Finding the right hotel is paramount to any successful trip. Whether it’s for business or pleasure, where you fall asleep and wake up in the evening and morning can truly define the experience you’re going to have.
“Businesses are moving to Santa Clarita, and those that started here are choosing to expand,” said Holly Schroeder, CEO and president of SCVEDC. “And they’re looking for more amenities to take care of their (traveling) employees and vendors who come into meet with them.”
It’s not only people wanting to visit Magic Mountain for the weekend anymore, but also business travelers who are looking for a wider variety of experiences and activities.
“Our businesses need those amenities and places for employees hosting clients that might be from out of the region,” she said. “So it’s important for us to have good hotels because they bring good meeting spaces and good restaurants.”
Guest-centered accommodations
It’s often the small things that make the biggest impact when you’re traveling far away from home. So, when looking for where you’ll be spending the time away from the core purpose of your trip, explore hotel accomodations and look for those that are most thoughtfully designed around your needs.
For example, the newly redesigned, all-suite Embassy Suites by Hilton offers the bonuses one might expect in a Valencia hotel, with the two-room suites with separate seating area, complimentary cooked-to-order breakfast, a complimentary evening reception and much more.
A priority for those traveling through or in Santa Clarita needs to be rooting out and discovering those hotels that effectively blur the lines between business and leisure.
Places such as the Hilton Garden Inn Valencia offer convenient access to Magic Mountain and the freeway, a complimentary 24-business center and that much sought after complimentary wifi in all 152 rooms.
Better basics
Waking up well-rested after a long night is a start, but an exceptional breakfast experience can take your day to the next level.
Hotels such as the Hyatt Regency in Valencia now feature upgraded break buffet options that feature regional recipes California eggs benedicts, western omelets, smoked salmon and breakfast wraps.
“Good for your health, our communities and our planet,” reads the menu at the in-house Hyatt restaurant, Greater Pacific. “Fresh local ingredients that reflect the season and the local flavors.”
Hyatt also offers in-room dining that mirrors much of the actual in-restaurant dining and promises that the restaurant they “only serve cage-free eggs, hormone-free milk and naturally cured bacon.”
Lifestyle options, amenities
Whether relaxing with the your morning paper and coffee or mix and mingle following a day’s work, it can be liberating to know you have options outside your hotel room.
No matter the time of day, public areas like a spacious lobby and lounge, 24-hour fitness center or indoor or outdoor pool, can provide a chance to enjoy new scenery.
A number of local Santa Clarita hotels offer amenities that become the necessities for travelers, such as free wifi in rooms, convenient dining options, a business center, remote printing, freshly prepared food offerings available throughout the day and a number of other traveling needs being covered.
Hotels such as the La Quinta Inn and Suites and also the Hampton Inn on the Old Road all offer this level of convenience for a reasonable price.
Thoughtful service
The front desk is often the most veteran members of the hotel staff, and it’s pretty simple to spot a hotel that puts real effort into their guest experience. Checking in feels more like a welcome than process with hosts offering a friendly smile, a greeting in the hallway or a friendly conversation.
A big help to find out about this customer experience before traveling is using the internet much like you would the restaurants you’re going to try for the first time during your Santa Clarita adventures: checking the online reviews.
Visiting Santa Clarita
There are a number of travel sites and review platforms available for your stay in Santa Clarita or anywhere you travel for that matter, but for the best information available that’s specific to Santa Clarita hotels and tourism, officials say the city website is the best option.
Run by City Hall’s Santa Clarita Tourism Office, visitsantaclarita.com bills itself as the best source for pricing out hotels and travel in Santa Clarita, acting as a direct line between you and the local hotel that third-party review and booking sites fail to do, according to Evan Thomason, an economic development associate with the City of Santa Clarita.
“It’s a common misconception that booking through a third-party site will get you a better deal,” said Thomason. “But on the very front page of our site, you can search directly for Santa Clarita hotels and compare all of them. Then you can go directly to book.”
Officials with the Santa Clarita Tourism Office say the site compares prices and informs potential tourists and visitors about the smorgasbord of options Santa Clarita has to offer, such as open space trails, theme parks and seasonal events. It also shows how staying in Santa Clarita means being at the “gateway to Los Angeles.”
So whether you’re visiting Santa Clarita for business or pleasure, for the city or beaches, visiting family or attending a wedding, Thomason said, the SCV hotel industry and visitsantaclarita.com have you covered.
“We’re a great jumping off point for people wanting to discover Southern California,” Thomason said. “We’re 20 minutes of so from Universal Studios and the city and Ventura Beach is just down the 126.”
