Orange County

Fellow blogger, Life as a California Wife, has asked for opinions about whether to plan a beach vacation in Orange County or near Los Angeles. Of course, I am suggesting the OC, baby! :)

And as I promised, here is list of some of my favorite places in OC (of course, this is just few of the many fun things to see and do):

OVERNIGHT ACCOMMODATIONS:

Doryman's Inn Bed & Breakfast

Newport Beach

Newport Beachwalk Hotel

Newport Beach

The Anabella Hotel

Anaheim

The Fairmont Hotel

Newport Beach

SHOPPING:

South Coast Plaza

Costa Mesa

Irvine Spectrum

Irvine

Yardhouse Restaurant @ Irvine Spectrum

Irvine

Fashion Island

Newport Beach

DINING:

Corner Bakery Cafe

Irvine

* I love their iced mochas!

Chronic Tacos

Newport Beach

* These are all over OC, but the original started in Newport Beach.

Mama D's Italian Kitchen

Newport Beach

* They also have locations in Manhattan and Hermosa Beach.

NIGHTLIFE:

Memphis

Costa Mesa

* Other locations include Manhattan Beach and Santa Ana.

Fred's Mexican Cafe & Cantina

Huntington Beach

Hurricanes Bar & Grill

Huntington Beach

FUN THINGS TO DO:

Disneyland

Anaheim

California Adventure Park

Anaheim

Medieval Times

Buena Park

Boardwalk Balboa Peninsula

Balboa

* This is a great place to take a stroll, ride a beach cruiser bike, people or whale watch, or visit the Balboa Pier.

And for the dog friendly tourists....

Dog Beach

Huntington Beach

This Is NO Fairmont!!

My trip to Newport Beach was prompted by two very special birthdays: My best friend Jenna's 28th and my other dear friend, Steph's 30th. My husband and I decided we would love to accompany Miss Jenna for her first trip ever to Newport Beach and show her around one of our favorite places in CA for her b-day. And, since Miss Steph lives in Costa Mesa and happened to be celebrating a milestone in her life that I wanted to be part of, this all worked out perfectly. I got to be with both of my girls for their special days in one of my most favorite places!!

My trip started out on Thursday night with a stay at Hotel Menage in Anaheim:

Yes, it's aesthetically pleasing. We were impressed with the pool area and how pretty this place looked all lit up at night. However....

See that freeway there? See how closely it runs along the side of Hotel Menage? Yes, that freeway looks ok (mellow), right?....But let me tell you....that picture is deceiving...it's ridiculously loud and busy and it was all I could hear while trying to get some sleep in my hotel room that sat right next to it. We were shocked, in fact, with a) how close our room was to the freeway AND b) how NOISY it was!! We were all SO tired when we got to our room and all we wanted to do was get a good night's sleep. It was quickly becoming apparent that was NOT going to happen. *Side note: Upon entering our room and realizing how close we were to the freeway (No Joke!!), I said, "Well, if there's an earthquake, I'm pretty sure we're ending up right in the middle of that freeway if the hotel collapses."

I did try to see if we could be moved to another room, upon which I was told by the hotel clerk, simply, "No!" The guy, who by the way, was a TOTAL jerk (from the get go - even while checking us in) didn't even look anything up in the computer or try to be polite in any way. His sentiment was, "No! But you can upgrade to a room with one king bed." Uh...yeah, and charge me for the upgrade? And leave someone sleeping on the floor or the couch since there were three of us staying there? No thanks!

I can't even go into what ensued. Let's just say it was utter insanity! The customer service at Hotel Meanage is AWFUL with a capital A-W-F-U-L!! We were completely blown away by how rude and crazy the guy at the front desk, who claimed to be the night manger, was to us. Even the security guard who worked for the hotel, was like, "Just walk away...[because this guy is flippin out!]"

My advice: If you are ever considering staying at Hotel Menage...DON'T!! You'll get horrible service, a terrible night's sleep, and pay way too much for a hotel that is pretty but lacks in so many ways.

Let me add....I COULD NOT WAIT TO GET TO THE FAIRMONT!!!