Holiday Travel Editon

We’d all like to pack our suitcases and hop a flight to Switzerland (or even just San Francisco) for the holidays, but for many of us, “winter vacation” typically translates into “sleep over at Mom and Dad/Grandpa and Grandma’s” . . . you know, at their house in Cerritos. This year, though, for little more than the cost of a DVD, an oceanfront hotel room in Laguna Beach can be yours—yours, and seven or eight of your closests. Vacation Village, a hodgepodge grouping of hotel buildings—some of which are squeezed in along 248 feet of oceanfront property—is designed with summer vacationing families in mind, but works just as well in the winter. Adjacent to the Beach House restaurant (and Athena Day Spa; packages are available), Vacation Village isn’t your fancy Hilton or five-star hotel, but $1.5 million in recent soft renovations (comforters; wall paint; furniture; all purchased predominantly from IKEA, it would seem) have turned this into a truly great find for the budget traveler—a clean, simple, cute boutique motel, if you’d like. Best of all, the four floor-level oceanfront rooms in the Surf Wing building open on a wood sundeck overlooking a small tide pool section of Laguna Beach. There are two chaise lounges and one picnic table to a room, the picnic table serving as the dining area for two-bedroom hotel suites that easily sleep nine and include a fridge, stove, microwave and lots of dishes/cookware/cutlery. Feel like eating out? Ocean Avenue restaurants (and the fantastic, teeny-tiny, off-the-path Italian restaurant Polina Salerno) are within walking distance. After dinner, settle into a corner table at the Saloon on Coast Highway for a nightcap. Still, if you’re really on a budget, at Vacation Village there’s no need to stray: half a dozen friends, a 12-pack of ramen noodles and a case of Two Buck Chuck is all you need to complete this steal of a deal. Merry thriftmas! Oceanfront rooms, $169-259; city view, $93-119. Summer rates, $100+ more.

VACATION VILLAGE 647 S COAST HWY | LAGUNA BEACH 92651 | 949.494.8566 | VACATIONVILLAGE.COM

Tags: Buy Curious, HOTELS, Laguna Beach, travel