‘Tis the Season at San Diego’s Local Resorts

by Aimee Della BittaDecember 3, 2021

Make this holiday season extra special and take your Yuletide-loving little ones to one of these San Diego resorts. We’ve rounded up the best local hotels that celebrate the holidays with an extra dose of spirit. Scroll down to discover the destinations in and near San Diego dedicated to hosting you for the merriest Christmas ever!

Hotel Del Coronado

hotel del, holiday celebrations in San Diego, Christmas at resorts — Hotel Del Coronado

In true Hotel Del fashion, the iconic resort goes BIG for the holidays and shimmers and shines with opulent decor and sparkling lights. The beachfront hotel offers a full lineup of activities for kids of all ages including snowy surprises and plenty of festive experiences to shower your family with cheer. Skating by the Sea is one of their most popular holiday activities and it returns this year. Take a break from skating and enjoy holiday treats and drinks on the South Paseo Lawn at the Frostbite Bar. In groups of up to six people, you can sit around a cozy fire pit with access to a full food and beverage service and a perfect view of the rink. Or catch your favorite holiday movie under the stars on Del Beach. Whether you check-in overnight or visit for the day, Hotel Del can help make your 2021 holiday season a pure delight.

November 22 through January 2.

Online: hoteldel.com

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La Quinta Resort & Club

During the holidays, this world-renowned Palm Springs resort transforms into a quaint Christmas village adorned with twinkling lights and festive scenery. No matter where you find yourself in the resort, it feels, smells and looks so much like Christmas, you'll almost forget you're in the desert. From the spectacular tree to the aroma of roasting chestnuts in the lobby, the holiday spirit is palpable.

Kiddos can meet Santa for breakfast during their stay and spend time creating fun holiday arts and crafts. In addition to the holiday festivities, there’s a children’s playground adjacent to the main pool and a daily Kids Kamp to keep their (and your) spirits merry and bright.

By day, parents enjoy a few rounds of golf, a dip in the natural springs and a heavenly spa experience. Parents seeking a romantic dinner at night under the mistletoe can rely on the resort’s nightly child-care services.

With amenities, this good, booking La Quinta Resort and Club should be on everyone's Christmas wish list.

Online: www.laquintaresort.com

Rancho Valencia Resort

Experience the magical winter season at Rancho Valencia Resort and Spa for a SoCal getaway roaming between 45 lush acres of gardens, nature trails, olive groves and casitas. On November 29, guests are invited to the hidden oasis to pamper themselves with a pre-holiday getaway and enjoy a complimentary room upgrade with breakfast, late checkout and festive holiday amenities that are sure to get the whole family in the holiday mood. If you're looking for a true holiday staycation, stay through Christmas and deck the halls of your casita with holiday cheer and delight. The hotel set your casita aglow with a festive twinkling holiday tree complete with lights and ornaments and delectable treats on Christmas Eve.

November 29 through January 2.

Online: RanchoValenciaResort.com

Rancho Bernardo Inn

Rancho Bernardo Inn is full of Christmas cheer and welcomes guests to enjoy their winter wonderland of celebrations, holiday dining and festive decorations. This year, local families are invited to experience:

Annual Life-size Gingerbread House

Each year, the property creates a life-size gingerbread house built and baked in-house during the holidays. The outstanding life-size gingerbread house is on display in the hotel lobby after months of baking and building with over 4,000 pounds of delicious ingredients including 1 ton of powdered sugar, 750lbs. of granulated sugar, 750lbs. of cake flour, 2,160 eggs and more.

The Holiday Tradition Cocktail

Just for parents, the property’s Mixologist Jason Sorge has created a festive cocktail that pairs perfectly with a tour of the gingerbread house: the Holiday Tradition, an indulgent sipper that blends cognac, coffee, honey, gingerbread spices and benedictine, and topped with a dollop of whipped cream.

S’mores Pajama Party with PJ Salvage

Holiday PJs for the win! Rancho Bernardo Inn has partnered with luxury sleepwear brand PJ Salvage to create the ultimate holiday pajama party for families. This festive sleepover includes accommodations, one set of PJ Salvage’s holiday-themed kids’ pajamas, a s’mores kit, a kid’s drink and in room pop-up tent for kids to play or sleep in for the night. Little ones can re-order, along with their classic s’mores and tent set each day of your stay. Note: Valid for children ages 2-10. $21 per additional child.

