elizzie4000

Blustar - for San Diego what kind of budget do you have? I see you mention a Best Western in another city. We have a Best Western Plus Bayside that's a great location. It's got all the great restaurants of a wide variety out the door in Little Italy. The other direction are all the restaurants and bars in Downtown / Gaslamp. All walkable.

Walking distance to all the bayfront sights. Some rooms have water views. Balconies. Parking is only $14 which is much less than other downtown hotels.

Blustar

Morning All,

Woooo hoooo, I've secured our flights, very exciting but still playing around with this itinerary as I'm unsure of a couple of things.

janisj, thanks for the update on Yosemite View Lodge I think if I stick with Yosemite then this is where I'll stay for sure, we're unlikely to be in the room that much anyway.

I'm still unsure about Yosemite just because we're not the biggest nature fans in the world and as beautiful as the pictures look I'm just not sure if my boyfriend would enjoy it that much, especially for the detour that we would have to do to get there.

So, I've been looking at "South Lake Tahoe"....random I know and not the best geographically to drive to and from but I know we'd enjoy it there so much more. I think it's either that or completely remove from the itinerary and add days elsewhere.

Would it be completely ridiculous to spend a couple nights there instead? The drive isn't too much longer from San Francisco however from South Lake Tahoe to Carmel is but having looked at the things we can do there I feel more excited by that then I do Yosemite. What do you think?
Being our first time to that part of the world all the way from London I'm just going by what I see as I haven't a clue whether it actually makes sense or not and it probably doesn't but it looks great, LOL

clarkgriswold, thanks for your suggestion, I have in fact signed up for the Wynn Insider so hopefully I'll see what deals they can come up with in the new year as I'm torn between the Aria and Wynn Encore hotel? A lot of people are for the Wynn Encore and initially for me it was more about price so I went with the Aria Hotel but now I'm starting to think I should book the Wynn Encore, I guess I need to hold tight a little while to see what deals the hotels come up with closer to the time. I realized that the Conventions would be an issue as there seems to be one whilst we're in San Francisco, unavoidable unfortunately

elizzie4000, I haven't really set a budget for any of the places I'm going to, I've gone with if it's reasonably priced, ticks a lot of boxes i.e. location, restaurants, attractions then it should be fine, lol. The Best Western Plus Bayside Inn looks great, not far from the DoubleTree by Hilton, Mission Valley which I currently have held. I'll definitely look in to the Best Western as the parking price is great too.

Hopefully I'll nail down this itinerary soon but it's great getting suggestions from you all, thank you so much it really is appreciated

janisj

OK -- purely subjective rambling re Tahoe vs. Yosemite. (Point of reference: I live 2 hours from Tahoe and have a share of a vacation condo there, live about 4 hours from Yosemite, and visit the UK 2 or 3 times every year)

Tahoe is wonderful, but Yosemite is out of this world in May (like I said up thread -- May is about the best time of year there)

Reading between the lines I think you mean you'd enjoy the casinos/night life at Tahoe more than the nature of Tahoe. I'll be very frank -- (was last at Tahoe in mid May) The Casinos at South Shore will be a major disappointment in comparison to what you will have seen in Vegas. My place is at Incline at the north end of the lake and I hadn't been to southshore (where the big casino hotels are) for maybe 3 years so I drove down on a Monday - things have really gone downhill. At Harrah's (the best known/largest casino hotel) in the mid afternoon had NO restaurants open except for one fast food burger joint. The buffet, 'high end' steak house, cafe, sushi place. etc were all closed. Most are only open for dinner and others close at 2PM-ish til dinner. The casino was just about empty. It was actually depressing. Now - this was a monday and weekends will be busier. But to be honest -- the main reason to visit Tahoe is the outdoors-y things that you say don't really interest you.

Plus the drive from Tahoe to Carmel will take a very long time - probably 6 hours if you hit traffic anywhere (very likely)

So if you did mean the casino scene and nightlife -- no, I don't think Tahoe is your cup of tea. And May is definitely the off season there (unless you mean the very end of May/Memorial Day weekend (equivalent to the May Bank Holiday when it gets very crowded)

janisj

Meant to add -- one doesn't need to be a outdoor fan/hill walker/Munro bagger to enjoy Yosemite. The scenery w/o ANY strenuous hiking/climbing or even walking much is outstanding. There is a visitors centre, a museum, the Ansel Adams gallery ( https://www.google.com/search?q=yose...IVECaICh1oDQ9J )

A meal at the Ahwahnee is a special treat: (https://www.google.com/search?q=yose...hotel+interior )

clarkgriswold

"I think it's either that or completely remove from the itinerary and add days elsewhere."

Add some days driving down the California coast. We did it in late April this year, the weather was perfect and there are no crowds. 2 nights Carmel/Monterey, a full day to drive down the coast to Cambria or Cayucos or Avila Beach, a full day in the Pismo/Avila area and a 2nd night there (since the first was just a late arrival/sleep), a full day driving down through Santa Ynez/Los Olivos/Solvang and then a couple of nights in Santa Barbara.

I would stick with the Aria in Vegas if the price is right, really a better location for first-timers as the Wynn hotels are not really center-strip.

Blustar

How funny, life is truly wonderful communicating with people you've never met but are close to the places you either live or travel to

Soooo, I wouldn't completely say that we're not outdoors-y people as we'd quite happily get on a bike and explore, not necessarily hike but open to options. Excuse my lack of knowledge on Tahoe but I didn't know they had Casino's and I think we would have done enough of that in Vegas. The things that did interest me the most about Tahoe was the paddle boarding and other water sports, biking, Zephyr Cove etc.

Now if I can do those things in Yosemite then I guess it makes sense to keep it on the itinerary? (What's funny is I had to look up "munro bagging" had no clue what that was, lol)

clarkgriswold
Thanks for the other location suggestions I'm currently looking them up. I'm thinking if we stick with the two nights in Yosemite then I may still need to add a night in Carmel (We're staying there 2 nights already) just to allow for some chill time from driving.

I was thinking about Wynn Encore more so because their pool party and night club looked pretty good and they seem to play Hip Hop which is what my boyfriend likes and wondered if we're staying there we may benefit from that unless of course it really doesn't work that way?
I do really like the Aria Hotel and like you said the location is much better....hmmmm!!

janisj

OK more tahoe vs. yosemite.

Yosemite Valley is just about flat as a pancake and is a wonderful place to ride bikes. They have bike rentals in the Village.

http://www.yosemitepark.com/biking.aspx

Also rafting on the Merced river (Don't worry that the site says it is closed -- that is just this year. We are in a drought and the river is quite low in late summer. But in May it will be full and fabulous

http://www.yosemitepark.com/rafting.aspx

At tahoe same -- bike rentals all over. And the paddle wheel boat ride across the Lake and into Emerald Bay. Really fun.

All in all -- Tahoe is pretty and you'd enjoy it. But Yosemite National Park is unique anywhere and not to be missed IMO. Now, IF your trip was in Aug or Sept -- I'd actually recommend Tahoe. But in May - it being the slow/shoulder season at Tahoe AND the waterfalls in Yosemite being at their very peak -- -- again IMO -- Yosemite hands down.

https://www.google.com/search?q=yose...FYM0iAodhgMOZQ

Blustar

Ok janisj you've convinced me, I feel a lot more comfortable with it now!!

YOSEMITE it is..... If it's not to be missed then we must go

Thank you