California - a base south of LA?

[EmmaStone]

Hi Everyone, we’ve got flights and car hire booked for July to LA this summer, and looking for any California experts to advise. We’ll be a family of 4 (but DC will be 18 and 20), and have a rough itinerary north of LA for the first week. Looking for ideas on where to base ourselves for the second week.

For many years, we’ve holidayed in Florida, and have got very used to staying in a house with at least 3 bedrooms and a private pool at very reasonable prices. We’re looking for something fairly similar, but pricing is a bit different (and exchange rates aren’t helping!), and we don’t know areas.

At the moment I’m struggling to find properties with private pools, but we’ve found condos in a vast complex near the Irvine Spectrum Center, which seems to be fairly close to Disney, beaches, shopping etc. Does anyone know the area? The week of our base, we’ll definitely go to Disney for a day, definitely do San Diego for a day, a bit of shopping (outlet and normal malls), a bit of beaches, and a bit of chilling. Maybe Palm Springs for a day.

For those in the know, does this area sound like it’ll tick the right boxes? Any other recommendations? Thanks so much in advance.

Just go to San Diego - you won’t regret it!! If you don’t, by the time you’ve driven there one day won’t be enough, I wouldn’t bother tbh. Ditto Palm Springs. Huntington or Seal beach are nice areas within reach of Disney

Thanks @VanCleefArpels, neither of us have been to San Diego before, but we’ve frequently been told how lovely it is, so definitely an option. Do you have any recommendations of areas to look at, and also why SD is so good?

It’s where I would go to live if given infinite choice! We hired a gorgeous home in la Jolla with views over to the sea, it’s a great base as there are restaurants, supermarket, kayak/bike/paddlboard hire places etc all in one place. Totally recommend a Segway tour and to see the baseball if you are there in season

Newport Beach.
Have a look at Marriott Newport Beach Villas.

Or Pelican Hill resort if you’re not on a budget.

If you want to go to Disneyland you’d be better off staying in Anaheim. There are plenty of decent hotels that serve that area and your DC are old enough to have their own room.

There’s not much in Irvine and it’s mainly residential. I’d recommend San Diego but I’d also look at the cities of Huntington Beach and Newport Beach.

+1 for San Diego

Highly recommend Nancy's Vacation Rentals - lots of houses and condos in Pacific Beach and Ocean Beach.

So much to do and see in the area and driving very easy compared to LA

Thanks @HolidayHappy123, all sold out for our dates.

Thanks @AttilaTheMeerkat, we’ll only spend one day at Disney, DS wants to compare it to Florida. We’ve been very lucky to have been to DisneyWorld many times, so it’s not a big deal for this trip for us.

On

@cyclingmum67thank you as well, but prices are $6k+ on there for our needs, and that’s without a pool as well. More than I was hoping to pay.

We really need 3 bedrooms, otherwise the kids don’t consider it a holiday (our first week we’ll be travelling around and they’ll have to share a hotel room, but for the second ‘laid back’ week, they really want their own space. So house/decent sized condo works best for us, these are in ready supply (and very high quality) in Florida, and we were hoping we’d find something similar in CA - we expected it to be pricier, but $1k a night isn’t in the budget!

Will keep looking at San Diego, but I think we’ll be priced out. We don’t actually mind something residential, as long as we’ve got a decent space, we’re absolutely happy to drive places, and are very familiar with US driving.

Don't bother with Palm Springs in July. It's a long drive and it'll be hot as hell.

It all depends on your budget but I'd look costal San Diego county. The further south you go the more expensive it tends to be.

Try inland a bit maybe. Always a premium on the coast.

theres an accommodation crisis in California so you will be paying a lot more than Florida, plus it’s more expensive generally. I used motels when I went and moved about 1 or 2 days in each place including Death Valley

Ah ok - fully understand.

We've used them twice - once for 3 of us (2016) in first 2 weeks of July and then just last year for 2 of us in October.

A 3 bed property in SoCal in summer would probably be out of our price range too.

There are two separate parks at Disneyland and both are worth a visit. Condos are not really a thing in CA unlike Florida.

Have a look at Anaheim, Fullerton or Buena Park cities. The last two in particular are nice and residential and you may find an Airbnb property. Buena Park is also home to Knotts Berry farm and separate water park. Both make for a good day out. I recommend her chicken dinner!.

Have a look at suite based hotels like the embassy suites or Homewood suites to name but two chains. They also offer breakfast as part of the room rate and their rooms are of decent size.

Thanks Everyone for all your advice and insight, will go through all our options and book tomorrow 😄