November 18 through January 30

Online: ranchobernardoinn.com

Snowland at the Great Wolf Lodge

Water slides and wave pools aren't exactly what come to mind when you imagine a winter wonderland, but the folks at Great Wolf Lodge want to make sure your holiday is as wet 'n wild as it is merry and magical. In addition to the 100,000-square foot indoor water park (the water's warm!), holiday guests will be treated to a slew of seasonal attractions including a life-sized gingerbread house (you can actually have dinner inside of it!), snow-themed suites and a complimentary hot cocoa bar. Little wolf cubs will also be treated to nightly holiday flicks in the hotel lobby, visits from Santa, cookie decorating with Mrs. Claus and snowfall-infused family dance parties.

November 28 through January 5.

Online: greatwolf.com

—Aimee Della Bitta

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Amazon Just Announced Several New Devices to Make Your Life Easier

by Shahrzad WarkentinSeptember 26, 2019

Amazon just revealed over a dozen new devices, from speakers to glasses and even a smart oven, aimed at making your home smarter and your life easier.

The new products include several Alexa enabled devices, like the all-new Echo, Echo Dot with Clock, Echo Glow, Echo Show 8 and Echo Studio. Amazon also announced the new Echo Buds, wireless earbuds, Echo Frames, smart glasses and Echo Loop, a smart ring. All three devices allow you to connect with Alexa on the go.

In addition to theses new devices, Amazon also announced some other new ways to make your home smarter, including the new Amazon Smart Oven, which is a combination convection oven, microwave, air fryer and food warmer that can be controlled by Alexa when paired with an Echo. Users can ask Alexa to preheat the oven, start or stop cooking, and be notified when the oven is preheated. The device is priced at $249.99 and includes an Echo Dot.

Amazon also revealed new features for Alexa like the new Smart Guard Alert, which will give you Smart Alerts if an Echo device detects the sound of smoke alarms, carbon monoxide alarms or glass breaking in your home. Alexa will also soon be able to make managing WiFi access easier. You’ll be able to pause WiFi service until the homework is done or the beds are made simply by asking Alexa. The smart assisstant will also soon be able to help you with your shopping list by reminding you when its time to re-order supplies, like ink and air filters.

“Customers want their smart home technology to make everyday tasks easier, but not at the expense of spending their whole weekend, or hiring an expert, just to get everything setup,” said Daniel Rausch, Amazon Vice President, Smart Home. “We think customers will be delighted with what we have coming this fall—more ways to find smart home devices they can set up in minutes, new Alexa features that take the stress out of being away from home, and new products that help families enjoy great meals together or just have a little fun.”

—Shahrzad Warkentin

All photos: Amazon

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by Shahrzad WarkentinAugust 2, 2019

Amazon is officially shutting down the Dash button, the device that let you order items instantly with a single push.

The online retailer announced earlier this year that it planned to phase out the Dash button service which allows Prime members to select stick-on buttons for specific items they regularly used in order to make re-ordering convenient. For example, you could place a Dash button for toilet paper in your bathroom and press it when running low on toilet paper and Amazon would instantly ship you the item the next day.

Say goodbye to your Amazon Dash button.https://t.co/aO7mBPfnf6

— MarketWatch (@MarketWatch) August 2, 2019

The buttons offered were for items people use regularly, like paper products, diapers and laundry detergent. Now Amazon is turning off those oval buttons so that they will no longer function when pressed beginning Aug. 31, 2019.

photo: Forsaken Fotos via Flickr

The Dash buttons will live on digitally, however, with virtual Dash buttons accessible on the Amazon app or website. The virtual version will make it easy to re-order items you regularly shop for by organizing all of the buttons on one easy to manage screen. Customers who were already using the Dash buttons will find the virtual buttons automatically created on their Amazon accounts.

—Shahrzad Warkentin

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The Best Meal Delivery Apps to Download NOW

by Kipp Jarecke-ChengMay 11, 2019

These days, there’s a buffet of meal delivery services and apps that make ordering your favorite eats and having them brought straight to your door as simple as a few swipes and clicks. From old standbys to newcomers, we picked the best services that’ll have your family saying, “Let’s order in tonight!” Read on to feast on a smörgåsbord of food delivery apps!

Amazon Restaurants

Ever since Amazon launched its Prime service in 2005, online shoppers have come to expect super-fast delivery of everything from electronics to diapers. With the purchase of Whole Foods last year, Amazon signaled that it’s getting serious about food, too. Using the Amazon Prime Now app, hungry Amazon Prime members can order meal delivery via Amazon Restaurants, with orders arriving in an hour or less. Available in more than a dozen cities and with an always growing number of restaurant partners, Prime members also can use Alexa’s voice-shopping function on their Amazon Echo or Echo Dot to re-order previously ordered meals by saying a restaurant name or cuisine type. Best of all, delivery is free to Prime members.

