Luxury Comforts at Four-Star, French-Chateau-Style Hotel
As visitors arrive at Lafayette Park Hotel & Spa, they pass beneath a canopy of towering trees and see the pale-yellow and gray façade of a French-chateau-style estate. The four-star Lafayette Park Hotel & Spa plays up its European influences with kaleidoscopic gardens, charming courtyard fountains, and a three-story domed lobby. Located in a secluded part of East Bay, the hotel remains plugged into the Northern California lifestyle with acclaimed restaurants and close proximity to popular Bay Area destinations.
The spacious deluxe guest rooms come adorned with custom cherry furnishings and granite vanity countertops. Guests can admire the hotel’s original artwork or slip away to the private library to face off with the concierge in speed-reading contests. To relax, take a dip in the heated swimming pool. The adjacent European Spa at the Park offers relaxing services, such as the ginkgo biloba de-stress eye treatment ($25) and a 50-minute hot-stone massage ($120).
Two onsite restaurants serve haute cuisine. Enjoy dinner near a large stone fireplace at Bistro at the Park, which pairs contemporary American fare made from local ingredients with regional microbrews. Amid 18th-century European decor, the Duck Club Restaurant makes a delicious breakfast, with options including prosciutto-and-asparagus eggs benedict ($14). For dinner, the upscale restaurant leans toward steak and seafood entrees, including sourdough-crusted halibut ($25).
Lafayette, California: Quiet Hillside Close to Bay Area Destinations
The rolling hillsides of Lafayette lie within 30 minutes of Oakland and Concord. Just five minutes away is Walnut Creek, one of the area’s best-known cultural destinations for the California Symphony, the Center Repertory Company theater, and several art programs. Nearby Mount Diablo State Park draws visitors looking to hike to Mount Diablo’s summit—on a clear day, you can see the Golden Gate Bridge and the Pacific.
Trains pulling into the Lafayette BART Station—about 1.5 miles from the hotel—can take passengers to the heart of San Francisco. Once you’re there, take a ride on a California Street cable car, which shuttles from Embarcadero Station through colorful Chinatown and to the foot of Notre Dame de Paris doppelgänger Grace Cathedral in the city’s Nob Hill neighborhood.
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