"Interesting" Hotel/Restuarant Suggestions west coast

We're just planning the 3-4 week long road-trip for next year - we've got the flights booked on G's already so happy there. We now have a rough itinerary, and was wondering if v-flyers could provide interesting suggestions of places they've stayed or recommend in the more obscure places that havn't been mentioned here before. Food, wine, other suggestions in areas nearby welcomed.

Places we need suggestions on to add to our lists:

Flagstaff, AZ (1 night) - no clue here.
Monument valley (staying at the view) - any local other food suggestions?

Moab - staying 2 nights - maybe 3 for the local national parks.

Another stop in middle next, but we've covered that already via friends!

Vegas - bearing in mind we've stayed at Bellagio, MGM, Excalibur, Palazzo, Wynn before - any of the new City centre hotels worthwhile? Equally any new food places in last 2-3 years worth visiting? Staying 5 days, so needs a *good* pool and spa for wife to be happy. Palazzo/Venetian are too shallow/a disappointment, can't swim in those - so want a decent "deeper" pool if poss, so won't reconsider those. Brief from wife here is resort hotel - it's our mid-trip break to relax from all-day driving/sightseeing/walking/hiking.

Reno - no clue on where to stay - or eat.... only 1 night here. (bearing in mind we need somewhere refundable here as we may have to skip if the pass to Sacramento is closed due to weather/needs chains). Pool irrelevant, as is gambling, but needs good food.

Sacramento - 2 nights here, we need somewhere thats a good base, as we've got huge amounts to see in surrounds - and need decent restaurant suggestions... Pool irrelevant here.

Sonoma/Napa - 2-3 days here - any good tours from local hotels (driving when drinking lots of wine we want to avoid!). Equally good hotels restaurants and those to avoid ?

Somewhere south of SFO - Monterey or San Jose? Ideally somewhere need the coast highway as we'll be driving down that from here on in.

Thats it - final/other phases of trip we're covered for the coast road/LA, Palm Springs etc - many suggestions in this forum already....

starquake

I suggest that you look at the Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas; understated and luxurious. Use their website, if you are persuaded, as they have offers which, usually, surpass expedia etc. Twist, the Mandarin Bar and the Spa are well worth the money.

It surpasses the 4S, which is very, very good but the MO LV is now our hotel of choice.

I'll look at where we stayed in Flagstaff when I get home but, the hotel was fairly basic, although a nearby restaurant was extremely good (steak, steak and more steak).

NV

Left Monterey yesterday to drive down highway 1. Stayed at the Marriott downtown. Has an outdoor pool & hot tub and is within5 minutes walk of Fisherman Walk restaurants on sea front. There were other restaurants around as well.
As we tend to do 6 week road trips in USA we stick to Marriotts, usually their Residence Inn chain where we have 1 bedroom apartment with full kitchen so we dont always eat out. They also provide complimentary evening social hours, with beer wine & some food 2 or 3 nights a week Being mercenary we collect their points & use them for weekend breaks inUK. We stayed in 1 when in Flagstaff.

Hope this helps

Hi starquake

We are just planning a similar trip for next summer.

I did an LA to SF drive a few years ago and stayed in some great places. The real stand out was just north of SF, on the coast. Not sure if you were thinking of heading out here but Mankas Inverness Lodge in Point Reyes is one of the most memorable places I've every stayed. Really unique cabins with some amazing food, all found within a few miles of the town. Wasn't cheap and their website hasn't changed in a decade, but if you are over that way it's well worth a look.

If going to Monterey area I'd suggest going a bit further (<10 miles) down the coast to Carmel-By-Sea.Lots of great hotels and some good dining there, we spend our Christmas there at the Fireplace Inn.

The Sardine Factory in Monterey is highly recommended for the food, the atmosphere and a little quirkiness!

http://www.sardinefactory.com
http://www.fireplaceinncarmel.com
http://www.carmel.com

W.

[Neil]

I can highly recommend http://napavalleyexcursions.com for Napa wine tours. He offers private tours, tailed to your requirements and is a fantastic guy. We had the most amazing day with him.

Monterey is very nice, would definitely stay at the Intercontinental Clement too.

Morning Starquake

Have done this type of trip twice as well as lots of other driving around Southern Cal and Nevada. See below for some of my ideas.

Highway 1 - Big Sur. Stayed at Treebones, was a little shock to the system at first (it ain't the Bellagio) but was fun, walking to the toilets with a torch, nothing to do most days apart from the view and no mobile phone reception. Fog rolling in off the Pacific is cool! You basically stay in a tent called a Yurt, quiet nice inside with heating as well.

