The Stanford Inn … A Destination Resort on the Rugged Mendocino Coast

From a Coastal hillside, the Stanford Inn & Resort overlooks Mendocino Bay and the resort’s historic farm, offering exquisite opportunities to reconnect with one another, nature, one’s creativity and joyfulness.

The resort’s lobby is spacious and welcoming. Guest suites and rooms are paneled in pine and redwood. Every detail is attended to, from wood-burning fireplaces, to the sumptuous organic chef-prepared breakfasts included with your stay.

The resort is the only Mendocino destination featuring a fitness center, a solarium enclosed pool, sauna, and hot tub, a variety of inspiring classes, daily yoga, as well as a spa, Massage in the Forest. There are no resort fees to access the aquatic center or fitness center.

Inspired by our on-site certified organic gardens, the resort’s whole plant-based Ravens Restaurant has been featured in Oprah Magazine and other publications, and is nationally acclaimed for gourmet vegan cuisine. Ravens Restaurant is the essential dining experience on the Mendocino Coast. The cuisine served in the restaurant, composting and recycling programs, the cleaning supplies, electric and bio-diesel fueled vehicles make Stanford Inn & Resort North America’s only truly sustainable destination.

With regard to hybrid and EVs, we offer Charging Stations – details.

The resort specializes in romantic getaways, is pet-friendly, family-friendly, and is especially popular for Northern California Coast weddings and elopements. The resort’s Massage in the Forest and wellness center provide a variety of life-enhancing experiences. Unlike anywhere in the world, the resort’s ‘pedaling and paddling’ experiences are incredible – guests quietly paddle up Big River in super-stable redwood outrigger canoes or specially adapted Northstar carbon fiber canoes!

We support educational experiences with our Environmental Leadership Field School. You can read it here along with our thoughts about the next generation

Discover & Ignite Your Creativity

joan stanford creative journey retreat

Join Joan Stanford for a Fall Art Retreat.

Your Stanford Inn Getaway BEGINS when you leave home!

conde nast johansens award winner 2022

“This is the kind of place we would all build if we were as singled-minded, as energetic, as creative as the Stanford family. The Inn is wonderful!!”
– National Geographic Traveler

“The Mendocino Film Festival put me up at Stanford Inn compliments of the owners Joan and Jeff. The property is absolutely gorgeous and peaceful. Breakfast featured creative vegan food. The Inn is very near the town of Mendocino. A pleasure all round.”
– Holly Near, Musician, Singer/Songwriter

mendocino hotel stanford inn ocean view lodging swimming pool

Pool, Hot Tub, Sauna

mendocino hotel stanford inn ocean view lodging organic gardens

Gardening Classes

mendocino hotel stanford inn ocean view lodging - outrigger boat with four persons

Outrigger Canoes

mendocino hotel stanford inn ocean view lodging - cooking classes

Cooking Classes

mendocino hotel stanford inn ocean view lodging - plant based breakfast

Plant-based Foods

mendocino hotel stanford inn ocean view lodging - 2 bicycles by big river

Complimentary Mountain Bikes

mendocino hotel stanford inn ocean view lodging - yoga classes

Yoga Classes

mendocino hotel stanford inn ocean view lodging - art classes

Creative Playshops

MEET JOAN & JEFF STANFORD
(photo circa 1986)

Moving here in 1980, we were changed by the creative and healing energies of the land which is situated between the vast Pacific Ocean and the vibrant Big River. Since then, we have worked to assure our guests have an opportunity to experience what we experience: a special place that enlivens and inspires. The energies we experience here nurture us and we reciprocate by nurturing not only our guests, but the people who work here, the farm and gardens and the Mendocino community.

We approach the inn as a small family farm. We treat our guests as we do our family. We provide outstanding equipment at Catch A Canoe & Bicycles, too!; the finest massage therapists on the Mendocino Coast; comprehensive strategies for joyful living at our Mendocino Center for Living Well led by Sid Garza-Hillman; and one of North America’s most acclaimed vegan restaurants, The Ravens. The Inn manifests our commitment to live mindfully so that all might live well.

We look forward to sharing with you the energy and magic of Stanford Inn by the Sea and the awe-inspiring Mendocino Coast!

stanford inn on big river and pacific ocean mendocino coast

5 STAR REVIEW BY Cyrus K, March 2024

“It had been over 10 years since we last stayed at the Stanford Inn, and the experience was as magical and restorative as ever. Such a restful place, where you don’t feel like there’s a need to rush off and “see” things. All you have to do is be, and let the environment soak in. Jeff and Joan are reluctant to claim any credit, saying “it’s the place; we just try to get out of the way”, but their vision and thoughtfulness pervades every feature of the place. It truly is a retreat, not simply an accommodation.”