San Fran Holiday Advice

Hello All

Have enough miles for the Daught and I to do a UC return once she has finished her GCSEs - around late June/early July 2006 and staying for a month. Flying into SFO or LAX dependant on availability.

Looking for recommendations where to stay. Not a great hotel fan (too many work related stays) and a monthly rental looks good value. Where to stay though? Found a few places on vacationrentals.com and seem to be settling on either Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara or Malibu but this is coming from a point of extreme ignorance. MCuth ... you seem to have had really good times in the Napa valley? Ideally on a beach or would consider inland if accomodation had a private pool. Budget for accomodation only around $9000. Happy to have a couple of internal flights and overnight stays during the month to make the best of it..

Not interested in LAS though... although there are a few Palm Springs properties that look appealing...but is there enough to do?

Over to you guys and gals

have you ever thought about south la beaches? newport beach, laguna beach etc are really good with excellent villa rental deals, shopping malls (fashion island or costa mesa malls), great food and is also the location for hit tv show 'the oc', which your daughter may find interesting? also easy to drive for day trips to beverly hills, santa monica, san diego etc.

[8D]

[Scrooge]

There are so many nice place's to stay on the coast,if it was me I would look for a place betwwen Malibu and Oxnard,there are a number of great beaches that no one ever seems to go to.

I'll wait for Paul to throw in his 2 cents about central and northen California as thats his area.

I agree about Laguna etc,great areas and your about halfway between LA and San Diego.

You might also want to look inland as well,in Big Bear and Idelwyld you can get some great deals.

[ChuckC]

Hi Pat,
Started this reply yesterday; where does the time go?

Yes, you have many choices. Here I'll discuss a couple of ideas.
First, Santa Cruz. This beach town, which is located approximately 90 minutes south of San Francisco, is very "laid back", enjoys great weather most of the year and is well located for day trips. Those were my criteria at least, in attempting to pick one place in Northern California for you to roost for a bit. Here is one good website to give you a sense of prices and locations. Before you have a heart attack, prices are lower as you scroll down!

Now, maybe if it were me I'd consider staying in Santa Cruz for two weeks and then packing up and heading to Southern California; you can drive CA-1 which hugs the ocean for long stretches, or Interstate 101. Head your vehicle west when you hit Los Angeles and you'll end up in ... Santa Monica. Another beach town, considerably more upscale than Santa Cruz, but otherwise meeting all the criteria above. Check out this cool site for rentals and other info.
Santa Monica has wonderful beaches, world class restaurants and is close to everything in SoCal. Drive 20 minutes to downtown LA and take Amtrak south to spend the day in San Diego, roaming the beach in San Clemente or visiting the Mission and enjoying a lunch in beautiful San Juan Capistrano.

Anyway, some choices at least! Added benefit of Santa Monica is that it's 20 minutes from LAX!

Regards,
Chuck-

Hi Pat

MCuth ... you seem to have had really good times in the Napa valley? Ideally on a beach or would consider inland if accomodation had a private pool. Budget for accomodation only around $9000.

Oh yes, I've had some cracking times up in Napa (next one is only some 6 weeks away ) and would be more than happy to spend a month there (but then, I know a few folks around there) and use it as a base to get around. There are some beaches "near-ish", but they need a bit of a drive to get to. Here's a Napa Valley website that contains a load of useful links (Vacation rentals are here, the main lodging page is here)

Have you considered splitting the month between 2 weeks in NoCal & 2 weeks in SoCal? Oooh, and here's a thought - how about hiring an RV so you aren't limited by property (though you don't get the pool, and you'd have to do some driving)? Hmmm, flying into LAX, having fun down there, then driving up to SF/NoCal via Highway 1 - wouldn't mind that meself

Cheers

Michael

Santa Cruz

They film in Santa Cruz a lot,The Lost Boys and Sudden Impact, but there are loads more if I can find my film locations book.

BTW Pat, you might find this site useful too for planning being around SF

Cheers

Michael

Thanks all for the advice and the links, I've found some great properties and am now debating about whether to stay in one place for the month (advantage of monthly rental if available being less than 4 x 1 week) or do the NoCal SoCal with 2 weeks in each - tending towards the latter at the moment. Would still like to hear of any specific rental properties people have actually stayed in an would rave about. Can't actually check UC reward availablity as our return date is outside of the -336 but not far now!

Regards

Pat

Originally posted by patjohnson
Would still like to hear of any specific rental properties people have actually stayed in an would rave about.

