Where are the best areas to stay in San Diego?
Well, let me ask it another way, which are the areas to stay away from that may be run down or have higher crime? I’m interested in seeing alot of the cultural attractions, museums, and the zoo, and someone told me that I should stay near Balboa park. Another person said stay in the mission valley area. Which is a better area, or are there even better areas? Thanks.
You definitely need a car-San Diego is a commuter city. With that in mind, you also have more options for where to stay. It all depends on what you’re looking for, but the majority of the culture/museum sites will be within a 15 minute drive of the downtown area. The zoo is part of Balboa Park, and there are a number of museums there. Old Town is a good place to go-a heritage-type site, and again, with a car and avoiding traffic, you can do that fairly quickly. The biggest historical sites-the Mission, the Presidio, are in Mission Valley-a good option, although traffic can get fairly congested around there, so you’d want to plan for that. The other option is to go near the beach, and for that, prices vary wildly with the area. Of course, both these areas, Downtown and Mission Valley will have higher rates of run-down-ness and crime than elsewhere in the city, because there are so many people, but it’s not an off-putting amount. Like someone before me said, crime isn’t bad in SD, and most anywhere where we have hotels is going to be pretty safe. If you have a car, are you opposed to the idea of staying inland a bit, or a bit north of downtown and driving into the area? You can probably find cheaper room rates heading out towards East County, and still be fairly accessible–San Diego is very easy to get around on the freeways. I would suggest editing your post here, to give us an idea of your price range/alternate interests like beach or shopping, and if you have any additional thoughts, like you like places where you can go for walks, or you want to see backcountry or hikes. San Diego has it all-a great city.
will you have a car? If no, then near Balboa Park might be good since the zoo and some museums are there.
Otherwise, there are loads of choices depending on your price range and if you want to be near the beach.
You might look into the Old Town area. It has some cultural things to see and is centrally located. It is near the airport, the train and trolley and not too far from the beach.
The trolley will take you downtown and to Mexico. The train runs north up the coast.
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I don’t think you will find that crime is a big issue in San Diego, especially in any area with hotels. With just a few small exceptions there are not rental places in the "bad" parts of town. Better to make your decision based on rates, or other room amenities. If you have a car, anything is in close reach. There aren’t many hotels or motels right at Balboa Park (some B & Bs, the Park Manor Hotel is an exception, but I would avoid that with the construction going on next door now). But downtown is just a mile away and is crawling with choices and is a possible walk. I would not stay in Mission Valley with no car, but it also is packed with choices and is a 5 or 6 min. drive from most anywhere tourists go to, except Mexico and the Wild Animal Park.
La Jolla or Coronado are "better" areas, if you have the bucks, but not necessary. If I had a car, unlimited money, and was interested mostly in the museums and Balboa Park stuff, I would stay at the US Grant downtown or the Hotel Del Coronado, on Coronado Island.
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45 year San Diego Resident.
Best places to stay are Del Mar or La Jolla.
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I love the Mission Beach area. Have stayed at the Bahia and it’s great. Walking distance to a ton of great stuff.
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http://www.bleachlady.com
I would recommend staying near the beach. Mission Beach is great because there’s lots of grassy park areas and miles of beaches. They even have fire rings on the beaches for bonfires. You would need a car to drive to the parks, zoo, and museums.
For some hotel suggestions and more on San Diego go to: http://www.sandiego-romantics.com
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I lived in SD for 40 years. I only lived about four miles from the ocean and one mile to the bay. When my wife and I wanted to get away for awhile we stayed at the Best Western Blue Sea Lodge in Pacific Beach. It’s right on the ocean. It has secured underground parking. Tell them you want room 105 or 107. Everything you need is within walking distance. It is on the corner of Ocean Front Walk and Pacific Beach Drive.
Another nice place is the Catamaran Hotel on Mission Blvd. It is on the bay side about one block away from the Best Western.
You will need a car to get around. The public transportation system is not very good. The attractions around San Diego are spread out and not really walkable. The embarcadero is really nice, but it’s 4-5 miles from Balboa Park. Sea World is 6 miles north of the embarcadero…and so forth. That’s why you need a car.
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Tom, with lots of experience shuttling my out of town relatives and friends around.
like many other california cities it is essential to have a car to really experience it all. our cities aren’t like gotham city or the 2nd city. that being said, look for hotels in the north county as we call it. cities like carlsbad, del mar, encinitas, solana beach, la jolla. it just depends on your budget.
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live here
You definitely need a car-San Diego is a commuter city. With that in mind, you also have more options for where to stay. It all depends on what you’re looking for, but the majority of the culture/museum sites will be within a 15 minute drive of the downtown area. The zoo is part of Balboa Park, and there are a number of museums there. Old Town is a good place to go-a heritage-type site, and again, with a car and avoiding traffic, you can do that fairly quickly. The biggest historical sites-the Mission, the Presidio, are in Mission Valley-a good option, although traffic can get fairly congested around there, so you’d want to plan for that. The other option is to go near the beach, and for that, prices vary wildly with the area. Of course, both these areas, Downtown and Mission Valley will have higher rates of run-down-ness and crime than elsewhere in the city, because there are so many people, but it’s not an off-putting amount. Like someone before me said, crime isn’t bad in SD, and most anywhere where we have hotels is going to be pretty safe. If you have a car, are you opposed to the idea of staying inland a bit, or a bit north of downtown and driving into the area? You can probably find cheaper room rates heading out towards East County, and still be fairly accessible–San Diego is very easy to get around on the freeways. I would suggest editing your post here, to give us an idea of your price range/alternate interests like beach or shopping, and if you have any additional thoughts, like you like places where you can go for walks, or you want to see backcountry or hikes. San Diego has it all-a great city.
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Born and raised San Diegan!
If you have no specific needs( ie price, cabs, etc…) I would say downtown/gaslamp area is tho most hip & fun! Mission Valley is more outside of certain attraction, but certainly not far. Same goes for Hotel Circle, although you will most certainly find the least expensive hotel chains there. If $$ or anything else is no object-I would stay at The Hyatt Manchester Downtown or The Westin Horton Plaza or the San Diego Marina Marriott or the Gaslamp Marriott or the Omni Gaslamp-a great location within walking distance to MANY restaurants, Horton Plaza, Seaport Village, Petco Park, The convention center, etc…..
If you simply want the biggest bang for your moderate buck I would suggest The Marriott’s Residence Inn on Hotel Circle South-free breakfast buffet, free happy hour, spacious rooms & still has a pool, baby pool , and jacuzzi!
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