Sadly to say, our next vacation was almost 2 years later. After our wonderful vacation to Grand Velas, we added to our family a daughter, K. At this time C was 36 months old and K was 14 months old. We just put our house (back) on the market and the weekend of our first open house we decided to get out of Los Angeles and head south to La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad. I don't recall how I booked the hotel, but I assume Travelocity or Orbitz. I do remember the rate was $199 per night for 2 nights. See, my mommy brain isn't complete mush . . . yet.
It was an easy drive and the resort provided us with great directions. Despite a long valet line, we checked in with our 2 large suitcases, pack n play, and Phil and Ted's stroller. If you are keeping up I have left the swing and baby bjorn at home for good and am becoming less of a pack mule. Sadly to say I did pack floaties, inflatable tubes, beach balls, blankets, and snacks (gotta have Goldfish!). FYI- the resort has inflatable tubes and sand toys for the kids to use. Unfortunately I did leave the baby monitor at home but luckily there was a Target near by. lol.
At check in they had a separate welcome for the kids with face painting and a cute overnight gift for them (mainly toiletries). It was a nice touch. La Costa also upgraded our room to a suite which was a wonderful way to start our vacation. The hotel is set up in beautiful Spanish style villas with several units in a circle facing a hot tub. It's very quite and peaceful and you do not feel like you are in a large resort. Our room had a nice size living area with a sofa and tv and a separate bedroom with two queen beds. Our patio opened up to the hot tub which is why we bought a monitor. After the kids went to sleep we would sit in the hot tub with our ears close to the monitor while our children slept about 15 feet away.
In the evening they had a fun party with the kids and made s'mores along with live Latin music. My son loved listening to the music and dancing under the stars.
But let's talk about what La Costa is known for in the parent world - pools and the kid's center, Kidtopia. The pools were great! There was a sandy beach area by the kid's pool that was located right next to a nice bar with typical bar food (hamburgers, nachos, french fries, etc.) My kids loved playing in the sand. There is also a water park with smaller slides for the little kids and shooting water fountains for the toddlers. For the bigger kids, they have larger water slides.
Kidtopia is a wonderful kids club that is open to children as young as 6 months old. They offer full day (for $80) and half day ($55) sessions and honestly, it looked like a lot of fun. However, we did not take advantage of the kid's club. We were having too much fun with the kids at the pool to use their services. But the facilities looked up to date and most importantly clean. The next trip I will send the kids.
As far as food, it was, um, blah. I don't know another way of describing. All I know is that we were not impressed. C's mac n cheese had no flavor and lucky for K, I brought her food. Service was also slow. I don't know about you, but when I am eating with a 3 year old and a 1 year old at a family friendly resort, I expect to be out of there in under and hour and a half. Actually 45 minutes would be ideal. The next night we drove to Outback and had a fabulous fast dinner.
There are several other things to do at La Costa besides swim. They have a spa and a gold course as well. It is a beautiful facility and I would go back again.
Vacation Mama
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