Happy New Year! With America’s 250th officially arriving in 2026, travel is shifting towards a renewed appreciation for places that shaped us—fueling the rise of nostalgia-driven travel and intimate, closer-to-home domestic escapes.
Casetta sits squarely at the intersection of this movement, specializing in reimagining historic properties into modern, design-led boutique havens that honor the spirit and stories of days past while offering a slower, more intentional way to travel.
Winter brings a welcome quiet to the West Coast—transforming the desert, mountains, and coastline into restorative retreats ideal for a gentle reset. Casetta’s portfolio of soulful, story-rich stays across the West make quick weekend trips and micro-getaways feel all the more meaningful, offering travelers a chance to reconnect with place, history, and a sense of quiet to start the new year.
Whether it’s a marine-layer morning along the Pacific Coast Highway, a desert hideaway at Palm Springs’ oldest hotel steeped in Old Hollywood lore, or a cozy alpine retreat with mid-century roots, these Casetta properties offer a distinct lens on American nostalgia—perfect for staycations, quick escapes and long weekend getaways this winter (and beyond):
- For a Coastal Quiet-cation: The Surfrider Malibu | Malibu, CA
- Located steps from world-famous Surfrider Beach, The Surfrider Malibu is a reimagined motor lodge and 20-room coastal hideaway that perfectly aligns with the rhythm of the Pacific. Winter offers the chance to experience Malibu at its most intimate, reflective, and quietly beautiful — through calm morning surf sessions, horseback rides through scenic canyons, coastal hikes, wine tastings, and cozy sunsets gathered around the rooftop firepit.
- With summer crowds (and traffic) long gone, the coastline is a serene escape from L.A.’s rush: the guest-only rooftop restaurant and bar, golden-hour firepits, and in-room massages create a laid-back beach-house retreat for experiencing Malibu at its most peaceful. A year after the devastating Palisades Fire, the community is steadily rebuilding, and now is a meaningful time to return, reconnect, and support the small businesses and local community that give Malibu its soul.
- For History & Design-Lovers: Casa Cody | Palm Springs, CA
- Founded by pioneer Harriet Cody, this storied 1910s hideaway is the city’s oldest operating hotel, once the stomping grounds for legends of the Los Angeles arts community visiting the desert. Today, Casa Cody stands as a design lover’s dream — a boutique escape that fuses Spanish Colonial Revival architecture with modern desert minimalism, all just steps from downtown’s galleries, shops, and mid-century landmarks.
- Set on 1.5 acres of lush desert gardens backdropped by the striking San Jacinto Mountains, Casa Cody offers serene pools, outdoor soaking tubs for moonlit baths, and spacious casitas filled with warm textures, vintage accents, and thoughtful wellness touches. With winter bringing crisp desert days, golden sunsets, and perfect weather to explore the city’s distinctive art and architecture scene, Casa Cody truly embodies the charm, walkability, and quiet sophistication that make Palm Springs the perfect weekend getaway.
- For Cozy, Alpine Charm: Hotel Marina Riviera | Big Bear Lake, CA
- Big Bear Lake is beloved as Southern California’s foremost mountain destination and ski-town, just a 2-hour drive from L.A., 2.5 hours from San Diego, and 3 hours total from Palm Springs/Orange County. Hotel Marina Riviera is a reimagined mid-century alpine retreat originally built in 1968, blending nostalgic ski-lodge charm with modern, design-forward cabin style. Overlooking Big Bear Lake and just minutes from Snow Summit and Big Bear Mountain Resort, the hotel offers a cozy winter basecamp with a year-round heated pool and hot tub, a barrel sauna, cold plunge, and glowing fire pits under starlit mountain skies. A quick drive up from Los Angeles but feeling worlds away, Big Bear delivers a quintessential mountain experience with snow-dusted peaks, crisp alpine air, and small-town charm.
- As it heads into its inaugural winter season, the property debuted an all-new collaboration with MacKenzie-Childs to incorporate signature home accents, cozy blankets, bold patterns, and imaginative décor throughout the lobby, bar, lakeside patio, and styled guest cabins. Guests can also heated igloos for the perfect après-ski moment – offering one-of-a-kind lakefront dining setting under the stars accented with Gray Malin throws, cocktail napkins, and a menu of seasonal specials, including the warm Checkmate Cider by De La Nonna.
- ‘Townsizing’ + Slow Down One of America’s Most Artistic Ski Towns: Hotel Willa | Taos, NM
- Long celebrated for its adobe architecture, layered history, ski culture and deep creative roots, Taos offers a compelling antidote to fast-paced city travel this winter. As travelers increasingly seek quieter, culturally rich escapes, Hotel Willa anchors the experience with a design-led stay that reflects the town’s artistic soul and slower rhythm of life.
- Following its debut in 2025, Hotel Willa blends modern Southwest design with Taos’ historic vernacular, offering 50 thoughtfully curated guest rooms, an artist-in-residency program and an on-site gallery that celebrates local and regional creatives. With authenticity and creativity top of mind—Hotel Willa delivers an immersive stay that balances creative inspiration and Southwest charm with laid-back leisure.
- At juliette, the hotel’s signature restaurant, James Beard–recognized chef Johnny Ortiz-Concha, Maida Branch, and Executive Chef Noah Pettus reinterpret New Mexican cuisine through ancestry, wild-foraging, and deep relationships with local farmers. Winter menus feel grounding, elemental, and deeply tied to place, ideal after a day on the slopes or exploring town, with new breakfast and brunch, early evening, and late-night dinner service.
As close-to-home getaways and “micro-cations” continue to gain traction for 2026, Casetta offers an option for travel tied to America’s 250th—whether focused on long weekend domestic escapes, historic motel revivals, nostalgia travel, design-forward staycations, or road-trip-worthy stays across the coast, desert, and mountains.
