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CA Resorts?

jabberwocky

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Sorry to take the thread OT, but the Marquis hotel has been mentioned several times and perhaps someone is familiar with it.

Inside the Marriott Marquis they have a desk titled “Vacation Club” near the entrance (just to the left as you enter). No one was there to ask at the desk, but is I was curious as to the purpose of this. Is it just for marketing MVC? Or is there a larger relationship between the Pulse location and the hotel (ie could use pool facilities if staying at Pulse.)
 

frytard

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Out of the box idea is possibly one week in California and if you haven’t been, Las Vegas marriot grand chateau is about 5-6 hour drive from Temecula or 6-7 hours from San Diego or OC. And could fly out of Vegas back to you home as well.
 

GregT

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Sorry to take the thread OT, but the Marquis hotel has been mentioned several times and perhaps someone is familiar with it.

Inside the Marriott Marquis they have a desk titled “Vacation Club” near the entrance (just to the left as you enter). No one was there to ask at the desk, but is I was curious as to the purpose of this. Is it just for marketing MVC? Or is there a larger relationship between the Pulse location and the hotel (ie could use pool facilities if staying at Pulse.)
I don’t think there is an opportunity to use the pool amenities if you stay at Pulse, they are very strict on pool access. I will seek to confirm this and will also inquire about the Vacation club desk when I go through hotel next.

Best,

Greg
 

Big Matt

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I don't know how many points you have, but there are some really cool Marriott properties near where you want to go.

If I were you, I would definitely stay in San Diego at either one of the hotels in the Gas Lamp district or on Coronado Island (or both). Head up to La Jolla. There are a bunch of hotels near the main stuff and Torrey Pines. I think the Newport Beach area is a must see, but if you have enough points consider staying at the Ritz Carlton or Lagua Cliffs Marriott at Dana Point Harbor. If you have a vibe for the Mouse, Anaheim has a lot of options. Heading north to LA, I wouldn't waste time on places like Long Beach or Hollywood. If you want to head farther north and leave from LAX, take a look at the Santa Monica area. Very nice Marriott hotels there.

In terms of airports, I would look at two one way flights. If you are coming from Boston, you should find plenty of non-stops to LAX. I don't consider the airport that difficult, but it is 2 hours to San Diego. If you don't care about connectors then use San Diego and Santa Ana airports. Southwest has a lot of flights to SNA.

Sounds like an awesome trip.

P.S - there is almost nothing to do in Escondido. I was disappointed with the Wild Animal Park (part of the San Diego Zoo).
 

1Kflyerguy

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Sorry to take the thread OT, but the Marquis hotel has been mentioned several times and perhaps someone is familiar with it.

Inside the Marriott Marquis they have a desk titled “Vacation Club” near the entrance (just to the left as you enter). No one was there to ask at the desk, but is I was curious as to the purpose of this. Is it just for marketing MVC? Or is there a larger relationship between the Pulse location and the hotel (ie could use pool facilities if staying at Pulse.)

My guess is this if for marketing, i.e. getting you attend a presentation at the Pulse during your stay, or selling you a package with presentation for a future visit. They had a similar desk at the Times Square Marquis a few years back and that was the motive there. First they tried to convince me to go to a preso, and then once they discovered I was traveling alone for work, they gave me a few different future package offer, only good for purchase while on property.
 

MikeM132

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The closest resort to Temecula is going to be the Welk in Escondido. There are 3 sections to Welk Escondido, and they are different from one another. The Achilles heel of Welk Escondido is that it is built on a hill immediately beside the I-15 Freeway, so the freeway noise carries right up the hill.
We've traded into Welk (not sure if or when this will be in the Marriott exchange package) and thought I-15 was pretty far away. We didn't really notice any noise. And the unit we had was, by far, the biggest 2BR I've ever been in. Enormous.
 

etplitt3TS

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My wife and I have done this vacation for about 15 years every October. We typically fly into San Diego and spend the night at the Pulse. Next, we drive to either Temecula or Newport Coast. This year, we will spend 3 days in Newport and then go to Temecula.

In Temecula, we spend 2 full days at the wineries. We go on the weekdays and use the Temecula Valley Winegrowers Sip pass. This gets you 5 wine tastings for $50per person an incredible value.

We then drive over to Palm Desert and spend a week at Shadow Ridge Villages to decompress. We are still trying to do all there is to do in the desert after 15 years. We then fly home from Palm Springs airport. This is very to do on Southwest Airlines.


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davidvel

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Though it seems a long way away, I understand the planning. Whatever you decide on Sue, I hope there is time to connect even if just for an hour or so, butpreferably on Greg T's boat. :cool:
 

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My wife and I have done this vacation for about 15 years every October. We typically fly into San Diego and spend the night at the Pulse. Next, we drive to either Temecula or Newport Coast. This year, we will spend 3 days in Newport and then go to Temecula.

