Twenty-two miles off the coast of Los Angeles and a century away. No traffic, no chains, no hurry, only the Pacific, the Casino, and the slow blue light of Avalon Bay.
The best hotel on Catalina Island is Mt. Ada, the former Wrigley mansion above Avalon Bay and the island's only Forbes four-star, with all meals and a golf cart included (from $700). For the waterfront, book the freshly reopened Pavilion Hotel; for history, Hotel Atwater. Most Avalon rooms run $250–$600 a night.
Sub-scores are HotelsForKings editorial judgments, not guest-review averages. Rates are indicative off-peak starting prices.
Ranked by overall occasion score. Every hotel verified, priced, and visited in 2025, 2026.
"The Wrigleys' summer mansion, six bedrooms, and Avalon Bay laid out beneath you like a painting. Meals and a golf cart included, nothing else needed."
"Steps from the sand, courtyard fire pits, and a tiled Mediterranean keep that pretends Italy is right where the Pacific begins. Wine hour included."
"Built in 1920 by William Wrigley Jr., redone in 2020. The most comfortable historic hotel in Avalon, coastal blues, Wrigley provenance, and a serious lobby bar."
"Fifteen rooms, a rooftop sundeck over the harbor, and a building so quietly composed you forget the rest of Avalon is there at all."
"On the sand since 1920, family-run since 1920. The oldest still-operating hotel on Catalina, and the only one where the Pacific is genuinely outside your door."
"Built in 1903, Avalon's grand Victorian dame. Clark Gable slept here, Theodore Roosevelt visited, and the harbor view from the cupola has not changed."
"A Crescent Avenue front-row seat, fifteen rooms, every one of them facing the bay, fireplaces and private balconies and the Casino lit up at night."
"Six rooms above the harbor, fireplaces in every one, and a daily wine reception that turns strangers into the only people you remember from the trip."
"On Crescent Avenue, with a rooftop deck and a pool, practical, sun-bleached, and the easiest stay in Avalon for a long, slow weekend."
Catalina is the honeymoon destination Californians forget exists, twenty-two miles from a major American city, but with the geography of a Mediterranean island and the pace of a place built before cars. The light over Avalon Bay at sundown is the argument. Our verdict: Mt. Ada for the iconic Wrigley mansion above the harbor, The Snug Harbor Inn for the most romantic small inn in Avalon, and Hotel Vista del Mar for couples who want a private balcony over the bay without the Mt. Ada price.
The Wrigleys' summer home. Six rooms. All meals + golf cart included. From $700/night.
Six rooms, fireplaces, harbor view. The wine hour is the giveaway. From $375/night.
Bay-view balconies, fireplaces, and Casino lights at night. From $360/night.
A solo trip to Catalina is one of the best decisions a Californian can make. The ferry empties you of obligations on the way over; the absence of cars empties you of the rest. Mt. Ada for the silence above the harbor and a chair on the veranda no one will interrupt. The Avalon Hotel for the rooftop sundeck, the small footprint, and the kind of weekend you remember in detail. Hotel Mac Rae for the only genuinely beachfront rooms in Avalon, with the Pacific a step from the lobby.
Quiet rooms, a rooftop sundeck, and a building that lets you disappear.
Our ranked list, with the one-sentence verdict on each.
The Wrigley summer mansion above Avalon Bay, six rooms, all meals included, the only address that still feels like the family is somehow watching over the harbor.
Mediterranean tile, a courtyard fire pit, and the shortest barefoot walk to the sand of any hotel in Avalon.
The Wrigley-built 1920 hotel re-imagined for the modern visitor, Avalon's most thoroughly considered historic restoration.
Fifteen rooms and a rooftop sundeck, the most disciplined small hotel on the island.
Beachfront since 1920, the oldest still-running hotel on Catalina, and the rare Avalon stay where the Pacific is genuinely outside your door.
Avalon's 1903 Victorian dame, Clark Gable's old room, a cupola view of the harbor, and a price that ignores its own provenance.
Every room faces the bay, fireplaces, private balconies, the Casino lit up at night.
Six rooms, fireplaces in every one, and the most romantic wine hour in Avalon.
Crescent Avenue with a rooftop deck and a pool, the easy choice for a long, slow weekend.
May through October is the stretch to aim for, when the water warms into the high sixties and seventies, the visibility for snorkelling and diving climbs steeply, and the boating season runs in full. June through August is when Avalon is genuinely busy: cruise ships at anchor, the Casino tours full, the harbor a confusion of yachts and ferries and harbor patrol boats. The clearest case for a luxury visit is September and October. The crowds thin, the weather reliably holds in the seventies, and the JazzTrax Festival in mid-October fills the Casino Ballroom with the best live music the island sees all year. November through April brings cooler temperatures (highs in the low sixties), fewer ferries, intermittent rain, and the island's quietest months, but also winter whale-watching, when grey whales pass within a few miles of the leeward shore on their migration to Baja. If you want Catalina at its most undisturbed, January and February are unanswerable.
