Sunset magazine has packaged a season's worth of hotel and resort coverage into one hefty guide to the American West, and it's a genuinely varied grab bag — spanning desert resorts, Alaskan wilderness lodges, California beach towns, Mexican surf coast, and even a sprawling conservation ranch in New Mexico.
The standouts for trip planners: Punta Mita on Mexico's Pacific coast gets a full destination breakdown covering where to eat, drink, sleep and play in the wider region around the resort hub — useful if you're weighing it against better-known Los Cabos. For something unlike anywhere else, Vermejo in northern New Mexico is a vast private wilderness once owned by the late Ted Turner, where conservation and hospitality run together on a scale the magazine compares to the West itself. Expect a working landscape of bison, grasslands and mountains rather than a lobby-and-pool setup.
California features heavily. There's a fresh list of new hotels and resorts near Golden State beaches, a dreamy beachside retreat review in Newport Beach, and a cautionary piece about one of the state's most famous regions, where historic institutions are apparently under threat — a nudge to visit beloved older properties while they're still around. Families get a case for the Four Seasons Hualalai on Hawaii's Big Island as a parents-and-kids sweet spot, complete with a guide to building the perfect bath ritual there.
Beyond the coasts, the roundup leans into mountain and rural escapes: dude ranch stays that promise cowboy fantasy without sacrificing comfort, mountain lodges pitched at relaxation and adventure alike, and nature-forward properties for when "touching grass is the goal" — plus listings in Alaska's wild country and a selection of apartment-style and historic lodging for travellers who want more room than a standard hotel.
There's also practical advice woven in. A piece on booking mistakes covers common traps — flights booked at the wrong time and sneaky resort fees chief among them — and a seasoned frequent flyer shares her personal booking and packing tips. A guide to exclusive, well-appointed accommodations notes that high-end boutique properties are multiplying along the West Coast, which matters if you're booking late and want something polished rather than generic.
Why care? Because the West in 2026 is shaping up as a year of contrasts: heritage inns fighting for survival on one hand, slick new beach openings and luxury ranch retreats on the other. Whether your ideal holiday is a desert pool, an Alaskan lodge, a family resort in Hawaii or a working ranch in New Mexico, this collection gives you a vetted shortlist without the spreadsheet work. Full details, dates and booking links are in the original source.
