bhrubin

Santa Barbara over the holidays will be much riskier in terms of weather, so consider accordingly. The area is prone to inland flow and plenty of rain in Dec-Feb.

I live in Newport Beach in Orange County near the Pelican Hill Resort and Marriott Newport Coast Villas. I'll be eating at Studio at Montage this Sunday. We dined at Raya at the Ritz Carlton Laguna Niguel last week. We don't dine at Andrea at Pelican Hill because it's wildly overrated. In a few weeks, we expect to dine at the Stonehill Tavern at the Monarch Beach Resort (former St Regis across from the Ritz Carlton).

The Ritz Carlton is renovated and pretty nice, and just a 10 min drive up into Laguna Beach. Room category matters here, so getting a suite is smart. Amazing seaside location with a wonderful beach for walks. Cheaper than the Montage as previously noted.

Pelican Hill is a good option if you can get a deal since even the basic entry rooms are huge. It's not on the ocean side of PCH (much like Monarch Beach Resort) but the OP seems less concern about that. We aren't fans of Andrea fine dining at Pelican, but the Pelican Grill and Colisseum pool dining are wonderful and also more relaxed...and there are tons of nearby excellent dining options in Newport and Crystal Cove (not to mention Laguna Beach!). The Crystal Cove state beach is perhaps an even better beach than that by the Ritz Carlton Laguna Niguel.

Stonehill (Monarch Beach) and Studio (Montage) are our favorite hotel restaurants in OC. Basilic on Balboa Island in Newport Beach is my absolute favorite restaurant in OC, however. Mastro's Ocean Club and Bluefin Japanese/sushi are amazing, too. (We had dinner last night at Mastro's and tonight will be Bluefin, in fact!) And Javier's is quite the spot with great drinks and pretty good Mexican. When Marche Moderne finishes its relocation to the Crystal Cove shopping center below us, that really will be a triumph for Crystal Cove--having Marche Moderne, Mastro's, Bluefin, and Javier's together. Crystal Cove is about a 5 min drive from Pelican Hill, maybe 15 min from Montage, and 20 min from the Ritz Carlton Laguna Niguel/Monarch Beach Resort.

If dining is a priority, the Orange County coastal resorts offer far more choice and better dining than Santa Barbara. Also, Orange County likely will have considerably better weather. And Laguna is more charming and with more to do. San Juan Capistrano is also just 10-15 min drive from any of these properties, allowing the chance to see a beautiful Spanish mission and another adorable little town.

Newport Beach and Laguna beach are also closer to Los Angeles.

Rancho Valencia is also likely to have better weather than Santa Barbara in Dec, but it's also farther south than Laguna/Newport Beach.

I'd say Laguna Beach is the most quintessential town for exploration and dining, with charm and lovely beaches and mountain hikes all combining for an excellent stay for a few nights. Much more intimate and charming than Santa Barbara, though both can be quite touristy--though much less so outside the summer high season. Laguna also has scores of art galleries to explore. It's really a lovely town akin to Santa Fe, another former artist colony...but on the water.

I also completely agree with earlier statements that Santa Barbara can be yawn-inducing and that the FS Westlake isn't remotely comparable with other properties being discussed. Santa Barbara is best during warmer seasons unless you like to "nest" at a resort like KatW seems to enjoy!