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You just graduated from college! ConGRADulations! Next stop on your list? A much needed vacation to the surf and sun of Southern California! After four+ years of classes, exams, difficult professors, hours of studying and stressful finals, you deserve a relaxing week walking down beach boardwalks and riding roller coasters! Celebrate all that hard work! This blog will help guide you through the perfect SoCal trip catered to a recent graduate. Each post will have budget friendly tips and tricks for those who have student loan payments to make once they're back home. As a recent graduate myself and as an avid SoCal traveler and previous resident, you'll be sure to know that these tips are the real deal. From the hip vibes of Huntington Beach, to the Happiest Place on Earth, to the fast-paced beats of LA nightclubs, this blog will leave you with tons of places to see, new foods to taste, and tons of things to do in Southern California.

Monday, April 27, 2015

Hotels

Pool-side lounging.
Photo Credit: Paul Schmidt. Marie Claire Italia, May, 2012
Now that you're officially in Southern California, it's time to check into your hotel. Hopefully you booked it in advance. Hotels booked a few weeks (or even months) ahead of time are always cheaper than day-of bookings.

There are literally thousands of hotels in Southern California. How do you find the right one? My trick: Hotels.com! This website has a lot of cool features. First of all, you'll be able to browse every available hotel. Second, a lot of the hotels are already discounted! Third, for every 10 nights you book, you'll get one night free! This will come in handy on your next getaway.

What I love about Hotels.com is their search tools. This is how I find the perfect hotel:

  1. Type in preferred location. (I usually stay around Disneyland, or closer to the beach)
  2. Set a price range with the "Average Nightly Price" slider tool.
  3. Set the "Guest Rating" slider to 3-5. (Sometimes I do 4-5 if I'm feeling particularly picky)
  4. Sort the list from lowest to highest price. 
  5. Browse through hotel pictures and listed amenities and pick whichever hotel looks the best to you.
I've stayed at really nice hotels for really cheap prices by doing this. By simply going off of the price, you can end up staying in some really gross and run-down places. The key to finding a cheap AND nice hotel is the Guest Rating tool! Make sure you add your rating after your stay to help other travelers!

If you know exactly what area you would like to stay, try searching on the Map View! I love using this feature when I'm trying to find a hotel close to Disneyland. Simply set the desired limits above, then click on the Map icon in the upper lefthand corner. Zoom in on your desired area and browse the available hotels. Below is an example of the Map View around the Disneyland Resort. Click to zoom!
Screen shot of the Hotels.com Map View. Photo Credit: Hotels.com


Many hotels offer free breakfast! If you're trying to save money, take advantage of this! What college student (or in this case, starving graduate) would say no to free breakfast? Some hotels also have on-site exercise rooms for the health-minded individual. 

College student or recent graduate friendly areas? These locations have great nightlife!
  • Pacific Beach - The best beach in San Diego for nightlife.
  • Santa Monica - LA meets hippie-chic beach town. Amazing nightlife and shopping! Plus an amusement park on the pier! 
  • Huntington Beach - Surf City, USA! This beach is especially fun during surf competitions! Check out the city's website for more info.
  • Anaheim - Disneyland isn't just for kids. Check out Downtown Disney! It has fantastic shopping, restaurants, bars, live entertainment, and a movie theatre! Also close by, Anaheim Gardenwalk. You can also catch a baseball game at the nearby Angel Stadium.

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