A view from the other side of the bridge
MANY hotels boast of ‘spectacular views’, but then don’t come up with the goods. So when Cavallo Point in Sausalito, across the bay from San Francisco, promised the Golden Gate Bridge, I wasn’t expecting much more than a faint smudge of rusty red in the distance.
But as I rolled up the shutters of our room, that big hunk of steel was looming right at me — almost threatening to burst through the glass.
In the distance were the bright lights, undulating hilly streets and skyscrapers of San Francisco — which is only a 30-minute ferry ride from Sausalito — and you could just about spot Alcatraz to the left. Now that’s a view.
Cavallo Point is a luxury resort on a former military base, Fort Baker, and the historic lodgings, arranged in a horseshoe around the green, are former officers’ residences.
We stayed in one of the contemporary rooms perched on the hillside, which had a swish interior including a glass-encased fireplace and free-standing tub — as well as panoramic windows.
The poet George Sterling called San Francisco his ‘cool, grey city of love’. This side of the bridge it’s an ode to green.
You can walk or cycle the couple of miles into Sausalito’s centre, down roads lined with pine and eucalyptus trees. The town could have been airlifted from the French Riviera. Pastel houses cling to the hillsides and the town’s vintage shops, winetasting rooms and restaurants stretch languidly along the waterfront.
Some of the best food, though, was back at Cavallo Point, which has a Michelinstarred restaurant, Murray Circle, as well as cosy, low-lit Farley Bar for easy-going suppers. I tried the chicken butter lettuce cups — like super-healthy tacos — which consist of a stack of leaves in which to wrap tender satay chicken, pickled vegetables and crispy rice noodles.
Health is a big focus, albeit with cocktails and Californian wine on the side.
Even the air smells rejuvenating — a head-clearing mix of eucalyptus and salt breezing from the bay.
I was sufficiently inspired to try yoga in a room overlooking the bay. And as I limbered up there it was again — that majestic bridge emerging through the morning mist.