Our Laguna Beach Vacation at the Pacific Edge Hotel

This week is going to be vacation week here on The Mom Creative, starting with our Laguna Beach vacation. I’m excited to share many of the fun details of our trip to California, what we learned, sweet photos, tips and more. Honestly, I have so much to share, I’ll probably be writing sporadic vacation and Disney content for awhile. The Mom Creative’s goal is to share content that helps you cultivate a life well-crafted and I think time away with family definitely fits within that!

We commenced our California vacation on Tuesday – Wednesday in Laguna Beach. We had been planning to do a family beach vacation this year before getting the opportunity to attend the Disney Social Media Celebration at Disneyland, so Laguna Beach before Disney was the perfect compromise. (Although, Laguna Beach and compromise should really not be used in the same sentence!)

Before planning our Laguna Beach vacation, all I knew of the area was what I had seen on television, and I had the perception that it was very expensive. Thankfully I stumbled on the Pacific Edge Hotel and found that Laguna Beach doesn’t HAVE to be pricey! The Pacific Edge covered our stay while in Laguna Beach, and I was delighted to collaborate because the hotel prides itself on being affordable for families.

The Pacific Edge has a series of buildings right on Laguna Beach. When you pull in, you are greeted by a charming sitting area and decor.

I especially loved all the succulents they had throughout the hotel. I totally want to buy some for my home.

We were thankful to have a large suite to stay in for our stay, though the Pacific Edge offers a multitude of rooms fit for any budget. Trust me, you will want to be on the beach from morning until night anyway!

The suite had a lovely living room and kitchen space, which was great for afternoons after being on the beach all morning. We could relax, while the kids napped in the separate sleeping rooms. I love the sunny colors and clean design.

There’s a grocery store a block down from the hotel, which helped keep our food expenses to a minimum too.

Off of the living room and kitchen was a large bedroom, bathroom and a small room (or large walk-in closet) with a twin bed in it. Elias slept there, and Matthew and I took the big room. Adeline was also in a pack ‘n play in our room. It was awesome because the kids could nap/go to bed early in the bedrooms while Matthew and I hung out in the living room, which helped them to sleep really well.

We got to Laguna around 2 on Tuesday and after checking in we headed straight to The Deck, which is the only open-air, beachside restaurant in Laguna Beach. We enjoyed a great lunch (the burgers and mac & cheese are amazing!) and the headed to the beach for a few hours.

We played and played, the headed back to the room to get some rest. After getting up super early for our flight, we were in bed by 8 pm PST!

We woke up bright and early Wednesday morning ready to get back out to the beach. Because we were still adjusting to the time change, we were all up by 4:30 am PST – yuck. Once the sun rose, we decided to go for a family walk in search of some tide pools, which Laguna has in abundance.

We then stopped at Starbucks for breakfast and ate muffins and drank coffee/milk right on the beach. Pretty awesome.

Our friend Laura brought her two kids (who are about the same ages as Elias and Adeline) to play for a few hours later that morning and we had an absolute blast.

Laura and I met through blogging in 2009 and it was such a joy to see our kids enjoying one another. I never would have expected blogging to bring me some of my closest friendships.

After our friends left, the kids’ didn’t want to leave, so we had a snack and played some more. Lunch can wait when you are at the beach! I love watching Elias and Adeline have fun on the beach.

It was so convenient being at the hotel’s beach because our room was right there. Within minutes of leaving, the kids were in the bathtub and then napping. So awesome. They also provide beach towels, lounge chairs, umbrellas and beach toys, which was great for us since we didn’t have room in our luggage for those types of things.

The Pacific Edge has two heated swimming pools and a private jacuzzi too, but we spent all of our time on the beach!

During the summer, the hotel offers tons of family activities including complimentary snow cones at the Surf Pool, fireside s’mores, Arts & Crafts in the Game Room, painting lessons at sunset on the beach, glow in the dark pool parties, yoga on the beach, face painting on the beach, hotel scavenger hunts, sandcastle contests and more. They also offer free access to the Pacific Marine Mammal Center – I know my kids would have loved that. We seriously could have stayed a week. It was so lovely.

We had so much fun that we contemplated extending our stay (but the kids’ couldn’t resist Disneyland!). It was a wonderful 36 hours and the kids haven’t stopped talking about the fun at the beach.

So if you are planning your own Laguna Beach vacation, I definitely recommend checking out the Pacific Edge Hotel. You can’t beat the convenience.