Sedona.

I’ll start. Sedona is one of my favorites! I’ve been 2x — once with family, stayed at Enchantment Resort, loved it. Only drawback is that you can’t walk to anywhere from there. But it’s a beautiful location and not a far drive to town IIRC. The second time, went with girlfriends amd stayed in an airbb a few blocks from downtown. Also great but not posh in any way.

LOL we cross posted.

Not sure how luxurious you're after, but the Rosewood Miramar in Montecito is pretty spectacular.

Santa Barbara Hotel in Montecito CA | Rosewood Miramar Beach (rosewoodhotels.com)

Here is a pic I took at Enchantment.

Would you also consider Santa Fe?

Five Graces Hotel in Santa Fe | Luxury Hotel in Santa Fe

Way popular (not off the beaten path), but the weather usually is pretty good this time of year in Carmel and Big Sur. Still popular but perhaps less so are Mendocino/Fort Bragg, but it is hard to get to if you are flying.

If a posh ranch/cowboy experience is on your bucket list I'd look into Jackson Hole or Telluride.

Such great ideas! I’m researching right now! Thank you 😀

A few months ago I visited Half Moon Bay in California and stayed at the Ritz Carlton. It was fabulous! I would suggest it. We had a magnificent time.

https://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/hotels/hafrz-the-ritz-carlton-half-moon-bay/overview/

Amangani or the Wort Hotel in Jackson Hole, WY

Stein Eriksen Lodge in Park City, UT

Red Mountain Resort in St. George, UT

It's a gorgeous time of year to visit any of these!

Let us know what you come up with. I'd also like to plan a similar trip but I am trying to find someplace near a large airport so we don't waste two days with travel.

Asilomar Conference Center in Pacific Grove, CA (near Monterey). Not luxurious, but definitely unique. The grounds are beautiful and regularly frequented by deer. The conference grounds are separated from Asilomar State Beach by sand dunes that have a boardwalk. The beach is lovely and has good tidepooling. Monterey has lots to see, including their world-famous aquarium, Fisherman's Wharf, and Monterey State Historic Park. There are some great restaurants. Passionfish is amazing and should hit the spot for wine. I also love Red House Cafe and Crystal Fish. The conference grounds has a dining hall that has good food and is very convenient for breakfast. Availability will hinge on whether there's a conference scheduled.

Monterey, Carmel, Pacific Grove, Carmel Valley. Not a lot of flights into Monterey airport but you can fly into San Jose only 90 minutes away.

San Ysidro Ranch in Montecito https://www.sanysidroranch.com or as Ida mentioned The Rosewood Miramar in SB: https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhochman/2021/12/01/santa-barbaras-rosewood-miramar-beach-rings-in-the-holidays-with-old-fashioned-glamour/?sh=458de5671998

These places are truly beautiful and I didn't know they even existed! Thank you all for sharing these wonderful ideas. Many are booked, but right now I am narrowing down to Sedona with possible day trip to the Grand Canyon, or possibly Jackson with a day trip to Yellowstone. I LOVE the idea of Santa Fe, but I don't think it's a good fit for this trip.

But I am open to other ideas still!

We took a small plane from Sedona to the Grand Canyon. We wound up on the west rim.

I didn't realize at the time that the south rim is where you want to be. So factor this in.

I want that impressed and when we saw a friend’s photo from south, I understood why.

We are planning a road trip to Jackson in two weeks to go visit our son who is a GM at one of the hotels there. Planning to go to Yellowstone one of the days with him. He's only been there about a month, so we'll be scoping out the area with him. He says it's beautiful & there's some cute shops in town which I hope to investigae while he & my DH do a little hiking...my arthritis keeps me from that at the moment. Sounds like you're going fairly soon, so probably won't be able to give you our feedback before you leave.

Grand Teton will be much more manageable from Jackson than Yellowstone. It’s much closer and smaller. The distances in Yellowstone are vast. Jenny Lake Lodge in Teton is fabulous. Not sure how late in the season it stays open, though.

Santa Barbara is reasonably easy to get to. if you’d rather be closer in town, I’ve stayed here in its previous iteration. The fun zone has a hunch if tasting rooms down by the water so everything is close.

https://www.palisociety.com/hotels/santa-barbara

jlc beat me to it, Stein Erikson Lodge in Deer Valley, UT. Beautiful scenery, terrific food, and a very easy drive from Salt Lake City.

The Waldorf Astoria in Park City would be nice too.

I’ve never stayed at the Amangani at Jackson Hole, but I’ve driven up to look at it. Wow!!

@Lizzie_grow while you are in Jackson, go to the National Museum of Wildlife Art and have lunch! It has beautiful vistas and the food is very good too!

@legomom23 - Yellowstone is too far and too big for a day trip from Jackson. There’s lots to do in Jackson Hole and Teton Village.
If you’re looking for an easy trip close to a big airport, @bbstx is right, Park City is very close to SLC and it’s an easy gorgeous drive.
Jackson Hole has a great airport but you have to connect, usually through SLC or Denver.
@lizziegrow, while you’re in Jackson shopping, check out Amy Ringholz Gallery. She’s an amazing artist! she’s good friends with my brother in law.

I started following a mustang sanctuary in Bend, Oregon and oh my gosh is the scenery incredible. Several resorts in the area. I have friends who relocated to Bend about 15 years ago after they fell in love with it on a trip.

Bend is amazing! i have been there once about 5 years ago and loved it!

I think we’re headed to Santa Fe! To the hotel as suggested by @Ida Claire. If anyone has any Santa Fe suggestions for food or experiences, pass them on.

A docent led tour of the Georgia O’Keefe museum.

Sandia Peak Cable car

Take the Turquoise Trail from ABQ to Santa Fe. Stop at Madrid and visit the Mine Shaft Tavern (good burgers). Look at the art shops. It is pronounced Mad Rid like the fault that created Reelfoot Lake, not like the capital of Spain.

One of my favorite things about Santa Fe (besides the opera) was visiting the pueblo in Taos. It's a bit of a drive but we could only do so much of the shops and galleries and liked seeing some other things outside of Santa Fe. We also liked Los Alamos.

Aspen Colorado is pretty ritzy. You can fly in. Great food. Great boutique shops, lots of local artists. Great walking and bike paths. Hot air balloon rides over the city. Or...Glenwood Springs Colorado has hot springs they're famous for. Lots of cute local shops & restaurants.

Those night sky pictures are so cool!

They are! my iphone was a little too old to get those kind. Those are my friend’s. It’s amazing how fast the camera technology advances.

Ohhh...so jealous. I loved Sedona.

Going to see the dark sky was one of my favorite things that we did in Moab. Watching the stars slowly become brighter as the sky darkened was amazing.

https://darksky.org/what-we-do/international-dark-sky-places/

Those photos are awesome! Jealous of your experience. It’s been a while since we’ve been to Sedona. Maybe we need to put that on our list for our next trip out west.

So, so jealous! I had plans to go to Sedona , but covid changed that. Still hoping to get there. Thanks for the photos.