California dreamin’? You can make hotel bargains come true

The scenario: Busy, hard-working Californian needs a weekend getaway. He thinks the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort in Dana Point sounds good. Web site touts picturesque views, elegant guest rooms, gracious service. Price: $375 a night.

Busy, hard-working Californian searches about 15 minutes north in Newport Beach. There he finds another resort, not as luxurious but pleasant. Web site promises picturesque views, comfortable guest rooms, gracious service. Price: $33 a night.

Such are the joys and pains of planning an affordable getaway. Joy, because Californians have a host of vacation choices close to home. Pain, because so many of these choices are expensive, especially on weekends. (More on that $33 anomaly later.)

Travel in California is expected to increase slightly this year, partly because of residents vacationing in-state. Of the 326 million trips taken in California last year, 85% were by residents sticking close to home, a 4% increase from 2001 that the California Division of Tourism attributes largely to lingering concerns about war, terrorism and the economy.

Even the $375-a-night luxury resorts that have opened in the last few years along Southern California’s coast are doing well, says Bruce Baltin, vice president of industry analyst PKF Consulting. “They’re not discounting rates on weekends,” he says, “and they’re selling out.”

How demand will affect room prices is tough to gauge.

Laurie Armstrong, vice president of public relations for the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau, likens predicting prices this year to “reading a crystal ball while it’s rolling across the floor. Everything can change in a blink of an eye.”

We’re all familiar with Motel 6 and its budget-motel brethren, which, Baltin says, fall in the under-$85 category. In moderate to luxury lodgings, however, price variations can be huge. Here are money-saving strategies for travelers seeking those rooms:

Go in shoulder season. Of course the desert is less expensive in summer, when average high temperatures soar to 108 in Palm Springs. Last year in the peak months of February through April, when the high is about 80, the nightly room rate averaged $150, according to the Palm Springs Desert Resorts Convention & Visitors Authority. But in November, when temperatures have cooled only a couple of degrees, average room rates drop to $115.

December is even better. That’s when I booked a room at the Lodge at Rancho Mirage for $125 a night. The average weekend rate in May for the least expensive rooms: $244.

Think about Santa Catalina Island in May, the Central Coast in October and Santa Barbara in March. The weather may not be as glorious, but your pocketbook will be plumper.

Escape to the city. The decrease in business travel affects metropolitan areas most. Room rates in San Francisco have dropped with hotel occupancy, according to PKF Consulting. Average hotel rates in July and August (typically peak season) decreased from about $176 a night in 2000 to about $136 two years later.

The fall convention season, usually a high spot, was weaker than in years past. Hoteliers filled rooms by cutting prices.

Commute to bed. In small but popular destinations such as Santa Barbara and Monterey, the best lodgings can be breathtakingly expensive, and “mid-scale” lodgings are pricey for what you get. When I scanned Web sites for Santa Barbara reservations in early May, upscale hotels ran $190 to $490. Budget motels were $135 and up.

But about 25 miles south in Ventura, I found a Marriott by the beach with a nightly rate of $115 for the same weekend. It’s a former Clarion that completed an $8.2-million renovation in February. A thrifty traveler intent on spending days and evenings in Santa Barbara could high-tail it to Ventura at night.

See a deal, grab it. Hotels offer short-term promotions to shore up bookings during slow months. Wyndham ran a 72-hour Internet-only sale in January, so I made reservations for March at its Carmel Valley Ranch resort. The price for an 810-square-foot suite with two fireplaces and Jacuzzi tub: $129 a night for the first three nights, free on the fourth. Weekend Web rates were running about $240 a night for April, $340 for May.

Loews, Hyatt and other chains frequently run short-term promotions too, so check their Web sites often and sign up for their e-mail alerts. Ask about auto club or senior discounts. Also check www.smarterlivin.com, www.digitalcity.com/travel and www.travelzoo.com.

Check out the new guys. When the J.W. Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa in Phoenix opened in December, I booked an introductory rate of $99 for January. Now the lowest rates for weekends in May are $259 to $329.

A new hotel can have drawbacks: uneven service, dripping faucets, locks that don’t. But these may be minor inconveniences for an experience that you might not otherwise get to enjoy.

Get savvy on Priceline. You need time and patience to make Priceline worthwhile. (Seek tips at www.biddingfortravel.com.)

My successful weekend bids have included the Westin at San Diego’s Horton Plaza for $55 and three stays in San Francisco’s Park Hyatt for $58 to $62. In each case, the luck of the Priceline draw determined the hotel I got, but the hotels proved satisfying given the savings.

Which brings me back to my $33 Newport Beach room, a Priceline buy for a one-night stay last weekend. It’s the Hyatt Newporter, an agreeable campus of courtyards and rooms that may not lavish luxury but does deliver comfort. The lowest prices I could find booking through the hotel directly were a “Hyatt.com rate” of $116 and a senior rate of $99. I got my room for $27 plus a $5.95 Priceline transaction fee.

The biggest caveat? No changes, no cancellations. Turns out I couldn’t make it to the Newporter as planned, so I lost $32.95. But that’s the beauty of bargain hunting: If you find gems often enough, you don’t mind an occasional lump of coal.

Assistant editor Craig Nakano coordinates Weekend Escape for the Travel section. Send comments to him at the L.A. Times, Travel section, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012; craig.nakano@latimes.com.