San Diego - places to stay

We are thinking if arriving in San Diego a few days before our cruise to see the Zoo, Seaworld, USS Midway, etc... Does anyone know where we should be looking for a hotel in San Diego? Airport shuttle, cruise shuttle, near transport to Zoo, near transport to Seaworld, reasonable price, safe neighborhood,...

If you look down the board there are many threads about the port area, with 5 or 6 hotels, the Gas Light district...several possibilities. Embassy Suites, about 5 blocks from the port is our favorite.

Even without a shuttle most cab rides are in the $10-$20 range.

taxifarefinder.com is a good resource.

There is a hotel directly across from the terminal. Hopefully someone will be along with the name.

We are thinking if arriving in San Diego a few days before our cruise to see the Zoo, Seaworld, USS Midway, etc... Does anyone know where we should be looking for a hotel in San Diego? Airport shuttle, cruise shuttle, near transport to Zoo, near transport to Seaworld, reasonable price, safe neighborhood,...

You've got lots of options...There are countless hotels...

...and several good areas for hotels...

With multiple days, being across from the pier should be the last of your concerns...it is easy to get to the pier from lots of areas.

My preference would be to be close to restaurants, shopping, nightlife and attractions...So, for that, my first choice would be to stay in the Gaslamp District--just south of downtown, near the Horton Plaza...lots of restaurants and nightlife...the HOHO bus passes through...easy to get to all the attractions...and a very short taxi ride to the pier...

Or, go a little south of there, along the water...near Petco Park, the Marina and Seaport Village...

Another area...with some reasonably priced choices is Mission Valley/Hotel Circle...not quite as charming as being in the Gaslamp...it's sort of dull suburbia--with shopping malls and freeways...but lots of hotels...and easy to get places from there...

Have fun...

Are you going to rent a car? If not, confirm transportation options if you're staying in the Hotel Circle.

Sounds like I have lots of options.

We don't plan to rent a car.

We will look into at all the possibilities.

Thanks so much!

Without a car stay in Gaslamp district. Walking distance to Midway and cruise port if you don't mind dragging bags.

Gaslamp Quarter or Marina area is best. You can take a city bus to Balboa Park or the Zoo, or even Sea World (which I avoid). Cabs are also an option, or Uber if you do that. The San Diego Trolley serves the Gaslamp and Marina area, and you can use this to get to Old Town which has some old historic areas and decent places to eat as well. You can also take it to two of our larger shopping centers (Fashion Valley and Mission Valley). Parking downtown is expensive and hard to find, so best to avoid getting a rental car unless you decide to stay in Mission Valley/Hotel Circle area instead.

If you want to take in the Zoo's Safari Park (formerly the Wild Animal Park) or beach areas such as La Jolla, Del Mar, or taking in any of the Native American casinos, then consider renting a car.

Gaslamp Quarter or Marina area is best. You can take a city bus to Balboa Park or the Zoo, or even Sea World (which I avoid). Cabs are also an option, or Uber if you do that. The San Diego Trolley serves the Gaslamp and Marina area, and you can use this to get to Old Town which has some old historic areas and decent places to eat as well. You can also take it to two of our larger shopping centers (Fashion Valley and Mission Valley). Parking downtown is expensive and hard to find, so best to avoid getting a rental car unless you decide to stay in Mission Valley/Hotel Circle area instead.

Thank you - we will definitely search for places in Gaslamp or Marina areas. This helps narrow it down and gives us better peace of mind that we are picking the better area for what we would like to experience.

Thank you:)

Try the Wyndham San Diego Bayside - it's right across the street from the cruise ship terminal. You can wheel your luggage across the street and get right on the ship !!

We stayed at the Wyndam San Diego Bayside in the fall of 2012 when it was a Holiday Inn. We couldn't get into our preferred hotel so booked this property. While some reviews had commented on noise from rail tracks we were on the bay side of the hotel and had absolutely no problems with noise at all.

We've stayed at the downtown Embassy Suites, and actually liked it better about ten years ago. The last time we stayed there (spring of 2012) there seemed to be disconnect between the breakfast folks and the front desk in that the breakfast folks were totally unprepared for the fact that it was spring break time for some school districts (the hotel was full of families with young kids). The breakfast lines were long, long, long.

Our current favorite San Diego hotel is the San Diego Hilton Bayfront. Love the location along the bay within easy walking distance to the restaurants at Seaport Village.

Don't bother staying year the airport. The airport is actually quite close to downtown so why not enjoy being downtown instead of stranded out at the airport. Plenty of great hotels in the area. Choose somewhere near Gaslamp Quarter and you'll be fine.

Try the Wyndham San Diego Bayside - it's right across the street from the cruise ship terminal. You can wheel your luggage across the street and get right on the ship !!

+1 - stayed there in October prior to our cruise and were very happy with it - we had a view out across to the cruise terminal and awoke to our ship, Crystal Symphony moored across the street

It's an easy walk to the centre of the city and to the tram station