Avalon is the only town on Catalina, and effectively every hotel in this guide sits within ten minutes of Crescent Avenue. The town is tiny, population around four thousand, walkable end to end in twenty minutes, and the great pleasure of staying here is precisely that compactness. The Casino Ballroom anchors the north end; the ferry pier and Green Pleasure Pier sit at the centre; Lover's Cove and Pebbly Beach Road run south. Mt. Ada perches on the hill above town with the best views on the island. Two Harbors, twenty-three miles up the coast at the island's narrow waist, is the alternative, quieter, sailing-orientated, with one small hotel and a campground; reach it by Catalina Express ferry or a long, scenic Safari Bus ride. The interior of the island is protected by the Catalina Island Conservancy, with no development and no road access for visitors except by guided Hummer or Jeep eco-tour from Avalon, book one of these for the bison, the airport-in-the-sky, and the only chance to see the island as the Wrigleys did.
Catalina is more expensive than the mainland for what the buildings actually deliver, the cost of every brick, every staff member, and every lemon arrives by barge. Boutique rooms in Avalon run $250 to $450 in shoulder season and $400 to $600 in summer. Historic properties like Hotel Atwater and the Glenmore Plaza sit in the $295 to $450 band. Mt. Ada is the outlier and the apex: rates run $700 to $1,500+ per night, but the price includes breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, full dinner, an open bar, and use of a golf cart for the duration of the stay, making it less expensive than it appears once meals and transport are subtracted from the comparison.
There is no airport you can reach commercially, visitors arrive by ferry or seaplane. The Catalina Express runs from Long Beach, San Pedro, and Dana Point (about an hour each way); the Catalina Flyer departs from Newport Beach in the morning and returns in the late afternoon; IEX Helicopters runs scheduled flights from Long Beach for those who would rather not. Book ferry tickets for summer weekends two to four months in advance. Once on the island, you will not have a car: rental vehicles are not permitted, and the residents' waitlist for a permit is famously twenty-five years long. Get around by golf cart (rental shops near the pier), bicycle, or the local Avalon Trolley. For mid-summer weekends and JazzTrax weekend in October, book hotels four months ahead, Avalon's room inventory is finite. The Conservancy interior tours sell out: book those before you board the ferry.
American tipping conventions apply. Porter or bell staff: $2, 5 per bag. Housekeeping: $5, 10 per night, left daily on the pillow. Concierge for restaurant reservations or tour bookings: $10, 20. At Mt. Ada, where the staff is small and personal and meals are included, plan a closing gratuity of $50, 100 per person depending on length of stay; at boutique inns with included wine hours, tipping the staff $10, 20 per evening you attend is gracious. In hotel restaurants, tip 15, 20% on the pre-tax total; tour guides on Conservancy or harbor tours typically receive $5, 10 per person.
Mt. Ada is the best hotel on Catalina Island: the former summer mansion of William Wrigley Jr., perched above Avalon Bay, it is the island's only Forbes Travel Guide four-star property, with just six rooms and a rate (from about $700) that includes all meals, an evening wine reception and a golf cart. The reopened Pavilion Hotel leads on the waterfront and Hotel Atwater for restored history.
Stay in Avalon itself, the island's only town, where effectively every hotel sits within a ten-minute walk of Crescent Avenue and the harbor. Mt. Ada perches on the hill above town with the best views; the beachfront and Crescent Avenue hotels put you closest to the sand and restaurants. For a quieter, sailing-orientated base, Two Harbors up the coast has one small hotel and a campground.
Catalina is more expensive than the mainland because everything arrives by barge. Boutique rooms in Avalon run about $250–$450 in shoulder season and $400–$600 in summer, with historic properties like Hotel Atwater and the Glenmore Plaza in the $295–$450 band. Mt. Ada is the apex at $700–$1,500-plus, but that price includes breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, full dinner, an open bar and a golf cart.
There is no commercial airport, so visitors arrive by ferry or helicopter. The Catalina Express runs from Long Beach, San Pedro and Dana Point (about an hour each way), the Catalina Flyer departs Newport Beach in the morning, and IEX Helicopters flies scheduled trips from Long Beach. Once on the island you cannot rent a car, get around by golf cart, bicycle or the Avalon Trolley.
May through October is the prime stretch, when the water warms and snorkelling visibility climbs, but September and October make the clearest case for a luxury visit: the summer crowds thin, the weather holds in the seventies, and the JazzTrax Festival fills the Casino Ballroom in mid-October. January and February are the quietest months and bring grey-whale watching off the leeward shore.
For the right trip, yes. Mt. Ada's $700-plus rate looks steep until you subtract what it includes: breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, a full dinner, an open bar and a golf cart for the length of your stay, in a six-room Forbes four-star inn with the best views on the island. For a honeymoon or a milestone, it is the defining Catalina stay; for a simple beach weekend, the Crescent Avenue hotels cost far less.
Other California destinations worth your consideration.
Tell us your occasion and we'll narrow it down. Honeymoon, solo retreat, anniversary, family weekend, Catalina has the right address for each.
Choose Your OccasionDeal alerts, new-hotel intelligence, and occasion picks, one email each Sunday.