I received the email at about 2:30 PM on Thursday, “Does your family want to come down to the Grand Pacific Palisades Resort & Hotel tonight? We have a Villa Suite open.” Faster than a speeding train, my fingers typed back, YES!, and I rushed around the house packing for our surprise staycation. (I recently started working for Resonate PR, which represents the hotel.) When the kiddos woke up from their mid-afternoon siesta, I let them know what we were doing, and both gave a “whoopee!” and helped pull their things together. After a quick drop-off of the dogs to my parents house (where my son said, “I don’t even want to get out of the car, I just want to get to the hotel as fast as we can!”) and a run to the grocery store (where I spent $70.00 total for snacks, dinner, breakfast and beers–the Villa Suites come with fully equipped kitchens) we were on our way.
So excited!
Located in Carlsbad, California, the Grand Pacific Palisades Resort & Hotel is adjacent to Legoland (the kids started to freak out when they saw how close we were) and sits above the Pacific Ocean. We walked into the lobby and were stunned by how gorgeous the views were. But not as stunned as we were when we walked into our Villa Suite. The place was HUGE. The kids ran from room to room, so excited that they each got their own bed AND there was a TV in their room! My husband’s and my room was huge too with a giant bathroom, and as the kids exclaimed, “You guys got your own TV too!”
The view from our Villa Suite.
Outside of the bedrooms, there was a living room, a balcony with a view of the ocean, a dining room table that could easily sit 8, and as I mentioned before, a fully equipped kitchen–even a blender! After settling in, we walked down to the pool. There was a special exception made for the night, and kids were allowed in the normally “adult only” Olympic-sized pool. As warm as bathwater, we stayed in for a good hour, and only then got out to take a break in the jacuzzi, just to come back in again.
After our marathon swim session, I made dinner while the hubby took the kiddos to the arcade. Yes, arcade. Not only is there an arcade, but there’s also a game room, basketball court, playground and you can check out board games, balls and movies (each room comes with a DVD player). After dinner, we put on a movie for the children, while my husband and I drank some wine and chatted. We do this every night, but there was something about being away from home that made it that much more relaxing.
Having fun with Papa.
The next day, my husband had to head home for work, but I took the kids to the “kids pool” which also has an interactive waterpark. You read that right. The kids ran around, slid down the submarine slide, squirted one another–basically having the time of their life. My dad came and joined us, along with our friends the Palmer’s, and we kept asking, “Can the day get any better?” We didn’t think so and then there was “poolside Bingo” with ice cream for the winners (Stewart was our hero–winning and providing ice cream for all). We didn’t think so again and then we found out that we could order food from the on-property Karl Strauss Brewery Restaurant. Our expectations kept getting exceeded. We would’ve stayed there until dinner time if I hadn’t an event to attend back home. All in all, it was a fabulous time, where we had some great family bonding.
To learn more about the Grand Pacific Palisades Resort & Hotel, or to book your next vacation–click here.
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