Bella Vista Restaurant, Santa Barbara

We had heard great things about the sunsets at Butterfly Beach  and the Four Seasons Biltmore in Santa Barbara, so on our last night, we decided to head to the resort for dinner around sunset.

Parking was a breeze, right out front near the beach, or you could valet if you wished. The staff were fantastic, remembering us from earlier that day and welcoming us individually by name, ensuring we were seated in an area with a great view over the beach and that we were warm enough - thanks to the lovely fire pit and gas heaters.

The service was excellent. Our waiter was attentive, but not intrusive, and very knowledgeable in relation to the food and drinks menu, even down to outlining ingredients in some of the sauces.

Our meal that evening:

Entrees:
Grilled Octopus - Green Olive Potato Salad, Warm Pancetta Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette
Wild Boar Pappardelle - Pinot Noir Braised, Morel Mushrooms

The octopus was the star of the show here, beautifully smokey, yet delicate flavors.

Mains:
Organic Chicken - Porcini Bolognese, Soft Polenta, Romanesco Broccoli
California Duck Breast

The duck proved the better dish here.


Sides:
Truffle Parmesan Fries, Roasted Garlic Aioli


We rounded the meal off with some very strong (be careful if driving) but yummy cocktails - the end to a perfect evening.

This restaurant boasts a beautiful location with the beach just across the road> We were treated to an amazing Santa Barbara sunset and some other diners advised that earlier, they had seen a few pods of dolphins, so you never know your luck.

The atmosphere in the outdoor seating area was relaxing and romantic, the perfect end to our stay in Santa Barbara.  Highly recommended

Our Favorite Things in Vegas

After returning from our fourth visit to the 'city of sin' there were some things we continued to do, some places we gave a miss and some that were even better than we remembered.

After having a relaxing, yes, that right we RELAXED IN VEGAS.....time, we are sure to return for a fifth trip, and when we do, these are the things we will be doing:

1. Staying at Wynn Las Vegas - this is our favourite hotel right now and returning recently, following a 6 year gap, it was better than ever. The resort atmosphere and exemplary service makes for a truly relaxing experience. TIP: pay the extra to stay in a tower suite - the additional pools, complimentary breakfast and level of service is well worth it. 
2. Driving a tank. Yep, you can do it all in Vegas and although there was no time to fit it in this trip, its definitely on the list for next time
3. Cirque Du Soleil, If you haven't seen Cirque Du Soleil in Vegas, you haven't seen Cirque Du Soleil at its best.  Having seen the majority of Cirque shows in Vegas, our firm favourite by a mile is KA at MGM Grand
4. Take a walk down The Strip. Las Vegas is ever evolving, each trip we find something new and interesting on a walk down the famous strip.  Free entertainment, courtesy of Bellagio Fountains or the Volcano at Mirage, this time we were disappointed to see that the Sirens of TI show has been permanently cancelled to make way for shops, which leads us to....
5. Shopping at the Premium Outlets North, whilst we didn't stock up on this visit, there have been times when we have truly been pushing that luggage limit and once where we couldn't talk our way out of paying excess baggage due to some great prices on designer brands.
6. Visit the Grand Canyon National Park . We have flown over it, drove out to it for half a day, tipped toed our way around the Skywalk and on the next trip we plan to raft through part of it. A beautiful and unique place well worth travelling out to see - and yes, it is quite a way to get there so allow a full day.
7. Restaurant Joel Robuchon , its worth it
8. Cheaper dining options...... we love the Buffet at Mirage for dinner.  They have a great choice of food, plenty of items cooked fresh to order and its great value for money.
9. Visiting the Spa at Encore . What an experience. Not only is the spa beautiful and relaxing, it has a great menu of treatment options and packages that could well keep you there all day and have you floating out on a cloud.  The Moroccan mud wrap was amazing and when you book a treatment, you are welcome to turn up well in advance and linger on afterwards enjoying the rest of the facilities including sauna, plunge pools, showers or have a relaxing herbal tea and some fruit.
10. Get married - yep, definitely going to renew our vows on the next trip to Las Vegas, why not, its a bit of fun and with almost 90,000 a year doing it, its not like they are short of options. www.vegas.com/weddings/

Roosevelt Hotel, Hollywood

Part of the Thompson hotel group, The Roosevelt boasts an impressive pool and bar area with well appointed rooms in the main hotel or 'cabana rooms' overlooking the pool.

This hotel is in one of the best locations for those on a first time visit to LA.  Across the road is the Chinese Theatre, Walk of Fame and Madam Tussauds.  A short stroll down the street is  El Capitan Theatre and The Roosevelt is also in prime position for access to the subway and the Hop on Hop off bus routes. This is a great selling point as you can pop in and out of the hotel whilst sightseeing throughout the day.

The history and glamour of the hotel is undeniable, but this is not a pretentious property, the staff are friendly, service is that great mix of always having your needs met without feeling that staff are over attentive or intrusive.

The pool are of this hotel is a standout. With fire-pits, the Tropicana Pool Bar, comfy lounges and fabulous lighting it is definitely the place to be.  

The rooms were large with refined decor, pay tv and comfortable beds.  Whilst the bathroom was a little cramped, we were so busy sightseeing and spending time in other areas of the hotel that it was quite adequate and we found this to be a value for money property given the standard of the property and its proximity to attractions - you could also bump into a celebrity (we saw John Travolta and Joaquin Phoenix on our 2004 visit).

