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Growing up in Southern California—especially as a themed motel enthusiast with a penchant for roadside destinations—I’m borderline ashamed to admit I’ve only made it north of Los Angeles a handful of times. San Luis Obispo is home to my favorite place on earth—the Madonna Inn, a Pepto-Bismol-pink fever dream of kitsch—but aside from that and a family trip to Hearst Castle back in 2013, my relationship with Central California has been mostly drive-through. Ojai, in particular, had always been a blur... a quick pass-through in 2017 en route to the Madonna Inn (priorities), nothing more. So when the opportunity arose for a much-needed girls’ road trip to the Ojai Valley Inn, I jumped—despite knowing embarrassingly little about what the town actually had to offer. Spoiler alert: quite a lot.
Genesis, the luxury arm of Hyundai Motor Group, kindly loaned us its 2026 GV80 Coupe 3.5T Prestige All Wheel Drive (AWD) for the roughly two-hour drive from Los Angeles, Friday rush hour included. As someone who hadn’t driven a car in nearly six months, I’ll admit I was panic-attack-level nervous, especially since the road to Ojai gets winding and foggy after sunset, which is precisely when we began our journey. Fortunately, I was in very good hands (or wheels, rather). For reference, my former ride was a 2009 Toyota Camry—RIP, I will forever miss her, and she was the best—but the GV80 Coupe felt like a different universe entirely.
Back-seat massagers, an oversized and intuitive navigation display (a blessing for distracted drivers like me), and Genesis Connected Services—including a digital key, stolen vehicle recovery, and Genesis Pay, which lets you pay for gas and parking without ever leaving the car—made the drive not just doable for an anxiety-ridden driver, but genuinely enjoyable. Now, it didn’t hurt that the car was quietly kind of sexy—and also downright quiet. We definitely turned heads as we pulled into the lauded Ojai Valley Inn late Friday night. The Coupe was the perfect luxury prelude—but the real experience began at check-in.
Whether you’re planning a girls’ trip, a romantic escape, or even a family getaway, the Ojai Valley Inn is, in my opinion, the only place to stay in town. The resort is easily Ojai’s most renowned luxury property, and I’m happy to report it lives up to the hype—from its casual dining options to Michelin-starred fare, and even some of the best golf instruction in the state (shout-out to our incredible and impressively patient instructor, Spencer).
An AAA Five Diamond recipient, the resort is set across 220 lush, tree-lined acres in the heart of the Ojai Valley, just ten minutes from downtown. The 303 spacious guestrooms channel California’s storied past, while seven dining destinations spotlight local ingredients. Add Spa Ojai and Golf Ojai to the mix, and you’ve got a resort so comprehensive that my friend and I barely left the property during our two-night stay. We visited in early December, when holiday cheer was in full swing. Families gathered around roaring fires, admired festooned fir trees, and soaked up the kind of summer-adjacent weather Southern California somehow delivers year-round. It was, frankly, perfect.
We arrived on our first night in sweats (our signature weekend vacation uniform), starving, and ready to collapse into bed—luckily, turn-down service here is second to none. For dinner, we headed to Jimmy’s Pub, an elevated yet casual spot serving polished versions of pub classics: beer cheese with pretzel bites, smash burgers (vegan and regular), and fish tacos that hit especially hard after a long drive.
Back in our suite, we discovered truffles waiting as part of the turn-down service, paired with a glass of local Pinot Noir. Before turning in, we pre-ordered room-service breakfast: “the best breakfast burrito of all time,” my bestie, who had stayed here three months prior, promised. She was not exaggerating.
We woke to a sun-soaked December morning and oat milk lattes delivered alongside those now-legendary burritos—arguably the best way to start any day. After pulling on our best golf attire, we requested a ride to the course. Thanks to the resort’s golf-cart transportation system, getting anywhere on the expansive property is effortless; pickups rarely took more than a few minutes.
Our destination was a 90-minute golf lesson with Spencer, whose impressive patience, coupled with expert instruction, made even novices like me feel momentarily athletic.
After logging plenty of steps (like... 6,000 at a mere 11:55 p.m.) and briefly convincing ourselves that golf was our new hobby, we worked up an appetite just in time for lunch. We wandered the property debating how early to schedule dinner—a decision that would dictate our midday strategy—before landing at The Oak, where we opted for healthy yet hearty salmon and farro bowls.
By early afternoon, the post-lunch slump hit hard. A nap sounded ideal, but our coffee-addicted instincts won out. We detoured to the Spa Café, where we both agreed we’d just had the best soy-milk iced lattes of our lives. Between the caffeine buzz—and a perfectly timed text from a crush on my friend’s phone—we found ourselves unexpectedly energized, sailing straight through to pre-dinner drinks.
After a martini or two, we were seated at Olivella, the property’s signature restaurant known for its luxe, farm-to-table Italian fare. As much as we’d enjoyed dinner at Jimmy’s Pub the night before, Olivella was on another level entirely—hands down better than most of the Italian spots I frequent in Los Angeles, if I’m being honest.
We ordered the burrata to start, followed by the cacio e pepe (recommended by a fellow guest during pre-dinner drinks) and the Santa Barbara spiny lobster bucatini—possibly one of the top three pastas I’ve ever had, including meals in Milan and Rome. Blissfully full, we made our way back to our cozy suite for our final night at the Ojai Valley Inn.
The next morning, we did what now felt inevitable: ordered another round of breakfast burritos and best-ever soy-milk lattes before heading to the spa. We closed out our stay with two indulgent 90-minute deep-tissue massages, followed by a leisurely sauna and steam session.
Leaving was hard—not because we weren’t excited to slip back into our Genesis—but because it meant exiting Ojai’s serene bubble of nature and calm and returning to the daily grind in Los Angeles. Still, it was the pre-holiday reset we both desperately needed, and we’re already plotting our return.
