Hi, we are going to San Diego in june and have booked a suite at the Holiday Inn on Sports Arena Blvd. We have three children 6, 4, 10mths. I have found some reviews of this hotel on trip advisor and they are extreme. Some hate it and some liked it. Can anybody tell me if it is a nice place to stay or do I need to look elsewhere? Thanks for any help!

I don't think it is the hotel as much as the location. It is on a very busy street and your neighbors will be the Sports Arena, Home depot, Mervins, Petco, Staples, and hundreds of similar places.
If you don't mind that aspect, it isn't too far of a drive to Mission Beach or by freeway to Balboa Park, etc.

I don't know what the hotel itself is like, but as mentioned above the location is not the nicest. If you will have a car, it may not be a problem. But it is right in the middle of strip mall.

Definately change venue. Lots of strip clubs and bars in the area. I have lived in S.D. for 12 years and I avoid that part of town and I would not recommend it for a family.

I stay in San Diego about once a month and I would NEVER stay in that area. Very commercial, kind of a divey, busy, trafficky area. Why there? Why not hotel circle in Mission Valley or so many other neighborhoods in San Diego to stay that are much more desirable...

I agree with Heavans, but Hot. circle and and Mission Valley are both IMHO trash.
We stayed @ U S Grant downtown last Sat - way too noisy, and I really hate the area - and At Shelter Pointe Hot. and Marina last Sun and Mon - not world class, but peaceful.
San Diego is now tourist city as the Navy and Defence Industry dollars are few - mostly for the worse - Upcoast north of Del Mar has a few bargains, and weekly or monthly rentals in LaJolla are sometimes bargains as those owners travel a bunch.
M

I agree with Heavans, but Hot. circle and and Mission Valley are both IMHO trash.
We stayed @ U S Grant downtown last Sat - way too noisy, and I really hate the area - and At Shelter Pointe Hot. and Marina last Sun and Mon - not world class, but peaceful.
San Diego is now tourist city as the Navy and Defense Industry dollars are few - mostly for the worse - Upcoast north of Del Mar has a few bargains, and weekly or monthly rentals in LaJolla are sometimes bargains as those owners travel a bunch.
M

Ditto on changing reservations if you can. As a native San Diegan is it one of the last areas I would stay. I don't know what price you got but the areas of Old Town, Seaport Village and even Harbor Drive would be better. There is a Holiday Inn on Harbor Drive and one Bayside. If you book Harbor Drive get a room facing the bay if you can. The downtown construction noise plus the Amtrak/Coaster can get very noisy in the am. Good Luck!

Take a look at www.sandiego.org if you decide to change your hotel. Often they have offers and many times are a little cheaper than the actual hotel web site. This is also an excellent site for other information including coupons that you can use in San Diego.

Good luck, you will love San Diego.

Sandy

Hotel Circle and Mission Valley are most certainly not "trash".There are some cheaper hotels, and some more expensive chains. The area is very convenient for access to almost anything you would want to visit. There is a terrific shopping mall right there...Fashion Valley. Any hotel here would be preferable to Sports Arena Blvd.

SandyBrit's recommendation of using www.sandiego.org is excellent.

Good luck. San Diego is a wonderful place both to visit and to live.

I would certainly agree with Barbara if you have lived in the same house in San Diego since Prop 13 froze property taxes in 1977.
Otherwise it is frightfully expensive and most "salaries" are below average and CA taxes are confiscatory.
The areas mentioned are really less than nice! The tourist brigades last week were way bad, but I was taking notes.
Full disclosure: I generally stay at the La Valencia in La Jolla.
M

Oh, I forgot to mention that the new bedroom community for San Diego is now in the the God awful desert of the Imperial Valley - about 1 1/2 - 2 hours east - for an average price of $180,000. Reported By the local SAN paper last Sunday.
M

Hey watch it Mikemo, I live in the Imperial Valley and guess what, it ain't so bad. Come out here and take a look. Could be worse. Have you ever been to the Valley?

Most people I know who live in San Diego don't realize that there is anything EAST of Alpine. That is too bad. There are lots of interesting areas in the dessert. And the valley has a lifestyle that many people envy. It might become a "bedroom community" for San Diego, but they just might find that they LOVE it here. Just got to have an open mind. We can't all live in La Jolla, ya know.

I don't know where this idea came from that California taxes are "confiscatory". They're not. I believe the level of taxation here is now below the middle when you take all the states into account.

And, although I've lived here since 1978, I haven't lived in the same house and have high housing expenses.

Mikemo, the areas you mentioned are not "less than nice". They don't come up to your level of La Valencia, but if the rest of the world stayed there, there would be no room for you.

I have been to the Imperial Valley many times - a very Alien place, unless you own all the productive land - my MT village home in Centro San Miguel de Allende, Gto, MX is a far better place and my property taxes are $136.65 annually - please compare that with yours in CA.
M
PS Dallas is becoming more like CA daily: all local government entities and utilities are soaking taxpayers and homeowners.
However, I can still buy 93 Octane name brand gasoline for $2.08

Gosh, mikemo, you're right. Silly me. I didn't think to compare California's taxes with Mexico's. Of course, California has to support the cost of education and health care for all those Mexicans who think it's better here than in Mexico, but don't bother to get green cards before coming to stay.

Absolutely correct Barbara!
The DISD (dallas school district) is 7% Anglo. The former great RISD (Richardson SD) is now 37% Anglo. The RISD was 97% Anglo in 1980 when I arrived here.
Also, Parkland (Dallas County's) Hospital's OB service

sorry, this keeps sending without input.
80% of the (most in the US - more than LAC/USC) babies delived @ Parkland are "undocumented".
My RISD property taxes have increased 719% from $640.98 in '80 to $4607.79 in '03. The educational experience is rapidly becoming a joke - almost as poor as the DISD.
The RISD will probably eliminate the "homeowner" 20% exemption this year which may push my total (city, county, risd) property taxes to nearly $10.K
M
PS My residential appraised/market value is far below the average/mean or median in San Diego County.

So sell your RISD and stay in SMDA. Or not. Does anyone here care???

Just wanted to give you a glimpse of your future!
M