Top Reasons to Stay at The Catamaran Resort Hotel & Spa

• This 4-star beachfront hotel has the feel of an island resort, with palm trees, a 22-foot waterfall in the lobby, and tropical plants from all over the world, including Brazilian rosewoods and alobanti trees from Namibia.
• Guest rooms feature an iPod docking station, an armoire with a flat-screen TV, a full kitchen and views of Mission Bay, the ocean, the gardens, or the swimming pool.
• Throughout the resort, you might see (or at least overhear) many exotic birds that call the area home, such as Chadwick the cockatoo and Conrad, a red-plumed macaw.
• The onsite Atoll Restaurant has won the award for Best Sunday Brunch from San Diego Magazine on numerous occasions. Come early to get a table for brunch or stop by for dinner to try dungeness crab cakes and applewood-smoked pork chops.
• Cocktails and light fare are served at Moray’s Lounge, named after the resident moray eel that lives in the lounge’s aquarium.
• The Catamaran Spa has spectacular views of Mission Bay. You can also see the bay up close on a complimentary weekend cruise aboard the Bahia Belle, a Mississippi-style riverboat (from March 17–April 20).
The hotel is just a few minutes from SeaWorld San Diego and the 4,000-acre Mission Bay Park.

San Diego, California: Historical Attractions and Electric Nightlife in Southern California

San Diego's sunny, comfortably warm weather and 70 miles of coastline have long attracted vacationing out-of-towners, but the city's inland scene is no slouch, either. The Gaslamp Quarter is arguably one of the trendiest listings on the National Register of Historic Places. The area forms both the historic center of town and a hub of San Diego nightlife, with nearly 100 Victorian-era buildings now occupied by high-end boutiques, jewelers, and gourmet restaurants.

During the day, a stroll through iconic Balboa Park takes you past 17 separate museums, as well as the world-famous and much beloved San Diego Zoo. There's also the vibrant Spanish Village Art Center, a living gallery where local artists continuously produce pottery, handblown glass, and oil paintings for sale.

Farther north, in Old Town—site of the first European settlement in California—shops in Mission-style stucco buildings sell colorful wrestling masks, woven baskets, and maracas. Nearby stands The Whaley House Museum, dubbed one of the Most Terrifying Places in America by the Travel Channel. Ghosts of former residents are said to inhabit the rooms, which are filled with Victorian furniture, eerie dolls, and squeegees for ectoplasm cleanup.

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