows faced an office building, but the fifth allowed a generous panorama of the sea beyond swaying palms and soaring gulls. If we grew tired of the view, there was a 27-inch TV inside an armoire.

The Colonial boasts that its beds are the most comfortable in the nation, which may be a bit of rhetoric, but this much I know is true: The Colonial is a sleeper and worth a return visit.

Hotel del Coronado

Our last stop, after crossing the San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge, was the Hotel del Coronado. This landmark has three buildings, but it’s the white Queen Anne Revival-style structure, with its big red cupola and turrets, that captivates.

The Del, as locals call it, is a classic upscale oceanfront resort, ideal for families and active travelers who can afford room rates that start at $235.

The hotel maximizes its prime location on Coronado Beach, a broad expanse of fine white sand. Guests can take surfing lessons, participate in sailing clinics, go on kayak tours, play volleyball, rent boats and bikes and join yoga classes. And if that’s not enough, there are three lighted tennis courts and a 100-foot pool.

All 681 rooms and suites were redesigned during a three-year, $55-million renovation that ended this month and also shored up the foundation and added new steel trusses to the Victorian building, ensuring that the legendary palace on the beach will endure.

We stayed in Room 3344 of the old building, reached through a lush courtyard that’s so large it has hosted three weddings simultaneously. The rooms now have air-conditioning but retain their Victorian flavor, with antiqued gold mirrors, ornate armoires, ceiling fans and floor lamps with large fringed shades. (If you want to stay in the Victorian building, make sure you specify that when you make your reservation.)

Our room was large, comfortable and handsome, though short of exceptional. The king bed should have been placed with a view of the ocean rather than a parking lot. (The hotel plans to move most of the parking underground in the future.) Then again, with the Pacific for a front yard, why linger in a hotel room?

A lovely oval lawn anchors the ground where the tennis courts once were, giving guests clear views of the sea beyond gorgeous gardens and a berm of flowering ice plant.

A walkway of new and renovated restaurants and shops takes advantage of the improved vistas. Health buffs can gaze at passing ships while working out in the new state-of-the-art spa and fitness center.

We liked the Prince of Wales, the hotel’s fine-dining restaurant named in honor of the guest in 1920 who went on to become Britain’s King Edward VIII. Although it was no match for the meal at La Valencia, everything was good--flash-seared California spiny lobster and day-boat halibut for Andrea, the seared diver scallops and roasted Sterling salmon for me.

Next door is the new terraced restaurant Sheerwater, open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and book-ended by giant outdoor fireplaces. Farther along, the airy new Babcock & Story Bar features a 46-foot refurbished mahogany bar that was shipped around Cape Horn from Philadelphia in 1888.

In the 1880s, hotel co-founder Elisha S. Babcock Jr. told architect James Reid: “We must build a house that people will like to come to long after we are gone.”

There was little lumber in the San Diego area, so log rafts 900 feet long were floated down the Pacific from the Northwest for the construction.

Since its opening in 1888, the Del has hosted 10 U.S. presidents, starting with Benjamin Harrison.

L. Frank Baum, author of the “Wizard of Oz” books and a frequent guest, designed the chandeliers in the magnificent Crown Room. President Richard M. Nixon hosted a state dinner for Mexican President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz there in 1970.

Another literary guest, Henry James, wrote affectionately in 1905 of “the charming sweetness and comfort of this spot” and “the languid lisp of the Pacific, which my windows overhang.”

The Del is so steeped in lore that it has the feel of a living museum. Sitting on the sprawling sun deck, I imagined a chance meeting with Wyatt Earp or Charles Lindbergh. I could almost hear a scratchy recording of music from one of Thomas Edison’s new machines. Closing my eyes, I could see men in full-length bathing suits romping in the surf as women peeked out from beneath parasols on the sand.

Later that day, driving back over the bridge to our house, I was reminded that one need not journey far to escape.

*

Mike McIntyre’s “Wander Year” columns can be found at https://www.latimes.com/travel/wander. He lives in San Diego.

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Guidebook: Sleeping in San Diego

* Getting there: To reach La Valencia and the Grande Colonial, exit Interstate 5 at La Jolla Village Drive and turn right. Turn left onto Torrey Pines Road, then right at Prospect Place. Prospect Place becomes Prospect Street, where both hotels are.

For the Hotel del Coronado, take I-5 to the California 75 exit, crossing the San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge into Coronado. Turn left at Orange Avenue; the hotel is one mile down on the right.

* Where we stayed: La Valencia Hotel, 1132 Prospect St., La Jolla, CA 92037; telephone (800) 451-0772 or (858) 454-0771, fax (858) 456-3921, Internet https://www.lavalencia.com. Rooms, suites and villas range from $275 to $4,000 a night. Restaurants: Sky Room, dinner entrees $28 to $65; Mediterranean Room and Tropical Patio, entrees $19 to $29.50; Whaling Bar and Grill, entrees $22 to $35.

Grande Colonial, 910 Prospect St., La Jolla, CA 92037; tel. (800) 826-1278 or (858) 454-2181, fax (858) 454-5679, https://www.thegrandecolonial.com. Rooms and suites range from $189 to $319, except from June 15 to Sept. 3, when rates are $239 to $429. Dining: Nine-Ten is set to open the first week of June.

Hotel del Coronado, 1500 Orange Ave., Coronado, CA 92118; tel. (800) HOTEL-DEL or (619) 435-6611, fax (619) 522-8262, https://www.hoteldel.com. Rooms and suites range from $235 to $2,300. Restaurants: Prince of Wales, dinner entrees $22 to $29; Sheerwater, lunch and dinner entrees $10.75 to $26.50; Babcock & Story Bar, tapas $5.50 to $19.75.

* For more information: San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau, 401 B St., Suite 1400, San Diego, CA 92101-4237; tel. (619) 232-3101, fax (619) 696-9371, https://www.sandiego.org. Coronado Visitors Bureau, 1047 B Ave., Coronado, CA 92118-3418; tel. (619) 437-8788, https://www.coronadovisitors.com.