Available for iOS, Android, and Amazon Fire.

Caviar

Caviar is an easy way to order meals from popular, high-end local restaurants across the U.S. With options to order home delivery or at-restaurant pickup, Caviar serves up some of the best food in your city—from Asian takeout to Sicilian pizza. Restaurant partners include Momofuku, Blue Smoke, Eataly and The Meatball Shop, among others. Caviar’s free food ordering app is currently available in nearly two dozen cities and markets, including Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.

Available for iOS and Android.

Delivery.com

More than just a food-delivery app, Delivery.com aspires to be the one-stop shop for busy parents to order home delivery of local food, groceries and other household needs. In addition to browsing thousands of menus and ordering food from local restaurants, the app lets users order liquor, groceries and even schedule pickup and drop-off of laundry and dry cleaning—all delivered to your door. There are plenty of exclusive app-only discounts, and new users get a 15% off coupon for their first order over $15 as well as $7 for referring a friend. With more than one million active users and 10,000-plus local business partners, Delivery.com currently is available in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Washington D.C., Philadelphia and hundreds of other U.S. cities.

Available for iOS and Android.

DoorDash

If you’re stuck at home and your family has a hankering for a meal from a restaurant that usually doesn’t provide delivery service, DoorDash comes to the rescue by providing access to home delivery that other food-ordering apps typically don’t offer. Currently serving more than 600 cities in North America—including smaller cities and towns that often aren’t served by bigger food-ordering app services—DoorDash utilizes a courier model (think Uber for food delivery), which means you can order food from eateries that range from McDonald’s to P.F. Chang’s, and get it delivered to your home. Handy features on the app include advance ordering, real-time delivery tracker, and no order minimums.

Available for iOS and Android.

Eat24 Food Delivery & Takeout

Originally created by Yelp and recently acquired by GrubHub, Eat24 claims free pickup and delivery from 40,000 restaurants in more than 1,500 cities, including Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington D.C. New features include location search, a fun Tweet My Meal function, and payment options that include PayPal and Apple Pay.

Available for iOS and Android.

Eat Purely

Chicago-based Eat Purely defies the usual expectation of greasy-spoon takeout fare by offering healthy, seasonal, chef-crafted meals that are delivered to your door on demand. With a menu that changes daily, Eat Purely’s options are fresh and healthy meals that arrive in about 30 minutes or less. As added bonuses, deliveries can be scheduled up to a week in advance, and there are plenty of choices for eaters with food restrictions or are on special diets such as gluten-free or paleo.

Available iOS and Android.

GrubHub

Still the Mack Daddy of food-ordering apps, GrubHub features ordering options from more than 55,000 restaurant partners in over 1,200 cities across the U.S., Japan, and the U.K. Like its sister food-ordering app Seamless, GrubHub’s nicely designed app lets hungry diners quickly search nearby restaurants, scroll through ratings and reviews, and order (and re-order) their favorite dishes in just a few clicks. Bonus: Payments can be made via Android Pay, Apple Pay, PayPal or good-old-fashioned cash or credit cards, so you won’t miss a beat to get your grub on.

Available for iOS and Android.

Minibar

When the kids are at grandma and grandpa’s house or they’ve already gone to bed, sometimes the best home-delivered meal is a liquid one. Minibar makes ordering wine, beer and liquor delivered to your door in as little as 30 to 60 minutes as easy as the touch of a button. Simply enter your delivery address, add your favorite items to your cart and checkout with your credit card. Minibar currently serves select markets, including Arizona, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Chicago, California, Colorado, Texas, Florida, Phoenix, Minnesota, Washington D.C., Nashville, and more. New locations coming soon! $5 off first order.

Available for iOS and Android.

Order Healthy

For parents who are worried about less-than-healthy fast-food takeout, Order Healthy connects users with local restaurants and groups food options based on what’s healthy and what’s not. The app provides access to more than 10,000 restaurants in more than a dozen markets and uses a color-coded system to indicate which menu items are not only delicious but also good for you and your family.

Available for iOS (Android coming soon).

