West Coast First Timers!

[abiknox]

Index here

Well here I am with another pre trippy! Exciting stuff
This one’s another new trip for us! After a good 4 years considering it, we have finally booked for a West Coast holiday.

Cast

Me, Abi 28 – Lover of everything American, mostly the food , especially looking forward to San Fran & Yosemite!

Aaron, Hubby 28 – Another fan of everything American, especially looking forward to Alklatraz!





Date wise, we have settled on the last couple of weeks of September, 14 nights flying into San Fran & out of Los Angeles. Our itinerary at the moment is looking like this…

San Fran 3 nigths
Yosemite 2 nigths
Monterey 1 night
Pismo Beach 1 night
Anaheim 3 nights
San Diego 2 nigths
LA (near Universal) 2 nights

We did approach a couple of travel agents to see if they could offer prices better than the DIY cost but the nearest was still £300 above what we could get ourselves. Its not a budget trip, but at the same time, if we can find reasonable accommodation that’s clean and in a good location we will be happy. I don’t want to be paying over the odds for rooms that we don’t spend any time in.

So far we have booked the following (all researched in advance but booked last night in a serious planning fest!)

Flights

16th – 30th September. Virgin Atlantic (booked direct)
LHR – SFO
LAX – LHR
£675.00 each with M&M (a lot more than I wanted to pay but I just wasn’t happy to book with Norwegian/Indirect and I wanted to get them booked asap as planning the holiday is half of the fun for me).

Car Hire

Booked today Alamo Brits.
19th – 30th September. Picking up in S.Fran Union Square & dropping off at LAX
£186.37 – Bargain!

**edited to add that thanks to a thread on the Dibb, we managed to amend our booking and get a £23.00 refund just because the price had come down! **

San Fran Hotel

16th September for 3 nights
Grant Plaza (booked through lastminute.com)
£204.00





This is the most basic of all the hotels we will be staying at, I just cannot get over the price for S.Fran hotels! It’s crazy. I figure that if we start off cheap, all other hotels will look good in comparison! The hotel has OK trip advisor ratings & is in a good location so I’m happy with the price we paid.

Yosemite Hotel

19th September for 2 nights
Yosemite View Lodge (booked through GoComapre)
£260.87







This hotel seems to be recommended time & time again here on the Dibb. It’s also in a good position, near one of the Yosemite entrances.

Monterey Hotel

21st September for 1 night
Hotel Abrego (booked through HotelsClick with cashback)
£108.97





This seemed like a good price on a hotel with very good reviews. The location is fab and the pool looks like a nice place to take a dip!

Pismo Hotel

22nd September for 1 night
Pismo Lighthouse Suites (booked through Expedia with cashback)
£93.99







Another one that comes highly recommended, both here on the Dibb and from friends who have visited recently. I thought the price was OK and this was the one hotel that I really wanted to secure asap. It looks gorgeous!

So… that’s all that’s booked so far! I need to do some serious research into our last 3 hotels. There seems to be a wealth of choice! The ones I have considered so far include

Anaheim (mainly for Disney)

Knotts Berry Farm Resort
Hyatt Regency Orange County
Holiday Inn BLK Disney (seems the most likely atm due to close Disney proximity
Sheraton
Park Vue
Howard Johnson (would need an offer to book this)

San Diego (nice area with restaurants/bars in walking distance required)

Sheraton Mission Valley
Best Western Bayside
Manchester Grand Hyatt (again would need an offer for this one!)
Gaslamp Plaza

LA (near to Universal)

Sheraton
Beverly Garland
Days Inn Universal (seems most likely based on price/reviews)
Omni

If anyone has advise on any of the above hotels or recommendations of any others (mid price/good location) please let me know! It’s a huge task narrowing them down!

So, thats where we stand at the moment! Once our Florida holiday is out of the way, ill go into full planning mode considering restaurants, attraction tickets ect! I can't wait

Updates

Anaheim hotel

San Diego hotel

LA hotel

San Fran detailed plan

Yosemite detailed plan

Monterey detailed plan

Pismo Beach detailed plan

Anaheim detailed plan

San Diego detailed plan

LA detailed plan

UK Hotel

Warner Brothers Tour

Airport parking

Southern California City Pass ordered

La Jolla segway tour booked

Blazing Saddles Bike Hire booked

Amazing $ rate & Alcatraz booked

Whale watching booked

[Guest]

That's exciting! We stayed at Sheraton Anaheim and are again on this trip

[abiknox]

Originally Posted by princess_chazy

That's exciting! We stayed at Sheraton Anaheim and are again on this trip

See more...

Thanks for the tip, it was coming up a bit expensive for us so I have just booked the Ayres! I can;t help myself! Just writing an update and then I think ill read any updates on your trippy!

[abiknox]

Im on a roll... another hotel booked!

Anaheim Hotel

23rd September for 3 nights
Ayres Hotel (booked through HotelClub)
£204.00 (inc free parking & buffet breakfast!)







LOVE the look of this one! Number 1 of 111 hotels on Trip Adviser and got a bargain price of £72 a night with free parking/Buffet breakfast & Wifi. Its not within walking distance of Disney which is a shame but a lot cheaper for that reason. Happy days!

[MissVincent]

I am so glad you started this - been looking forward to seeing your plans

[abiknox]

Originally Posted by MissVincent

I am so glad you started this - been looking forward to seeing your plans

See more...

Thanks for joining in! I am unbelievable excited for this holiday! I actually feel bad because we are going to Florida in 3 1/2 weeks and Im just not feeling it enough. I need to cap the planning of this one until we are back i think and muster up more enthusiasm for Orlando!

That being said though, I would love to get all the hotels sorted!

[Guest]

Good time of year to go!

[abiknox]

Another one bites the dust... I just can't help myself!

San Diego Hotel

26th September for 2 nights
Best Western Island Palms (booked through Olotels.com)
£188.00







I found this one when searching specifically for free parking hotels in San Diego. It seems to be in a beautiful spot and quite central for the Zoo & SeaWorld! I have read that its also quite peaceful when compared to those hotels in Downtown / Gaslamp quarter. The rooms look lovely & reviews are good too!

[Guest]

Originally Posted by abiknox

Thanks for the tip, it was coming up a bit expensive for us so I have just booked the Ayres! I can;t help myself! Just writing an update and then I think ill read any updates on your trippy!

See more...

There's been a couple of changes to the hotels/plans but it's looking a bit empty of updates lately!

[Guest]

You've got some good prices here, be interested to know your final costs. I guess with a car you're better off!