Suite Surrender

By Kevin Wing
Host, Suite Surrender: America’s Best Resorts

(Editor’s Note: his column, showcasing America’s best hotels and resorts, is written exclusively for AARisings by Kevin Wing, a two-time Emmy Award-winning television journalist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Since early 2005, Kevin has authored another AARisings column, Beach Trip, which showcases America’s best-loved beaches. He is a news writer and feature reporter at San Francisco’s KRON Channel 4 and also does voiceover work in the Bay Area. Later this year, Kevin will host a new travel show, Suite Surrender: America’s Best Resorts, in addition to co-hosting Catch a Wave: A Journey to California’s 10 Best Beaches. In this edition of Suite Surrender, Kevin takes you to the La Valencia Hotel in sunny La Jolla, California.)

San Diego is one of my most favorite places anywhere in the world. It’s got great weather, great beaches and great hotels. In fact, America’s Finest City is, more than likely, not known for the addresses of its world-class hotels. There are several there, including the very famous Hotel del Coronado, which has been entertaining guests since 1888.

Another wonderful place to stay when visiting San Diego is a historic gem called the La Valencia Hotel. Like the Hotel del Coronado, the La Valencia overlooks the Pacific Ocean and serves as an ideal blend of elegance and recreation in greater San Diego. It’s no wonder that it made Conde Nast Traveler Magazine’s Gold List in 2005.

The La Valencia Hotel is located in La Jolla, about 20 minutes north of downtown San Diego and Lindbergh Field, the city’s international airport. La Jolla, which is technically part of the city of San Diego, has, for generations, taken on an identity of its own. Since before the middle of the 20th century, La Jolla has served as a playground for the rich and famous, the powerful and well-known. Beginning in the 1930s, Hollywood star power was calling La Jolla one of its own.

Part of the drawing power of La Jolla has been the La Valencia. The hotel, which recently celebrated its 80th anniversary, opened for business in 1926. It is situated atop La Jolla Cove and has been the place to stay since it opened for business. There is always something to do within the vicinity of the hotel. La Jolla’s famous restaurants and world-class art galleries beckon most La Valencia guests, and La Jolla shopping tends to be a must-do as well. Speaking of restaurants, the La Valencia has three of its own – the Whaling Bar and Grill, the Sky Room and the Mediterranean Room and Tropical Patio. Light dining is also offered at the hotel’s La Sala and Golden Terrace, located in the main lobby. In all, all three restaurants are outstanding dining experiences unique to the lifestyle of La Jolla and San Diego.

Admittedly, in my opinion, the rooms are very pricey, but worth every penny. Offering luxury hotel rooms, suites and ocean villas, the perfectly appointed accommodations are hard to beat. Whether you have an ocean view or a room with a view of the hotel garden or the village of La Jolla itself, the La Valencia makes for a very comfortable and satisfying stay. The rooms are elegant and stylish. On a recent visit to San Diego, we stayed one night at the La Valencia, with a view of the garden, and wished we could have stayed longer. I’d always visited the La Valencia throughout the years, but never stayed there until recently. Like the Hotel del Coronado to the south, the La Valencia is certainly worth its weight in gold.

To stay at the La Valencia is to become a part of its rich history. It is one of the finest small inns anywhere in the nation. There is a special ambience about this place, with its lush, palm-shaded patio, its French-Spanish architecture and, of course, its excellent location next to the Pacific Ocean.

Several days after it opened in 1926, the La Valencia attracted celebrities and the wealthy, and has maintained that drawing power through the years. Charlie Chaplin and Groucho Marx once stayed there, as did Mary Pickford and Greta Garbo. The list goes on and on. Since those early days, however, the La Valencia has treated all of its guests – well-known or not – like a celebrity. In other words, the hotel goes out of its way to ensure that every guest is treated like someone special.

Beginning in the late 1940s, La Jolla gained notice with its famed performances at the La Jolla Playhouse. For many years, the La Jolla Playhouse was the quintessential summer-theater playhouse in the country. Its list of star-studded casts could vouch for that. Afterwards, the La Valencia seemed like the perfect place to gather for the well-known thespians who came down from Hollywood. The Playhouse era, which stretched until about 1964, is one of the hotel’s most celebrated periods in its 80-year history.

In the 1980s, the La Valencia was chosen to join the select company of Preferred Hotels Worldwide, an association that represents a handful of luxury hotels that meet only the highest standards of amenities and service.

Yes, to stay at the La Valencia is pricey, but the experience is priceless and definitely worth a stay. It’s an experience you’ll never forget.

How to get there: From downtown San Diego and Lindbergh Field (San Diego International Airport), drive north on Interstate 5 (the San Diego Freeway). Exit Interstate 5 at La Jolla Parkway (formerly Ardath Road) and proceed west into La Jolla. La Jolla Parkway eventually becomes Torrey Pines Road. Turn right on Prospect Street. Drive half a mile. The hotel is on the right. Pull in front of the hotel for valet parking. The hotel is located at 1132 Prospect St., La Jolla.

Next time from Suite Surrender: Our San Diego stay continues with a visit to the Doubletree Golf Resort, formerly known as the Doubletree Carmel Highlands Resort, in the Rancho Penasquitos area of San Diego.

To learn more about the new Suite Surrender television show and Kevin Wing, as well as the Catch a Wave television show, go to www.catchawavetv.com. You can e-mail Kevin and the Suite Surrender crew at suitesurrendertv@aol.com.

Suite Surrender. Where the Destination is Paradise.
Copyright 2007
All Rights Reserved
Kevin Wing / American Travelers Television
Issue 3 / April 2007

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Photo used by permission courtesy of Kevin Wing. Photo copyright by Kevin Wing.