Cavallo Point Lodge: a resort-turned army post near San Francisco

11.03.2015

If you’re going to San Francisco, be sure to bear in mind the wide variety of accommodation options it offers. But if you’re going to San Francisco for a stunning view of the city itself, you may want to choose a place on the opposite side of the bay. Here is one in Sausalito that would fulfil this concrete wish of yours – and perhaps satisfy a number of other visions stressed-out business travellers or leisurely vacationers might maintain.

There was no Golden Gate Bridge yet, when the U.S. Army acquired the site of Horseshoe Cove at the mouth of San Francisco Bay in 1866 to establish a strategic military base. Much later, 24 Colonial Revival buildings – erected between 1901 and 1915 – embraced the 10-acre parade ground of the camp named Fort Baker. When the Golden Gate National Parks were founded in 1972 and Fort Baker was no longer needed by the military, it was designated to be taken under the wings of the National Park Service, a transaction officially concluded in 2002. The post has been listed in the National Register of Historic Places since 1973.

In the Marin Headlands, where San Francisco’s urban fringe touches the rough pacific coast, Cavallo Point Lodge opened in 2008 on the premises of this former military post. Nestling at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge, environmentally sustainable, sensitively designed new buildings pay tribute to the carefully restored former officer’s quarters, all placed in a unique natural setting of true drama. A 118-square-mile green-belt offers guests direct access to activities such as hiking, biking, bird watching and kayaking. In total, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) consists of more than 30 national park sites. Indoors, over 800 original works of art and photography from upcoming and well-known artists are featured throughout guest rooms and public areas, while in the considerable art gallery, exhibits are being presented in a rotating mode.

Horseshoe Cove

Horseshoe Cove. Image: ©Kodiak Greenwood

Created as much as a century apart, the Lodge’s two room categories spoil guests with an ambience contrasting in character and style. And, as promised in the introduction: Spectacular views of San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge from many of them are coming as a formidable free treat.

68  Historic rooms and suites in restored  brick  buildings  feature generously laid out foyers and staircases, authentic tin ceilings, fireplaces, panoramic  windows, and spacious front porches. Image: ©Kodiak Greenwood

68 Historic rooms and suites in restored brick buildings feature generously laid out foyers and staircases, authentic tin ceilings, fireplaces, panoramic windows, and spacious front porches. Image: ©Kodiak Greenwood

The resort, a member of Preferred Hotels & Resorts, boasts a long list of awards and accolades. And it received even more recognition during ITB 2015 in Berlin, where The World Legacy Awards were imparted by The National Geographic Society. Cavallo Point Lodge became the celebrated winner of the category „Sense of Place“.

„The World Legacy Awards showcase the leading companies, organisations and destinations — ranging from hotels to ecolodges and from small islands to entire countries — that are driving the positive transformation of the travel industry based on National Geographic’s work of inspiring people to care about the planet.“ www.nationalgeographic.com/worldlegacyawards

Set on a hillside are 74 newly constructed Contemporary rooms and suites with solar power, radiant heat floors, renewable materials, organic bedding and linens, and natural amenities enhancing the lodge’s location. ©Kodiak Greenwood

Set on a hillside are 74 newly constructed Contemporary rooms and suites with solar power, radiant heat floors, renewable materials, organic bedding and linens, and natural amenities enhancing the lodge’s location. ©Kodiak Greenwood

Guests and locals alike frequent the cooking school or mingle at Farley Bar, the Murray Circle Restaurant or at the 11,000 square foot Healing Arts Center & Spa. A wine cellar offers more than 2,000 options. ©Kodiak Greenwood

Guests and locals alike frequent the cooking school or mingle at Farley Bar, the Murray Circle Restaurant or at the 11,000 square foot Healing Arts Center & Spa. A wine cellar offers some 2,000 options. ©Kodiak Greenwood

On more than 29,000 square feet of flexible indoor and outdoor meeting and event space, the property provides historic and high-tech green meeting facilities and an outdoor event staging area. It is a genuinely alternative venue for corporate retreats, executive think tanks, sustainable conferences and weddings. Many of the meeting spaces have fireplaces and operable windows.

Cavallo Point Lodge lies five miles from San Francisco and 21 miles from SF International Airport (SFO). www.cavallopoint.com

Header image: ©Kodiak Greenwood