travel42 Hotel Review: La Playa Carmel

La Playa Carmel travel42 Professional Hotel Review

Location and History

Long known as the Grande Dame of Carmel, this gorgeous four-story Mediterranean-style icon on the corner of Eighth and Camino Real was originally built by landscape painter Chris Jorgensen in 1905 as a wedding present for his wife, an heir to the Ghirardelli chocolate empire. It was home to the first swimming pool in Carmel and since 1922, when 20 rooms were added to the original building to make it a full-service hotel, this pedigreed princess has operated as...