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LODGINGS
Loma Vista Bed & Breakfast / 2*
33350 LA SERENA WAY, TEMECULA; 909/676-7047
Guests are greeted by a shy and gentle teddy bear-like golden retriever/chow
mix, aptly named Bear, who belongs to Walt and Sheila Kurczynski, the
caretakers of this 11-year-old Spanish Mission-style villa. From its high
perch on a hill cloaked in fragrant orange trees in the
middle of the wine country, Loma Vista Bed & Breakfast takes full
advantage of the Temecula Valley's refreshing afternoon breezes and vine-quilted
scenery. Not only do all six rooms command panoramic vistas, but most
of them include private balconies. The rooms, each
named for a wine varietal, are artfully decorated, from the rich cherry
wood of Merlot to the Southwestern desert hues of Sauvignon Blanc. All
are air-conditioned (but who needs it, with that delightful breeze?),
and all have private baths. Guests mingle at a complimentary three-course
champagne breakfast each morning and informal wine tastings in the evenings.
$$; MC, V; checks OK; 5 miles east of 1-15 just off Rancho California
Rd.
Temecula Creek Inn / 3*
44501 RAINBOW CANYON RD, TEMECULA; 909/694-1000 OR 800/962-7335
Draped like a green velvet blanket across a mountainside of oaks, boulders
and streams, Temecula Creek Inn and its golf resort rest above the Temecula
Valley like a golfer's vision of paradise. Few courses and set- tings
in Southern California are this naturally beautiful—the oaks and
the soaring red-tailed hawks will remind you of Ojai or Northern California.
The Inn itself is a series of two-story, tree-shaded, shingled wings set
along a knoll above the course's opening holes. Operated by JC Resorts,
which also owns the Surf 'n' Sand in Laguna Beach and the
Rancho Bernardo Inn (about 45 minutes' drive to the south), Temecula Creek
has 80 rooms that feature oversize furniture, Southwest-motif fabrics,
and large, firm beds. Even though the pool is a bit small and the out
door corridors leading to the rooms are showing some age, the Inn is still
an upscale yet informal country resort for golfing couples and weekend
vacationers, without the pomp or the stratospheric prices. It's like a
good sports car without a walnut-veneer dashboard. $$-$$$; AE, DC, DIS,
MC, V; no checks; www.jcresorts.com; east on Pala Rd from the Hwy
79 exit on 1-15. 6\cf1 \par
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