Does this beach hotel exist?

[brymolmom]

I have been planning my family's first trip to DLR in April (20 - 28). I plan to spend the first 4 nights at HOJO for the DLR portion of our trip. The other plans are Sea World San Diego, MAYBE San Diego zoo and possibly a beach for a couple of days. We don't get to see the ocean much - so this would be good to do when so close.

Since we're flying in/out of LAX, I've been researching beaches between San Diego and LA, but can't seem to find exactly what I'm looking for...Maybe someone has a suggestion. This is what I would like:

-Walkable to beach (within 5 minutes kids are dd6 and ds7 - would like to be able to go back to hotel for bathroom breaks if necessary). OR a shuttle service to beach.
-A 'calm' beach where we can go wading. I doubt the kids will actually swim but I've heard CA water is very strong and not all beaches are actually good to play in the water.
-A 'boardwalk' or at least walkable to some restaurants/shops/ice cream places.
-family friendly hotel (ie: not a bunch of teenagers/young adults partying all night)
-And I would LOVE a frig and microwave in the room - but this is not a deal breaker.

If we find a place we like closer to SD - we would just stay there until the last night or two and transfer to an LA hotel to be closer to airport for departure day (since we leave early). If we find a place closer to LA, I would likely just priceline a hotel for one night and go to SeaWorld on one day - stay over at that hotel, and do the zoo on our way north (if we decide to do the zoo).

I guess if the above dream hotel doesn't exist my next question would be what beach would be similar to what I'm looking for? If we have to - we could always drive a bit to the beach. I just want it to be the right beach.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks!!

 

[StageTek]

There’s the Hotel Del Coronado.

The Blue Sea Lodge is right on the beach as are the Beach Cottages
on Ocean Blvd. The Crystal Pier Hotel is a unique one - right on
the pier. Next to that is the Tower23 Hotel which is right on the
boardwalk. The Diamond Head Inn might work. It can get noisy
there, but so can most hotels right on the beach. Just off the
beach is the Surf Inn on Mission and Capri by the Sea. These are
all Mission Beach boardwalk.

 

[jlima]

Maybe Carlsbad? You would be near Legoland.

 

[AliciaS]

I must have spent 20 hours trying to figure out this exact thing last week. We settled on the Glorietta Bay Inn on Coronado. It is across the street from the Hotel del Coronado (and thus the beach). Coronado is a nice retired people/tourist town off San Diego. It is quiet and well-mannered - no drunk and smoking 23 year olds, I would think. We plan on riding bikes and walking every street, enjoying the Victorian homes. You can drive over the bridge to San Diego, but our idea is to take the ferry to downtown and use the Old Town Trolley to get to Balboa Park and Old Town. The ferry also can also go to the Maritime Museum (tall ships) and Gaslamp Quarter - we're doing that another day.

The Internet price for when we are going (mid-July) was $295 per night, but with AAA it came to $265. After I told the woman on the phone about my lengthy search and how I just kept coming back to the Glorietta Bay Inn, she gae me parking for free!

Oh yes, the price includes wireless and breakfast!

 

[KCmike]

Hotel Del Coronado hands down.
Very Expensive but very worth it.

Looking towards the hotel

The view from our room with the ocean just to the left

At the resort they have an ice cream store and around the island they have a great pizzeria and diner among other restaurants. The ocean is tame here and it is rated as the best beach in California.

 

[tracys2cents]

Actually with kids that age I think I would just add two or three more days to the Anaheim hotel and take day trips. Sea World is an easy day-trip from Anaheim and so is Legoland(perfect for your ages). Crystal Cove State park is a very easy drive from Hojo and that would be a nice day trip. Then just pack up and head to Manhattan Beach (near LAX) for your final day/night on the beach, 2nd choice would be Marina del Rey (also close to LAX but more boat-harbor than beach, but you could take a one hour cruise on the ocean?)

If you go to Legoland, you could make the day trip a combination Legoland and Beach day....Legoland from say 10:30am to 3:30pm followed by a stop on Carlsbad beach or Del Mar or laguna Beach, enjoy a beach and meal somewhere while you await the sunset, then travel back to Anaheim after all the traffic, maybe 8pm?

