Tracey & Neil's EPIC California Adventure - Day 13 - Santa Monica & the Regent Beverly Wilshire

[tracey1302]

Pre-Trip Report

Day -2 : Universal Studios, Hollywood

Day -1: California Adventure Park

Day 0: LAX & Santa Monica

Day 1: Santa Monica to Pismo Beach

Day 2: Pismo Beach to San Francisco

Day 3: San Francisco

Day 4: San Francisco

Day 5: San Francisco & Yosemite National Park

Day 6: Yosemite National Park

Day 7: Yosemite National Park to Lone Pine

Day 8: Death Valley & Vegas

Day 9: Grand Canyon & Vegas

Day 10: Vegas to Disneyland

Day 11: Disneyland to LA

Day 12: Hollywood

Day 13: Santa Monica & the Regent Beverly Wilshire

We (Neil) had a lie in this day, planning to get to Santa Monica by about 11am. I did a bit of packing I knew the bus ride would be a bit of a bind but driving wasn't really an option as I'd known from previous research that parking in Santa Monica was a nightmare. :angry:

We arrived in Santa Monica and had another AMAZING breakfast at Jinky's. We had to wait 30 minutes for a table but then I remembered that it was Sunday and I was sure, given Jinky's reputation that it would be immensely popular with locals!

Then we returned to the beach that we had fallen in love with on the first night.

We had a lovely relaxing walk and stopped for a drink:





The only thing wrong with this day was that the beach was packed as there was some football tournament on and it was majorly overcast! This always seems to happen to me on holiday. Our last day in Florida the year before had been the only day when the sun hadn't belted out every ray and that day was the same!

Then, Neil and I did something we'd wanted to do from the second we laid eyes on Santa Monica Pier. We went on the ferris wheel. This was incredible and the views were spectacular.







Then it was time for more ice cream



Before our final trip back into LA to get ready for our last night.

Cont below..

[tracey1302]

For my 25th birthday, my Dad and Step-Mum had given us a voucher for the Regent Beverly Wilshire. I totally wailed as Pretty Woman is one of my all time favourite movies So they gave us a voucher to eat in the Blvd. I had been in contact with a lady named Alicia who said we could just pick the voucher up from Concierge when we got there.

So we took the free town car from the Grafton to the Reg Bev Wils and rocked up to the Concierge desk. I was staggered at how small the lobby was. It looked huge in Pretty Woman Anyway, the chap says, 'No, we don't have any voucher here for you, ma'am.' What? I told him about my correspondence with Alicia and he went off for what seemed like FOREVER to try and find my gift card. He didn't come back with it.

Neil and I were looking at each other wondering what the hell to do. We had a reservation in this restaurant but no money to eat it with

Anyway, they said that it wasn't a problem and we could just sit at our table and they would sort it out. (How could it not be a problem when we had no money to eat a meal of that inevitable expense )

To be fair, I had no reason to worry, they eventually found the card, presented absolutely immaculately in this silk box thing and we had an AMAZING meal. It's right up there with the Narcoossee's and the Brown Derbys of this world for me. It was stunning. I treated myself to a glass of Prosecco.



And a Heineken for Neil.



I had the scallops and the fillet steak;



Neil had the oriental salad and the Rib-Eye.



After our meal, a lady took a picture of us in the porch, but this photo really shows off Neil's sunburn so I'm not gonna post it The poor lad. We had both neglected the suncream a little that day as it was overcast. Stupid, I know!

Anyway, this is when our tale turns a little sour Our plan had been to get a drink somewhere in the neighbourhood. We had a quick look around but the only life we could really see was on a little street just over the road which was up a few stairs. There were restaurants but no bars! I'd read up and knew of a few in the area but they obviously weren't as close as implied online. Neil went to draw cash out from the Bank of America down the street... it was then we realised that we had no money left. I had $25 on me but that was literally all I had left.

In hindsight, we do laugh about this because Neil actually did have money as he had his debit card but for some reason he didn't mention it because he thought it wouldn't work over there

Anyway, to cut an evening short, we ended up going back to the hotel, getting Concierge at the RBW to order a taxi for us. We just had enough to make it back to the Grafton - phew! This was when the whole thing about the Grafton holding $300 of our money came out as we wanted to check how much they had charged our card on check in. Neil knew he should have had more than enough for our last night but because of the Grafton, it was cut short.

