July 12, 2017

The Best Family Vacation at Omni La Costa Resort in San Diego

Planning a family vacation?  If you are looking for a luxurious trip filled with fun activities for the whole family, look no further than the Omni La Costa Resort in San Diego, California.

When it comes to hotels for a family trip, I am pretty selective to ensure we have a great experience.  I look for

The Omni La Costa ticks off each box on my list, and then exceeds it with excellent service, friendly staff, and the most picturesque setting imaginable!  Just walking around the resort, you feel happy, relaxed, inspired and tranquil because it is that gorgeous.

I’ve been going to this resort since I was a kid.  My Great-Aunt had a home on their property, and we celebrated holidays, anniversaries, birthdays and more at the resort.  It’s changed a lot from when I was a kid and they had horse trails, and it has continuously gotten better.

Omni Hotels took over the property a few years ago, and their amazing attention to detail and customer service really shows.  From immaculately groomed vegetation, a thoughtful and comprehensive food offering with plenty of gluten and dairy free choices, to fun extras like afternoon balloon animals / twisting and glitter tattoos for kids, they’ve really thought of everything.

Large, Comfortable and Spacious Rooms with Great Patios / Decks

The rooms are large and can easily accommodate a family of 4-5 people.  We opted for a room with double beds, and we each slept with one of our little ones.  The kids had ample room to play, the bathroom was huge with an oversized tub, and we had plenty of storage space to put our things away.

I cannot stand suitcases sitting in the middle of a room when I travel.  I find a place for everything in our hotel room just as I do at home, so nothing gets lost, and we can easily get out the door.

There is a large fridge in the room, which we loaded with waters, cheese for Harper and Greek yogurt for Grayson.  There’s a Gelson’s Supermarket next to the property, but we brought our own from home in a cooler bag.

Our room had an amazing patio with a large bouganville, and large grassy areas right outside the room.  We always bring some balls for the kids to play with, and Grayson brought his army men set that he played with in the grass.  Our patio opened up with large French doors that we mostly kept open, but the room was nice and cool, dark in the morning and quiet.  Exactly as I like it!

The patio right outside our room!

Pools and Water Play Areas

Main Pools

The Omni La Costa has one of the best outdoor water play areas in California with four pool areas.  And remember, I say this as an admitted pool snob!

The main pool area has two large pools, a traditional large round pool that goes about 6 feet deep at most and a huge graduated pool with a sandy play area  at the entrance that eventually gets about three feet deep.

We swam in both pools, but the graduated pool is definitely the little kid’s pool.  It’s a blast for kids from birth on up, and is great for those learning to swim, playing games and hanging out with a drink in your hand.

Next to this pool is a junior slide that is fun, not too scary, and accommodate a parent with a smaller child in front of them.  Suffice it to say we LOVE this slide!

For bigger kids and grown ups, there is a larger slide area with two fun slides.

Next to the large slide is a splash pad area that’s fun for the whole family.  There are also two large jacuzzis and a full bar.

The Graduated Kid’s Pool

The Larger Main Pool

The Garden Pools

The Garden Pools feature two more pools that tend to be a little less crowded than the main pool area.  Also in the afternoons Kidtopia takes over the pool area with fun games, music and family fun.  There is a full bar and food available along with a large jaccuzzi.  We alternated our time between these two pool areas during the trip.

The Adult Pools
The Omni La Costa is ultra kid-friendly, which means of course, there are a lot of kids.  So the resort made an adult pool area, just for guests over 18 years of age.  This pool area is secluded, gorgeous, and features an infinity-edge pool overlooking the golf course.
There are also cabanas, a full bar, and of course a jaccuzzi.

The infinity edge pool in the adult pool area.

One of the cabanas at the adult pool.

