For this year’s Christmas, my family and Bradley decided to go to the hottest part of California – San Diego. For those of you who don’t know, December in California is a lot like summertime in most places on earth. I mean, we had ice cream for almost all 3 meals a day. But be careful though, the nights do get quite cold.
We stayed at Fairmont Grand Del Mar in both One King Bed and Two Queen Beds Fairmont Room. Our bedrooms were connected with a view of the court yard on the first floor so it was very convenient for us to stroll the grounds of the hotel, we just had to open our back doors and go into the gardens. The hotel offers many activities: we had yoga/ pilates in the mornings at the wellness center, swam in both resort pools in the afternoons, and roasted s’mores around the outdoor fire pit at nights.
Every Christmas, the hotel hosts a Winter Wonderland set up in front of the hotel. It had an ice skating rink, carousel, Ferris wheel, s’mores roasting around fire pits, among others. In addition to enjoying their carnival foods as well as gourmet brunch at the hotel, we also had dinner at San Diego’s Only MICHELIN-Starred restaurant – Addison.
About 20 minutes before our reservation, a golf cart was sent to take us to a restaurant on top of the hill, Addison. The restaurant is remarkable with Mediterranean architecture that looks straight out of a fairytale book overlooking the Los Peñasquitos Canyon. The exquisite food and exceptional customer service are nothing I’ve ever tasted nor seen before. The menu consists of a TEN-COURSE TASTING MENU for $275 per person and a FIVE-COURSE TASTING MENU for $185 per person. We had the 5-course tasting menu and we all thought we would leave hungry like we do after every Michelin-starred restaurants we’ve been to so far, but this was not the case here. Next time, I am going back for the 10-course tasting menu. Remember to book reservations early in the day, preferably, as soon as the restaurant opens as you would want to leave as much time as you can finishing the courses while enjoying the sunset from their dramatic arch windows. For reservations, click here.
