Sunfinder Vacations

This sprawling, luxurious, 44-acre tropical island oasis sits on an island within Mission Bay Aquatic Park, San Diego’s premiere water-sport playground. Public areas are chic and atmospheric—a successful marriage of South Seas paradise and California cool that beckons groups and vacationers. There’s a lot of walking involved, but the scenery is magnificent.

Situated on a peninsula in Mission Bay, the sprawling Bahia Resort Hotel exudes Moroccan ambience within view of the San Diego skyline. The layout requires quite a bit of walking, but most guests are vacationers with plenty of time to stroll the pathways and sandy beach.

The Catamaran Resort and Spa's tropical gardens are filled with about 1,000 varieties of plants, including many rare specimens from other parts of the world. Koi and other fish swim in the many ponds, while colorful macaws and other parrots squawk overhead. A large rock waterfall flows into a fish-filled pond in a South Seas-style lobby with teak posts and rafters and bamboo furnishings.

The concierge and reception desks are next to a tropical atrium lobby soaring the full height of the hotel and filled with koi ponds, waterfalls, and lush foliage. Located across from a shopping mall five miles from La Jolla, the hotel attracts both those with business in the area and vacationers.

Occupying 9.5 landscaped acres, the Estancia La Jolla Hotel and Spa was once a thoroughbred equestrian estate and evokes an early California style. A hacienda-style lobby overlooks a broad patio and courtyard. Located within two miles of La Jolla Village Square, Torrey Pines Golf Course, and La Jolla Shores beach, the hotel primarily attracts vacation travelers and on-site corporate retreats.

The refurbished interior of the landmark Hotel del Coronado resort complements its wedding-cake exterior of white siding and red-roofed turrets. A uniformed operator still runs the original birdcage elevator, though the controls are now automated. The vast lobby is filled with families, conventioneers, San Diegans on weekend getaways, history buffs, and those imagining the days when Hollywood's elite trod the grand staircases.

A mixture of vacationers and business guests can be seen meandering on the hotel’s lushly landscaped property, which includes waterfalls and tropical plants.

The La Costa Resort and Spa offers a village-like ambience, with plenty of space and lush gardens. The resort has a variety of restaurants, a family pool with beach, fountains with fire and water, and an athletic club with golf-course views. The 42,000-square-foot spa is the place to indulge and invigorate.

Families with kids, from toddlers to teens, and their pampered pets, share this slice of land with the resort’s 80-slip marina and an exclusive residential community. Guests can catch unfettered views of the San Diego-Coronado Bridge and San Diego city skyline on one side, and the Pacific Ocean on the other side. This upscale, polished property is gleaming, elegant, and definitely family oriented.

Business and leisure travelers frequent this resort as much for its style and cuisine as its golf, tennis, and spa facilities. The Mediterranean-style main building has a red-tiled roof and a lobby with a wood-beamed ceiling, tile floor, and international antiques, including Oriental rugs, formal European portraits, sculptures, and Asian wall hangings.

Although it’s located in the middle of Mission Valley, adjacent to Interstate 8, this beautifully landscaped property feels more like a resort in the Hawaiian islands. Conventioneers and business and leisure travelers enjoy the convenient location combined with away-from-it-all ambience. The hotel has 24,400 square feet of meeting space and a business center.

This four-story, hacienda-style, San Diego hotel draws both families and business travelers. It's within a six-block walk from most Old Town restaurants, shops, and tourist attractions.

This sleek, sophisticated property has a resort feel while offering the services of a luxurious city hotel, with amenities that attract business travelers as well as casually clad vacationers. Reception and concierge desks are at opposite ends of the marble-bedecked lobby in the east tower; the west tower is 300 yards away, via an outdoor walkway.

A half-mile from SeaWorld via complimentary shuttle, this San Diego resort hotel occupies 13 acres on Mission Bay. A 140-slip marina and a 27-mile jogging/biking path lie adjacent. The family-friendly hotel also provides complimentary shuttles to the airport, Amtrak station, and cruise-ship terminal.

This gracious, entirely nonsmoking hotel sits on one of the most prominent corners in the heart of the trendy La Jolla Village. The hotel presents an early 1900s ambience, which is infused with a complete renovation. Guestrooms are contained in the four-story original 1913 building, or the adjoining five-story main hotel (1928).

Aficionados of California Craftsman architecture appreciate this meticulously designed resort, which features original Gustav Stickley furniture, Judson Studio leaded glass, pottery, paintings, and other period finery within the cherry-paneled lobby and public areas. Professional golfers, scientists, and families with children all fit in easily.

This vast 32-acre property boasts the largest private meeting facilities in San Diego, attracting numerous conventioneers and their families. Despite being geared toward the convention trade, this is a casual and relaxed place, with plenty of options either for peace and privacy or for networking and socializing.