jpie

We will be in San Diego in mid-October for just one night to take an elderly relative to see some friends in Coronado. We are looking for a room that is not too pricey-something like a Motel 6 or Holiday Inn Express, etc.

A couple questions for locals-we want to be in a neighborhood that is not too far from Coronado-we are thiniking if not on the island itself (I imagine it is pricey) then maybe near India Street or even over towards Point Loma or Ocean Beach, etc. Does anyone have suggestions of where in town to look at motels-are there better deals along the beach areas due to supply or would we be better off downtown or near the airport? Our does anyone have a personal specific hotel/motel they like that would fit the bill. Really all we want for this trip is something not too pricey and not way out in north county, but not sleazy or in a depressing part of town. We will have a car and will need to drive almost everywhere since our cousin needs to use a walker-so being able to walk around the neighborhood isn't an issue.

Thanks in advance!

og719

Take a look at Old Town. It's about 5 miles from the Coronado bridge, but it's all freeway so it's a quick drive. There have been some very good Priceline hotel deals there just recently. Check out biddingfortravel.com.

jpie

Thanks for the info-I have never used PL, but this might be just the time to try it out Any other suggestions out there-particularly any specific hotels/motels I should target?

RLA

Many here can help you better than I, but I wanted to mention there is a newer Holiday Inn or the likes in a good location across from the water and near the Seaport Village, convention hotel area. Coronado is a short drive. We know someone who stayed there not long ago who had pretty much the same criteria as you and were very happy with it. I saw it when we were there, and it looked great for what you are asking. Sorry I couldn't be more specific, but I know others here will be able to.

RLA

P.S. We passed through Old Town and ate at a mexican rest. there. I would not go back to that area to stay or visit. It was all yucky, from the food to the environ. I would characterize it as a tourist trap type place. So many great places in S.D., you won't have to settle for this area.

jpie

RLA-thanks for the info-I will start searching for the property near Seaport Village-we saw the new convention area and I agree that it would be a good choice-I also agree about old town-not my favorite part of town-too touristy for our taste.

Hopefully somebody from SD will know the motel you mean or will have some more suggestions-thanks for the help!

rjw_lgb_ca

The Holiday Inn on the Bay is, I think, the hotel you're referring to. I've never stayed there (I usually stay with friends in Little Italy or Balboa Park), but it looks fine. Close to the airport too.

Old Town can be fun, even if it is touristy. The Whaley House is a haunted crack-up, I think. And for good Mexican, Casa de Bandini is the gold standard in that area.

flyfaraway

I just stayed in Mission beach which was close to Oldtown..It's really nice. I would look at Orbitz. We got a great deal on our hotel from there. They had many options. Good luck!

jpie

Thanks for the help-especially the Mexican restaurant-I am always on the lookout for that as a new CA transplant. I noticed in the city guide section of Fodors that they mention the Super 8 Bayview, the Vagabond Inn at Point Loma and the Comfort Inn at the Harbor-does anyone know these? I know that the rooms will be standard, but I was curious about the locations.....

Also, FYI, a friend ref'ed me to a new search tool called travelaxe, which is a metasearch engine for travel-pretty cool and very powerful-it doesn't ahve all cities in it yet, but it is very interesting.

bashfulLV

I haven't stayed at the Vagabond in Point Loma, but used to always stay in Point Loma and really enjoyed it. Any other Vagabond we've ever stayed at has always been nice, so this one should be. Point Loma is a nice section of San Diego and not as pricey as some others are.

Barbara

Point Loma may be nice, but it's not at all convenient for getting to Coronado. As that is the purpose of your visit, in would recommend either somewhere in Coronado or somewhere downtown. I think the hotel RLA is referring to may be the Hilton, which is quite new.

sandiego_navywife

I would not rule out staying in Coronado. If you go to www.coronadovisitors.com and click on hotels, you will get links to the 15 hotels/motels that are in Coronado. The big three (Hotel Del, Marriott & Loews) are expensive, but the others are all smaller properties that are independently run and some are quite reasonable. I think Crown City Inn is running around $100-$129 on weekends in October, another one to check would be the Best Western. And for great Mexican food, don't miss Miguel's Cantina at El Cordova Hotel in Coronado.

internetwiz

You might want to try Priceline. I have friends that just came back from SD and stayed at the Hyatt (right by Seaport Village, I think) for $60. You can check out biddingfortravel.com for details.

travelinwifey

Agree with above recomendations for PL and biddingfortravel. We have used PL a few times for San Diego and Coronado. We've stayed in Coronado a few times w/ PL and most recently at the Hyatt Manchester downtown for $70/nt which connects to seaport village. The ride to coronado was only about 10 mins from our downtown hotel.

jpie

Thanks all-I think I will try to stay downtown or Coronado based on your comments-and I may just have to give PL a whirl-although it always looks like you have to have a PhD to understand all the bidding strategy-obviously I am too cheap to be a true budget traveller....and again, thanks for the Mexican restaurant suggestions-I get to SD a fair amount so maybe I will eventually get to try them all

ronkala

The Holiday Inn Express Olde Towne is a recently completely renovated Ramada Express. It was one of nine hotels that I looked at in the spring to hold a reunion in and I was very satisfied with what I saw. It came in a very close second. I would reccommend it.

theladyjess

If you or your relatives are military, or work for the Dept of Defense, you may want to look into the Navy Lodge on the naval base on Coranado. My husband works for the DOD, and we were able to stay there after he finished up a job he was doing there. The room was nice, the lodge is right on the beach, and was only $66 a night. 1-800-navy-inn.

Veronica

There is a new Motel 6 in the Mission Bay area (which I think is the nicest part of S.D. to stay). I actually like Old Towne a lot.

Coronado is very nice and I'd like to stay at the El Cordova hotel, but Coronado is a bit of a hike.

Downtown S.D. I find very depressing. The Gaslight District is fun after dark but not during the day.

brendastarshine

i would agree about the new Motel 6, I* was surprised to see it. Just got back today from 5 days in SD and after all the agonizing about winding up in a hotel in a "bad area" etc , just not knowing, remember thinking after seeing so many of them, that probably 95% would have been fine, I spent far too much time tryiing to figure it all out! Stayed at Hol Innn Mission Bay, just a regular HI, 5 nights for $339 tax included. its on the web and I think I got the price thru lowestfare.com, not sure now. It iincluded breakfast. Near Old Town, Sports Arena, 10 min to about everything. Free parking. Traffic in SD is not bad at all.

ronkala

Note that parking at downtown hotels could be between $8.00 and $16.00 per day.