Hi, I’m Katie.

I help people plan vacations to San Diego. Through my network, I also give people access to discounted theme park tickets (including exclusive promo codes) and value-added perks at luxury hotels worldwide.

We live in La Jolla, a seaside community in San Diego. I started La Jolla Mom as a place to write about lifestyle and motherhood topics (hence the name). It ballooned into a travel business after I started to include tips from our lives as ex-pats in Hong Kong and London — we often flew with a baby and lived in a luxury hotel.

Next, readers started to ask for San Diego travel advice, and we became a top San Diego family travel resource. We have four of the world’s best theme parks and are close to others in California.

My family still travels a lot and stays in nice hotels that I review. I love hotels and have a keen eye for what a stay should be like.

So that’s why you’ll mostly find four main topics woven throughout the site: San Diego vacations, theme parks, luxury hotel reviews, and recaps of our personal travels worldwide — with a handful of lifestyle tips sprinkled in.

My Services

My Tips Will Help You Plan San Diego Vacations & Travel Well for Less

There are FOUR main ways that I can help

San Diego Vacations

There’s no better San Diego resource.

No one keeps tabs on things to do in San Diego for kids (and adults), local events, how to save money on sightseeing, and hotel news better than I do. Whether you’re a tourist or resident in search of ideas, you’ll benefit from the content on this site put together with my expertise and feedback from our thousands of clients.

I have perks at these San Diego hotels.

Theme Parks

Discounted tickets and tips.

I have lots of tips on how to maximize your day at theme parks and for buying tickets. For some, the best deal is through my aRes Travel site. I have exclusive discounts to San Diego Zoo and San Diego Safari Park that are so good they are unpublished (grab the promo code with password lajollamom).

Find discount theme park tickets.

Luxury Hotels

I know what a stay should be like.

I review luxury hotels and as an Independent Affiliate of Cadence in La Jolla, I can offer you perks when you book into them through Virtuoso and other preferred hotel partner programs. Did you know that pretty much every major five-star brand has a VIP program? You have access to them for free through me.

Find a luxury hotel.

Advice on Places We Travel to Regularly

Nice hotels and things to do worldwide

We’re creatures of habit. Sure, we’ve seen the pyramids and gone swimming with pigs, but we tend to return over and over again to our favorite major destinations. (We’ve also been to every Disney Resort and Universal theme park worldwide.)

Hong Kong (we lived here — I have A LOT of HK advice) | London (we lived here, too) | Singapore | Paris | Beijing | Tokyo | Hawaii | Shanghai | Mexico

Client Testimonials

I am SO happy I booked through Katie Dillion! It was so easy, didn’t cost any more than booking through the hotel and we had VIP perks, upgrades, and just felt so welcomed! Can’t wait to use your booking services again in the future!
KELLY G.
Hotel del Coronado, March 2024
During our stay at Pendry Hotel, we were so pleased with all of the perks we received by booking with LaJolla Mom (room view upgrade, $60 breakfast credit, $100 resort credit, wine & chocolate strawberries). We shared your information with several guests and staff members. All were unaware of your service and said they would use it themselves for future visits and recommend you to any visiting friends or family.
Donny G.
Pendry San Diego, November 2023
La Jolla Mom is the best travel advisor for luxury hotels in San Diego!
BrANDON T.
Park Hyatt Aviara, February 2024 (and other stays)
The welcome snacks and note were a real treat. The room was beautiful and comfortable. The VIP benefits were the cherry on top. We will definitely be booking through you again. Thank you so much.
Leigh Ann C.
THE US GRANT, March 2024
Katie, you were a joy to work with and we really appreciated the perks that came with booking through you. I will recommend you to others heading to SD.
LJM Client
The Seabird Resort, March 2024
Your services were fantastic. Thank you for all of the information and tips! We knew exactly what to expect for our stay.
LJM Client
Hotel del Coronado, December 2023

In the Press

A few fun appearances. Katie has also written extensively about San Diego for USA Today 10Best and Pacific San Diego (now San Diego Union-Tribune).

Frequently Asked Questions

Some of what hits my inbox – your questions may be answered here.

Virtuoso is a global network of agencies that specializes in luxury and experiential travel and partners with over 1,800 of the best hotels, cruise lines, tour operators, and more worldwide. It is how I have been booking my own travel for years.

If you like hotels, you should be searching my Virtuoso site to get an idea of the available perks at no extra cost to you.

Technically, yes. However, I only work with hotels and do not plan itineraries from start to finish.

If you are looking for the latter, I can definitely connect you with someone. If you are the type of traveler who handles your own airfare, tours, and itinerary but needs five-star hotel advice, we’re a fit.

No. In fact, you will likely save money by using it due to value-added amenities that can include complimentary breakfast for two, resort credits, spa credits, room upgrades, and more.

aRes Travel is a San Diego based (which is important to me) authorized ticket seller for major theme parks across the country.

Through them, I sell millions of dollars worth of tickets per year, saving readers lots and lots of money without headaches. Yes, they are very legitimate otherwise I wouldn’t work with them — there are other options out there.

No. There is some sponsored content on this site from a time when I did accept it, but it is only from brands that are a good fit.

No. Please do not email me with guests post or link insertion requests.

Yes. If you would like to run an ad on La Jolla Mom, it’s very easy to do so here. The ads on this site pay for the team of people and resources I need to keep it up and running — and, most importantly, they help keep this content FREE.

It’s very simple. I have to trust and like the product or service. Some links to these products or services are affiliate links which means that if you make a purchase, I might be compensated. This doesn’t drive recommendations — life is too short to endure the hassles associated with mentioning inferior products.

No. Many blogs are fueled by free or paid trips. This is not one of them.

The vast majority of the hotel reviews and content on this site are from personal trips. I have in the past accepted complimentary travel but I learned that I don’t like the constraints and am more comfortable sharing what I want when I want. I like to put my money where my mouth is.

We are very lucky to have called Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong home for four years. We return often and I firmly believe it’s one of the best luxury hotels in the world (people that I send there also agree). This is why we primarily stay in Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.

It depends on your budget, preferred location, preferred room type, and location. You will find the answer on this site. The most popular lists include:

All of my hotel lists and reviews are on this page.

If you purchased theme park tickets through my aRes Travel ticket page, they were delivered to you by email. If you can’t find them, don’t worry. You can call my dedicated line at (888) 795-3715 to have them resent.

If your tickets are blocked, they were flagged by aRes Travel fraud systems. This could be because the billing information on file with the credit card doesn’t match what you submitted (typos happen). You should receive a link and instructions to verify two small microdeposits on the credit card you use to buy the tickets. The tickets will be automatically unblocked after you submit the microdeposit amounts. If you still need help, call (888) 795-3715.

If it is after hours, send a message to tickets@lajollamom.com and I’ll see if I can get through to anyone by email.

No. In order to keep our hotel booking services free, we handle communication by email only.

Get In Touch

If you have questions about hotels, discounted tickets, press inquiries, or anything else, here’s how to reach us.

CONTACT US

Top photo credit: Natalie in San Diego for Flytographer.