These Pet-Friendly San Diego Hotels Let Dogs Stay, Stress-Free

A popular beach and location to see sea lions up close along California’s coast will now be closed to the public. San Diego’s famed Point La Jolla and Boomer Beach have been a viewing spot of the natural wildlife along the ocean for decades, and will now be closed to the public as a new measure passed unanimously by the San Diego City Council during a public hearing on Sept. 18, according to meeting minutes reviewed by Travel + Leisure. Point La Jolla is located approximately 15 miles north of downtown San Diego, along the Pacific Ocean. La Jolla's tourism website describes Boomer Beech as a «hidden beach» with «great waves» popular with body surfers. 

Fall is almost here, and that means people begin to plan their holiday travel. But, what if you didn’t have to spend a penny on your next trip? It turns out that there are plenty of ways to travel for free beyond earning and redeeming miles and points. These five fall travel contests and sweepstakes could have you celebrating iconic experiences all around the country.

It’s common for visitors to New York City to look at booking a hotel within Manhattan, often sticking around touristy Midtown or maybe heading to a more stylish area like SoHo or Lower East Side.

The legendary Hotel del Coronado — known for its spectacular holiday experiences — is thrilled to announce its search for a Chief Holiday Officer for the 2023 season. This is a unique opportunity for a talented visual storyteller to be in-residence at the famed, iconic seaside resort to create captivating photos and videos about all of the resort’s holiday magic.

Not only does Los Angeles beckon movie buffs and theme park goers but the City of Angels is a burgeoning spot for cannabis tourism in California. Recreational marijuana is legal in the Golden State with licensed dispensaries selling an assortment of flower, pre-rolls, vape pens, balms, and more. Seeing as it’s not permitted to smoke in all public spaces or at non-smoking accommodations, only these cannabis-friendly Airbnbs in Los Angeles give you the green light to blaze up in comfort.

As travelers may be looking for a bargain on future fall and winter travel following a busy summer season, a new report may point passengers in the right direction.

This past weekend, I learned that the more seriously you take some things, the funnier they get.

Sergio Jimenez has traveled to Denmark and Iceland. He’s made his way to the outskirts of Copenhagen and Reykjavik and buried himself in the culinary art of one of some of the world’s most acclaimed chefs. He’s trekked up and down the California coast delving into the origins of America’s farm-to-table movement. Jimenez has basked in the flavors of the globe’s freshest menus, absorbed the experience around him. He’s taken notes. And he’s taken those notes home to San Diego.

Whether it’s a Moroccan-influenced Chicken & Shrimp Kefta with a Vietnamese-style Nuoc Cham dipping sauce, or a Green Thai Curry Hummus with both English and Wasabi peas, Chef Jason Neroni of the newly-opened The Desmond restaurant has California Cuisine speaking with a lot of different accents. “We’re buying everything we can from the area,” says Neroni, “then we craft it with global influences. That gives us no boundaries — we’ve got a lot of different palates traveling through here and we can make them all very happy.”

Once associated with cheap package deals and a hedonistic party scene, recent steps have pivoted Mallorca into a luxury destination with an emphasis on cultural and sustainable travel. Late nights in Magaluf are slipping out of fashion in favor of catching the sunrise over UNESCO-listed mountains. Horseback wine tours, vintage train journeys, and sea kayaking excursions offer a far more memorable experience than the booze cruises that once orbited the island’s coastline. Venturing beyond the high-rise resorts, rural and oceanside Airbnbs in Mallorca, Spain, bring tourists even closer to the raw beauty of the Mediterranean island.

Acadia National Park stretches over a rocky and mountainous coastal landscape of the Maine coast. The park has a wild beauty reminiscent of the Pacific Northwest and is home to an extensive network of hiking trails (120 miles, in fact) and its 30 lakes are prime fishing, biking, and boating spots. Mount Desert Island, where the majority of the park is located, has a quintessentially New England atmosphere, with charming fishing villages, bustling lobster boats, and colorful buoys dotting the harbors. While there are no lodges within the boundaries, there are plenty of hotels near Acadia National Park for anyone who would prefer a comfortable bed after a day of adventuring.

In 2023, the city of Carlsbad, just north of San Diego, launched an “All Paws Lead to Carlsbad” tourism initiative to encourage pet friendly travel to the Southern California beach town. Although the campaign officially ended in May, Carlsbad is always a dog friendly town that welcomes woofers of all breeds and sizes to many of its shops, restaurant patios, and hotels. There are also dog parks to frolic in and dog friendly beaches in the general vicinity for pups that like to swim, surf, or go for long runs in the sand.