Why Ojai in California is the A-list's best kept secret

This laid-back town is the retreat of choice for Hollywood star, hipster weekenders and Venice yoga mums, says Richard Godwin
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Richard Godwin9 March 2018

Where do the fashionable folk of Los Angeles go to recuperate when the Instagram models and freeways and $12 juices and crushed dreams all begin to get them down? The answer, whisper it, is Ojai, 90 minutes up the Pacific Coast Highway and then inland a few miles. In recent years, this serene little town has become the retreat of choice for Hollywood stars, Venice yoga mums and hipster weekenders looking to get away from it all. And yet it remains one of California’s best-kept secrets.

Within a few minutes of arriving, it is easy to see why the locals might want to keep it that way. The town of 7,500 or so people is tucked into the Topatopa Mountains, right by the Los Padres National Forest (watch out for bears and rattlesnakes). The dramatic landscape gives it that classic American backwoods feel — you’ll want Neil Young on the car stereo — but the colonial architecture, all terracotta and white, combined with the scent of rosemary and lemon blossom on the spring breeze, calls to mind Southern Europe.

The Mediterranean climate means abundant fresh seasonal produce, and a bunch of cute little wine bars and tasting rooms on the main street. Azu, a delightful spot to sink a local Pinot Noir, is the sort of place you can imagine featuring in Sideways. Nocciola serves inventive Tuscan cuisine, all impeccably humane.

Ojai has a long-standing hippie heritage, too. There are natural mineral hot springs in nearby Matilija Canyon (arrange a visit via ojaiecotopia.com) together with a long-standing ‘electromagnetic’ force that obviously appeals to the mystical.

There are a few crystal shops on the main drag, together with the newly opened Revel kombucha microbrewery — almost too Californian.

But there’s also a downbeat feel that makes it an antidote to the relentlessness of LA. You can park right there in the town centre and let loose a car-twitchy child in one of the best playgrounds in the US. Ojai also has the huge outdoor Bart’s Books, where you can happily while away a few hours browsing ancient histories of California, cult fiction or volumes on crystal healing — whatever floats your boat.

The Ojai Valley Inn & Spa

The place the A-listers like to stay is the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa, a 10-minute walk or a five-minute cycle or horse ride from town. It’s the sort of all-encompassing resort Americans do very well: golf, bikes for hire, on-site hipster coffee shop, high-end restaurant, diner, multiple pools — really not much need to think at all. The spa, meanwhile, is just the place to unwind from all the unwinding — the massages firm, the waters electromagnetic.

Other options include the Ojai Rancho Inn, a converted motel that’s become a rustic rival to the Ace in Palm Springs — all Instagram kids and heritage fabrics. Meanwhile, the Thacher House is as chic a working farm as you will find, and you can even milk the goats. Airbnb isn’t an option unless you’re planning on staying more than 30 nights; last year the town council voted to ban short-term vacation rentals. Local shopkeepers and restaurateurs aren’t all delighted about this but it does at least mean the town isn’t overrun with tourists. And, come to think of it, there are worse places to lie low for an entire month.

Rooms at the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa start at £280 (ojairesort.com)

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