My husband and I recently got back from a last-minute staycation in San Diego. Here's how we saved money while traveling luxuriously!
InterContinental San Diego
Can you believe we stayed here for free?? My husband signed up for an IHG credit card last year which gives him a free night's stay at many of their properties around the world. He says they currently don't offer the card he has but there are other similar options you can explore on their website. There is an annual fee (I think my husband paid around $60), but this free perk is well worth it. When we were looking to book the InterContinental San Diego, the price per night was $360 NOT including daily resort fees or taxes! If we really wanted to do this leg of our trip for free, we could've looked for free street parking a few blocks away in Little Italy or its surrounding areas. But we were happy to pay $38 for daily parking which gave us in/out privileges and was located in a garage beneath the hotel itself.
Bahia Resort
Spending a couple of nights at the Bahia Resort Hotel felt like being back in Cairns, Australia. Located in San Diego's Mission Bay, our experience included lounging at a private beach (with cabanas) and cruising on a riverboat cruise during the sunset. This resort isn't cheap - prices ranged from the high $200s to mid $400s (not including daily resort fees and taxes) when we started looking a couple of weeks before our trip. We found out that booking last-minute (literally a day before we left) saved us close to $100 a night from the first quote we saw! Many hotels in San Diego (that don't offer any of the unique amenities that Bahia does) also cost around the same if not more, so we took this opportunity to relax and unwind at this little piece of paradise.
You can learn more about our stays via my travel videos~ enjoy! :)