Need suggestions for west coast stays

[sunshineRN48]

I'm interested in stopping for a night or so on the west coast to break up my flight to Hawaii from the east coast there and back.

Need suggestions for a couple of places that would be fun and relaxing. I will be going solo, so would like more low key than LA, with less traffic to drive in I enjoy the beach as well as casinos/bingos. ..any ideas???

[Donray]

Suggest you look for a flight from Las Vegas to HI. Nice hotels and casinos,

[SadieN]

Bingo/Casinos and the beach do not go hand in hand in California.

Need to decide which is more important.

 

Vegas for Casino or Santa Monica (LA) for the Beach.

 

An idea is Laughlin, NV. 90 minute drive from Vegas and has many casinos along the river.

[kenish]

OP- What city on the East Coast? It could make a difference on what's suggested.

[caa]

Also, what time of year?

[1025cruise]

First suggestion, look up flights to see where your options are. Then decide based on those cities.

[Got2Cruise]

What about S. Lake Tahoe, California? Lake Tahoe has a nice beach, and literally a block away is Stateline, Nevada with Harrah's casino/hotel and shows. Or fly into Reno, Nevada and stay there without driving to Tahoe.

[Bruin Steve]

I'm interested in stopping for a night or so on the west coast to break up my flight to Hawaii from the east coast there and back.

Need suggestions for a couple of places that would be fun and relaxing. I will be going solo, so would like more low key than LA, with less traffic to drive in I enjoy the beach as well as casinos/bingos. ..any ideas???

 

Here's the real problem:

If you are just looking for a short stop to break up your flight East Coast to Hawaii, it is fairly impractical to do it anyplace BUT a large city with a "hub" airport...and likely that means Los Angeles--though you might also find flights through San Francisco or Las Vegas...

 

But you can rule out many small out-of-the-way places because it just won't make sense to get there and back as part of your air route in just a day or two...

 

You are also not going to find both beach and casino anywhere in the same place...

 

Las Vegas, of course, has Casinos--but it is pretty danged crowded--If LA traffic bothers you, walking through any of the big Vegas Casinos will be h*ll...fun, maybe...relaxing? No...

 

In Southern California, there are several choices on casinos...but, most are on Indian Reservation land--which means they are pretty far out of the way and, typically, inland--There are several in the inland/desert area--Palm Springs, Temecula, inland San Diego County...The closest to any sort of beach area is the Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez--about 20 miles north of Santa Barbara...To get to any of these, you are going to have to fly in to LA and rent a car and drive two to three hours in each direction...If you were spending several days, it might be worth it...You could head up to Santa Barbara, get a hotel on the beach, drive for a day up to Santa Ynez--or just stay in Santa Ynez--to the Chumash Casino and Solvang and the Santa Barbara Wine Country (lots of Wineries in this region--it is the area featured in the movie "Sideways")...

 

But, for a one night stay, it might be a bit of a side-track...

 

The other casinos in SoCal are in places like the City of Industry and Bell Gardens--particularly unattractive, industrial areas in the inner city...nothing I would ever recommend...

 

The other alternative would be to just spend some relaxing days in one of the beach communities near LAX--Santa Monica/Venice/Marina Del Rey to the north or Manhattan Beach/Redondo Beach to the south...You probably don't have to deal with much traffic...MDR is only about a 10 minute cab ride from LAX and you can walk around the Marina, stroll up the Venice Boardwalk and find lots of good reataurants and interesting sights...It would make for a very nice break between your flights...Transportation costs and time would be minor, you would be at or near the beach and it would be quite relaxing...No casinos though...

 

Good luck...

[Cruisin' Chick]

I echo the question about what time of year you're talking about. Our beaches aren't like the ones in Florida...we get overcast weather in the spring, for example, which may impact any desires for sunning at the beach.