On the plus side, the hotel is situated very close to I-90 so it would be convenient for road tripping. I give them a star just for having one bedroom suites. There's quite a few restaurants and groceries in the area. It's a great jumping off point for a lot of different activities with a car.
The room itself was okay. The small living area had a badly placed flat screen TV, kitchenette, breakfast table and sofa with barely any room left for the stroller. It was separated from the bathroom/bedroom by a door. A vent allowed a bit too much noise between the room. On the plus side, the bathroom door was right inside the room so it was easy to get to it without waking sleeping little ones further in the room.
Dragging this rating down is the parking lot is shared with a somewhat loud club/bar. On Saturday night, there was a barrier set up to keep spaces open for hotel guests -- a welcome gesture but hardly a family friendly environment.
I will always remember my experience at this hotel for one reason: it solidified my resolve to always bring our own travel crib. The attempts to get a hotel crib were laughable. Several attempts were made. When we finally succeeded in getting one, it was the most rickety metal thing I'd seen yet, and it creaked loudly every time the baby moved, waking him and us up. We ended up borrowing the pack and play from the family we were visiting.
We will be visiting this area often but this hotel is unlikely to get our business again.

Sandwiched between strip malls and tract housing, this park surprises. It's a little difficult to see the playground behind the tennis courts from the small strip of park at the street. On the other side, a large multi-use field was acting as a soccer field. The map shows a lake to the east, but we didn't get that far.

The playground has rocking horses and cars on springs, the standard + baby swing set and a climbing structure with three types of slides and smallish steps up. It was open underneath and older kids were hanging out in the shade.

I must admit, I'm not used to the commercial level of playgrounds I see in this region, but I guess it means they have the budget for new equipment. In this instance, this playground felt "Name Brand" in that every item with made by a large national toy manufacturer. As a result, all the structures are plastic but new and in good condition.

If there's an onshore wind, be prepared with an extra layer or two as the breeze can be very chilly. I bet it'll be great on a warm September afternoon or if you've got a kite. Regardless of the season, I've never been to this large aquatic themed playground and seen it crowded. I'm sure the industrial feel of the neighborhood has something to do with it. When we drove by the first time, we almost missed it -- the main play structure is in the shape of a ship and it kind of blended in to the marina behind it. It is easy to get in and out of the parking lot now that we know where we are headed. I also found it a nice way to stretch our legs on a trek down 880.

In addition to the ship structure, there's a long curved cement arch that has railings and slides out at regular intervals. Also, there's a few communal activity tables, water faucets, and spring mounted rocking things. My tot had a good time at 15 mo without me pulling my hair out. The sand seemed clean, though it is not enclosed. The large bathrooms and outdoor sinks seem helpful for anyone from fisherman off the marina, the homeless or children with muddy hands, but everyone seemed cool and kept to themselves.

The Deluxe King rooms are a modest size but had some noteworthy features. There are two, which share one wall, and otherwise don't share walls with any other hotel room. However, they are above a couple of parking spaces, so are a hair closer to the highway, across from the vending machines and stairs (no elevator). Light sleepers beware yet we didn't have a problem. The reason I'll come back to this room however is the perfectly sized and positioned open closet area in the entryway, which fit our Bjorn travel crib perfectly.
The buffet room is small but looked comfortable for the few that got seats. The staff was really friendly. I watched them call other hotels in the area to help out some walk-ins w/o reservations on a very busy weekend. The hotel is very easy to get to from CA92 and is directly on Highway 1. In towns like this therecan be a lot of last minute travel plans made by Bay Area locals. Booking a week or two in advance can make a big difference in what you get. There are a lot of boutique hotels and B&B's where you can get closer to the ocean or the cute downtown Main Street, which I'd check first to be honest. But if they don't have a great deal, this hotel is a good backup to get you to the ocean air.

We got the King with two rooms. It is huge, handicap accessible (though, this wasn't noted in the original room description), with the bathroom and whirlpool tub in the bedroom area. A sturdy door separated the two rooms which were very large compared to most hotel rooms I've stayed in. Between the space and layout, it was easy to setup our travel crib for the toddlers sleeping space (he doesn't sleep well if he can see us). We would absolutely get this room again.

In keeping with the brand, the kitchen tools provided were minimal, with terribly wasteful plastic wrapped plastic cups provided. The surfaces were tall so it was easy to keep things out of little hands. The staff was very friendly, recommending playgrounds nearby. Standard Holiday Inn Express breakfast buffet of a warm case for eggs, sausage, biscuits and gravy, plus fruit, cereals, yogurt and milk, and breads and pastries, with highchairs provided.
Area: Strip mall heaven, but Colorado does good parks, and there are some nice ones nearby. A variety of restaurant options in driving and walking distance. Whole Foods about a mile away if that's interesting to you (shopping for organics can be difficult the farther north you go in this region, so we often stop at this nice Whole Foods to stock up on groceries).