California Dreamin': Mermaids and Spa Days at Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort and Spa

Mermaid Fountain at Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach.

Some of the links on Spa & Beauty Today may contain affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, we may receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you.

There's a reason why so many songs are inspired by the Southern California coast and surf culture. If you don't know why, I hope you get the chance to find out for yourself. It’s wonderful to wake up to an ocean breeze, feel the sand under your toes, watch a golden sunset over the sea, and maybe even catch a wave.

There’s a private pedestrian bridge that connects Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach to the beach.

Huntington Beach, aka Surf City USA, is a destination where you can fully experience the legendary carefree California beach energy captured in songs like Surfin' Safari and Surf City. And there's only one resort in town with a private pedestrian bridge connecting guests directly to eight miles of Huntington Beach shoreline: it's Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort and Spa. If you're California dreaming about your family's summer vacation plans, this resort offers something for all ages, groups big and small, and is even dog-friendly.

I recently visited Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort and Spa with my mom for a two night mother-daughter getaway. Every year, I try to take my mom somewhere special in honor of Mother's Day, and every year, I pray that she will be happy with the destination. Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach exceeded all expectations.

16 Fish Fountain at Night at Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach

From starting the morning with leisurely breakfasts at Watertable to unwinding at the large lagoon-like swimming pool to self-care at the spa, we were so relaxed, we almost didn't even make it the few steps it takes to cross the bridge to the beach. (We were glad we did though.)

Family-Friendly Luxury and Good Vibes

Beach views from a shaded outdoor seating area at Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach.

The setting at Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach offers laid-back California luxury with a touch of surfer-charm and Spanish-inspired architectural flair. Think surfboards, fish fountains, mermaids, and bright beachy-themed spaces. It's tasteful and sophisticated enough for adults, with playful elements that are great for kids and your inner-child.

A giant geode in the Lobby at Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach.

What could be more California than being welcomed with the good vibes of two GIANT sparkling geodes at the lobby entrance? You can't miss them, and they greet you as if to say, "Hi, here's some feel-good crystal vibe energy for your stay."

Beachy Rooms

We stayed in a 2 Queen Ocean View Room. The room was bright, beachy, and comfy.

The terrace was ideal for enjoying the view with chill mornings and evenings. We both slept well.

Mermaids at Heart

Guests of all ages can enjoy mermaid-themed experiences. Image courtesy of Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort and Spa.

My mom and I are both mermaids at heart. The second we saw the large lagoon-like swimming pool from our room's terrace, we knew it would be the first place we headed. After settling into our room, we beelined straight to the pool where I lounged listening to an audiobook while my mom swam.

The main swimming pool at Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort and Spa.

In addition to the main pool, there's also a kid's pool area and an adults pool area. The Spa Grotto is the adult's area, a smaller peaceful nook where you'll find the adults-only pools and hot tubs for calming moments.

The kid's pool area is very large. It has shallow pools, a larger long pool, waterslides, cabanas, and a cafe. Programming includes the Mermaid Magic experience where kids learn how to swim safely in a mermaid tail (for guests 6+) and the Mini Mermaid Playdate (for kids under 6).

Waterslides at Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort and Spa.

If embracing your inner-mermaid sounds like fun, at Hyatt Regency mermaid-experiences aren't just for the little ones. There's also Fin Fun Fitness (for guests 16+), a mermaid fin experience led by professional Mermaid Swim-FIN Instructor Kim Turcotte. A portion of proceeds from the classes goes towards supporting the Bolsa Chica Wetlands Conservancy in Huntington Beach.

Pacific Waters Spa

Of course, we were looking forward to an afternoon at Pacific Waters Spa, the resort’s 20,000 square foot spa that offers treatments ranging from holistic therapies to high tech wellness services.

It has all the amenities that I look forward to enjoying at a spa. This includes cozy indoor and outdoor relaxation spaces, a hot tub, steam room and sauna, AND bonus points for having a recovery lounge.

