If your ideal group getaway involves shopping, dining, spa treatments and sightseeing, then Monterey Plaza Hotel & Spa should be on your list. On the quiet end of Cannery Row, but close to everything, the upscale hotel offers 290 recently renovated rooms and suites. Many feature dazzling Monterey Bay views and some have balconies so close to the water you might think you’re aboard a yacht — one reason this also makes our best waterfront hotels list. Dining at the new fine-dining Coastal Kitchen and the lively, bay-view Schooners Monterey are excellent, as is Vista Blue Spa, which provides its own panoramic views from a rooftop terrace with whirlpool spas.