Archive for the 'San Simeon & Hearst Castle' Category
Pacifica Hotels: 25% off, plus bring a toy for a bigger discount
October 29, 2009 5:51am
For a getaway up or down the coast, or in popular destinations inland, you might look into a stay with Pacifica Hotels. The company, largely rooted in California but with locations in Florida and Hawaii as well, has a great promotion going for late fall and early winter. See below for the scoop.
Deal: Under its current online winter promotion, receive 25% off regular rates at Pacifica Hotels properties over the next couple of months. Plus, if you bring along a new, unwrapped toy valued at $10 or more, you get an additional $10 per night off your bill at checkout. The hotel participates in the Toys for Tots program, so your gift will go to children in need.
The deal is good only in California, where Pacifica runs hotels in in Sonoma, San Francisco, Cambria, Pismo Beach, Santa Barbara, Marina del Rey, Redondo Beach, Laguna Beach and San Diego, among other locations. [Corrected at 10:15 a.m. Oct. 29: An earlier version of this post did not make it clear that this deal is good only at Pacifica hotels in California, not in Florida or Hawaii.] Read the rest of this entry »
Last-minute Labor Day campsites at California state parks
September 3, 2009 1:04pm
Time is running out if you want to reserve a campsite for Labor Day weekend at California state parks. And don’t expect to get a prime spot. Fortunately, about two dozen parks offer camping on a first-come, first-served basis. You just have to get there early; most of these campgrounds will fill up by early tomorrow ( Friday), park officials say. Here are your options:
Reserve a campsite: You need to book at least 48 hours in advance of arrival with the ReserveAmerica service. So the earliest night you can book today is for Saturday, and you need to book by 5 p.m. PDT. More than 30 parks still had weekend campsites available as of Wednesday. Typically, these are primitive sites, and you often must walk a ways to get to them. Or they are inland, in warmer areas. Among the parks with space were Orange County’s Crystal Cove (campsites, not the cottages, which were booked) and Cuyamaca Rancho in San Diego County.
Take your chances: A total of 26 California state parks and recreation areas accept at least some campers on a first-come, first-served basis, usually at sites with few services. Among them are Andrew Molera State Park (pictured) in the Big Sur area, and Castle Rock State Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
Higher fees at California state parks start today: Where to find details
August 17, 2009 5:34pm
Starting today, Aug. 17, it will cost you more to visit and camp at many California state parks. In some cases, the cost has doubled.
The increases stem from California’s budget crises, which has put the state billions of dollars in debt. “In these dire economic times, we can longer afford to keep our fees at their current levels,” State Parks Director Ruth Coleman said last week in announcing the fee hikes.
Officials waited until today to release a park-by-park rundown of the new fees for day use and camping. Among Southern California parks affected, with sample fees:
> Anza-Borrego Desert State Park: Parking went from $6 per day year-round to $5 to $8, depending on the season. Borrego Palm Canyon developed campsites with hookups were $24 to $29 per night, depending on season; now $35 year-round.
California coast trip, Day 5: unexpected rewards in Morro Bay, cranky elephant seals farther north
January 6, 2009 12:46pm
Sometimes the key to a great travel day is something you did the day before — making a reservation, say, or getting a tip from a local. In my case, the key to a great Day 5 was what I failed to do on Day 4.
If I’d bothered to check the weather for Morro Bay, I’d have seen an overnight low in the high 30s — and that alone might have banished the thought of a little hike at dawn. But I didn’t see the weather report, and I did get up early and hustled up to the top of Black Hill (661 feet above sea level and very close to my hotel).
The reward didn’t come easily. I got to the top all right, but the sun and clouds played peekaboo for a good half-hour before spilling light over the rippling green hills, the long spit of seaside dunes, the coastal mountains to the north (Santa Lucia?), and finally Morro Rock itself, which rises 578 feet from the sea. That was a nice moment, which I savored with my hat on snug and fingers stuffed into my pockets.
And about the sea. If I’d read that weather report, it would have prepared me for an afternoon high of about 58, with light rain. That’s not the sort of news that prompts most people to say, “Hey, let’s go sit in kayaks and let the wind come screaming at us across the frigid water!” Read the rest of this entry »
12 books of Christmas: ‘Route 66 Backroads’
December 21, 2008 6:00am
Whenever I crank up my 1912 Columbia Grafonola, my mother asks why I’d want to play that old windup phonograph when digital music is so much clearer. She’s right, but there’s just something authentic about hearing it on the original.
