madler718

I will be in San Diego 12/24 - 12/30 with wife and 2 year old son. We have previously stayed at Staybridge Suites in Atlanta and Vancouver, WA and found them to be terrific. We would like to stay at one of the two Staybridges located in the SD area; one is located at 11855 Avenue of Industry, the other at 6639 Mira Mesa Blvd (Sorrento Mesa). I know that both are about 20 miles from the airport, that's not a problem at all. My concern is, which one is in a safer neighborhood? I have read lots of accounts of people having their cars broken into, etc. at various hotels in SD and, not knowing the area all that well, want to make sure this doesn't happen to us. Staybridge Hotels are generally located in suburban strip mall areas; is this the case here? Any help from locals would be appreciated.

rjw_lgb_ca

I'm not a "local", but I do go down to San Diego often. I'm not familiar with the properties because I would never choose to stay so far out of the San Diego area without a really good reason-- and I can't think of one.

The areas aren't so bad, but they're just far away from everything in SD except the freeways. I urge you to stay closer to SD; do you want to spend all of your time in the car driving 20 miles or more to see anything?!

madler718

Thanks for the quick response - actually, my wife and I have been to San Diego several times previously (pre child), and we found that there wasn't really much to do in the city other than the zoo, Oldtown and maybe the gaslamp district. We anticipate spending more time in La Jolla, Carlsbad, Pacific Beach, etc., since my son loves beaches. We will likely do the zoo and Old Town in one day, and that will be our only day in the city itself. With that in mind, are the locations convenient for excursions north of the city?

rjw_lgb_ca

Look at your time of year-- the shore will likely be kinda cool for much beach time.

I suppose the Sorrento Mesa property mght be a bit better-located for points within SD and north. But I don't do excursions when I'm in SD; I always find lots to do in the city. Then again, I don't have kid(s) in tow, so it's different for me. Besides, I hit points north on my way home to Long Beach.

Barbara

Both are in safe neighborhoods, but the immediate surroundings are office buildings or Scripps Clinic doctors'offices (Avenue of Industry). The Sorrento Mesa location is probably better for getting to the areas you mention. The Avenue of Industry is inland in Carmel Mountain Ranch, where there is a big, popular strip mall where I shop frequently! There are several chain-type restaurants close to both, but more at the Ave. Of Industry location, including a couple of excellent local restaurants....the French Market Grille and Cafe Luna.

SDAlly

Madler: I live in the Carmel Mountain area and work in the Sorrento Valley area. The Carmel Mountain location would be more "neighborhoody", but I think you would find the Sorrento Mesa location much more convenient to the attractions you mentioned. Keep in mind that the traffic in both locations will be horrible, but a little better than normal because of the time of year. There are many places to eat near both locations and they are both located near major freeways. The Carmel Mountain location is near the 15 and the Sorrento Mesa location is near the 805/5. I wouldn't say either area is safer than the other. The Sorrento Mesa location is in a busier area than the Carmel Mountain location, but Carmel Mountain is a popular place to steal nice cars. I think traffic should be your main concern, because you don't want to be stuck on a freeway for long amounts of time on your vacation.

Barbara

Well, I've never heard that you're any more likely to have your "nice car" stolen in Carmel Mountain than anywhere else - and I have lived in the area for 15 years.

SDAlly

Barbara: I've lived in Carmel Mountain for 15 years as well and there have been times that we have had 15 cars stolen in our neighborhood in a month. Maybe that doesn't seem like alot to you, but it does to me. Anyway, my comments weren't meant to start a debate on car thefts in San Diego, just to point out that one of the hotels mentioned probably isn't any better/worse than the other in regard to crime.