Anyway, make your final day, the LAX day, one of your beach days. You might even want two days/nights up there at the end of your trip. Sea View Inn in Manhattan Beach or Foghorn Harbor Inn near the Marina would be two places to consider.

 

[c&m]

We enjoyed both Coronado Beach in SD and Huntington Beach in OC.

With Huntington Beach, you have the option of staying in Anaheim with their cheaper rates and taking a day trip to the beach since it's only a 20 min drive.
Or you can opt to stay at the Hyatt Huntington Beach (just lovely, we stayed there, rate was $219 at the time) or the Hilton. Nice long stretch of beach that was never crowded when we were there, and then a pier where there were many restaurant options. And there's a walking path on the beach.

The hotels at Coronado are beautiful and the beach was fabulous. We never stayed there; we just drove from our hotel (Hyatt) in La Jolla. But when we did price out the hotels in Coronado, they were very pricey.

Depends on how much you want to pay for a beach hotel. Happy planning!

 

[sunflowersis]

We went with West Inn & Suites in Carlsbad. They were voted one of the top 10 hotels in America by TripAdvisor. It's not on the beach, but just a couple minutes away.

The boardwalk beaches seem to be just a little less family friendly, a little more hectic.

 

[La2kw]

Hotel Del Coronado hands down.
Very Expensive but very worth it.

At the resort they have an ice cream store and around the island they have a great pizzeria and diner among other restaurants. The ocean is tame here and it is rated as the best beach in California.

I agree the Del is a wonderful hotel, but I disagree that this is the best beach in California. I'm not sure whose rating says it's the best. This beach isn't even on the ocean, it's in the bay. There are much better beaches in California.

 

[KCmike]

^^^^^ Sorry but your wrong. That is the Pacific Ocean. Hotel Del Coronado is situated on the Pacific Ocean Beach on Coronado Island. It doesn't face the bay. And many say that it is rated as the best beach for families in all of California.

That picture was shot facing North where the island jets out and then back in. There is a space just due north where the Navy brings its bigger ships into the bay. I know because I stayed there and walked those beaches.

 

[Calliaz]

We just returned from the Laguna Riviera hotel in Laguna Beach and I think it meets your needs. I think the only one that it might not meet is that the waves were a little hard, but not bad. My son (7) had no problem with them and had a ton of fun playing on the beach.

We did drive down to park in a Main Beach pay lot ($8) but we could have walked. We set up by the bathrooms, so there was no need for access to the hotel. There is even a beach toys rental store right by the bathroom area where you can rent pails, shovels, chairs, umbrellas, etc.

The hotel itself was great. There are a ton of different rooms. We had one that just had a side window with an ocean view, but there are rooms with full ocean views and ones with balconies. Also, the rooms are newly refurbished and had a small fridge and microwave. There was a Ralph's nearby and we got some basic supplies. On one beach day, we got sandwiches there and ate on the hotel's public balcony.

The hotel does have private beach access, but the beach there was rather rocky. We opted to go down to Main Beach, but there were tons of other beaches close by.

Originally we wanted to stay at the Del Coronado, but we could not justify the cost. This was a great alternative.

 

[munchkinsmom]

Not sure what your budget is, but would this work?

http://www.gloriettabayinn.com/ContentPage_slideshow.asp?ContentID=386

A previous poster mentioned this hotel. They have a "stay 2 nights, get one night free" deal right now. It's right across the street from the Hotel Del Coronado. I personally have not stayed in one of the suites I've linked above for you, but I have stayed in one of their Mansion Rooms. The hotel is very nice. It has pretty much everything you're looking for:

-Five minute walk to the beach (but you could also go into the Hotel Del Coronado for bathroom breaks if needed)
-Coronado beach is relatively calm
-It's walkable to restaurants/shops/ice cream places (Check Google maps for its proximity to everything)
-A family friendly hotel
-Room with kitchenette (assuming it has fridge & microwave)

There's even a continental breakfast that's included with the stay.