As California’s Highway 101 approaches its 100th anniversary this November, Nomada Hotel Group is using the milestone to trace a contemporary road trip through the Central Coast. The route connects five historic and design-focused properties between the Santa Ynez Valley, San Luis Obispo and Paso Robles, linking wine country with coastal communities and historic roadside towns. Rather than treating the highway simply as a way to get from one destination to another, the journey highlights the distinctive character of the communities along the route.

The road trip also points toward the next chapter of Central California’s roadside culture. Nomada plans to add Pozo in summer 2027, transforming the historic Pozo Saloon, which has welcomed travelers since 1858, into a small encampo retreat with vintage Airstreams and spaces for vans and RVs. Set near a lake, hiking and horseback riding trails, the property will add a more deliberately rustic stop to the collection while preserving the saloon’s longstanding role as a gathering place for the community. Together, the existing hotels and forthcoming Pozo property suggest a version of the California road trip built around character, history and places worth slowing down for.

The Curated Take: The centennial provides a useful reminder that the best road trips are rarely about the road itself. Highway 101 has spent a century connecting California communities, and Nomada’s approach gives travelers reasons to experience those connections through historic properties, wine country and unexpected roadside places. It is a more experiential interpretation of the classic American road trip, where the stops become as important as the drive.