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Suite Surrender

By Kevin Wing
Host, Suite Surrender: America’s Best Resorts

Suite Surrender

(Editor’s Note: (Editor’s Note: This column, showcasing America’s best hotels and resorts, is written exclusively for AARisings by Kevin Wing, a two-time Emmy Award-winning San Francisco Bay Area television journalist. Since early 2005, Kevin has authored another AARisings column, Beach Trip, which showcases America’s best-loved beaches. Kevin has worked for most of the Bay Area’s major network news affiliates, including KRON, KGO-TV, KTVU and KNTV. He is a Bay Area field producer for ABC News and is news producer and interim executive director at TV30 in Pleasanton. Kevin is also a Bay Area voiceover talent. He is also writing a children’s book, which he hopes will be published in 2009. In this edition of Suite Surrender, Kevin continues his southern California travels with a stay at the Doubletree Golf Resort — formerly the Doubletree Carmel Highland Resort — in San Diego.)

San Diego is a terrific place to visit any time of the year. The weather, always temperate, is sunshine-ideal year-round more than any other major metropolitan region in the United States. If you don't mind an average temperature of 75 most anytime during the year, then San Diego is the perfect place for your next vacation.

It's an ideal vacation destination, especially if you like the beach and you like to golf. Golf courses are aplenty throughout San Diego County.

One challenging course is at Doubletree Golf Resort in San Diego. Doubletree built this full-service resort in the early 1990s and called it the Carmel Highland Doubletree Resort. Smack in the heart of the city's north inland neighborhoods of Rancho Penasquitos, Carmel Mountain Ranch, Rancho Bernardo and Poway, the now re-christened Doubletree Golf Resort is a wonderful haven whether you're visiting San Diego for business or pleasure.

I personally recommend this hotel oasis. That's what it is. I've stayed at the Doubletree Golf Resort many times through the years and I've never left disappointed. In the last couple of years, Doubletree has upgraded the hotel's rooms with a more updated, contemporary look and feel. The place has always been comfortable in my mind, and the upgrade makes it even more so. Each room is finely appointed, and each has new Sweet Dreams beds, offering the comforts of home.

There is a main building to the hotel, where most of the rooms are located Doubletree was smart when it built this hotel; all of the rooms face the Arnold Palmer-managed 18-hole, par-72 golf course. There's also a putting green and short game practice facility. Like tennis? Bring your racket. The resort also has five championship tennis courts, along with a sparkling pool and five-lane lap pool that are surrounded by tall palm trees. There's also a Fitness Center, where guests can sign up for aerobics classes. A croquet lawn, sauna, massage facilities and a steam room are also located at the Fitness Center.

If you stay in a room in the hotel's main building or in the adjacent buildings on either side, you will have a nice view of the golf course from your own private balcony. If you want to get away from it all, it's a perfect place to catch some sun. At night, your balcony will serve as a cozy little hideaway with that special someone as you both overlook the glistening swimming pool.

Separate from the main buildings are a series of casitas which are located along the edge of the golf course. These rooms tend to be larger and more sumptious. No balcony, of course, but you have a patio all to yourself. The golf course is also home to an ever-growing number of rabbits, who pounce and bound all over the place, much to the delight of hotel guests. Somehow, they know how to dodge those flying golf balls.

Speaking of golf, the resort's pro shop is one of the best around. It's located adjacent to the Terrace Cafe and Mulligan's, where you can enjoy American cuisine. The Terrace Cafe is a great place to enjoy breakfast while watching golfers practice on the putting green.

There are many attractions in and around the resort. If you like to shop, there is the Carmel Mountain Plaza Shopping Center, which is located one mile away on Carmel Mountain Road, on the opposite side of Interstate 15. There are also a bevy of restaurants to when your appetite on both sides of Carmel Mountain Road. North County Fair, San Diego County's largest indoor shopping mall, is a 10-minute drive north on Interstate 15.

Feel like taking a drive? The San Diego Wild Animal Park is a 25-minute drive northeast of the hotel. Operated by the world-famous San Diego Zoo, the Wild Animal Park is an experience like no other. Hop aboard a tram that will take you on a one-hour excursion around the park, a place where you will be able to experience the animal kingdom in a whole new way.

If it's the San Diego Zoo you want to see, it's also a 25-minute drive south to Balboa Park. Downtown San Diego, Gaslamp Quarter and Seaport Village aren't far away. SeaWorld, Coronado and Legoland are also located within a short drive of the resort. The resort is conveniently located, so you are within easy reach with everything that San Diego County has to offer.

This resort is exactly what it says it is: a great place to stay. And it is.

Oh, one more thing: if you like chocolate chip cookies, don't forget that Doubletree is also known for its signature, just-baked chocolate chip cookies. Be sure to get yours when you check in.

You will love the Doubletree Golf Resort. I can't wait for my next stay there.

How to get there: The Doubletree Golf Resort is located in the city of San Diego, at 14455 Penasquitos Drive, approximately 22 miles northeast of downtown San Diego and Lindbergh Field (San Diego International Airport). From downtown and the airport, drive north on Interstate 5 (San Diego Freeway) to La Jolla. Exit eastbound State Highway 52 at San Clemente Canyon and proceed approximately six miles to the junction with Interstate 15. Enter northbound Interstate 15 (Escondido Freeway) and drive approximately nine miles to Carmel Mountain Road, where you will exit the freeway. At the end of the ramp, turn left, drive above the freeway. Proceed to second traffic light at Penasquitos Drive and turn right. Drive a half-block and turn right into the first driveway, which is the main entrance to the resort. From Los Angeles and Orange County, drive south on Interstate 5 (San Diego Freeway) to Oceanside. At junction with State Highway 78, exit and head east approximately 15 miles to Escondido. At junction with Interstate 15, head south on I-15 approximately 10 miles to Carmel Mountain Road. At end of ramp, turn right. Proceed to the next traffic signal at Penasquitos Drive and turn right. Drive a half-block and turn right into the first driveway, which is the main entrance to the resort.

Next time from Suite Surrender: Kevin returns to the Bay Area for a stay at the Claremont Resort Hotel in the Oakland-Berkeley hills.

To learn more about the new Suite Surrender and Catch a Wave television shows, podcasts and Kevin Wing, go to www.KevinScottWing.com. You can e-mail Kevin and the Suite Surrender crew at Kevin@KevinScottWing.com.

Suite Surrender. Where the Destination is Paradise.
Copyright 2008
All Rights Reserved
Kevin Wing / Toby Dog Productions
Issue 5 / May 2008

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Photo used by permission courtesy of Kevin Wing. Photo copyright by Kevin Wing.