Nice hotels in LA & San Diego
 

We plan on taking our family vacation in southern california. Roughly 4 nights in LA area and 3 nights in San Diego. We have 2 boys, ages 8 & 10. We are looking for really nice hotels to stay in that are children friendly. Key points would be nice grounds and pool. Price is not really an issue. Any suggestions would help.

http://www.pacificterrace.com/<BR><BR>This is the website for Pacific Terrace hotel. We stayed there with 2 9 year olds in October and it worked very well for us. The pool is heated when it is chilly outside and they have some rooms with a separate living room area and kitchenette also. You mentioned you were looking for nice grounds, and they really don't have any grounds, but it is right on the ocean. A bonus is their nice breakfast they include with the room, and you can eat outside by the pool if you want to. Have fun!

If price is not an issue, but you want nice grounds, pool and kid friendly but not a "family resort" , you probably also want a property that's well located to shops, restaurants and activities. <BR><BR>I'd recommed The Peninsula. It's a really nice five star property with incredible service and gorgeous rooms. It's very well located in Beverly Hills, easily walkable to restaurants, shops etc. It has a rooftop pool with cabanas you can reserve which are fabulous as they provide shade, room service for snacks or lunch by the pool, TV, telephone etc, all tented for luxury and privacy with a great view of the city. It's not a big hotel, so the grounds area is small.<BR><BR>This is my favorite LA hotel (and I've stayed in many of them). I love the Bel Air too, but the location's not ideal. The grounds are spectacular though.

pacific terrace is in a great location.<BR>another one to check out is best western blue sea lodge right on pacific beach.<BR>one of my favorites is the catamaran. it has a great pool area, about a block from pacific beach and right on the bay which is great for renting bikes or blades. much less busy then the boardwalk that is on the coast.<BR>lots of restaurants around any of these.

If you a want top quality hotel, stay at the Hotel Del in Coronado get one of the suites. Huge pool, beautiful grounds, huge beach area and very family friendly. Also the Marriot in Coronado is also a nice property but the pool is not as big as the Del. The Coronado area is also very quaint-small shops and good restaurants and very family friendly.

I suggest that you take a look at the Marriott Marina in Sasn Diego. Great location - right on the Marina, next door to Seaport Village and walking distance to the Gaslamp Quarter (or a very short cab ride). Nice free form pool too.

I enjoyed the Coronado area - Hotel Del is a historic beautiful hotel (it's been in a few movies) and it's within walking distance to many of the shops. The room I stayed in was okay - I'd give it a B+. I have also stayed at the Coronado Marriot. The rooms were great - A+ but the hotel is obviously a chain and a bit out of town (10 minutes or so after Hotel Del on it's own peninsula). The food here was also great!!

We just returned from San Diego with three kids, two nights at the Del and three at the Marriott Resort and Marina. The kids loved the Marriott's pool area and it was very convenient to the Gaslamp district (walking distance), easy access to the zoo, Rte 5, etc. We loved the Del too but it really depends on what you are looking for. If you plan to do a lot of tourist things, I would opt for the Marriott for convenience and location.