By Peter Fish, Sunset Editor-at-Large
OK, times are tight. The recession may be ending, or softening, or something. But everybody I know is still watching pennies as devoutly as Scrooge McDuck (relevancy of cartoon reference to be made clear shortly).
So it may seem strange to recommend a splurge hotel. But here’s why: It’s genuinely spectacular, it’s a great place to be this time of year, and you’re not just splurging for yourself, you’re splurging for your loved ones.
The hotel is the Grand Californian Hotel and Spa at the Disneyland Resort. Its 9 years old now, and it’s aged well—in fact the Disney people just added a bunch of new rooms to it earlier this fall. The Grand Californian’s architecture was inspired by national park palaces like Yosemite’s Ahwahnee and Yellowstone’s Old Faithful Inn. And while I know people who consider this opinion heresy, I think it’s as beautiful as those hotels, even if you see a lot more people with mouse ears here.
Rooms aren’t cheap, but they are cheaper this time of year than in summer. Right now, you can get a room for $233 per night if you stay two nights. And remember those loved ones, especially loved ones at prime Disneyland-going ages. What do they get? First, they get incomparable access to Disneyland and California Adventure. It really is more convenient to stay at the park hotels than elsewhere, plus you get the benefit of the Magic Mornings program, which lets hotel guests enter parks a full hour early so they can rush as fast as they can to Space Mountain or Tower of Terror and ride them repeatedly while the rest of the world is waking up and sipping coffee. What do adults get? The gorgeous lobby, the best pool in any of the park hotels, and also the best bar—in fact one of the best bars in Southern California, which I know seems unlikely but is true.
Plus it’s the holidays. Disney does holidays very, very well. Sleeping Beauty’s Castle is covered with icicles, and snow falls on Main Street U.S.A. People who come from cold climates where real snow falls may sneer. But we native Southern Californians respond: imitation snow and icicles are just as good, and maybe even better because they’ve been carefully designed to complement the park decor.
A great holiday is always a mix of the artificial and the heartfelt. Nobody does the blend better than Disneyland, and no place at Disneyland is quite as cozily luxurious as the Grand Californian.