Ah, I always stay with friends up there, so can't help you on that front I'm afraid. Will ask though, see if I can get some local input for you

Cheers

Michael

Originally posted by mcuth
Will ask though, see if I can get some local input for you

Here you go, a recommendation, comments/info and a couple of links for ya:

http://www.froghollowhouse.com
"This house does not have a pool, however, it will be cold in November, so I don't think swimming is an option. I would go for a jacuzzi if that's the case. This house is downtown and it's absolutely darling. No hot tub, but you know, with all the day spas and whatnot downtown it would be easy to make an appointment. Most spas give you full day use of all their facilities with no time limit - pool, hot tub, gym, when you book a massage or any treatment."

http://www.napagetaway.com

http://www.napavalley.com/lodging/rental.html

Calistoga is 26 miles from Napa
St. Helena is ~15 "" ""
Yountville is ~9 "" ""
San Francisco is ~ 70 "" ""

Most wineries are located on Highway 29 or Silverado Trail between Napa and St. Helena.

If you stay in Calistoga, it would be worth it to stay at Golden Haven Spa or Dr. Wilkinson's Spa if you want to swim and relax. The rates are very reasonable, (around $70 per night) you get full spa access, and it is located near the center of town. If you want to do more wine tasting, Napa and St. Helena are better located

BTW, I've been to Dr Wilkinson's for a day - it's excellent!

Hope this helps

Cheers

Michael

Pat

Originally posted by mcuth
[i]"This house does not have a pool, however, it will be cold in November, so I don't think swimming is an option.

I've just figured out this comment (didn't quite get it at first [:I]), my friend's obviously confusing your trip with the V-F LAS Social in Nov

Cheers

Michael

Hey Michael

Thanks so much for your research - every heard of too much choice? Good position to be in but at the moment my head is swimming with the possibilities. I am struck with how much more expensive NoCal seems to be compared with the rates I'm used to paying in Florida - but i know that is a very economically challenged state (is that politically correct or what?). Florida is definitely a no go for me in July (hurricane season and too hot/humid) - LA looks better value and the Daught, even though 16 at the time, is more likely to be tempted by Universal, poss Disney rather than the vineyards. I guess that in a month though there's room for both![8D][8D]. Not a girly girl though so shopping less of a draw - celebrity maybe - anyone know where Viggo Moretensen lives/hangs out?

Thanks for the suggestions and I promise to report on the eventual outcome

Pat

Of course, you're more than welcome - be interesting to see what you finally decide to do. I guess CA in general is a tad more expensive for accomodation, but meals & that are still reasonably priced Oh, and there's more to NoCal than vineyards & shopping - but agree, a 16y.o. girl might not think so (and it'll be hot in July too)

Cheers

Michael

[ChuckC]

Pat,
Never too many choices! Regarding recommendations, you can ask the rental agent for recommendations; the honest ones will also tell you the negative aspects of a property (too near a roadway, for example).

As MCuth suggests CA is more expensive than just about anywhere else in the USA, particularly when you plan to be here. Sometimes special rates can be had if you rent at an odd time, but June/July is prime season here. June may be lower than July, however, and that's worth checking when you contact agents.

Chuck-

Hello All

Just a quick update as this looks to be taking shape now. Have a confirmed booking of a Santa Cruz (Seabright) beach side house for 2nd two weeks and waiting for confirmation on a house with a pool in Pasedena (base for attractions) for the first 2 weeks. Flying Club have current G availability although still a few days short of being able to check the return. Probably in on the VS007 and out on the VS020..wil be able to book it when I come back from Nice on Wednesday.

Soooooooo exciting!

Regards

Pat

[ChuckC]

Wonderful, Pat! I know you're going to favor Santa Cruz versus staying in a bigger city; it's a great place to relax and very "beachy". Pasadena is close to downtown LA but worlds away. You can take the light rail system that begins in Pasadena, connect in no time at Union Station in downtown LA and from there, you can visit Hollywood, Universal City to the north and west, and to the south, you can ride all the way to Long Beach -- all on light rail. There is also Amtrak (right upstairs from the Pasadena line) at Union Station; the California Surfliner service can take you to San Diego and up the coast all the way to San Luis Obispo.

Having said that ... you may wish to avoid flying to Northern Cal after your Pasadena stay. Take the train and rent a car in Santa Barbara, relax there and then take the rather leisurely drive north to Santa Cruz -- along the coast, of course!

Regards,
Chuck-