Wow. When I dreamed of staying at La Costa, it was more because of the location of the Chopra Center for Well Being on the property. I've enjoyed so many books, webinars and products from the Chopra Center yet as a single mom I couldn't afford to
more +attend one of their week-long programs. When I set up a business meeting on a Monday morning in neighboring Rancho Santa Fe, I realized this was my chance to stay at La Costa and take in some yoga at the Chopra Center at the same time. They were offering a great price & bonuses like $99 spa treatments, so it ended up being just a little more than the average hotel price in the area. I had no idea it was going to be such a fun vacation for my 10 year old boy as well!!
Let's start with the pool complex - you have several choices of pools, including a great shallow pool with sandy beach for kids, a bigger pool for all around fun, and then a pool that serves as the landing spot for two great water slides. The beach pool also has a small water slide for tots. My son & I both really enjoyed the water slides, and playing around in the pools. There are also a few different jacuzzi spas around the pool area, although they were barely warm when we were there. I'm sure it was a glitch and they could heat them up if you asked.
As much as I'd like to tell you that my son chose to read or do crafts for his indoor entertainment, he was drawn to the well-equipt area for tweens & teens which includes air hockey, foos ball, lots of stand-alone video game machines as well as several XBOX 360 stations. A few times when he went in there he was the only one there and the XBox computers weren't on - I told the concierge and she immediately had someone come down there to help him out. This was the case with service in all areas of the resort - professional, quick, respectful & kind.
La Costa also has a wonderful area for the little ones (through 8 I believe), very colorful and welcoming. I was wishing we'd tried out this resort when my son was that age! They offer drop-off care in that area. The resort also has crafts as well as other activities during the day that anyone can participate in. And, they have night time activities for all ages where you can drop them off & then have a nice quiet adult dinner! They publish a very full activity schedule every month on their web site. Of course San Diego has a plethora of theme parks & activities - we've been to Legoland many times & opted out this time, spending a wonderful day at Sea World as our only excursion on this trip.
There is also a full fitness center at La Costa, including yoga & pilates classes. I was not able to take advantage of those, as I chose to take the yoga classes at the Chopra center, but I was impressed by their full schedule of fitness activities including beach walks. Oh ya, then there's ... GOLF!
If you want to get away for adults-only relaxation, the Spa at La Costa is beautiful and even has its own zenlicious pool area. Even if you don't want a treatment (although I don't know why that would be!) you can pay a daily access fee and enjoy their saunas, steam rooms, and pool.
Other pluses: the grounds are GORGEOUS, including, to my son's delight, lots of wild bunnies. The birds are bold around the outdoor dining areas, but it makes for more entertainment. We enjoyed sitting outside at the Legends Bistro which looks out on the golf course. The food was pretty good - they have some good healthy choices on the menu. I would give it about a B+. You're really close to lots of restaurant options nearby, but for us it was easier to eat on the property. Being up & away from the beach we had better weather than they had down there in the fog, so even though it wasn't a cloudless warm day we got plenty of sun.
Our room was beautiful and clean. La Costa has recently remodeled and although I didn't see what it looked like before, I thought it was gorgeous. We were placed as far away as you can get from the main buildings/pool/lobby, but we didn't mind the few minutes' walk while enjoying the bunnies along the way.
We left La Costa with a big "ahhhhhhhhhhhh" ... we were both really happy with such a relaxing & fun few days at this beautiful resort. The staff were incredible - not one with bad attitude. I actually own a timeshare nearby in Carlsbad which has great family activities, but for the full package of fun for kids/relaxation for adults, I'll be back at La Costa!
Date of Stay: 10/06/2009
Children in Party: 1
Accommodations 
Dining Kids Play Area Money Value Pool & Water Fun Staff
See what Family Vacation Critic has to say about the
La Costa Resort & Spa
