San Diego Trip Planning Guide

[scottishgirl1]

Had a call around and some tours arent available that day so no progress on that front. Also stumbled across an amazing rate for Homewood Suites at Liberty Station yesterday so think we just might be going there instead. The savings are too big to justify the Island Palms and it includes breakfast. I am guessing it might be a little less crazy than the Shelter Island area on that particular weekend also.

[Aims]

Originally Posted by scottishgirl1

Had a call around and some tours arent available that day so no progress on that front. Also stumbled across an amazing rate for Homewood Suites at Liberty Station yesterday so think we just might be going there instead. The savings are too big to justify the Island Palms and it includes breakfast. I am guessing it might be a little less crazy than the Shelter Island area on that particular weekend also.

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I'm guessing some tour groups aren't running that day because of the extra traffic around town. The Homewood Suites is a very nice hotel. I have stayed there before and at the Courtyard hotel right next to it. Nice location, too. It isn't right on the water though, so it's possible you might have a somewhat obstructed view of the fireworks from the hotel. You could always ask the hotel desk clerk if there is a good viewing point from the hotel. There will be less traffic around the hotel then there will be on Shelter Island that day, but I imagine it will still be busy there. There are some parks in the area of the hotel and Liberty Station will most likely host some July 4th activities, especially considering it's military history. A large part of the buildings in Liberty Station were once part of a Naval training center.

[scottishgirl1]

we stayed at Homewood when it opened in 2008 and then couldnt afford it in summer 2014 when we returned to San Diego so stayed in Homewood Suites in Del Mar. I really like the look of the Island Palms and will need to make a decision but the rate I got yesterday is hard to beat for 5 people! Have been giving a lot of thought to our time in San Diego last few days to work out which tickets to buy etc so hopefully it will all become clear over the weekend lol

[Aims]

Originally Posted by scottishgirl1

we stayed at Homewood when it opened in 2008 and then couldnt afford it in summer 2014 when we returned to San Diego so stayed in Homewood Suites in Del Mar. I really like the look of the Island Palms and will need to make a decision but the rate I got yesterday is hard to beat for 5 people! Have been giving a lot of thought to our time in San Diego last few days to work out which tickets to buy etc so hopefully it will all become clear over the weekend lol

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That’s a tough decision to make! The Island Palms definitely has the most scenic location, but at least you already know that the Homewood Suites is a good spot too, in case you decide to go with price over scenery.

[TinaP]

We are trying to decide on a hotel. We want to visit Old Town, take the ferry to Cornado and rent bikes, do a little shopping. We are flying out of San Diego and arriving on the train from Anaheim so we won't have the car for these last 3 days of the trip. What would the Best Western Bayside be like, it's reasonable and has breakfast included. Otherwise Humphrey's looks nice but it is $270 more and we'd need to Uber into the city.

[tocpe321]

Originally Posted by TinaP

We are trying to decide on a hotel. We want to visit Old Town, take the ferry to Cornado and rent bikes, do a little shopping. We are flying out of San Diego and arriving on the train from Anaheim so we won't have the car for these last 3 days of the trip. What would the Best Western Bayside be like, it's reasonable and has breakfast included. Otherwise Humphrey's looks nice but it is $270 more and we'd need to Uber into the city.

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Hi

I am sure Amy will be along in due course, but have a look on the first page of this thread. There's loads of info about the various hotels and locations.

Hope this helps for now.

[Aims]

Originally Posted by TinaP

We are trying to decide on a hotel. We want to visit Old Town, take the ferry to Cornado and rent bikes, do a little shopping. We are flying out of San Diego and arriving on the train from Anaheim so we won't have the car for these last 3 days of the trip. What would the Best Western Bayside be like, it's reasonable and has breakfast included. Otherwise Humphrey's looks nice but it is $270 more and we'd need to Uber into the city.

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Hi Tina I am uncertain which hotel you are referring to- there is a Best Western Island Palms and a Hilton Bayside hotel. If you are thinking of the Island Palms, it is located next to Humphrey’s on Shelter Island, so you will need to Uber to get around from there too. The Hilton Bayside is located in downtown, next to the Convention Center and across a major road from the baseball stadium. There are more places you could walk to from the Bayside, although it is still a little outside the city center compared to other hotels downtown, so maybe a little more walking than you want. There is a Coronado ferry pick up location near the Convention Center. You would definitely need to get an Uber to Old Town though.

Both hotels are lovely and in scenic areas, and I can recommend both. The Bayside will be the more expensive and it’s more of a full-service hotel, whereas the Best Western Island Palms is more of a moderate hotel. Please ask if you have other questions!

Hi tocpe! Thank you for coming in to help out. 😊

[tocpe321]

Hi Amy

TC

[TinaP]

Thank you Aims, I'm not allowed to post links as a new user but the BW we were looking at was www dot baysideinn dot com. The address is 555 Ash Street.

[Aims]

Originally Posted by TinaP

Thank you Aims, I'm not allowed to post links as a new user but the BW we were looking at was www dot baysideinn dot com. The address is 555 Ash Street.

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Hi Tina. I just looked it up on my map and found the hotel. I know which one you are talking about now- I had completely forgotten it's name. I'm sorry about the confusion



I have never stayed at this particular hotel, so have no personal experience to share, but the location is great for anyone without a car. There is a lot within walking distance...just a few blocks from the bay where you can catch the Coronado ferry, the Amtrak station is very close where you can also get the city light rail (trolley) nearby as well. The hotel is on the edge of the Little Italy neighborhood where there are a lot of good restaurants, also Extraordinary Desserts is not far from the hotel and well worth checking out for something sweet. This Best Western is an older property, but having not been inside of it, I can't say whether it's been updated or not.



The only caution I can think of would be that the hotel is located within a busy part of the city, so there could be some street/traffic noise at night. If anyone is a light sleeper, you may want to ask the hotel clerk to give you a room not facing a busy street or maybe a high floor. There has also been a lot of construction and redevelopment going on in this area of town for the last year, so if there's any projects going on right near the hotel there could be some possible early morning noise from that.