My husband and I will be traveling from Maryland to Palos Verde, CA for a wedding in a mid-May and are hoping to combine the trip with an early 5th Anniversary trip. We are hoping to stay 5-8 days and have a relaxing trip (we are tired parents of a newborn and will be traveling without the baby).

What areas would be good for relaxing at this time of year but not super expensive? We are hoping to stay under $200-250/night. Is Catalina worth a visit this time of year? What other areas would be good relaxing bases for a trip like this? We are open to hotels, B&Bs, VRBO, etc. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! TIA!

How about a Mexican cruise? For example, Princess offers a 7- day and a 4-day cruise. The ultimate in relaxation. In fact, for me, I find cruising a bit boring. But lots of people love them.

Let me guess, the wedding is at Wayfarer's Chapel?
May along the coast is very unpredictable. We could have pleasant days or it could be May gray. Catalina Island is a great place for down time but if you're basing that on sunshine you could end up being disappointed. Same would hold true for Santa Barbara, Laguna Beach etc. walking beach towns.
If you like the desert- the Palm Springs area is filled with resorts, spas, golf etc and during that time of the year 99.9 % there will be plenty of sunshine.

Check out the Terranea Resort Hotel in PV. You may get a good price, May is early enough.

There's often some discount on Terranea on perfectescapes.com.