California Trip Help
 

Hello! My boyfriend and I will be in San Diego for a marathon in June and are going to extend our trip up the coast. We are planning 2 nights in Santa Monica, 1 night in Paso Robles, and 3 nights in Santa Barbara. We are basically just looking for a romantic, relaxing vacay with some beach time, wine tasting, and good dinners with maybe a little nightlife after. We are in our late 20s/early 30s.

Would love some suggestions on hotels, restaurants, and activities. Price is not really an object.

Thanks for your help!!

I enjoy going to Brophy Brothers in Santa Barbara. It's a fun place to eat. Fun place to hang out for a while.

http://brophybros.com

In Paso robles, the Paso Robles Inn is a good hotel pick. The steak house there is pretty good as well. I like Bistro Laurent on Pine Street and Deborah's Room out at the Justin Winery.
For wine tasting, for Zinfandel try Turely and Peachy Canyon. Also Tobin James is a fun place to visit and nice wines.
In Santa Barbara for restaurants my pick is the Palace Grill for great Cajun dishes. The Wine Cask is outstanding and what a wine list!
Hotel wise, I think Fess Parker's Doubletree is excellent and a great location. Never stayed there myself, but I've heard rave review from folks who could afford the Simpson House B&B.

Loewes Beach Hotel in Santa Monica

The Harbor View Inn in Santa Barbara is very nice and in a great location, right across from Stearn's Wharf. The Wine Cask is excellent for dinner. You may also want to consider a stay at the Four Seasons Biltmore in Montecito, go to their restaurant there for a real treat. :)

For the wine tasting, go to Los Olivos, we loved Gainey Vineyards and Arthur Earl, the Los Olivos Cafe is very good in this area.

In Paso Robles, Artisan is getting rave reviews recently, we haven't been yet but hope to get over there soon. Don't miss Robert Hall, Bianchi, Peachy Canyon, Wild Coyote and Summerwood in the Paso wine region. Have fun! ***kim*** ((f))

Thanks for your suggestions! Just have some more questions now that I have been doing a little more research......

- In Santa Monica... I've narrowed it down to two hotels - Casa Del Mar or the Loews. We'd like to be right by the beach, and a pool is a must! My questions are.. will the Loews be filled with kids running around, and is Casa Del Mar really worth the extra money, it obviously looks amazing, but I don't want to be disappointed!

- In Santa Barbara... since we probably will not get there until the afternoon from San Diego and I want to take time driving up... It leaves one day to relax on the beach, rent bikes, and explore... and then then other day we have to choose between doing a Whale Watching trip on Condor or doing a Wine Tasting Tour of the Santa Ynez Valley. Keep in mind we will be driving up to Paso Robles and doing a day of wine tasting there. Which one should we choose???