Postmates

Whether you’re craving an iced latte from Starbucks, a burrito bowl from Chipotle or even bag of chips from the neighborhood CVS, Postmates gives you easy, on-demand access to local restaurants and stores with just a few clicks. With a fleet of delivery people, the app instantly assigns the best possible Postmate to ensure the fastest possible delivery, either at a one-time flat-rate fee or through an unlimited subscription. Real-time tracking lets you keep tabs on your delivery progress via a live map, and deliveries can be made virtually anywhere—at home, at work or at the playground. Postmates is available in 50 U.S. cities, including most major metro areas, as well as Mexico City

Available for iOS and Android.

Seamless

Launched in 1999, Seamless started as a web-based system for companies to order food from restaurants and caterers for corporate events. A few years later, Seamless transitioned from exclusively serving business eaters to opening its service to individual users. Today, Seamless is available in a dozen cities, including Austin, Boston, Chicago, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington D.C., and boasts more than 25,000 restaurant partners in the U.S. and the U.K. (thanks to its merger with GrubHub in 2013). With its easy search function (did someone say Taco Tuesdays?), one-click re-order option, and no additional fees, Seamless is the go-to app for food delivery or takeout for many urban foodies.

Available for iOS and Android.

Uber Eats

With so many food delivery apps adopting a courier-service model, it’s no wonder that ride-sharing app Uber would want to get in on the food business. Uber Eats lets users browse local restaurants and fast food favorites, place orders from the app, then track delivery time. Using their Uber accounts, eaters simply tap to seamlessly pay with their existing Uber accounts, or add a credit card. Uber Eats is currently available in dozens of cities and metro areas worldwide, with more added frequently.

Available for iOS and Android.

What are your favorite food-ordering apps? Tell us in the comments below!

—Kipp Jarecke-Cheng

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Feature photo by Igor Miske on Unsplash

“Alexa, Get Me a Donut” & 7 More Foods You Can Order by Voice

by Erica LoopSeptember 5, 2018

Alexa can do many things: tell your kids stories, play music and even settle arguments between siblings. Now you can order food with Alexa: all you need is an Amazon Alexa-enabled device (and an internet connection, of course) and you can order all the snacks, treats and groceries you need without ever having to lift a finger. Yay!

Dunkin’ Donuts

With the simple phrase, “Alexa, order from Dunkin’ Donuts,” and boom…donuts! Okay, okay. So it’s not exactly that easy. But you can kick off the entire virtual ordering process with this Alexa voice command.

To order through your Alexa-enabled device, you need to be a member of Dunkin’ Donuts’ DD Perks program. You also need to install the Dunkin’ Donuts skill on your device. After giving the voice command, you can choose from a previously visited Dunkin’ location, saved order and the type of pick-up you prefer. Pick-up options currently include in-store or drive-thru.

Photo: Courtesy of Amazon

Domino’s Pizza

Oh, so you say you want pizza with your donuts? Well then install the Domino’s skill on your Alexa-enabled device. Just say, “Alexa, open Domino’s,” and connect to your chosen local Domino’s store. Not only can you order through your device, but Amazon’s Alexa will help you to track your pizza’s progress.

Pizza Hut

If you don’t have a local Domino’s, Pizza Hut also has an Alexa skill from which to order. With the command, “Alexa, open Pizza Hut,” a default payment method and a Pizza Hut account you can order a pizza loaded with your favorite toppings.

Denny’s

“Alexa, open Denny’s” kicks off your ability to order from your previously selected meals. Start with the Denny’s app or their website to create an initial order. Next time, Alexa can help you to re-order.

Sheetz

Sheetz is much more than just a place to fuel your car. Now you can fuel your belly with an Alexa-enabled device, a Sheetz account and a previous order. Give the, “Alexa, ask Sheetz to order my favorite,” a go and you’re done.

Wingstop

Mmm. Wings. “Alexa, ask Wingstop to order wings” will help you to order from your nearest Wingstop restaurant.

Whole Foods

Definitely one of the best perks of Amazon buying Whole Foods is that you can use your Prime membership and your Alexa device to make a shopping list, order your groceries with Alexa and get everything delivered to your house. Easy peezy!

Pumpkin Spice Anything

It’s that time of year, and you’re on the hunt for pumpkin spice EVERYTHING. Amazon wants to make it easy with their Pumpkin Spice Tracker Alexa skill. Start with, “Alexa, open pumpkin spice tracker,” continue with, “who has pumpkin spice?” or, “where can I get pumpkin spice?” and your your device will help you to find your next PS-whatever fix.

—Erica Loop

Featured photo: Patrick Fore via Unsplash

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Amazon Restaurants

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