Kid-Favourite Lodgings

Now you no longer just visit fantasy land, you live in it.  LEGOLAND California has two hotels right outside the Carlsbad theme park entrance, each with their own colourful themes, restaurants, pools and playful features, from a disco lift to a slide in the foyer.

Both properties are designed with travelling families in mind. The hotels’ junior-suite-style rooms are emblazoned with colourful walls and LEGO models as art and have separate sleeping areas for grown-ups and children. The children’s quarters have bunk beds, their own TV and a LEGO brick box for impromptu building. Both foyers feature giant mosh pits full of plastic bricks, so the children can build away while the grown-ups check in. Plus, all hotel guests enjoy both complimentary breakfast buffets and early entry into the park (up to an hour, depending on the season).

Choose your hotel based on the theme: the original, 250-room LEGOLAND Hotel offers four room themes—pirates, adventurers, LEGO friends and Ninjago warriors and larger-than-life LEGO sculptures, made with more than 3 million bricks, all over the hotel. Head into the Bricks Family Restaurant and neighbouring Skyline Café, and check out the mini cityscape that has Spider-Man scaling a building and a wizard reading a book by a rooftop pool. Industrial-strength glue holds the sculptures together, so go ahead and touch. Outside, there’s a real pool, too, with soft LEGO bricks that can be used to build in the water. Don’t miss the hotel’s disco-themed lift, which is nearly a ride in itself.

The LEGOLAND Castle Hotel, meanwhile, opened in 2018 with 250 rooms based on three kingdom-orientated themes: wizards, knights and princesses, with LEGO art ranging from owls to cats and fire-breathing dragons, and tiny star lights embedded in the ceiling over the children's bunk beds. The Castle’s foyer offers its own diversions, from the slide that runs parallel to a flight of stairs, to a Knock Knock Door that tells jokes and a small 'dungeon' ready for photo ops. Its courtyard area has its own pool, a LEGO-stocked playground and a big screen TV set on a small lawn, playing LEGO films daily. The hotel’s Dragon’s Den restaurant has live entertainment (jesters who take requests when you spin the wheel on the wall), and a parent-friendly bar.

With either hotel, remind your children to pack their LEGO Mini Figures, which they can trade with staff at the hotels or in the park.

The famously themed rooms at this historic 110 room hotel include plenty of rooms children will love. Pint size princesses will no doubt spin and twirl in the fairy story like Old Mill Room, while horse lovers can climb aboard the pint size carousel steed in the Pony Room. If your little girls can’t get enough pink, consider the Mini Maxi or Floral Fantasy rooms. Other fun themes and features include waterfalls and rock walls in the Caveman Room and a bed supported by wagon wheels in the cowboys and cattle drives themed Yahoo Room.

Outdoors, play at a hilltop pool with a 45 foot waterfall that plunges into a lagoon. The children can splash while you sit back and take in sweeping views of San Luis Obispo and the surrounding coastal hills. On site stables offer guided trail rides. 

Insider’s tip: Children up to age 18 can stay in the same room with parents for no extra charge.

The giant pool with three water slides might be enough to keep plenty of families busy, but this resort has the irresistible bonus of being right on the edge of Huntington Beach, nicknamed 'Surf City, USA'. The whole family can take surfing lessons with local pros, rent bikes and pedal the ocean hugging boardwalk, then end the day gathered around the hotel’s fire pits for cocoa and s’mores.

The resort also features Camp Hyatt, where children ages 12 and under play games, do crafts, and play at the beach, with a specific theme for each days’ activities. The camp is available for half or full days, plus evenings on the weekends, leaving you time for planning spa time or a grown-up night out.

With cheery and colourful rooms with whimsical touches for children, this hotel makes a great home base for families visiting the City by the Bay. Young children get goodie filled rucksacks upon check in, a fun way to perk up tired little visitors. Family rooms have separate bedrooms for the children, baby proofed rooms are available, and suites with kitchenettes for making quick meals and snacks. Bath time gets a boost with in room tub toys. Snuggle up for quiet time with a special library of books and DVDs. 

Start the day with Continental breakfast, included for all in your room; milk and biscuits are served every afternoon. The hotel is situated in San Francisco’s bay front Marina District, within walking distance of Crissy Field, Fort Mason, and Fisherman’s Wharf.

Perched on a tiny peninsula extending into San Diego Bay, the Loews Coronado is a bustling resort perfect for an active family. Its pool configuration is set up for good times all around: wading pool, designated family pool and hot tub, and table tennis tables. Tempted to take a dip in the peaceful adult only pool and hot tub? Don't worry, just sign the children up for the resort’s half or full day children’s club, with activities like sandcastle building, scavenger hunts, and magic tricks. 

Older children can hit the teen lounge to watch films or enjoy Play Station games. Better yet, get everyone outside enjoying San Diego’s fabulous weather with a spin in the resort’s rental kayaks, stand up paddle-boards, sailing boats, or personal water craft. Beautiful Silver Strand State Beach is within walking distance. 

If you have one of those children who can’t get enough of trains, and maybe you secretly like them too, let him or her have a dream getaway at this unusual resort. The resort, surrounded by lush and rugged forestlands in Dunsmuir, about 211 miles north of Sacramento, features 12 cupola topped cabooses big enough for families (there are separate cabooses and converted box carriages for adults only). Each caboose sleeps up to five, and includes a private bathroom, a mini fridge and microwave. 

A swimming pool and hot soaking pool add to the outdoor fun. The jagged formations of Castle Crags State Park make a dramatic backdrop for some of the railcars. There’s also a creek for splashing in summer. The resort’s Dinner House restaurant and lounge (open for dinner, Friday to Sunday) is housed in antique dining carriages.