[Government Man]

Government Man's Guide to San Diego Hotels

Part II: Downtown Hotels (Updated a lot)

My first source for hotel information is the PDF supplied by the Comic Con. They give special discount prices for 17 hotels in the downtown area. To sign up at these rates, you must call the ComicCon's travel desk at 1-877-55-COMIC instead of the hotel's phone number (9 am to 7 pm Eastern time) or through their website at www.comic-con.org between February 6th and June 13th.

Next, I consulted Expedia to see what hotels were available for Tuesday, July 24th to Sunday, July 29th. Many of the hotels I listed in December now appear to be booked.

The name of each hotel below is followed by the distance to the Convention Center. Unfortunately, these are distances "as the crow flies", not how far it would be in San Diego's one-way streets.

Next, each hotel is given a rating of one to five stars (including "half stars"). Here's what they mean to Expedia:

    * Economy: no guarantee of in-room phone or bathroom, 
       limited hours, no on-site dining
   ** Value: private bathroom, phone, TV; Continental breakfast
  *** Quality: pool and a restaurant
 **** Superior: room service, valet parking
***** Exceptional: DSL internet & DVD players in every room, 
       spa and golf course in the back, solid gold mint on your pillow

Downtown San Diego has no five-star hotels.

When a hotel was rated by AAA, I give the number of "diamonds" from them (1D, 2D, 3D, 4D or 5D). The meaning of the diamonds are pretty close to what the stars mean; if a hotel isn't AAA rated, it's either a new hotel or it's in trouble.

Following the rating is the lowest price per night for a two-bed, two-person room (a single room is $5 to $10 less) .

When neither the ComicCon nor Expedia had a price, I turned to the 2006 San Diego guide by Fodor's. They rate hotel prices as follows:

   c = under $90
   $ = $90 to $120
  $$ = $121 to $175
 $$$ = $175 to $250
$$$$ = over $250
   ? = not in Fodor's

(That "c" is supposed to be a cent sign.)

Finally, I'll include what Fodor's had to say about each hotel that's in their book (a note at the beginning of the listings in Fodor's says, "You can assume that all rooms have private baths, phones, TVs and air-conditioning unless otherwise noted. Downtown hotels cater primarily to business travelers, while those at Mission Bay, in coastal locations such as Carlsbad and Encinitas, and at inland resorts offer golf and other sport facilities, spa services, children's activities, and more. As far as meals included with rent, San Diego hotels operate on the European Plan (meaning without meals), unless we specify that they use the Continental Plan (with a Continental breakfast), Breakfast Plan (with a full breakfast) or Modified American Plan (with breakfast and dinner) or are all-inclusive (including all meals and most activities). We always list facilities but not whether you'll be charged an extra fee to use them, so when pricing accommodations, find out what?s included.")

Here is a map showing the locations of the Convention Center (the big red star is the northern end of it, at address 111 W. Harbor Drive, San Diego, CA 92101) and surrounding available hotels in the Downtown area. As with the neighborhood map, the orange and blue lines show the two main trolley routes, with the crosses for stations--note that one of the stations is right next to Hotel #21.

Coronado Island is off the southern end of this map. Its hotels are just under a mile from the Convention Center, but I left them off the list because they are all four-star hotels (with four-star prices), and I've heard the drive over the long bridge connecting the island with the mainland is hellish.