This North County hotel named best in continental U.S. in ‘Travel + Leisure’ survey

This aerial views shows the rooftop at Mission Pacific Hotel in Oceanside, Calif. (Photo: Mission Pacific Hotel)

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — San Diego has been recognized time and again as a premier travel destination, but one of the county’s many hotels just received recognition from the gold standard travel magazine, “Travel + Leisure,” that sets it apart from all the rest.

Mission Pacific Beach Resort in Oceanside was ranked as one of the best hotels in the world in the latest edition of the travel magazine’s annual “World’s Best Awards.” It also won in three separate categories, including best California resort and top continental U.S. resort.

Announced on Tuesday, the “World’s Best Awards” are awarded across a wide array of travel-based experiences spanning activities, accommodations and places to visit. The prizes are determined based on a “Travel + Leisure” reader survey.

For hotels, resorts and inns, “Travel + Leisure” says respondents gave their opinions about specific criteria like quality of rooms and facilities, location, service, food and overall value. These responses were then calculated into a numeric score out of 100.

Mission Pacific Beach Resort’s score of 99.17 put it in the No. 11 spot on the list of best hotels in the world, allowing it to also place at the top of several domestic rankings. According to “Travel + Leisure,” this year was the resort’s first time submitting to the “World’s Best Awards.”

“Mission Pacific Beach Resort is another San Diego County destination on the rise,” Stacey Leasca, a reporter for “Travel + Leisure,” wrote in the breakdown of favorite resorts in California. “Its Oceanside address ensures it’s a beach lover’s paradise, and one where you can live out all your SoCal fantasies.”

Situated just steps away from Oceanside’s sandy shoreline, “Travel + Leisure” highlighted its picturesque views from private balconies, Michelin-starred Mexican food restaurant Valle, and roof top bar and other incredible bites.

Not to mention the resort is home to the famed “Top Gun” house, the 19th-century bungalow used as Charlie Blackwood’s home in the iconic 1986 film.

“There’s perhaps no place more emblematic of Southern California cool than the Mission Pacific Beach Resort in Oceanside,” Leasca continued.

Other San Diego-area resorts and hotels also received top marks from “Travel + Leisure.” The Rancho Valencia Resort & Spa in Rancho Santa Fe came in the No. 11 spot out of best continental U.S. hotels with The Seabird Ocean Resort & Spa in Oceanside close behind at No. 14.

Meanwhile, The Pendry hotel in downtown was recognized by the magazine’s readers as the best hotel in the city of San Diego.

Outside San Diego, several other California destinations received top marks in the “World’s Best Awards,” including Pendry Newport Beach, which won best city hotel in the U.S., and Villa Mara in Carmel-by-the-Sea, which was the highest second highest-ranked inn in the U.S.

According to “Travel + Leisure,” nearly 200,000 readers completed the survey to compile this year’s “World’s Best Awards” with over 700,000 votes cast across all categories, including hotels, cities, cruises, spas and more.