It’s the same principle with Route 66.
Sure, the interstate will get you there faster, but driving the Mother Road gets you closer to history. If you know someone who’s enchanted with the double six, “Route 66 Backroads,” by Jim Hinckley with photos by Kerrick James, Rick Bowers and Nora Mays Bowers, may be just the ticket (Voyageur Press, $24.99).
Deal: Vote for $69 hotel rooms in California, Oregon
October 15, 2008 11:58am
A small hotel chain in California and Oregon is giving guests an extra incentive to do their civic duty: rooms as cheap as $69 for those who show their “I Voted” stickers from the Nov. 4 election.
The deal: Offered by Moonstone Hotel Properties in Cambria, California, “I Voted” rates are available at eight inns. In California, they are the Cambria Pines Lodge, Sea Otter Inn and Pelican Cove Inn in Cambria; Monterey Hotel in Monterey; Carmel River Inn in Carmel; Deer Haven Inn in Pacific Grove; and Apple Tree Inn near Yosemite National Park. In Oregon, it’s at the Village Green Resort in Cottage Grove.
The details: The rate, which does not include taxes, starts at $69 per night for a standard room at all the inns except the Pelican Cove, where it starts at $119; larger rooms and suites cost more. It’s good Sundays through Thursdays from Nov. 4 through Jan. 31, 2009, except Nov. 26-29, Dec. 24-31 and Jan. 1. It’s also subject to availability. You must ask for the “I Voted” rate when you reserve the room and bring your “I Voted” sticker when you check in.
Is it a deal? It seems to be. When I called last week and asked for the lowest room rates for Nov. 10, without asking for the “I Voted” deal, Moonstone’s reservations agent quoted $127 for the Sea Otter Inn and $189 for the Pelican Cove Inn in Cambria.
More info: Call (800) 966-6490 or visit Moonstone’s microsite for this deal.
— Jane Engle, assistant Los Angeles Times Travel editor
[Photo: Flower bed at Village Green Resort in Cottage Grove, Oregon; Moonstone Hotel Properties]
Coastal Big Sur bounces back from wildfires
July 16, 2008 4:50pm
Big Sur is certainly open for business, but what does it look like since the area was shut by wildfires that started June 21 and continue to burn east of Highway 1?
Ed Kendig of the Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution Control District says it’s business as usual, except for the dramatic burn on the hillsides.
“The coastal escarpment has all been burned, it’s really striking,” he said. But Kendig was there to check out the air quality, which he says is good. You pretty much can’t smell or see any smoke, he said, but some odor lingers from the ash in the area.
Monarch butterfly reserves in Mexico and California
July 10, 2008 11:43am
The Monarch butterflies’ beautiful setting-sun-like orange and black hues make them some of the best-recognized insects. One of the best places to see them in full flutter is at Mexico’s Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve.
The site, officially known as El Santuario de la Mariposa Monarca (Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary), was just added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. But there are also several California homes for the monarchs. See below for more information. Note that the best time to see these butterflies on North America’s West Coast is in the fall and winter.
Big Sur Fire: Part of Highway 1 opens to residents, workers
July 8, 2008 11:52am
Basin Complex Fire officials are lifting some road restrictions for Highway 1 in fire-ravaged Big Sur, but access remains limited to residents and fire service workers, according to a joint release by the Los Padres National Forest and the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office.
As of 10 a.m. today, Highway 1 from Palo Colorado Road to Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park will be open to residents and workers; the state park remains closed. Highway 1 remains closed from the state park south to Lucia Lodge.
Big Sur fire: Rocky Point and Ragged Point are open
July 7, 2008 6:17pm
The Basin Complex fire that’s still raging in Big Sur is keeping Highway 1 closed from Palo Colorado Road to Limekiln State Park — shutting the Post Ranch Inn, Nepenthe restaurant, the Ventana Inn & Spa, the Henry Miller Library, Deetjen’s Big Sur Inn and all the cliff-hugging state parks such as Andrew Molera, Julia Pfeiffer Burns and Pfeiffer Big Sur. The entire Monterey Ranger District of Los Padres National Forest is shut as well.
So where can you stay in Big Sur these days or at least grab a burger?
What’s open
Coming from the south, the Ragged Point Inn & Resort has 30 rooms and a restaurant, and sits just 15 miles north of Hearst Castle.
