We are planning a vacation in Southern California in June 2009.
Our initial plans are to fly to LA and stay 4 nights in Santa Monica. We plan to explore the area, visit Universal Studios and Rodeo Drive etc. The next 5 days will be in Palm Springs for golf, sight seeing and sun. We then plan to go to San Diego for the last 5 days. We have chosed hotels in Palm springs and San Diego but are undecided about Santa Monica. Please can anyone recommend a good quality hotel, reasonably priced - upto $160 approx. per night. Any comments or suggestions on our schedule would be appreciated

Last out there 2 years ago but the Santa Monica/Venice Beach area at night is an iffy prospect. Lots of gang and vagrant activity in the area and I thought rather run down. I would either go further north or south to the Marina Del Rey area.

Santa Monica is a great place to visit - tons of restaurants, shopping, the beach, etc.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...t=0&dirtyBit=1

Palm Springs will be very hot in June, so you should plan your golf & sightseeing for early in the day, leaving afternooons to sit in a shady spot under the misting device at your hotel pool.

I'm also not a big fan of Santa Monica, and I think you will have trouble finding a decent hotel at that price in June. You might want to look into the South Bay areas of Manhattan, Hermosa, or Redondo Beach. Lodging is more reasonable and the atmosphere less urban, more "beach town". The only advantage of Santa Monica, IMO, is that it is closer to the L.A. tourist sites that you have listed.

Too me, unless I'm playing golf everyday, 5 days would be a bit long for Palm Springs.

In June I'd choose Santa Barbara or Laguna Beach for golf, especially if there are non-golfers in your party.

Santa Monica at $160 in June is pretty much just the Travelodge or the Seashore Motel. You might look at BestWestern-JamaicaBay just south of Santa Monica in Marina Del Rey.

You might luck out in Palm Springs - but more than likely it will be too hot to do much of anything except for sitting inside in the a/c.

Golf rounds will need to be complete by 10 AM at the latest. There are huge discounts to be had in PS in the summer - but there is a very good reason for that.

Oh, you must see Newport Beach and Laguna Beach, so much to do and see and much cleaner and safer than L.A. Don't miss a harbor tour of Newport Beach, Watts on the Harbor Cruises, it's actually the largest Recreational Harbor in the U.S. 949-291-1953. It's on a cute "electric powered boat" canopy overhead and so informative and the best food. Also, a great kayak tour in Laguna called La Vida Laguna.

We go to Palm Springs every year in June for a 3 or 4-day golf weekend.

The prices are the attraction.

Two years ago it barely got into the 90's.

This year I think it was a record for June. Well over 110 degrees.

As suggested, tee off early (7am is good). The hottest part of the day is from about 1pm until sunset (time for a nice nap or sit by the pool). The rest of the time it's quite nice since it cools off nicely at night. In fact you might even need a sweater.

You'll probably do better staying away from Santa Monica in June. The weather tends to be foggy, yet you'll be paying premium summer rates. You already have San Diego for a "beach stay". I'd check the Holiday Inn Express chain with locations in West LA/Century City and be sure to check if the rate includes parking.(hiexpress.com).

If you can go a bit higher there is the new Hotel Palomar in Westwood (part of Kimpton Hotels), or Hotel Angeleno near the Getty in West LA.

I forgot to recommend Standby Golf for discounted tee-times in the Palm Springs area.

www.standbygolf.com or call
760-321-2665.

Here's the info on how far ahead to call:

http://www.standbygolf.com/standbygo...ervations.html

If you need suggestions for particular course I've played most of them.

Just a note on the itinerary, I think the Santa Monica 3rd street Promenade is a nice place to spend the day for food, shopping, all that jazz

http://www.thirdstreetpromenade.com/

A great, very unique experience in Carlsbad, CA (on the way from LA to San Diego) is to enroll in a sculpture experience at the Lynn Forbes School of Sculpture. There, with live models, you receive the best instruction available and can create an incredible sculpture in an afternoon--anyone can do it. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZLVfywbjgro&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZLVfywbjgro&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

We live in LA and a good lower cost alternative in Santa Monica is The Seashore Motel: http://www.seashoremotel.com/

It is a retro 60's throwback-family owned and wonderful little Italian breakfast bakery place. All of our friends who visit stay there now because the big attraction is that you are one block form the beach on Main street and can walk to a number of nice restaurants right on Main. It starts at around $100 and has free parking. They have at least one unit with a full kitchen and they have free wireless

It is actually a lot better located than the very expensive Loews and Raffles nearby for walking. There is a Santa Monica shuttle to take you up near 3rd street promenade, the pier etc. Also, this is a very safe area of Santa Monica. An earlier poster was right-some of the "cheaper motel" areas of Santa Monica/Venice can be dicey.

If you prefer to guarantee more sun (since June in SM can be foggy as noted), you might consider the Farmers Daughter near the Farmers Market-especially if you have kids since it is across the street from the market and The Grove shopping center. It will put you much closer to Beverly Hills, Hollywood and Universal than Santa Monica. http://www.farmersdaughterhotel.com/

yeah right - you registered to top a six month old thread to link to that?

Doctor Ralph, honey - since your photo and name are plastered all over the Lynn Forbes website it is pretty obvious you are advertising -- which ain't allowed on Fodors . . . . .

(an dumb enough to register under your real name???? )

jpie: My post was in response to the one from ralph_muncaster. I doubt the OP is still looking for suggestions since she posted this back in Sept

It was topped for an ad . . . . .