Holiday Inn, San Diego

[nchank]

Has anyone stayed there recently? According to the web site it has been nicely upgraded. Will there shuttle take us to the pier? Restaurants in the hotek?

Thanks for the info.

[RuthC]

Which Holiday Inn? There's three of them.
The Holiday Inn on the Bay is directly across the street from the pier. There's a Ruth's Chris Steak House on the grounds, and a restaurant/lounge off the lobby. There's a shuttle from the airport and to the pier. I've stayed there, and would stay there again if I were in the neighborhood. :D

There's also a Holiday Inn Bayside. That property is further away, although it's also not too far from the airport. There is an airport shuttle. When I stayed there it had no restaurant, but there was a family-style one next door.

I don't know anything about the other Holiday Inn in San Diego.

[Hugh0906]

Has anyone stayed there recently? According to the web site it has been nicely upgraded. Will there shuttle take us to the pier? Restaurants in the hotek?

Thanks for the info.

There was also an English Pub type place as well as a small bakery, breakfast place with a patio overlooking the street, that was good for breakfast. We ate in both, and both were adequate.

They will also take you across the street with your luggage in the shuttle if you desire.

This was as of March 08, and I speak of the same hotel as RuthC.

Hugh in Dallas

[funlovin'cruiser]

I just booked the Holiday Inn (the second one that Ruth talks about) on Hotwire.com for $89.12 total with taxes for 3 people (it was listed at $69 per night for 3 people before taxes) for the night before boarding the Oosty on 11/15 (Friday night). As you may or may not know, Hotwire doesn't tell you the name of the hotel before you book, therefore I just selected the 2.5 star, downtown/harbor for $69 ($89.12 total) and it turned out to be the Holiday Inn. Pretty good, considering that breakfast is included :-)

[~Nereus~]

This is the one across from the pier taken from another hotel.

We have stayed at the Holiday Inn Downtown which had a shuttle from the airport and to the port.

Holiday Inn Bayside is further away... you can find a map on Google by entering San Diego Holiday Inn.

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb145/XatSea/Rollcalls/MercurySAN.jpg

[Northshorecruisers]

We stayed at the Holiday Inn on the Bay 2 weeks ago. We love seeing our ship come in.
Didn't do Ruth Chris but ate most of our meals at Elephant & Castle, which is the restaurant just off the lobby - good food.
This is the 2nd time we've stayed there pre-cruise and will stay there again next time we cruise from San Diego.

[jbhcw]

We stayed at the Holiday in on the Bay about three weeks ago. Great property with the location being everything. We ate at the little Deli in front of the hotel for breakfast, it was very good. Also had lunch at the Elephant and Castle Pub, ate outside, food okay. And... ate one night at Anthony's Fish Grotto across the street where I had the local lobster which was very good, that is a seasonal dish.

The very best thing is being so close to your ship, I absolutely loved it:D Also kept checking the price over the months and it did go down.

We also just walked our luggage across the street to the terminal, so if you can handle your own luggage it's the easliest embarcation ever.

[noblepa]

We stayed at the Holiday Inn across from the pier, in March of this year. I think we were on the ninth or tenth floor of the north tower.

Here are a couple of pics of our ship, the Dawn Princess docking. I'm not normally an early riser, but I was still on Ohio time, so my body thought it was 9:00, rather than 6:00. Besides, I was excited that THIS WAS THE DAY!!!

I simply went to the Holiday Inn website and booked from there. I did not use any of the hotel bidding sites. IIRC, our room, facing the bay was $199 per night. It was about $20 cheaper on the other side of the hotel.

The hotel does provide a shuttle to the pier. You could walk, but that could be problematic if you have a lot of luggage. We did walk there the day before our cruise (we flew in two days ahead) and it is literally a five minute walk from the hotel's front door. The traffic on the street can be a problem, especially on sailing days. The hotel doesn't charge for the shuttle, but we did tip the driver a few bucks.

You can probably walk it faster than the shuttle can drive it. He has to wait until everybody has boarded the bus and all the luggage has been loaded. Then, since it is a divided highway, he must turn right, away from the pier, go to the end of the block, wait for the traffic light (and traffic), make a u-turn back to the terminal. He did take us inside the security gate and almost to the terminal door. He probably drove an eigth of a mile and ended up less than 200 yards from where we started.

Paul

[scopewest]

We stayed at HI on the Bay in April. Walked across the street to the ship. Counting the time waiting for the light to change so we could cross, it took five minutes. Unless you've got a ton of luggage or walking would be a problem, I wouldn't shuttle over. DH is already planning our next cruise out of SD so he can stay at the hotel again!

[Hutch&Pat]

We stayed there ... walked from the ship earlier this month. If you're interested in the zoo, check into their shuttle .... it was great. Also, they even took us down to the Fish Market restaurant and picked us up when the folks we were with called ... couldn't have been more pleasant. Our room was nice but overlooked the city .... should have upgraded for the water view.
Pat

[pilotdane]

We were there in late September. The room was small but everything was in good condition and appeared to be recently upgraded. There are several convenience marts within short walking distance to buy last minute items (shampoo, soda, wine, sunscreen...). There is a wide, well marked cross walk to get over to the pier. Just remember to press the button to stop the traffic.

Here is a view facing the bay. A great way to start your cruise.
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee177/pilotdane/Panama%20Cruise/Day%201%20hotel%20shots/BalconySunset.jpg