Lumanova Red Light Therapy at Pacific Waters Spa Recovery Lounge

Over the last few years, recovery lounge spaces have been popping up at many of the most cutting-edge spas. The recovery lounge at Pacific Waters Spa offers services including Red Light Therapy, Halotherapy, Infrared Sauna, Therabody Reset Suites, BioMat, PEMF Therapy, and Avacen.

It also offers Evolt 360 Body Composition Analyzer, a 60-second scan that captures over 40 biometrics to help visitors shape an entire personalized wellness treatment plan.

Getting analyzed with the Evolt 360 Body Composition Analyzer.

I was intrigued by the Body Composition Analyzer (something I hadn’t experienced before), and curious to find out my results. Some of the body scan categories it analyzes include a segmental analysis of fat mass and lean mass, hydration, and even biological age. Yes, the scan analyzes what your indicated biological age is, which may not be the same as your chronological age! I won't share my results, but I know it will be helpful to have this information as I assess my own health habits, what I need to work on, and what I am doing right.

After your body scan you get a printout with detailed results.

Something cool about Pacific Waters Spa is that it offers a local membership for the Huntington Beach community, and the spa has over 250 active members. In addition to access to amenities, members can use the recovery lounge features to work with staff towards achieving wellness goals, such as the ones based on the Evolt 360 results.

A full body Therabody experience at Pacific Water Spa Recovery Lounge. This was so relaxing.

After red light therapy, Therabody, and an Evolt 360 experience in the recovery lounge, I did a Biologique Recherche Lymphatic Therapy treatment. If you aren't familiar with lymphatic drainage it's a type of massage that helps stimulate the lymphatic system and move lymph fluid. It can help give you the (temporary) appearance of less puffiness and looking slimmer. It may also help with recovery from surgery or certain health issues.

The treatment was super relaxing and my therapist Jade was wonderful. I was always skeptical about claims of “looking slimmer” after lymphatic drainage massage, but now I’m a believer! I was shocked when I put on my jeans the next morning and they were very loose on me. Mind you, I stuffed my face with a fried Honey Sriracha Chicken Sandwich right after my massage.

My mom had a customized massage with therapist Keolani and told me it was one of the best massages she's ever had. Earlier, I mentioned Hyatt Regency exceeded my expectations, and this was one of the reasons why. Another reason was our dining experience.

Dining Recommendations

In my family, we have planned entire trips around what we are going to eat. My mom and I are both foodies. Our dining experiences at Hyatt Regency were exceptional. Dishes were deliciously flavorful and thoughtfully prepared.

Watertable

Watertable is an elegant restaurant featuring locally sourced ingredients, artisanal cocktails, and an award-winning wine program. The interior is sophisticated with an inviting bar area.

The restaurant serves breakfast, dinner, and late night bar specials. There is plenty of indoor and outdoor seating, but as lovely as the indoor spaces were, we wanted to take advantage of the vibey outdoor seating with ocean views.

Breakfast at Watertable

Breakfasts started with handcrafted specialty coffee drinks like Pete's Cup Cappuccino and Lavender Honey Lattes. While all the breakfast classics were on the menu, many items had uniquely creative interpretations. Everything was prepared so well, from the combination of textures to the complementing flavors. Here were a few of my favorites:

Crab & Avocado Benedict

Lump crab meat, crushed avocado, lime-cilantro hollandaise, micro cilantro, cracked pink peppercorns. A must-order and prepared perfectly!

Lavender French Toast

Vanilla cinnamon custard dipped challah, corn flake crusted, orange mascarpone whip, wild blueberry compote, dusted with powdered sugar. So craveworthy!

Avocado Toast

Sourdough bread, avocado mashed, truffle oil burrata, arugula, frisee, figs, roasted pepitas, fried prosciutto strips. A fresh tasting interpretation!

Dinner at Watertable

Starter: Cashew Crusted Calamari

We started dinner (the first night of our trip) with the Cashew Crusted Calamari. It was prepared with sweet chili, furikake, blistered shishito pepper and ninja radish. This was the best fried calamari I've had in years. The calamari was tender, crisp, and lightly breaded. It actually made me realize just how mainstream overly breaded and dried out, rubbery calamari has become at restaurants. This was refreshingly fantastic and reminded me how much I love fried calamari when done right!

