Kid-friendly resorts with accommodations, restaurants, swimming pools, sports facilities, programs and entertainment all conveniently tucked inside the front gates can make for a successful family vacation. The best resorts for children have kids' clubs for supervised fun and activities, giving adults a break as well. In sunny Southern California, resorts that are beside or near Pacific Ocean shores, golf courses, popular theme parks and attractions provide for easy, manageable day trips outside the resort. Parents may wish to keep pet policies and shorter distance airport transfers in mind when choosing from among the best family resorts.
A collection of Mediterranean-style stucco buildings with terra cotta tiled roofs are tucked into rolling foothills in a valley located 80 miles north of Los Angeles and 12 miles from the Pacific. Known for its tennis and golf, the historic Ojai Valley Inn & Spa operates Camp Oak, a program for ages 5 to12 with professional camp counselors. Themed days take in outdoor adventures, arts and crafts, fishing, hiking, biking, horseback riding (age 8-plus) and more, while a separate program serves ages 3 to 4. Both children's programs have registration fees. A main pool, kiddie pool, hot tub, lap pool and an adult-only pool with cabanas all around keep everyone happy. When it's time to enjoy lunch as a family, an extensive children's menu offers lots of choices. On summer weekends, families come together under starry skies for a free movie screening complete with popcorn or take a trolley ride into town. The resort is pet friendly.
When the kids say nothing other than a visit to Disneyland will do, Disneyland Hotel delivers convenience, comfort and a monorail ride into Tomorrowland. Guests are greeted by Disney-trained smiling staff and a costumed Mickey or Goofy before settling into a room overlooking the theme park. All guest rooms accommodate four or more. A fully themed room and dining experiences around a child's choice of dozens of Disney characters are part of the fun. Stays of three nights or longer combined with a three-day admission ticket include Early Magic Hour admission at Disneyland and California Adventure. With a Jacuzzi and three swimming pools, parents can relax in a private cabana while kids hurtle down water slides at an afternoon pool party. Staying at a resort inside Disneyland makes it easy to take a mid-afternoon break and catch the evening parade followed by fireworks.
A stretch of sandy shoreline and gentle waves just over the bridge from San Diego is frequently rated among America's best beaches. Vacation on Coronado Island, with its reliably perfect weather for much of the year. Loews Coronado Bay Resort caters to families via their popular Loews Loves Kids Program. Teens get sailing, surfing and water sports lessons plus food lounges with free Wi-Fi. Staff supervise tweens in scavenger hunts, games, tennis, bike rides and sandcastle contests until everyone gathers for movies at dusk by the pool. Babies get cribs, night lights and whatever parents need. Even the family pet is welcome. Walkable Coronado has one of the nation's best public golf courses and nearby San Diego is known for its zoo, SeaWorld and other family attractions, all handy to the airport located 8 miles from the resort.
Neon hula hoops, an interactive dance floor, a magical forest and a night camp are the things Kidtopia is made of. Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad has gone ahead and had a world just-for-kids designed by a children's museum architect who knows just what they love best. Age-appropriate care and activity sessions are available, ranging from babysitting a six-month-old, to ping pong action suited to a 12-year-old. A junior golf academy for boys and girls ages 7 to 17 welcomes all ability levels and tennis instruction on 17 clay courts begins from age 4. If you can distract the kids from scrambling around a tree house with slide, ceramics workshop, fitness boot camp, bocce ball and roasting marshmallows, you could always make a visit to Legoland, just 6 miles away. The San Diego Airport is 35 miles from the resort.
