My broher, his wife and I are flying from Northwest Florida to see my nephew (brother's and SIL's son), who lives in the area. We will not have a car, but nephew will be off work the four days we are there and he will drive his car and act as our tour guide.

My brother wants to find a hotel within a 15 minute drive from nephew's home. Nephew says he lives in "Del Mar or Carmel Valley - right on the edge of both." We prefer chains, such as Hilton, Choice or Marriott. Our price range is $1235-$190/night. We care nothing about room service or any fancy amenities -- just a clean, safe area near nephew. We would be willing to spend in the upper range of our budge for a suite style arrangment with complementary breakfast, such as an Embasy Suites, Residence Inn, Homewood Suites, etc.

Thank you

This is the OP -- correction:

Our budget for hotel is $125 -- $190 per night.

There is a Homewood Suites in Del Mar, but not personally familiar with it, or what the price range is, but it does have a free breakfast.

Thanks jamie99. Do you have any idea if the traffic around that area is horrendous?

Is this the Del Mar near San Diego? We stayed at the Homewood Suites Del Mar and we thought it was great. The breakfast and the evening dinner were very good. They have a nice pool area also. I don't remember the traffic being too bad, but it has been about four years since we were there.

nlg-- yes, it is the Del Mar near San Diego.

There are a number of other hotels in the Del mar area. Google away to find what suits your price range.

And traffic is all realitive. Unless you are trying to get to/from I-5 during "commute" hours, no big problem.

gracie, there is a big difference between Del Mar and Carmel Valley. Yes they are close but separated by a major (traffic clogged depending on the time of day) freeway. I would find out exactly what your nephew's address is. If he actually lives in Carmel Valley you may want a hotel in that area rather than Del Mar.

I checked his location -- he lives west of I-5, north of the Ted Williams Expressway. I am considering the Residence Inn Sorrento Mesa/Sorrento Valley. The actual address is 5995 Pacific Mesa Court. Mapquest and Google both show the drive to be between 10-12 minutes. We can get a two bed/two bath at the Residence Inn for about $180.

His address is east of both I-5 and 805 and so is the hotel. I think location wise it would be a good choice. Plus you do have good freeway access.

I often stay at the Courtyard by Marriott in Solana Beach on Pacific Coast Highway. It is about 1/4 miles north of the Del Mar city limits. I am partial to Courtyards because they are in the price range I want and I can depend on their quality.

If he lives west of I5, as you said, and near Carmel Valley Road, that would be a very close location.

He doesn't live west of I-5 dwodden. Both his address and the hotel she is looking at are actually east of I-5 and south of the 56. So her choice of the Residence Inn is really a very good one location wise.

My previous post may have been confusing. Nephew lives on Trento Place. His home appears to be just noth and west of the intersection of El Camino Real and I-5.

The Residence Inn we are considering is the Sorrento Mesa/Sorrento Valley location. The address for this particular Residence Inn is 5995 Pacific Mesa Court. According to mapquest, the travel time between nephew's home and the Residence Inn is approximately 12 minutes. It is just under 8 miles.

I know there are other Residence Inn locations closer to his home, but those do not have any two bedrooms available. Since I will be sharing a room with my brother and his wife, it would be really nice to have my own bedroom and bathroom. And, there is a sofa bed if nephew decides to crash with us one night.

Brother is more concerned with traffic and location than me having my own bedroom. I realize we could get two rooms at a Courtyard or Hampton Inn, but I like the idea of us staying together and having a living room. We could do an Embassy Suites or Homewood Suites, but that would mean I would have a sofa bed for four nights. I could do that, but would prefer not to.

gracie:

Ok looked up Trento Place. It is actually east of I-5 but north of 56 (Ted Williams Pkwy). It is a very nice area. You are close to the freeway and near a very nice shopping/restaurant mall - Del Mar Highlands.

The hotel in relationship to Trento Place is actually not all that convenient. It is south of 56 and still east of I-5 but you can't easily get their on surface streets you'd have to take the freeway and it can be very busy during morning commutes (from 8-9:30 and again from 3:30 - 6:30 at night).

Can you find something in the Del Mar Highlands area?

If you are wedded to the Residence Inn, it won't really be that inconvenient. You can still drive it (off commuting hours) and it's not a long drive. Like you said maybe 10-15 minutes.

And because he lives further north that I thought you mentioned earlier, you could easily do hotels on the west side of I-5 in Del Mar as well and still be a little closer to where he lives.

Phone the Residence Inn that is closer to your preferred location, sometimes they'll book the two bedrooms over the phone even though they're showing unavailable online.

I don't know why I can't get my east and west straight!. Thanks for the suggestions.

P.S. -- nephew rents a home with three other guys. He can't afford the neighborhood on his own.

I really like that area gracie. Like I mentioned earlier there are a lot of great restaurants in the Del Mar Highlands Center. Also, you are very close to the city of the "old" Del Mar and it's fun to stroll down the main street.

Also you can drive north from Del Mar (along the Pacific Coast Highway) and see Solona Beach which has some nice cute surfer type little shops and restaurants.

Since your nephew lives in town he'll have lots of places to take you.