Just blocks from Monterey's bustling Cannery Row lies a 24-room Victorian villa that Bon Appetit considers "one of the 8 best B&Bs in historic homes" and Conde Nast Traveler calls a "spectacular place for a romantic getaway." Welcome to the Martine Inn, built in the 1890s as a lavish private residence just 90 minutes south of San Francisco. Today it's a meticulously renovated resort steps from the water's edge, where every fixture and furnishing is an authentic Victorian-era antique and every room, many with fireplaces, claw foot tubs and/or ocean views, has its own name and unique decor.

Morning brings breakfast on a background of silver, crystal and lace, while evening presents a platter with wine, hot hors d'oeuvres, antipasto and fruit. Two sitting rooms afford priceless views of the bay, and other inn extras include a library, piano, game room replete with a 1917 nickelodeon, spa and Don Martine's collection of vintage MG autos. Miles of coastal hiking and biking are accessible literally at the inn's front door.

All the attractions of California's magnificent Monterey Peninsula are nearby as well, including the Monterey Bay Aquarium, home to 350,000 creatures and a spectacular, three-story tank with its own kepl forest. Watch rambunctious sea lions along Fisherman's Wharf, or, from November to February, witness thousands of monarch butterflies congregating in the parks of Pacific Grove. Point Pinos boasts the West Coast's oldest working lighthouse.