My recent stay at the Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay suggested a highly luxurious form of adult summer camp. The 261-room resort, set spectacularly along a rugged stretch of California's Pacific coast, is full of the expected Ritz- Carlton corporate services ”“ The Wall Street Journal and USA Today delivered to guest rooms each morning, a 24-hour technology butler, impressive conference rooms ”“ but is also very much of a posh playground.

Two golf courses (one originally designed by Arnold Palmer, the other added by golf architect Arthur Hills in 1997) wind through the property; room service delivers s'mores kits for use at communal fire pits; the hotel's Colony Club has six tennis courts, an indoor pool, a gym and daily classes like spinning, yoga and Pilates. Even the beach walk feels secluded despite condominium development on and around the property. The resort's Shingle Style architecture and the Adirondack chairs dotting the lawns emphasize a sense of old fashioned leisure, and the rooms ”“ luminous from the large windows, and decorated with elegant silk upholstery ”“ are both cozy and bright.

Request a room with a view of the water (the majority of rooms do) and if privacy is a concern, make sure not to be on the ground floor, where outdoor seating is charming but quite exposed. If you book one of the 46 lounge level rooms, you have access to a clubby space on the 5th floor, overlooking the Pacific. Guests with lounge privileges can take breakfast, lunch, tea, cocktails and after dinner drinks there and can avail themselves of the lounge concierge and a stack of board games and magazines. (The excellent breakfast included fresh berries, pineapples, melons, kiwi, yogurts, muffins, smoked salmon, cereals, boiled eggs, lattes and the like.)

My room's bay window provided a lovely view of the rolling golf courses and beyond them, waves crashing against the bluff. The hotel, which was opened six years ago, is run with a gimlet eye for detail: there was coffee but also Taylors of Harrogate tea in the room, and the bathroom ”“ all white marble and with a deep soaking tub for two ”“ was amply stocked with of Bulgari White Tea toiletries. The property is family-friendly in the extreme, with activities like arts and crafts and tennis for kids, and babies are well-looked after too (housekeeping sterilized my infant daughter's bottles and presented them half an hour later on a silver tray).

Half Moon Bay is only 30 miles south of San Francisco, but the resort itself is so inviting that one can easily spend several days doing very little and enjoying it very much. The $25 daily resort fee includes things like wireless internet access, a shuttle to the charming town of Half Moon Bay, unlimited local calls, daily exercise classes, beach toys and putters and wedges for the putting greens.

I had an intensely relaxing Half Moon Bay signature massage at the spa, which also features a line of Prada beauty treatments. Even hotel guests who forgo a treatment should check out the sauna, steam room and the octagonal Roman mineral bath, a warm, candlelit and prettily tiled co-ed pool. The day I was there, it was completely empty and ideal for a long soak.

This being northern California, food and wine are an essential lure. The hotel has a wine bar, a conservatory bistro and a terrace cafe, but the most impressive dining is at Navio. In tribute to the Portuguese ship builders who settled Half Moon Bay in the 1800s, the restaurant takes its name from the Portuguese for “ship” and plays up its coastal location. Ask for a booth along the picture windows so you can admire the ocean. Chef Aaron Zimmer has created an appealing menu, heavy with local produce, fish, meats and cheeses. We had tender halibut with heirloom tomato, fennel and basil coulis; a lobster salad in watermelon broth with floating cantaloupe islands and potato ravioli with clams.

The sides were delicious ”“ a toothsome seared polenta and wilted spinach. One quibble: the service ”“ even on a slow night ”“ was a little rushed, with our appetizers arriving significantly ahead of our wine. The approach in the casual terrace café, which has a limited menu of sandwiches and salads, was also a bit off ”“ the service was of a “you guys” informality that seemed inappropriately familiar for a Ritz Carlton property.

Those caveats notwithstanding, the Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay felt like the ideal weekend getaway ”“ a romantically windswept location at which to do as much or as little as one pleases.

Rates start at $309 a night in low season. There is a daily resort fee of $25 and a nightly valet parking fee of $39 [NB: Parking increases to $45 starting January 1, 2008].

The Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay
One Miramontes Point Road
Half Moon Bay, California
Phone: (650) 712-7000

www.ritzcarlton.com

New York-based writer Jackie Cooperman has covered culture, travel, gastronomy and design for publications including the Financial Times, Women's Wear Daily, The International Herald Tribune, Worth, Town & Country and Departures.

Click here for concierge Judy Webster's Half Moon Bay recommendations