The View from the Park Hyatt Aviara Lobby

San Diego, CA is one of my favorite places in the world, and I could easily spend weeks there, just enjoying the views, taking in the sights, and relaxing at all of the luxurious, beautiful hotels.  The weather is always perfect – warm, but never too hot or uncomfortable.  It’s very different from my home city of Boston, where I rarely experience perfect weather.

This past week, I had the opportunity to stay two nights at the Park Hyatt Aviara Hotel in Carlsbad, CA (a suburb of San Diego).  This hotel, a former Four Seasons,  is the epitome of luxurious relaxation.

Park Hyatt is Hyatt’s upscale, contemporary brand, and this was the first Park Hyatt on the West Coast.  The feeling of luxurious just surrounds you as soon as you enter the front door.  There is plenty of staff on hand to assist you, and in my experience, there’s rarely a line in the lobby.

Rooms at the Park Hyatt Aviara are spacious and comfortable.  Most rooms have balconies or patios with gorgeous views, and offer such amenities as WiFi, whirlpool tubs, comfy beds, couches, a large desk, and flat-screen televisions.  The hotel also offers two pools (including a relaxation, over-18 pool), a spa, and several shops.

Park Hyatt Aviara Resort
7100 Aviara Resort Drive
Carlsbad, California 92011
760 448 1234

Photo credit: Jodi Grundig

Disclosure: My stay was at no cost, and all opinions are my own.

Legoland California is getting ready to pour the LEGOs and begin construction on their very own Legoland Hotel. They’ll be starting work in October, and plan to open the hotel in summer 2013.

Legoland Hotel in Carlsbad, California

The Legoland Hotel in Carlsbad, CA will be the first one in America, and the third of its kind in the world.

There’s already one in the Legoland Billund resort in Denmark, and a new hotel in Legoland Windsor in the UK is gearing up for an opening in 2012.

The 250-room Lego themed hotel in Carlsbad is being built in a parking lot to the right of the main entrance.

It will feature a pool area, restaurant and brightly colored Lego décor. For instance, one of the models built for the hotel is a six-foot tall hotel bellhop built out of more than 37,000 Lego bricks.

The rooms and suites will be themed after the most popular areas in the park. The facilities are designed to make it a family hotel for those with young children, and will feature rooms and suites themed after the most popular Legoland areas.

If the Legoland Hotel in Billund is taken as a standard, there will be quite a few different types of rooms.

It has standard and business rooms, junior suites and themed rooms furnished with Lego models. There are Princess themed rooms, pirate rooms and knights’ rooms.

Legoland has had this hotel plan in the works for quite some time now. They got approval for the plan from the city of Carlsbad way back in 2009, but had to wait a couple of years because the economy was in the tank.

Note that quite a few Carlsbad hotels already exist to provide accommodations for Legoland California visitors, including the Sheraton Carlsbad Resort and the Grand Pacific Palisades, both of which are also on the resort’s property.

But Legoland says it needs this hotel because they want park visitors and San Diego day-trippers to stay overnight as part of the experience, like people do when they visit the theme parks in Orlando and Anaheim.

Photo courtesy LEGOLAND® California Resort

More info: http://www.legolandhotel.com/

Related posts:
Beating the Summer Crowds at Legoland California
A Fun Weekend with Kids in Carlsbad, California
Legoland’s Lesser-known Aquatic Attractions

The Hilton Garden Inn Carlsbad Beach

When I travel on vacation with my family, I generally look for hotels that are clean, comfortable, well-located, and reasonably priced.  Great service, which can really be a huge factor in the enjoyment of our trip, is also a priority.

This past weekend, I traveled to Carlsbad, California, a suburb of San Diego, to check out the Hilton Garden Inn Carlsbad Beach.  Located directly across the street from Carlsbad Beach, the Hilton Garden Inn is just a few miles away from numerous family attractions, including Legoland, SeaLife Aquarium, and the Flower Fields.

We stayed in a standard king bed room – like most of the rooms in the hotel, we could see the ocean from our window.  The room was relatively standard sized, but with some extra features, including a large work desk with Herman Miller chair, microwave, refrigerator, and the Hilton Garden Inn’s signature sleep system bed.

The real star of this hotel is the service, however.  No matter where I turned, there was a staff member greeting me with a “hello” and a smile.  Front desk employees offered to help with restaurant recommendations and reservations, and their suggestions were fabulous.  In addition, the hotel offers a complimentary guest shutter for travel within a five mile radius.  We used the shuttle for travel throughout Carlsbad, and it was extremely convenient.

Like all Hilton Garden Inn’s, the Carlsbad Beach location offers a cooked to order hot breakfast, free Wi-Fi, a fitness center, and a 24-hour business center.  Given the moderate-level price of the hotel, it really is a great bargain!

Hilton Garden Inn, Carlsbad Beach
6450 Carlsbad Blvd
Carlsbad, CA 92011
760-476-0800

Disclosure: I received an expense-paid trip to the Hilton Garden Inn Carlsbad Beach so that I could experience the hotel first hand.

Photo credit: Jodi Grundig