In Temecula, we spend 2 full days at the wineries. We go on the weekdays and use the Temecula Valley Winegrowers Sip pass. This gets you 5 wine tastings for $50per person an incredible value.

We then drive over to Palm Desert and spend a week at Shadow Ridge Villages to decompress. We are still trying to do all there is to do in the desert after 15 years. We then fly home from Palm Springs airport. This is very to do on Southwest Airlines.


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Assuming you rent a car, how do you avoid the "Drop Off" charge?
 

etplitt3TS

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Always use Costco. Pick up in San Diego and drop off at PSP. This year’s 14 day rental is 1792 for a minivan. This is split with another couple. Pre-pandemic we rarely paid more than 800 for this type of rental.


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Foggy1

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Always use Costco. Pick up in San Diego and drop off at PSP. This year’s 14 day rental is 1792 for a minivan. This is split with another couple. Pre-pandemic we rarely paid more than 800 for this type of rental.


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We also use Costco. For 14 days this year it's $991 for returning to SAN but $$1831 for leaving at PSP. Of course, we don't split with another couple. Just hoping for someway to avoid the "Drop Off/Rip Offz' fees.
 

JIMinNC

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Assuming you rent a car, how do you avoid the "Drop Off" charge?

In October, we are picking up in PSP and dropping off at SNA with National. We booked direct and our rate does not have a drop fee.
 

Luanne

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Assuming you rent a car, how do you avoid the "Drop Off" charge?
I know no way to avoid paying extra if you pick up in one location and drop at another. Good luck.
 

Luanne

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In October, we are picking up in PSP and dropping off at SNA with National. We booked direct and our rate does not have a drop fee.
I don't think rental companies are showing a drop off fee. But did you try pricing the rental for pick up and drop off at the same location and see if the prices were the same?
 

jabberwocky

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I don't think rental companies are showing a drop off fee. But did you try pricing the rental for pick up and drop off at the same location and see if the prices were the same?
It depends. Sometimes there is a surplus of cars in one location during certain times of the year and they need people to move them to a location with higher demand.

I once was able to rent a car in Las Vegas and then drop it off at the Phoenix airport. Total cost was lower than it would have been to simply rent the car in Phoenix and the drop charge was $1 - even taking into account the extra gas.

Never hurts to add a couple extra nights in Vegas!
 

Luanne

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It depends. Sometimes there is a surplus of cars in one location during certain times of the year and they need people to move them to a location with higher demand.

I once was able to rent a car in Las Vegas and then drop it off at the Phoenix airport. Total cost was lower than it would have been to simply rent the car in Phoenix and the drop charge was $1 - even taking into account the extra gas.

Never hurts to add a couple extra nights in Vegas!
I know one time I got an upgrade on a rental car that I was picking up in Seattle and dropping off in Vancouver, B.C. as they needed to get that car back. I don't remember back then if there was an extra charge for dropping the car in a different location.

I'm only going by a recent experience. We're going to be in San Francisco for a few days (don't need a car there) and then we're driving to Napa Valley. We can pick the car up in San Francisco and return it to SFO for about $200 more than if we picked up and dropped off the car at the airport. No "drop off" fee is shown in the pricing.
 

sue1947

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It depends. Sometimes there is a surplus of cars in one location during certain times of the year and they need people to move them to a location with higher demand.
This. It pays to check rental car costs before booking your plane ticket. Especially if you have multiple airports to choose from. I've always had good luck finding a one way rental that worked for my itinerary, but my itinerary is also pretty flexible.
 

JIMinNC

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I don't think rental companies are showing a drop off fee. But did you try pricing the rental for pick up and drop off at the same location and see if the prices were the same?

Sort of...we were originally planning to fly in and out of PSP and initially shopped car rental rates based on that same pick-up/drop-off itinerary. But the return flight times from PSP to CLT on AA were not good, so we started looking at other options. That's when we decided to add the nights at Newport Coast at the end and fly home out of SNA. The one-way PSP-SNA rental from Budget and Hertz was substantially more than the PSP pick-up/drop-off for both companies. But then, when we priced National, their PSP-SNA rate came back very close to the PSP pick-up/drop-off rate from the other companies, so we grabbed it. We never actually priced a PSP pick-up/drop-off from National, because once we found the attractive one-way rate with National, we were sold on the one-way itinerary.
 

GetawaysRus

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I'll typically start my car rental search at Costco. And I visit the Chase travel portal because we collect Chase Ultimate Reward points. But I'll also enter the trip info into Autoslash. Autoslash usually finds me a better rate, almost always with one of the major car rental companies. And if I've started the process well in advance, Autoslash will sometimes help me catch a short term sale some time before the trip.
 