The meal was fantastic so anyone who wants to go for a meal at the RBW, I can definitely recommend it but I think if we were to go back, we would have opted to spend those last three nights completely in Santa Monica - back at the Doubletree - Neil adds - for the free cookies.

Anyway, we discovered in the morning that we did have money as Neil remembered his debit card so don't worry folks, we didn't starve at the airport!

Our journey home was uneventful. Dropped off the hire car, got on the plane, landed at Heathrow, caught the tube over to King Cross, caught the train up to Halifax, greeted tearfully by Neil's parents and then naturally... went to our best friends' house for a BBQ after over 24 hours travelling


Final thoughts:

I'm glad we...

1) Rented bikes in San Francisco - this was truly the best day of our holiday, you see so much of the surrounding area and the views of the Bay were incredible. It was also nice to get out of the city and see some of 'real' America.

2) Climbed to the top of Yosemite - I was so reluctant to do this because it involved a lot of hard work in very high temperatures but the view from the top was SO worth it!

3) Flew over the Grand Canyon - Whether you take a plane or a helicopter, this is so worth the money. It was amazing and I am so glad we splurged and booked it. You could do it in so many more expensive ways and I'm sure we would have done, had we had the money but for what we paid for it, we thought this was absolute value for money.

4) Went to Jinky's - This place does breakfast to die for. On lazy Sunday mornings when we're lying in bed, we dream of Jinky's breakfasts. Can't recommend it enough.

I wish we had...

1) Spent more time in Disney - Our room was far too nice to stay in for just one night and we did have a whole other park to explore. That was one of the reasons why I did it earlier, because I knew we wouldn't have had time. However, this wouldn't have worked for us because Cars Land was open and the place would have been rammed.

2) Spent more time in Santa Monica - I cannot even tell you how much we fell in love with this place. It is just incredible and we both felt so safe there in comparison. We would definitely miss out Hollywood and just do Santa Monica next time. It was just fantastic.

3) Had another night in Vegas - Our time there seemed so short and we had it cut even shorter because of the silly get up time for our Grand Canyon flight and because I couldn't get used to the heat. I would also have stayed in another hotel. While the Luxor was fantastic, it isn't in a great location as when we wanted to get anywhere of an evening, we had a right hike in the scorching evening heat!

4) Had stayed somewhere else in Hollywood - The Grafton was a very nice hotel but I really wasn't impressed by the fact that they held so much money on our card, especially since they said $100 on check in. Silly me, I thought that was total, not PER NIGHT! I know most places do hold some money but that seemed so steep and it really cut into our budget for our very last night. We'll never get that time back and it is entirely their fault. :angry:

Overall, our time in California was magical and has brought me and Neil together as a couple in a way nothing else ever has. We have become closer and closer than we were already since this holiday. I think it's just the shared experience of something so amazing that does this but it really was an incredible time for us both.

As you can see from my countdown below, we are waiting for the Dining Plan offers to be released so we can return to Florida with my Mum, Martin, OB, Trev & her boyfriend next year so we can make more amazing memories...

Hope y'all enjoyed it!

[steve2457]

wow fantastic trip and report..Thank you

[Guest]

Really enjoyed your trip report thankyou for taking the time out to do it.

[rummy63]

Great trip report, Pretty woman is also one of my faves, was the meal really expensive?

[tracey1302]

Originally Posted by rummy63

Great trip report, Pretty woman is also one of my faves, was the meal really expensive?

See more...

Yes.

It cost us just short of $200 for two of us, including tip. We did have expensive starters and steak though. I suppose it's no different from any of the Signature Disneys!

[KarenG]

I totally enjoyed every minute of your trip report. Thank you for sharing all the details of your time on the West Coast!

[Twentyyears]

Loved your whole trippie, glad to have caught up with it today.
Agree with your sentiments exactly, re memories and experiences as a couple. it has been those memories that got us through tough times in our life and I believe those twenty years of USA trips have got us to our 25th WA next year.
We have never moved from our little house or had fancy cars but we have a treasure trove of memories from these trips.
I am so glad you loved Calif and LV as we did all those years ago and look forward to your next Florida " fix"
Thank you, it has made us look for forward to this years return even more!
Sandie x

[NatsyNoo]

Really enjoyed your trippie and it has given me some great ideas for our trip!
Agree too with these trips strengthening you as a couple as ours definitely have for us and got us through some pretty difficult times!

[Pussycat Doll]

Loved reading your whole report, thanks for sharing and bringing back many memories for me! Pussycat