It seems the restaurant (which had great food when we visited in 2004) has recently been replaced by The Spare Room which opened in February 2011 and is a modern day gaming parlor and cocktail lounge with a great selection of drinks.

The bar out front of the hotel (25 Degrees) has a decent range of drinks and  also has a great burger menu at very reasonable prices.  The restaurant has been heralded twice by The Los Angeles Times as one of the best burgers in Los Angeles and you really cant beat happy hour at this place, not only were the drinks cheaper, but the sides were on special too. 

Large rooms, 24 hour fitness centre, amazing pool area, unbeatable location and late checkout mean this hotel is our choice when visiting LA.

City Centre Las Vegas

Stage one has already opened and we cannot wait until the project is complete.

The development houses fantastic hotels, spas, luxury shopping, fine dining restaurants and entertainment is a welcome and stylish addition to the strip

http://www.citycenter.com/

Hard Rock Hotel, San Diego

Loved, loved, loved this hotel =)

Located in the Gaslamp Quarter of San Diego, an area that has undergone regeneration, the Hard Rock Hotel was one of the best surprises during our trip.

We had been expecting a rowdy, less than perfectly clean hotel full off wanna be celebs. However, this was not the case.

The hotel was, and this is saying something, faultless. Yes, the rooms were great the dining options were great, the location was great and the staff were amazing - special thanks to the staff at Maryjanes where we spent most of our time due to yummy breakfasts and making the most of $3 tacos and beer - fantastic range and quality food. We had planned to eat at Nobu but we just couldn't leave Maryjanes, the staff were great the food was lovely.

Located across from the convention centre and the harbour, next to the PETCO stadium and with plenty of shopping nearby along with multiple dining and drinking options. 

Now to the rooms.

Due to high occupancy at the time of our stay we were in one of the lower graded rooms. However, we were very impressed, the room was large, modern and well equipped.

This hotel had the best stocked mini bar we have ever seen - mind you, you would expect that from the Hard Rock. The linen was soft, the bed was comfortable, the bathroom was very spacious and the room also housed a large flat screen tv and a decent sized working desk for anyone that would want to work whilst staying at this fabulous hotel???? We on the other hand, spent our time seeing the sights during the day, with Sea World and San Diego Zoo within easy reach, and enjoying the hotel and it's facilities at night.

We were pleasantly surprised with the free wifi. Although you dont want to spend your holiday looking at a computer, it is great to have the service available to keep up with e-mails, check your bank or what there is to do in the area without having to pay inflated charges or trek the streets for an internet cafe.

Maryjane's coffee shop was well frequented during our stay, enjoying breakfasts, lunch and dinner - all went down well. The happy hour runs 5-7 when you can treat yourself to $3 tacos, $3 beers and $5 cocktails - and these specials were taken advantage of during our stay. The tacos are well worth a try.

Although there were no events scheduled during our stay, it was evident that this hotel knows how to party. It is well set up to house numerous events with the impressive 'Woodstock' area, the 9,000 square foot event space near the roof top bar.

We cannot fault the staff they are so helpful and friendly and in a nice homely way, not a cheesy fake way.

If you like modern hotels with good amenities and friendly staff we recommend hard Rock San Diego.

Tip: valet parking is available at the hotel, but the multi-storey car park across the road is a cheaper and still convenient option.

Hilton, Anaheim

This hotel is located within easy walking distance and on the shuttle bus route to Disneyland. However, unfortunately the walk from entering the hotel lobby and getting to our room was almost as long as the walk to Disney =(

This is a huge hotel with many rooms being an unbelievable distance from elevators. At one point I almost lost the will to live after a full day at Disney (staying for the ever impressive final fireworks) traipsing corridor after corridor for what felt like miles to a weary traveller was almost too much.

We did have a slightly poor experience with guest reservations. We had paid for a 'Disney-view' room and had arrived into a room, which, in fairness was a Disney Glimpse but the window was directly in front of the large carpark so the main view was concrete and cars. On having a bit of a whinge and requesting a move the 'lovely lady' put us in a room next to the service elevator meaning that every couple of minutes the room rattled when the elevator went up and down and there was constant noise from staff chatting and moving furnitures, delivering room service etc. It was so bad I requested to move back to the 'car park view room' almost to the delight of the 'lovely' guest service representative - needless to say I did not like her for the duration of the stay.

The hotel fills its niche in that it provides reasonable accommodation in a good location for Disney and the Convention Centre, however we did feel it rested on these facts and that the level of service and the quality of the bathrooms in the hotel needed attention.

We would recommend this hotel to those requiring convenient accommodation to Disney and the Convention Centre. However, we would recommend requesting (carefully so as not to upset and be put next to the control room) a room that is not at the ends of the earth.

The shuttle 'Anaheim bus' is $10 for 3 days or $4 a day, whilst worth it if the weather isn't great, we often found it quicker to walk to Disney.

The hotel is more geared towards conference delegates and seems to look after this group well - to the point were we felt like unwanted relatives........due to this, the expectations we had of a Hilton (that was not met) and the extensive travel to rooms, we will not be returning,