San Diego / Palm Springs Trip Report
 

Hello All,

This is my first trip report so please be kind. Everyone on this board has always been friendly and helpful and if my report would be useful to someone else then I am glad to contribute.

We have recently returned from a trip to San Diego and Palm Springs the second week of February. We have been to San Diego before but wanted to try to ensure ourselves of a little extra sunshine and a new destination so added in Palm Springs as well.

Flew Southwest from Providence to San Diego without any issue. Arrived in San Diego to Sunshine and 80 +/- degrees. Starting off with exactly what we were looking for to get away from New England in February.

Checked into the Hilton San Diego Resort. I was a little nervous about this as this hotel has many mixed reviews on TripAdvisor but I was using Hilton points so I figured for the price (free) it couldn’t be too bad. We were not in the tower and the room did have a bit of a musty smell but I think it is the curtains because once we opened them and opened the slider door it was fine. It was a bit out of the way and not much other than the walk/bike path in the area that would be walking distance. Probably would not stay there again but we just preferred the LaJolla area and have stayed at the Sea Lodge in the past but unfortunately they were hosting the Davis Cup and were sold out. We did eat several meals at the resort and the service and food were very good.

Our activities for the next two days while in San Diego were Zoo, USS Midway Museum, Embarcadero and Seaport area and La Jolla cove to see the seals. Wanted to go to Point Loma and try to see some whales but never had the time.

On the third day we drove from San Diego to Palm Springs. I was looking to take the scenic route and we drove through Anza Borrego State Park.

Checked into the Pepper Tree Inn in Palm Springs based on good reviews on Trip Advisor. They did not steer me wrong. This was a great little hotel – we had a pool view room with a Jacuzzi tub and a patio. We did not use the patio as it backed up against a main road and was quite noisy. But the pool area was great with a heated saltwater pool and an outside whirlpool. They also had continental breakfast every morning that you could eat either in your room or out in the patio/pool areas.

Since Palm Springs was new to us we squeezed in quite a few activities. First, we did the Aerial Tram which takes you up the mountains into the San Jacinto State Park. Lovely viewpoints at the top and a nature trail that is an easy mile or so loop trail. There are longer trails also but it was very windy that day and quite chilly up in the mountains.

The next day we went to Joshua Tree National Park. I loved it – many photo opportunities and landscapes that we do not see on the east coast. We walked a couple of the trails and really enjoyed the one to Barker Dam which takes you to a little pond area. Although there were others in the park we did feel like we had a lot of the areas to ourselves which I really enjoyed.

On our last day before driving back to San Diego, we went to Tahquitz Canyon and the other Indian Canyons. At Tahquitz we hiked the trail up to the waterfall which was beautiful. We also visited the other Canyons and did some of the short trails at those as well. (Hoping to walk off some of the food that we have eaten over the course of our vacation.)

Speaking of food – we had two excellent meals at Kaiser properties. The first was the Kaiser Grille and the second was their more casual place for BBQ – Crazy Bones. At the Kaiser Grille I had a seafood risotto that was to die for and I could not finish it. Can’t remember what the DH had – a steak I believe but it was wonderful. So for the next night we tried Crazy Bones and had some good BBQ food as well.

Another meal that stands out in my mind was the lunch that we ordered at the Top of the Tram. It was awful – we could not eat it and ended up just eating some cookies and having a late lunch at the Hyatt restaurant (I cannot remember the name but it is outside on Palm Canyon) and we had some good salads.

The other that was recommended by one of the guys at Pepper Tree was Lotsa Mozza – it is a little Italian place that we ate lunch at on our first day after checking in. I had a meatball sandwich and the meatballs are made there and were delicious.

Back to San Diego for the last night before our flight home. We stayed at the Bay Club Marina. It was OK but our room looked out the front right into the car park and the front doors which created quite a bit of noise. I probably would have asked to switch rooms but it was only for one night. The room was a bit tired but clean and, other than the noise, good for our last night. We did eat in their dining room for dinner and had an excellent meal there with a great view out into the marina.

We had a great time and as always vacations just pass too quickly which leaves me looking forward and ready to plan our next vacation but haven’t decided where/when to go just yet.

Thanks again for everyone’s help and I hope this is useful for someone else planning to go to either San Diego or Palm Springs.

Thanks for taking the time to write a report. I'm glad our weather was good to you!

Oh dear, we should have warned you about the food at the Top of the Tram. Glad the weather was kind to you.

Great report!

I always hate to bag on them, but everytime someone brings up the tram I advise packing a picnic. The food at the Mountain Station has been notoriously awful (and overpriced) since I can remember.

Hope you come back and visit again.

PSL

Thank you so much for posting such a detailed report of your trip. We just started planning a trip to Palm Springs that we plan to take in April and I had no idea where to begin investigating our options. It sounds like you had a wonderful vacation. I hope to have the same report next month - except I won't eat the food at the Top of the Tram! Thanks for the warning!

Just to clarify, there are two restaurants at the tram station on top of the mountain. One is a cheap cafeteria and bad, it is called "Top of the Tram".
One is an actual high end restaurant called "Elevations". It is actually good but very expensive.

Glad you liked the Kaiser Grill and their sister property. I've always found them reasonably priced (even more so for the sunset dinners) and consistently good.

We are flying to San Diego from Boston in April, then driving to Palm Springs, so this report is great for us. I've done some research and have come up with a similar itinerary for Palm Springs. San Diego we're just staying one night on each end with family so won't be doing any touristy things - we've been to San Diego before. We'll be in Palm Springs for a week (with a 17 y/o and 12 y/o), so we'll do the water park and I'm not sure what else in addition to what you posted. We're really looking forward to our trip. Thanks for posting your report.

Jil & Hockeymom - I had a list of things to try to do in Palm Springs and we really did accomplish most of them. The ones that didn't "make the cut" were the Living Desert - because we had done the zoo in San Diego and the tour of the windmills as I would have liked to learn a little more about them but we just couldn't squeeze it in. I just realized that I didn't include it in my post but we did walk around the Thurs. evening Village Fest. They close down Palm Canyon and various artists, food vendors and musicians set up. Nice to walk through. If you have any other questions that I can try to answer I am happy to repay the favor as many people here (whether they knew it or not - I got a lot of information from other posts as well and didn't really have to post a lot of questions) were very helpful in planning my trip.

We're leaving in 10 days and I just re-read your trip report. We are looking forward to this trip. We will be in Palm Springs for Easter. Any good, reasonably priced suggestions for Easter? There will be seven of us that day. I'm thinking that we will probably need reservations.
Has anybody been to Knott's Soak City? My husband and kids want to do that. Everything sounds great.

Thanks for the help!

I would suggest one of the Kaiser properties - the food and service were fantastic! I believe they have a website that you can check their menu and prices and then contact them to see if they have specific seatings or menu offerings on Easter.