Ojai

Before kids, getting away meant deciding what we wanted to go and do. With the twins, Ojai showed us there was another kind of trip entirely: choosing somewhere we didn't really have to go anywhere.

We went on 6 July 2025. It was around 83°F, the twins were younger than they are now, and the whole trip revolved around Ojai Valley Inn. The property gave us enough space for the kids to walk, run, snack, swim and repeat without us constantly loading everyone back into the car.

We arrived early enough that an early check-in changed the entire first day. We could eat, get the twins into the room for their normal nap, and head to the pool once they woke up. That simple sequence ended up being much closer to what we needed than a long itinerary.

The drive in

Ojai is close enough to home that it works especially well as a short family getaway — near enough that the drive never became the event, far enough that it still felt like leaving.

The last eight miles or so of the route we took had some winding road, but it was short enough that neither child got sick. There is also a slightly longer, straighter approach, which is the one we would favour if carsickness were a concern, and a shorter route with considerably more winding, which we would avoid entirely with a queasy toddler in the back.

The routine was the itinerary

Wake up, breakfast, grab a tea, let the kids loose on the lawn. Back to the room for snacks and the nap. Pool afterwards. Room again, bath, dinner, lawn again, something sweet, then bed. That was the whole trip, repeated, and it worked.

Our twins stopped being reliable stroller nappers at around nine months, so we keep their normal nap in the room. It sounds restrictive. In practice it gives us downtime too — sometimes we nap, sometimes we just get a little time together with the lights low.

The point isn't that every family should go back to a hotel room in the middle of the day. The point is that once we stopped fighting our kids' actual rhythm, the trip got easier.

Why Ojai worked with little kids

The revelation wasn't an elaborate children's activity. It was space. The twins could walk and run on the grass. We could sit outside. Snacks were nearby. We could swim. Nobody needed to be entertained every second.

Parents often plan family trips by asking what the kids will do. Ojai made us realise that at this age, somewhere they can safely get their wiggles out is more useful than an itinerary full of attractions.

The pool became the afternoon

Around 83°F was ideal for the kind of day we wanted. The rhythm was pool, fruit and lunch, then pool again.

We ate by the Pixie Pool because leaving the water, walking back uphill, eating somewhere else and then returning was friction we didn't need — particularly when toddlers never want to get out anyway. Nothing romantic about it. Staying where the kids were already happy simply made the day easier.

Eating without making dinner a project

Breakfast was at The Oak. Early, before it filled up, it was easy with the twins and there was enough room for our double Mockingbird stroller. Linda had tea first, every morning, which is its own kind of holiday.

For something casual we liked Jimmy's Pub: less formal, and flexible. You can sit inside, sit outside over the golf course and the lawn, or order food to go. On our last day we took food out onto the lawn. And we ate poolside rather than turning lunch into another transition.

With toddlers, the best restaurant is often just the one that removes another transition from the day.

The thing Armon learned at 7pm

At roughly seven o'clock, the twins went to bed. And then the lights went off.

That was the moment Armon fully understood that this was not a couples' getaway with the kids along for the ride. We had kids now, and unless somebody wanted to sit silently in a dark hotel room, the room itself mattered after bedtime. Balconies, a suite with a door, somewhere the parents can still exist — that all started here, and we wrote about it separately.

The part we underestimated

Ojai Valley Inn is beautiful, and the property has hills. That matters far more with two little kids, a stroller and bags than it does when you're travelling as a couple.

Our car wasn't immediately accessible because of valet. Valet could get busy, so retrieving something forgotten in the car took a little time. You can request the car ahead, but timing anything precisely with toddlers is its own comedy. Bring what you'll actually need with you rather than treating the car as an easily accessible storage closet.

You don't have to stay on the property forever

Our trip revolved around the Inn, but Ojai itself is very accessible. Libbey Park, downtown, the shops and restaurants are all close once you leave. Now that the twins are over two, we'd explore more of the town on a return trip. The first trip taught us we didn't have to — and that was part of the appeal.

The Pink Moment

Ojai is known for its Pink Moment, when sunset can throw a rosy glow across the Topatopa Mountains. We saw signs around the Inn announcing that evening's Pink Moment, which is an extremely Ojai way of reminding you to look up at sunset.

What we'd tell another parent

Check the weather. Ojai can be significantly hotter than the coast, so don't assume it will match Santa Barbara or Ventura. Pack what you'll need: shops aren't far, but leaving the resort to replace something you forgot is still another toddler transition.

If your children still nap, don't feel you're wasting the trip by going back to the room. And don't overschedule it. What we liked most was the feeling of being away from the masses — it stayed quiet and calm even with children around us.

The luxury for us wasn't doing more. It was needing less.