Laguna, Huntington or Newport Beach?

[leftwheel]

I've agreed to a "senior trip" for my dd in April and she's chosen DL and southern California. We visit WDW a couple of times each year but she has never been to DL or California for that matter. We'll save DL for the second half of the trip but would like to stay in a beach resort for the first few days. I think we'd like to stay at Laguna, Huntington or Newport Beach but have two questions:

1. Which of these 3 beach areas would appeal most to my 18 year old daughter?
2. If money were no object, which hotel would most appeal to her?

 

[CoolPool]

Some thoughts:
1) Is shopping an important recreational activity? If so, I'd vote Newport Beach. See Fashion Island, South Coast Plaza inland nearby in Costa Mesa, Balboa shops, oh so many more.
2) Boy watching? Toss up. Probably Huntington or Laguna.
Other than those activities, I forgot what being 18 was like.

Hyatt Huntington Beach is nice. Balboa Bay Club and Resort is nice. Naturally the Ritz Carlton in Laguna is quite nice. One thing about SoCal is there is High End if you want to pay for it. There are nice properties around both Fashion Island and South Coast Plaza. DLR's Grand Californian would be perfect when spending time there.

 

[tmatthews]

We visited Huntington and Laguna last April. Hyatt at the Huntington was beautiful and had a bridge right to the beach. We liked Laguna better however. (DD15). I really didn't see any hotels that I remember...we traveled from Anaheim.

 

[leftwheel]

Thank you for the insight. Shopping isn't necessarily THE most important activity - but feeling part of the "action" and having a variety of activities available will be fairly important to my daughter. I doubt she'll want to do much boy watching with her mother though!

Assuming that it will be fairly easy to drive to all 3 towns and beaches no matter where we stay, maybe I should make the decision on the basis of what the different hotels have to offer. I've heard about the Hyatt in Huntington Beach before, and I see it mentioned on these boards in several places. I think I'm leaning in that direction.

 

[KerTggr]

Have you thought much about Santa Monica? It's pretty right in the middle of the action and sometimes they have movie premiers at the theatre in the downtown area.

 

[audrabolster]

I agree, Newport is great if shopping is important. However, with the teens and whatnot, Laguna Beach might be more popular because they filmed the MTV show there. And it's a very cute little town.