Big Matt

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We also use Costco. For 14 days this year it's $991 for returning to SAN but $$1831 for leaving at PSP. Of course, we don't split with another couple. Just hoping for someway to avoid the "Drop Off/Rip Offz' fees.
Alway look at the cost of two one week rentals with a shuttle from SAN to PSP. That will get rid of the drop off charge, but of course you need to pay for the shuttle/uber.
 

BJRSanDiego

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I learned today from Marriott FB that there are a number of bldgs that do NOT have an elevator. Here is the response from Marriott:

"Hello, there some buildings that do not have elevator access. They are 1000, 1400-1600, 1800, 1900, 2600 and 4200. Please call and speak with our front desk at 949-464-6000 a few weeks prior to your arrival to ensure that the request has been placed for a building with an elevator. "

We are in our early 70's and prefer a top floor (I don't like the people above me with concrete shoes and children running back and forth), but don't like to carry all our stuff (everything but a "kitchen sink") up a flight of stairs. So, I thought that I'd share this.
 

SueDonJ

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Well, planning doesn't always pan out the way you expect, does it? :)

This wedding has turned into a to-do with activities planned by the families for days on end and in October I'll have work to do for a New Year's Eve black-tie wedding. So we've reduced the length of our trip and decided to stay at one of the hotels where they've reserved room blocks (SpringHill Suites, Temecula) Wed-Sun of the wedding week and follow that with 3 nights at the Grande Chateau. Don's taking care of flights/car with his guy to see if we can use up some of his frequent flyer miles and we're both trying to figure out which wedding activities we want to do. I have one question that I think you guys can help with - where/how do we find last-minute show tickets in Vegas?? It's amazing how many shows are sold out months in advance!

Thanks, again!

(An aside - weddings are my business, or at least wedding gowns are my business, so I'm generally in the loop on the latest trends. But I sure hope that this trend of planning that your wedding guests must be available for several days, that seems to have started when weddings postponed due to COVID became on again, is one that dies a quick death. I'm so glad my kids got married before this craziness became a thing, and I miss the days when "Destination Weddings" were meant to be small, private events. These are dear friends and we're looking forward to all the festivities buuuuuuut ...)
 

Superchief

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Well, planning doesn't always pan out the way you expect, does it? :)

This wedding has turned into a to-do with activities planned by the families for days on end and in October I'll have work to do for a New Year's Eve black-tie wedding. So we've reduced the length of our trip and decided to stay at one of the hotels where they've reserved room blocks (SpringHill Suites, Temecula) Wed-Sun of the wedding week and follow that with 3 nights at the Grande Chateau. Don's taking care of flights/car with his guy to see if we can use up some of his frequent flyer miles and we're both trying to figure out which wedding activities we want to do. I have one question that I think you guys can help with - where/how do we find last-minute show tickets in Vegas?? It's amazing how many shows are sold out months in advance!

Thanks, again!

(An aside - weddings are my business, or at least wedding gowns are my business, so I'm generally in the loop on the latest trends. But I sure hope that this trend of planning that your wedding guests must be available for several days, that seems to have started when weddings postponed due to COVID became on again, is one that dies a quick death. I'm so glad my kids got married before this craziness became a thing, and I miss the days when "Destination Weddings" were meant to be small, private events. These are dear friends and we're looking forward to all the festivities buuuuuuut ...)
I agree. I feel sorry for people who are in the wedding. They have to take time off work and spend money on bachelor/ette party trips, pre-wedding preparations, and now multiple day commitments. I wish people would save the money spent on big weddings and use it for a down payment of a house or to pay off their student loan debts. It is ironic that my daughters' friends and relatives who had the most extravagant wedding were divorced within 2 years. Those with simple weddings are still happily married. Good luck with your trip. Most of my friends had receptions in VFW halls with beer and buffet, but we had a great time and they are still married 30+ years later. We had a 'Big Fat Greek' wedding and am celebrating 43 years in September. The hardest part of that ceremony was standing near the altar for over an hour in a tux.
 
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cp73

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Try Vegas.com....they seem to have lots of tickets for most all shows. I have never used this site but they seem to have lots of tickets. In fact I saw tickets for Keith Urban tonight if you're interested....not bad prices either...
 

SmithOp

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Gold star dot com is another place to check tickets.

I've been to the Springhill in Temecula quite a few times, we have an annual meeting in the conference room. It's right next to I-15 and centrally located for shopping and dining.

The freeway traffic through that area is always heavy, it's a major route for people heading south to San Diego, and coming north to San Bernardino, Vegas and Palm Springs.
 
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