Where to stay in San Diego???

[jfelcie]

We are arriving 3 days early to enjoy the San Diego Zoo, Wild Animal Park and other local attractions. We want to stay near the peir and are hoping that we do not have to rent a car. Is there a trolley? Any suggestions. We will be arriving Oct 12th. Thanks

[Chucksta63]

We are arriving 3 days early to enjoy the San Diego Zoo, Wild Animal Park and other local attractions. We want to stay near the peir and are hoping that we do not have to rent a car. Is there a trolley? Any suggestions. We will be arriving Oct 12th. Thanks

I lived ther for 12 years you'll want a car!!! You will want to stay in Hotel Circle in Mission Valley you will only be 10 min from the ocean!! If you get a place down by the ocean you will still need a car.. San Diego is a BIG Place... You can get cheeper hotels inland or East of I-5

:)

[vacationaddict]

I have lived in SD for over 30 years. I agree you will need to rent a car in order to see all the places you want to. I would stay closer to downtown. Not sure what your budget is for a hotel. Try Expedia.com.

[dsclark]

SOme of the offerings on Hotel Circle are less than ok. The Town and Country is run down, the Hanalei is real nosiy... the best out of the bunch is the Best Western Seven Seas. Not only are they among the cheapest there, they offer FREE (that's right) FREE shuttle service from the airport. Not only that, if you ask them, they can also give you a free lift to the zoo or Sea World. Give them a call.

If you don't want to rent, they are your best bet. Otherwise everything is too far apart to even cab it. The animal park is way far away and I don't think 7 seas will take you there (but the zoo might be doable).

[wigginout66]

The rooms are basic, but clean. Good value for the money. Don't eat at the hotel restaurant, it is expensive and the food is not very good. They do have a shuttle that will take you to the port and local attractions, sign up early for the port transport. I agree you would be better to rent a car for a day or two, it will allow you to operate on your own schedule, then you can shuttle or cab from the hotel to the port. I think the cab was like $14-$18 not including tip.

 

If you want to spend a bit more there is a Holiday Inn right across the street from the port. With a bayview you can watch the ships come in. This place is also pretty close to the seaport village and downtown.

 

However you end up spending your time in San Diego you'll have a good time.

 

Enjoy. :)

[bob&france]

We did exactly the same as what you are planning,but last Feb. arriving three days early.We stayed at the Holiday Inn Bayside which is in the Bay but you cannot see the ships.therefore they are much cheaper than the Hilday Inn nearer the port.They have free shuttle to and from the Airport , the Cruise terminal and the Greyhound Bus terminal. Arriving from the east coast we had a three to four hour time change which had us up around 3:00 the first morning. The first Greyhound from SanDiego to LA is at around 6:00 am and the 2:30 hour Bus ride is rather sceanic. Arriving in LA by 9:30ish we took a quick city bus into the downtown area and hopped on one of those famous tours....checked out all the downtown attractions {Grunman's chinese theater,Kodac theater etc...} hopped the return Greyhound at about 6:00 PM and was sipping a cold beer back in the room by 9:00ish...if you book your Grey Hound tickets a few days early it will only cost around 30$ round trip for both.the next day we did the San diego trolly tour...a real must..you get to see all the main points of San diego...The trolley had about 20 or so stops all around San diego which you can get off at each one with another trolley passing every half hour.And then the Trolley drops you off right back at the Holiday Inn.....You are a stroll from either same fast food places or a couple of restaurants,one on site.....that left the third day to kinda wind down and enjoy the free miniput,pool,billiards and enjoy a drink at the onsite bar...not to mention the free internet in the Business center.....if you need some more accurate info,rjsfq@hotmail.com

[jfelcie]

Thanks for all of your help. I thought we would need a car for The Wild Animal park. I like the idea of seeing the ships dock. I can't wait!!!

[LornaT]

We stayed downtown in April for our Spirit 4/2 sailing at the Best Western Bayside Inn (being painted and stuff but nice comfortable rooms) in room 1109. Rooms include Refrigerators, Coffee Makers, Microwave, Blowdryer, Iron and Ironing Board.

 

A free Continental type Buffet Breakfast was included along with some drinks at Happy Hour (Restuarant is just past the parking garage), staff was nice and helpful, free shuttle to and from both the airport and pier. They do have a cruise, sleep and park special available for folks driving in and wanting to leave their car (covered parking). At 5:00 am on the morning of April 2nd, my daughter and Mom woke me to their excited chatter about seeing the Oosterdam coming into port, and then about 6:00 the Spirit could be seen coming into the channel. From our room we were able to see the Spirit dock straight ahead of us, it looked like it was going to run up and over Harbor Drive right into the Holiday Inn.

 

The train station is just about a block away from the hotel also, and I suppose you can get the trolley and buses there also.

[BlueHerons]

Not in hotel circle but I love the Manchester Grand Hyatt. Right in front of Seaport Village and a stones throw to Petco Park, Horton Plaza, Gaslamp District, and tons of other shopping and dining. Sans car, it is a great place for walking.

[SanFranBayCruiser]

Welcome to California - yes you'll need a car. Lots of hotels on hotel circle but, if you want a treat, consider booking the Hotel del Coronado (http://www.hoteldel.com/) It's a great hotel with a lot of history!

[cruzmaniac]

A large group of us are going on the Carnival Spirit Oct. 31st. We are coming in to San Diego two days early and will be staying at the Holiday Inn on the Bay. In April we visited San Diego to check out some hotels for our group and decided on the HI. It has free transportation to/from the airport and cruise ship. Although it is right across the street we don't really want to drag all our stuff across a busy street like that.

 

Loved the hotel bar, and the restaraunt for breakfast. Anthony's fish gratto is right across the street. Trolley is about a block walk. There is a Ruths' Chris Steakhouse in the hotel also.

 

We loved San Diego!