petersfamily

Australian family 2 adults 2 kids in southern California for 3 nights in December. Will have already done Disneyland and Universal--want to slow down a little--any suggestions where to stay for 3 nights and what to do. We will have a car.

itsv

Although I live in San Diego, I would do Palm Springs in December. The weather will be nicer and we were just there and it is so beautiful. I would stay in the Rancho Mirage or La Quinta area. In Rancho Mirage they have this complex called "The River" which my kids liked. The hotel next door is undergoing a remodel, Rancho Las Palmas, but I would check to see if it is done by December. In La Quinta, my kids like the La Quinta resort. They have some activites geared to the kids and a bunch of restaurants and shops have opened up there.

petersfamily

I am trying to look up Rancho Mirage on the net--is it a Hilton hotel- I can not see anything on " The River " to which you refer. What interesting things are there in the area for my 2 children?

PSLocal

December is usually very nice here and there are lots of festive things to do, both free and...unfree.

mlgb

http://www.rancholaspalmas.com/

It was a Marriott but now is owned by a real estate group, KSL.

The River is just a large outdoor shopping center with movies, stores and restaurants such as the Cheesecake Factory.

There is a small zoo/garden called The Living Desert in Palm Desert that might be nice for an activity.

TahitiTams

Hotel Del Coronado is gorgeous in December with all the Christmas decorations..
Palm Springs area is great too...I would do either Rancho Las Palmas or La Quinta Resort..
RLP is going through major renovations but has good bones.. should be done by then.

hoteldel.com

itsv

For kids you could take the tram to the top in Palm Springs. Also visit the living desert museum, bike, swim, take a tour of the earthquake fault. We always find a lot to do in Palm Springs/Rancho Mirage/La Quinta.

Since we too wanted to slow down a little, we rented a house this past spring break through www.desertwaterfront.com
The house was fabulous, we had are own pool, pool table, 3 hole putting green. The house (called the Roman) on the website was in a complex called Santo Tomas-a fake lake/river. The place came with a paddleboat so the kids would take it out every day. We loved the house so much that we hardly left it and everyone was entertained and relaxed.

San Diego (which is my home and my neighbor's family is from Australia) would be more like where you are from while Palm Springs is very unique-it is set right next to the mountains but with the history of movie stars etc.

Hope this info is helpful.