Adult Pool Area at Omni La Costa

The Spa
If the Omni La Costa is known for one thing, it would be their incredible spa.  They have over 40 treatment rooms, and they were completely booked during all five days of our stay.  So if you want a treatment during your trip, CALL AHEAD!
We sent our kids to Kidtopia for two hours while we enjoyed the amenities at the spa.  At check in, you receive your own locker with a robe, shoes, complimentary flavored water and healthy snacks like ginger, nuts and fruit.  Each locker room features a swimwear optional jaccuzzi, steam room and sauna, with all of the products you need to get ready after your treatment.
A large waiting area is in between the two locker rooms to relax while you wait for your treatment, with plenty of magazines.
There’s also an incredible spa cafe with delicious and healthy food like peanut chicken lettuce cups which I highly recommend.  Also note, you can order food from the cafe even if you aren’t enjoying the spa (aka you have kids and want healthy food but can’t take them into the spa with you!).  There is also a full drink menu like the delicious Strawberry Refresher.
Omni La Costa Spa Pool

Relaxing by the spa pool.

Entrance to the spa pool at Omni La Costa flanked by bouganville

spa cafe omni la costa

Peanut chicken lettuce wraps from the spa cafe (gluten free!)

 

After your treatment, hang out by the spa pool, take a dip in the outdoor shower with an incredible nozzle that feels like water is massaging your shoulders.  I could stay in there all day.
Omni La Costa Spa Pool Outdoor Shower

Outdoor Shower Massage

Foot reflexology walking path at Omni La Costa Spa Pool

Kidtopia
The kid’s club at Omni La Costa is called Kidtopia, and is available for kids over 3 years old who are potty trained.  You can sign your kids up in advance (which I recommend especially over busy weekends and holidays) for fun adventures like kid olympics, circus day, movies and outdoor excursions.
Kidtopia is available during the day and also in the evening so you can enjoy a date night!  Our kids loved Kidtopia and left exhausted and ready to nap (extra points for you, Kidtopia!).
Family Golf

Omni La Costa Resort & Spa offers 36 spectacular holes of golf on two championship-caliber courses.

Both courses at Omni La Costa offer Express Tees measuring under 5,000 yards for 18 holes, perfect for
juniors, beginners or to work on your wedge game.
My husband and I both golf, but we rarely make it out to the course these days with two young kids.  Grayson turned six on the first day of our trip, so he decided to take him out to play a shorter, 9-hole course using the express tees for Grayson.  And the best part – kids Play FREE at Omni La Costa!
Kids under 15 play golf free at Omni La Costa with a paying adult every day beginning at 2:30 pm (one complimentary kid tee time per paying adult). If you want to play earlier Before 2:30pm, kids receive 50% off
golf rates.  In addition, kids under 15 receive complimentary TaylorMade rental clubs along with complimentary instruction!
If you have an older teen, yong adults between 16 and 19 receive 50% off golf rates and rentals.
Kids Golf Free at Omni La Costa

Grayson Golfing for the first time!

Hidden Secrets
A few hidden secrets, tips and tricks for your stay:
The coffee shop features delicious Peet’s Coffee and gets very crowded in the morning.  We always sent one adult while the other one went to play with the kids.  They also have tons of healthy treats like the delicious Acai Bowl (granola is not gluten free), Juice Served Here juices, pizza, ice cream, and lots of good snacks like Sugarfina and my favorite gluten free cookies by Wow Baking Company (yum!).

Acai Bowl at Omni La Costa

Over summer, there are movies projected outside in the pool area.  While we were there we saw Moana, Finding Dory and Trolls!  Over major holidays in summer like 4th of July and Labor Day there are food trucks in the courtyard at night.  The healthy organic truck is SO GOOD!

The Coffee Shop sells pool floats, goggles and pool toys, including from my favorites like Sunnylife Australia, Ban.do and others.  We brought our own floats (and a pump!  Buy your own pump and always bring it as they tend to need air after a long pool day!) and goggles.

Enjoy your trip and share with me your favorite things about Omni La Costa!

PS – there is an amazing fruit and vegetable shop on the road from the 5 Freeway to the Resort called La Costa Farms.  I highly suggest stopping there on your way home, load up on fresh strawberries, veggies and guacamole!

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