San Diego - Motel advice needed

[D4]

We're staying in San Diego 2 nights before our summer Legend cruise and one night after. I've been looking into hotels and San Diego is very expensive on summer weekends!

Holiday Inn on the Bay was my first choice until I saw the prices. We're a family of 4 and cruising during peak season makes the trip cost plenty. We want a nice clean place in a safe neighborhood and don't want to spend a lot on taxis & food. We'll go to the zoo one day.

Are any San Diego residents familiar with the Comfort Inn downtown on Ash OR the Quality Inn on 7th Ave OR the Quality Inn on Nimitz Blvd? They are all about $110/night. Are they in safe neighborhoods? Any other thoughts?

I've used PriceLine for other cities, but there are places in each category for San Diego that I wouldn't want to stay at because of extra costs (taxis, food) so I'm reluctant to go that route this time.

Thanks for any advice you can give me. San Diego sounds like a wonderful place to spend a few extra days!

[jamiejay]

Hi. We are cruising out of San Diego on 8/15 and are coming in from NJ on the 13th. I booked two nights through Hotwire.com and got the Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina on Harbor Island for $100 a night! They don't tell you what the hotel is until you actually book it, so I had my fingers crossed, but they do tell you whether it is four stars or two stars and what it offers. It's worth a try. You can request the area of San Diego you want to be in when you do it. I called the hotel and it is a $5.00 cab ride to the cruise ship terminal and they have complimentary pick up from the airport.

Hope this helps. What excursions are you doing in Mexico?

[S.S. Cruisers]

D4: We've stayed at the Best Western Bayside Inn 3 or 4 times. Its at 555 W. Ash (619)233-7500. Theres a restaurant next door and numerous ones within walking distance. Personally I thought the Holiday Inn was dirty. Especially for the prices they were charging. Best Western was clean and they have a shuttle that will take you to the pier.

Vision of the Seas 11/04
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Norwegian Wind 12/00
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Holiday 01/98
Nordic Prince 10/94
Viking Serenade 09/93
Song of America 10/92

[tommoore1]

I agree with S.S. Cruisers, the Best Western Bayside would be a good choice if all you want is a clean, relatively safe motel for a few nights.
And, if you're not taking TOO much luggage, it's a nice stroll down to the embarcadero on cruise day!

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=111111&cdt=2004;10;19;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0800[/img]
'Till we're back on the high seas

.....And.....
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'Till our Alaskan adventure

[academicdeluge]

Since I live in San Diego, I haven't stayed in too many motels here. I can however tell you about each of the areas you mentioned. By far, the safest area you mentioned is Nimitz. While it's not really a tourest area, it is a safe place to walk around both day and night. There are plenty of reasonably priced restaurants within walking distance. The cruise terminal is about a ten minute car ride from this area. I'm not a cab person so I can't translate into a fare.

7th ave. or Ash are both closer to downtown. Most of the restaurants in the area are upscale and expensive. However, you will be closer to the zoo and the cruise terminal. As for safety, I wouldn't be comfortable in this area if I was alone at night. There are a few streets that are both busy and fun, but they're within a block of more seedy areas.

Just my two cents. San Diego is a wonderful city, and I'm sure you will enjoy it here. Have fun.


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[D4]

Thanks for all your input.

I checked the Best Western Bayside and they are sold out one of our two pre-cruise nights. Bummer.

Academicdeluge: Thanks for the perspective on neighborhoods from a San Diego resident. That's the kind of information I was looking for.

Does anybody have any other inexpensive ideas or thoughts for us?

[bigwhistle]

We are returning from the LOS on 6/13 and staying in SoCal for a few days after. I went to priceline for San Diego for 6/13 (Sunday) and requested $45 and 3 stars. This was accepted for the Handlery Hotel and Resort, which is located on Hotel Circle.

[Guest]

D4, I have to totally agree with S.S..we have stayed at the Best Western Bayside 2 years in a row pre and post cruise, and will be there again in December. The location is PERFECT and the staff is exceptional. Be persistnat and keep trying to get a room there, you won't be sorry.
Nancy

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Until Our Enchantment Cruise

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Until My Cruise to Hawaii on Infinity
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Summit 11 night cruise

[altalee]

D4 I too am on LOS and was wondering what week your going ? We are 6/27. I have yet to find anyone elce who is going on my cruise is it you?

Alta & Peter
Legends of the seas 6/27/04

[pedirn]

Just returned from SD (one night post cruise). We had really wanted to stay at Manchester Grand Hyatt but prices were terrible. Ended up doing first priceline try and got Sheraton Hotel and Marina on Harbor Island. It was a 7.50 taxi ride from port. We were able to check in at 11:00 AM without a problem. We were in West tower and room was great. Had a room in the front (view of water) and actually saw ship sail by that evening as it left port. We took taxis to port and back in afternoon...really the cheaper way to go. Spent $100 on hotel and roughly $30 in taxi fees....compared to $349 a night for hotel we wanted...Well worked out better for us and we were not dissapointed in hotel.

[cruisldy]

Bigwhistle,
I remember from another post that you are on the same sailing as hubby and I. You have registerd for the party, haven't you? I suspect since I now see 4 instead of just us two registerd It's looking like we are the only two couples on this board going on the June 6 cruise. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_confused.gif[/img]

What I wanted to ask you is that I surely hope you are renting a car? The reason I say this is because the hotel you have booked is about a 10 minute drive from the cruise pier.

Sheila
Likes to cruise twice as much for half the price.

[bigwhistle]

Yes....we are renting a SUV actually. We will do San Diego and LA for a few days after the cruise. And no...I have not registered for the party, and am not sure where to do that [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_confused.gif[/img] I may be smart enuf to know to go on cruises, but that does not make me an Einstein. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]

[cruisldy]

OK, bigwhistle, here is the link to the registration for the "Meet and Mingle"
[url="https://secure.royalcaribbean.com/ccEntry.do"]Meet and Mingle[/url]

I had posted on the board back in January about our cruise, but so far haven't any takers. We went to our first CC party on our Mercury New Year's cruise and had a delightful time. Think our count was almost 50! Unfortunately if there aren't 25 that sign up it is a wash, which is why I'm touting this. No need to be an Einstein, just a cruiser, who is a member of this board and would like to meet other's who are on your cruise in a coffee clatch sort of venue.

Sheila
Likes to cruise twice as much for half the price.

[D4]

Thanks for all the info. I'm still reluctant to use Priceline & Hotwire for this trip since we're going to have 2 full days of sightseeing before the cruise. We could really rack up the taxi and restaurant bills if we don't have a good location.

Jamiejay: We don't know which excursions we're doing yet. We did this itinerary about 7 years ago, so we'll try some different things this time.

Altalee: You're going before us. I hope to see a review from you. I hope the food is fabulous!

[academicdeluge]

Just an FYI:

I drove past the hotel on Nimitz today and I have to say it looked a little dilapidated. I'm not sure I would recommend it after seeing it.


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[D4]

I appreciate the update Academicdeluge! That was so nice of you to do a drive-by.

We might have to pay a whole lot more for those 3 nights than we planned. I don't want to compromise cleanliness and safety for money. I'll keep looking for a deal though.

[altalee]

Hey academicdeluge
The hubby and I are considering watching the 4th of July's pretties in SD if they are know to be good soooo...
if a couple wanted to see some good fireworks in SD what mid prices hotel would you suggest? How far from the port would i be and from the airport?

Alta & Peter
Legends of the seas 6/27/04