Aussie academic looking for clean,safe,simple economical accommodation
in dowtown san diego in april.

Thanks for your help.

To get the best deal for a clean hotel & in a good location in downtown SD would be to try Priceline. People (myself included) have received the 4* Hyatt for $70/nt & some have received it for as little as $55. You can go to www.biddingfortravel.com to learn all the ins & outs if bidding including how to bid when you're not a US resident. Have used Priceline more than 5 times for San Diego and have never been let down. Welcome to the States!

check out www.sandiego.org. They will send you a nice guide for free with a lot of good info. By going through the guide, I got my daughter a room at the comfort Inn on all Hotel circle (I think that`s what it`s called). The guide list hotels and websites. She was pleased with her room, by the way. I also recommend priceline.

Thanks for the advice
am learning about priceline.
the san diego downtown zone includes harbour island.I am woriied that given i have to use public transport if I get a harbour island hotel it could be very inconvenient.How accessible is downtown from harbour island by public transport?

You might want to consider a homestay. There are a few companies that place students who will be taking some courses.