The 1921 Wrigley Mansion repurposed as a six-suite inn on the hill above Avalon Bay. All meals included, a private golf cart to roam Avalon, and the best lateral view on the island.
"A 1921 chewing-gum baron's mansion on a hill, six guest rooms, all meals around a single dining table, a golf cart for the day. There is no closer thing to a private estate on the California coast that lets a stranger walk in for a weekend."
Mt. Ada is the former home of William Wrigley Jr. (of chewing-gum and Chicago Cubs fame) and his wife Ada, completed in 1921 on the highest residential bench above the village of Avalon. The architecture is restrained Georgian Colonial Revival in cream stucco, with a wide south-facing terrace, a small formal garden, and a service yard that has been converted into a guest reception. Wrigley acquired the controlling interest in Catalina Island in 1919 and made Mt. Ada his summer residence; the property functioned as a private home until 1985, when the Wrigley descendants leased it to the Santa Catalina Island Company as a six-suite inn. It has run as a Forbes Travel Guide four-star property since.
The six guest rooms are arranged across the upper floors of the main house and named for early Wrigley family members. The standard category is roughly 350 square feet with a king bed, a small sitting area, and either a harbor view or a hillside view; the largest, the Wrigley Suite, occupies the corner with a private terrace and the property's single best line of sight across Avalon Bay to the casino building. Decor is true to the period: oriental rugs, antique writing desks, framed family photographs, traditional bathroom suites with claw-foot tubs in the larger rooms. The styling has been refreshed without being modernised, which is the right call for a property whose draw is exactly the sense of arriving as a private guest in 1925.
The food program is the hotel's most-discussed feature and the principal reason rates land where they do. A full hot breakfast is served daily on the south terrace or in the original family dining room. A plated lunch runs at midday for guests who choose to stay on property. An evening wine and cheese reception laid in the library at 5:30 is the property's most ceremonial moment. A multi-course dinner is offered in the main dining room (with one open seating for all guests at a single long table when capacity permits). A 24-hour Butler's Pantry stocks beer, wine, soft drinks, and assorted snacks for any guest at any hour. All of this is included in the room rate.
Each booking also includes the use of a private four-seat golf cart for the duration of the stay (Catalina's central transport mode) and private pickup from the airport, heliport, boat terminal, or another lodging on arrival. Service across the property is the most polished on the island: a small staff knows your name by day one, the lawn is mowed at the right time of day, and the wine pairing at dinner is recommended without being explained at length. The trade-off is that there is no pool, no spa, and no on-site beach access (Avalon's coves are a ten-minute golf-cart descent), and the property's deliberate quiet means it is not the right call for guests who want a lobby with energy.
For a California honeymoon at the most distinctive end of the Pacific coast, Mt. Ada is the clear booking. The six-room scale guarantees a near-private property for the stay; the Wrigley Suite gives the bridal couple the corner terrace and the harbor line; the golf-cart sequence to the Casino Ballroom for a sunset cocktail is the trip's signature gesture. The kitchen will arrange a private terrace dinner on request, which most honeymoon couples take on their second night.
For an anniversary that values understatement over staging, Mt. Ada is the strongest answer in southern California. The single dining table for dinner produces an old-style conviviality with the other guests; the wine cellar is small and good; the entire property is private after 9pm. Pair the stay with a sailing charter out of Avalon for the anniversary day proper and the property handles every other meal.
For a proposal that wants a ceremonial backdrop rather than a gimmick, the Wrigley terrace at sunset on the south side of the house is one of the better natural settings on the coast. The hotel handles a champagne and rose plate on request, the timing can be coordinated with the dinner seating, and the entire upper terrace can be reserved privately for thirty minutes either side of golden hour.
398 Wrigley Road
Avalon, CA 90704
Catalina Island, United States
Private pickup from Avalon ferry terminal, heliport, or Airport-in-the-Sky included; 8 minutes from the village by golf cart
Six guest suites
Standard rooms from $612/night
Garden View suites from $720/night
Wrigley Suite from $895/night
All meals and golf cart included
Check-in: 3:00 PM
Check-out: 11:00 AM
Adults preferred; minimum age 16
All meals included (breakfast, lunch, wine reception, dinner)
24/7 Butler's Pantry with beer, wine, snacks
Private four-seat golf cart for the stay
Private pickup from ferry, heli, or airport
Daily housekeeping and turn-down service
Complimentary high-speed WiFi
From $612/night, all-inclusive. The six-room property books out four to six months ahead for July, August, and October weekends, and one to two months for shoulder season; weeknight availability through January and February is the property's quiet, best-value window.
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