Need help choosing hotel accomodations for above locations on the following dates and would like some suggestions; LB - desire safe location, convenient to Queen Mary on 1/16; Monterey(1/19 & 20), and SD - will be doing Balboa pk, old town, etc. on 1/23-25. Have never been to CA before & am overwhelmed at the number of choices and locations (advantages of 1 location over another) while trying to stay within a budget of $140/night or less.

Monterey for a Sat should be booked a.s.a.p. as it usually gets pretty full.
Howard Johnson on Munras street is convenient to everything and we found it to be basic but nice and clean. You might come in under your budget by staying here and then be able to increase your budget for the other two cities.
Dana Inn and BayClub Hotel are both fine for San Diego and within your budget range.
How about the Queen Mary Hotel?

The Coast Hotel in Long Beach gets good reviews as it's right on the water. It's over the bridge near the Queen Mary. The drawback to the location is the distance from downtown. You really can't walk to the restaurants and shops (I don't even know if there's a sidewalk where you can walk across the bridge). Though I'm sure there are taxis and shuttles to take you in to downtown.

Here's a map of Long Beach with the hotels marked:
http://tiny.cc/nUNRS

The Hyatt and the Renaissance also get good reviews and their locations are right in the heart of the restaurants and shopping. You should be able to take the red "Passport" buses to the Queen Mary and I think those are free.

Not sure if any of these will fit your budget. You could try the new Best Western which is on First Street or the Courtyard by Marriott which is right across the street.

Check out the Monterey Beach Hotel, about 5 minutes from Monterey, located right on the ocean. If you oceanview rooms are not in your budget, the garden rooms are also nice. The property offers a pool, jacuzzi and on-site restaurant with a beautiful lobby with ocean views. Enjoy your trip! ***kim***

We stayed at the Monterey Bay Lodge a year and a half ago. It was very clean and comfortable, and the staff are very helpful. It should fit into your budget.

You can stay on the Queen Mary for $149 plus tax plus parking.

http://www.queenmary.com/index.php?page=hotel

Re: How about the Queen Mary Hotel? I wondered about that myself but read some bad reviews somewhere and quickly forgot about it. Have you stayed there joesource? It certainly fits into our budget.

To all replies: Thanks for the advice (and the link to the map of LB - very helpful) - I'll check out the suggestions.

Are you driving to Long Beach, then up to Monterey, then down to San Diego?

I would try to minimize the back tracking. But maybe you are flying in and out of a southern CA location.

Yes denise8101214. We're driving up the coast from SD and back (10 days total). I gave up trying to get reasonable rates for one way flight/car rentals. It will be a lot of driving but we don't mind - have rented a fuel-efficient car, and will be taking it fairly slow.

If the weather cooperates, we'll be driving N to Monterey via 1 (on the way stopping off at LB, Santa Barbara, Cambria). The plan is to return south on 101 (to save a little time) and then stopping off at a couple different locations (Solvang, Ventura)on the way back to SD.

Terriano - My daughters have a cheer/dance comp almost every year by the Queen Mary. One year a number of the families decided to stay there over night. B-A-D move - very run down, said it smelled bad - I would not stay there.. jmo.

adding more - the gaslamp area is a great place to stay in san diego - not sure on the budge though - pehaps try priceline - I know a few people that have had great success.

Gaslamp definitely would be more than your budget but try priceline as the previous poster suggested. I have stayed at the Bay Club on Shelter Island numerous times and enjoy it since it is so cheap. I usually get it for $120 (may just be my corporate rate)

yes, you can usually get shelter island pretty inexpensive - I would also try Old Town -I personally have never stayed there but have a friend who has enjoyed it there.

I live in Long Beach so don't know much about hotel room conditions. I was curious about the Coast Hotel in Long Beach as the name wasn't familiar. I looked on Tripadvisor, and I didn't see good reviews! I recognize the building when it was another hotel, but it's been there for well on 30 years.

If you have a car, there is a Marriott near the Long Beach airport. I'm guessing you might get a good rate. No problems with that location, or the Holiday Inn near Lakewood and the 405 Freeway. You need to be careful with downtown Long Beach. I wouldn't go any further north than Ocean. The big chains such as the Hyatts and Hiltons should be okay. Maybe you can find something on Hotwire.

You could check into Asilomar in Pacific Grove, near Carmel. Not our favorite place in the area but closer to the rate you're looking for. In 2005 we got a mini-suite with an oceanview for around $150ish. Definitely more rustic than most lodging but great location and included a full, hot, sit-down breakfast.

You might check the Holiday Inn Express on Wave St. in Monterey. We stayed free with points but have heard of good deals on occasion. Join Priority Club, ask for great rates, manager's specials etc.
Nice hotel, not your typical HI Exp but almost boutique-ish, within walking distance of everything monterey, nice free wine reception and the usual HI Exp breakfast.

Terriano - adding one more - I stayed at the Renissance <sp> in Long Beach and it was VERY noisy... and the people next to us had a dog in their room - very audible... but the hotel was "fine". Nothing to write home about and it might fit your budget.

Thank you so much for all of your recommendations! I just finished booking the LB Best Western at the convention center (on 1st) for $91/night. Also booked an oceanview room at the Monterey Beach hotel for less than $125/night. I'll be looking at your suggestions for SD tomorrow evening.

Okay for San Diego and for your price range, I would try the brand new Hilton Homewood Suites At Liberty Station (brand new area in Point Loma). The hotel is about 3 months old, the location would allow you to see the sites you mentioned pretty easily and you would have a few of the bay and boats.Rates included breakfast and afternoon happy hour. You could grab a bite to eat at Sammys Woodfired Pizza, Wine Steals or the other places in Liberty Station. My husband's aunt just stayed there for two months while her house was being repaired from the fires and she loved it.

If you want to stay in Old Town, then I recommend the Hacienda Hotel on Juan Street. It is where we put visiting relatives. You can walk to all the Old Town.

Hope this info is helpful