Hey Everyone, it’s Kimberly Fidler over at Packed with Fun, the official blog for Get Away Today. It is the middle of summer and I have swimming on the brain. I know I’m not the only one who selects my hotel around the pool. Southern California has some incredible pools, and at Get Away Today, we tour all of our hotels. To make your pool hotel picking a little easier for your next vacation, I’ve narrowed down what I think are the best Southern California hotel pools:
Disneyland Hotel: All three of the Disney hotels have awesome pools with fun theming, water slides, life vests and more. But, my favorite of them all is the Monorail Pool at the Disneyland Hotel. It is classic Disney magic at its finest. I think I like the pool even more at night when it’s lit by the tiki torches and you’re being serenaded with live island music from the nearby Adventureland inspired Trader Sam’s.
Disney’s Pardise Pier Hotel: As I mentioned, all three Disney hotels have great pools. The pool at the Pier is the smallest of the three hotels, but it gets bonus points for a couple of things. First, it has a super fun boardwalk feel that I love. The clincher that makes this hotel’s pool make my list is the fact that it’s a rooftop pool and is the only Disney hotel pool with a view of the Disneyland fireworks. How magical is that?
Holiday Inn Anaheim Resort/Staybridge Suites: Two of the most popular Anaheim area family hotels share one of the largest pools in the area. There are grills near the pool that guests can use for a barbecue and if you look at the pool from above, you’ll see that it’s in the shape of everyone’s favorite mouse. Kids love it.
Hilton Anaheim: This hotel just renovated their rooftop pool and it’s amazing. They have a huge swimming pool, a kids play area, two hot tubs and plenty of lounge chairs on the sundeck. As far as Southern California hotel pools go, it’s one of my favorites.
Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel: Families love this hotel because it’s within walking distance to Disneyland and has one of the only themed water play areas in the area. Their Castaway Cove water playground has a 30 foot pirate ship with fountains and cannons. There’s also a quiet pool and hot tub for those looking to relax.
Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach: So in addition to being the only hotel on Huntington Beach with a pedestrian walkway to the beach, it has one of the coolest hotel pool areas in Southern California. Slyders water playground features three water slides, two splash pools, a giant lagoon pool, a shallow children’s wading pool and two fire pits. You can buy s’mores kits from the hotel and roast marshmallows poolside to the sound of crashing waves.
LEGOLAND Hotel: You may have heard that LEGOLAND recently expanded their water park and it has been amazingly popular. But unfortunately, it’s only open during the summer months. The good news is that you can get a similar feel when you stay at the LEGOLAND Hotel and swim in their huge, zero entry pool year round. The pool has soft LEGO bricks to play with and even shows dive-in movies seasonally. What kid wouldn’t love that?
Grand Pacific Palisades Resort: This Carlsbad hotel has two of my favorite swimming pools and for such different reasons. It has a huge, colorful swimming pool and children’s play area located near the hotel’s entry. The hotel also features a separate adult only lap pool and sun deck that overlooks the Pacific Ocean. If you’re going during the spring time, you may even be lucky enough to see the famous Carlsbad flower fields that the pool deck overlooks. It’s the best of both worlds.
Paradise Point Resort and Spa: Here you have not one, not two, not even three or four, but five pool choices. The main pool is zero entry and the most popular for families with younger kids. The Lagoon, Adult Lagoon, Meadow and Waterfall Pools are all as relaxing as they sound. Oh, and you’re located on a private island on Mission Bay. Seriously, it’s called Paradise Point for a reason.
Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Spa and Marina: This fantastic hotel pool area is also located on Mission Bay, but the marina side instead of the beach side. They have tropical pools with three water slides and a seasonal pool bar that serves yummy sandwiches, salads and more all day long.
This is by no means a complete list of all of the great hotel pools in Southern California, but they’re some of my favorites. Another thing I love about these Southern California hotel pools is they are heated year-round. So, even if you can’t make it to cool down this summer, and assuming the weather cooperates as it normally does in So. Cal, you should have a swimmingly good time whenever you decide to visit! I hope this list helps you narrow down the perfect place to stay with your little swimmers. When you’re ready to book your Southern California vacation, our agents at Get Away Today would love to help you. If they haven’t gone swimming in the hotel’s pool personally, they’ve at least seen it! And, I’m sure they have favorites that aren’t on my list that they’d love to share with you as well. You can book at www.getawaytoday.com or call our agents at 855-GET-AWAY. Be sure to use promocode: OSSS10 to save an extra $10 off any of our 2-night or longer Southern California vacations.