Mains: Prime Hanger Steak and Chilean Seabass

My mom ordered the Prime Hanger Steak prepared with carrot cardamom puree, chimichurri vinaigrette, aji amarillo, pickled tiny vegetable, crispy brussels sprouts, and heirloom potato.

I finished every bite of the Chilean Seabass with white wine butter sauce and roasted rainbow carrots with orange honey vinaigrette and toasted pistachios. Both entrees were delicious, and our waiter Ian recommended an excellent wine pairing for each dish.

Dessert: Six Degrees of Chocolate

Six Degrees of Chocolate, Hyatt Hugtington Beach’s signature dessert

We ended our dinner with the resort's signature dessert, a hazelnut brownie with chocolate hazelnut mousse, chocolate sauce, and candied hazelnuts with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Cocktail: Bitter Bloom

We also tried the Bitter Bloom cocktail, made with vodka, dry vermouth, a house-made lavender coconut syrup, lemon, and egg white. So good.

Pete's Sunset Grill

On our second evening, post-spa we visited Pete's Sunset Grill, a fun surfer/tiki themed restaurant. It's casual and laid-back with lots choices ranging from healthy to guilty-pleasure favorites.

Dinner at Pete’s Sunset Grill

Coconut Cove and Blackberry Margarita Mocktail

When at tiki-themed restaurants, beach-inspired drinks are obviously a must. My mom ordered a Coconut Cove and I enjoyed the mocktail version of a Blackberry Margarita.

We also ordered a Crunch Roll sushi appetizer and shared two entrees. We decided to go all-in with the fried guilty pleasures and ordered the Honey Sriracha Chicken Sandwich with fries. It was totally worth it!

Honey Sriracha Chicken Sandwich with fries. Worth the calories!

For our other entree, we selected a Salmon Poke Bowl, which was so fresh and delicious, with diced salmon, crab, avocado, seaweed salad, edamame, rice, and lots of other veggies. Our meal hit the spot!

After a day filled with spa relaxation and delicious food, we were ready to chill out back at the room, but we still hadn't made it to the beach yet.

A Sunset Beach Stroll

The beach at sunset with the Huntington Beach Pier in the background.

We were feeling pretty lazy after our massages and dinner at Pete's Sunset Grill. But there's no excuse to not make it to the beach when there's a convenient on-property pedestrian bridge straight to the boardwalk.

My mom and I enjoying our sunset beach stroll.

We took a nice sunset stroll on the Huntington Beach boardwalk, and it felt great to get a little exercise while enjoying the beach.

Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach offers bike rentals.

There are a lot of opportunities for fitness at the resort. In addition to the pool programs, the resort also offers bike rentals and guided beach yoga and walks. There's also a state-of-the-art gym at the property.

A Fun Visit to Surf City USA

My mom getting into the surfer spirit with new sunglasses from Surf City Trading Co.

We loved everything about our stay at Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach. It was such an easy getaway from Los Angeles, yet a world away.

As I took in the property, I observed other groups of all types who looked like they were having just as great a time as we were—multi-generational families brunching at Watertable, corporate groups mingling in the courtyards, families with small children enjoying the waterslides, and couples sunbathing by the pool. The energy was good all around, and just like in the carefree songs, we indeed had fun in Surf City USA.

Lizzy Sherman, Co-Founder of Spa & Beauty Today

A University of Michigan graduate, Lizzy Sherman is an award-winning writer and editor. You can also find her work in publications including Healthline, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo!, MindBodyGreen, Men’s Journal, Bezzy, and more.

She has been a featured guest speaker at Cal State University Northridge, Digital LA, and The National Association of Audience Marketing Professionals.

When she's not writing, Lizzy enjoys yoga and playing guitar. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter: @zillizy.

travel, wellnessLizzy ShermanJune 8, 2026Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort and Spa, Huntington Beach travel, Pacific Waters Spa, luxury stays, luxury stays and getaways