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Luxury Resorts: My loyal Luxe List readers know there’s nothing I enjoy more than a weekend getaway with my friends, when we leave our over-stuffed schedules and worries behind if even for a day. I recently took another such power vacation with three of my gal pals — this time at San Diego’s famed La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club. This spectacular beachfront resort, with its old world charm, modern amenities, gorgeous grounds and amazing service, proved itself to be a great escape for some female camaraderie-based R&R surf-side.

While both full year and non-resident/off-season memberships are available at the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club, with the full family package currently running $70,000 per year plus annual dues of $6,745, the property also functions as a traditional resort. Non-member guests are welcome to stay and enjoy the Club’s decidedly relaxing oceanfront accommodations and sea of activities. Summer season standard room rates start at $379 — a small price to pay for the extraordinary experience you’ll undoubtedly have at this ultimate vacation playground.

A Venerable History
The La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club originally opened in 1927 as the La Jolla Beach & Yacht Club but was later renamed in 1935 when tennis courts and a Junior Olympic-size swimming pool were added to the grounds. In its long history under the Kellogg family’s watch now four generations strong, the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club has established a reputation as an uber-exclusive seaside retreat and one of California’s most prized oceanfront properties.

It’s also a fixture on the tennis circuit. Over the years, the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club has hosted many prestigious amateur and professional tennis tournaments, including the Pacific Coast Men’s Doubles Championship as well as four other USTA national championships. The Club has been rated as one of America’s Top 50 Tennis Resorts by Tennis Magazine and one of the Top 75 Tennis Resorts by TennisResortsOnline.com. If you’ve got game, this Club is the place to be.

Divine Design
Spread over a full 14 acres, guests enter the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club through a private entrance leading to a porte-cochere and main lobby. The expansive, palm tree lined drive extends past the Club’s wildlife lagoon, nine hole Par-3 golf course and the tennis complex boasting no less than 12 hard surface courts.

The structures and hardscapes are reminiscent of a Spanish-style hacienda, with light-brown adobe facades and red tile walkways. While the original structure was built in the late 1920s, the Club has undergone a number of facelifts and modernizations over the years that have maintained its appealing aesthetic.

Rooms and Respite
There are 98 rooms at the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club — 14 hotel rooms, one parlor, two fairway cottages, 18 studios with kitchens, and 55 one-, two- and three-bedroom suites with living room as well as one or two baths and a kitchen. The cottages feature a fireplace, kitchen, and living room.

Nearly all the suites and some hotel rooms have oceanfront views and direct access to the private beach while the rest enjoy views of the patio courtyard area. The suites range from 560 to 1,300 square feet, while standard rooms span from 250 to 325 square feet for those with kitchenettes. Additionally, there are 128 more rooms at the Club’s companion property, the La Jolla Shores Hotel.

My ample two-bedroom corner suite boasted large picture windows on two adjacent walls, which made the handsomely appointed room bright and cheery. Most notable, however, is how close this and the adjoining rooms were situated to the ocean. As the waves crash against the shore, the briny air and a delightful mist permeates the rooms like a pelagic potpourri. This room, as all rooms on the property with a kitchen, had a refrigerator, oven, microwave, coffee-maker and all the utensils, dishes, pots and pans one needs.

As one would expect from a resort of this caliber, guest room amenities are extensive and include an in-room safe, coffee-maker with complimentary tea and coffee, complimentary in-room high speed Internet, complimentary local calls, telephone with data port, color TV with cable and HBO (a flat screen in my suite), DVD players and complimentary movie rental, iHome docking stations for iPods, irons and ironing boards, hairdryers, robes, and complimentary local newspaper.

To encourage Club loyalty, the resort has a “Long-Term Stay Program” that offers special rates for one-week, two-week, or monthly stays. Don’t I wish! Loyalty perks also include preferential status for specific reservation dates and guaranteed favorite rooms. Trips of 14 nights or more for at least two consecutive years grants you automatic entry into this “club within the Club.”

***Some or all of the accommodations(s), experience(s), item(s) and/or service(s) detailed above may have been provided at no cost and/or arranged to accommodate this review, but all opinions expressed are entirely those of Merilee Kern and have not been influenced in any way as per the disclosure policy on our “Legal” page***