Napa Valley - Stayed at the Best Western in Town, really friendly and helpful couple who run it, great breakfast, great building, try and get a room just off the main room downstairs. Did a self bike tour on electric/hybrid cycles, unfortunately the company that did it appears to have gone (change of greenery) but looks like there are other options. Very easy to get around, car drivers are very friendly towards you and make you feel safe, great way to get some sun, a little exercise whilst having a few drinks (go easy though!) - have visited a few of the vineyards, there was a big one, Domain Chandon, not really impressed as too big, felt like you were at a big hotel like the Grove in Herts plus was full of a lot of loud Americans (reminded me of a Vegas club, look at me, look at me!) - however can recommend the Andretti Vinyard which was quiet small but you have the chance to speak to people who probably do know their wines, I am not a Red Wine drinker myself but actually ended up buying a Zinfandel which was one of the Wines we tasted. (Had to throw it away later in the holiday as Southwest would not let us fly with it!). Have also done the balloon tour in Napa, again would recommend, Ballons above the Valley.

Monument Valley - Try and get out and drive around yourself especially at Sunrise/Sunset. Amazing place but have to say Food was terrible, if I go again I would bring my own supplies and eat on the balcony. If you are going on a tour make sure you use the toilet before hand, you do not want to use the portable toilets, trust me! It was also a dry area when we visited.

I would also recommend getting to see some sport over there, the baseball season is nearly over but NFL/College is in full swing, see below for what we have done.

San Diego Chargers. Great place especially in the Sun, Stadium a bit old (think old Wembley) and horrendous lines to get the tram back (we trained down from LA)

Phoenix Cardinals. Old stadium, was very cheap, in a college area, lots of great bars etc and good buzz but they have a new Stadium now so probably a lot more corporate

Cal Bears - College Game - even older stadium (sure it would not pass UK safety standards) - great atmosphere - other side of the bay in San Fran

LA Dodgers - Not a fan of baseball but quiet a fun evening, drinking beer and eating hot dogs. Good views as well over LA. Traffic was a mare!

If you can get tickets to the 49ers that would be good as they are in their brand new stadium near to SF

Have a good trip

Ignore San Jose. Monterey/Carmel are much better choices with Carmel the best, very twee. The Francis Ford Coppola Winery in Napa is great and if you like his films he has lots of props and stuff from it including that Edsel car thing. We also bumped into him and were chatting to him. Which was funny as all the Americans walked past without realising! We preferred to stay in Calistoga rather than Napa - Indian Springs is fantastic but pricey. The Mumm not-champagnery is great, we get there at 1000 and have their sampler! Lovely!

If you go to San Francisco then for food I love Scomas. It is legendary in SF.

Also, the Inn at Spanish Bay on 17 mile drive is nice to sit outside and watch the whales breech, see their spouts, and tails (take binos though!) and have a beer.

If you can, get to Yosemite, bit of a trek but well worth it. I think the fires are under control now.

If you do drive across the Golden Gate Bridge then my suggestion is to drive past the vista point and just head for the Marin Headlands as you get a better view of the city and you get the bridge in the photos too. Plus it is a nice drive over there to Rodeo beach which no bugger seems to know about !

[Darren Wheeler]

Madonna Inn, San Luis Obispo.

Rather 'Interesting'...

South of SFO, Big Sur is wonderful!

The Ventana Inn is amazing, Pacific House room is our favourite room there, lovely to wake up and go on the patio (with your own hot tub!) to watch the deer or wild turkeys! Wonderful property and so much wildlife on site!

Thanks so much all for suggestions, that'll take some time to go over. For the sports we're there in April - so it'll depend whats on then!

Moab's still a blank - so any personal recommendations in area really would be appreciated - prefer something non-chain here. Tripadviser doesn't beat a personal recommendation !

Neil - thanks for the tour tip, that is almost certainly going to be used (given it's similar to the bus tours for 3 hours for 2) - how many hours did you need for a good day - I'd guess 4-5?? How much for the full day did you end up budgeting?

etk - likely to use your suggestion actually, we were looking for something in that vicinity.

And the MO Vegas, yes, I think that's worthy of serious consideration and was one I'd missed somehow - and in perfect location. Pretty much a no-brainer for me. Is the pool nice & deep? I don't think that one is in Amex FHR?

Silver fox - eaten at Scomas in SFO before - agree great. We're avoiding SFO itself this trip as next one in 2017 likely will be north west only loops so we'll start/end there. Equally having a car in SFO itself is somewhat expensive for parking! When hitting the city we just drop car off and use the bart.

We've also done yosemite on a previous trip, and although we want to go again, we want to hit the original gold rush parts of sacramento this time in preference.

But thanks for the winery tip, that is one I'd seen and was mulling, and I think thats a definite now.

Hi Starquake, got it, I know what you mean, there is so much to do there you just cannot fit it al in. The other tip I have for Napa is to drive up the Silverado Trail as it avoids a shedload of traffic.