Fodor's Expert Review Rio Sierra River Resort

Guests at Rio Sierra come for the river views, the sandy beach, and the proximity to Sequoia National Park (6 miles away), but invariably end up raving equally about the warm, laid-back hospitality of proprietress Mars Roberts. The charm of many Three Rivers establishments is their nod to family vacations of 1950s California—in some cases because the places actually haven't changed since then—but Roberts's shabby-not-trying-to-be-chic aesthetic lends her inn a contemporary, lived-in feel. And that beach! From May into October it beckons so compellingly you might have to remind yourself you came here to visit the park.