Ocean Beach Hotel in San Diego
Apr 7th, 2006, 11:29 AM
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Ocean Beach Hotel in San Diego
My daughter and I just returned from a quick 5 night trip to San Diego. It was lovely. Before we left, I couldn't find any information from the forum on this particular hotel. Because the Ocean Beach is offered on many package plans, I thought a quick trip/hotel report might be helpful to others.
I wasn't exactly sure what we were in for when I booked the trip through United Vacations. The Ocean Beach Hotel was one of the cheaptest alternatives and had the advantage of being located on the beach. Actually, I thought we were going to be in the Pacific Beach area. I'd visited that beach before and all I could remember was the pier. Who'd thunk there were so many piers on the San Diego coast?
This hotel is located right across the street from the Ocean Beach fishing pier. You can be on the beach in 2 minutes. The hotel has it's own parking lot adjacent to the building. When my son came to visit for a day, the front desk gave me a parking pass for him so he wouldn't have to search out a spot.
The rooms at the OBH are very small. There is no elevator in the 3 story building, no pool or hot tub. There is a laundry area. The room entries are from the central outside courtyard. Not the most modern of things.
However, the courtyard is beautifully landscaped with fountains, lush flowers and stone tables. It is protect from the wind by a glass wall on the sea side. When there weren't smokers, it was a nice and peaceful place to sit.
The rooms were very clean. Each has a large compact refriderator and a small microwave. The bathroom was small with a pedestal sink. There wasn't much space to put stuff. We sprung the extra $10/night for the partial OV room. That put us on the 3rd floor. The property was decently maintained. It's difficult when it's that close to the ocean.
While the hotel was pretty quiet, you could hear noise. We caught the tailend of spring break. I'm glad we weren't there for more. The biggest problem with noise is that OB is directly on the flight path from the airport. And the flights start really early in the morning. We solved the problem by leaving the TV on with very low sound at night. Then, we didn't hear the planes in the morning.
The surrounding area was interesting. It's definitely not the upmarket part of town. It's perhaps a bit dirty and too real-life for some vacationers. There are lots of restaurants and shops. A nice grocery was a couple of blocks away. There are surf shops, a used book store and an antique mart. There is a cute restaurant out on the pier. On Wednesday night, there was a local farmer's market. It was quite nice.
Be warned that there are a lot of transients around. They tend to group near one part of the seawall. We stayed away from them particularly at dusk. However, I was never asked for money.
My daughter is 12 and we made the decision to not go out into the area after dark. When my son was with us, we felt fine. After he left, we felt uncomfortable venturing into the street area together at night. We were so tired from everything we did during the day, that it was fine. The hotel and its parking lot felt very secure. Other people may feel more adventureous. Given my daughter's age, we did what felt right for us.
The beach is quite nice. There is a killer dog beach, blocks away. The hotel does allow dogs in some rooms.
Overall, we enjoyed our stay at the Ocean Beach Hotel. I would visit again.
I wasn't exactly sure what we were in for when I booked the trip through United Vacations. The Ocean Beach Hotel was one of the cheaptest alternatives and had the advantage of being located on the beach. Actually, I thought we were going to be in the Pacific Beach area. I'd visited that beach before and all I could remember was the pier. Who'd thunk there were so many piers on the San Diego coast?
This hotel is located right across the street from the Ocean Beach fishing pier. You can be on the beach in 2 minutes. The hotel has it's own parking lot adjacent to the building. When my son came to visit for a day, the front desk gave me a parking pass for him so he wouldn't have to search out a spot.
The rooms at the OBH are very small. There is no elevator in the 3 story building, no pool or hot tub. There is a laundry area. The room entries are from the central outside courtyard. Not the most modern of things.
However, the courtyard is beautifully landscaped with fountains, lush flowers and stone tables. It is protect from the wind by a glass wall on the sea side. When there weren't smokers, it was a nice and peaceful place to sit.
The rooms were very clean. Each has a large compact refriderator and a small microwave. The bathroom was small with a pedestal sink. There wasn't much space to put stuff. We sprung the extra $10/night for the partial OV room. That put us on the 3rd floor. The property was decently maintained. It's difficult when it's that close to the ocean.
While the hotel was pretty quiet, you could hear noise. We caught the tailend of spring break. I'm glad we weren't there for more. The biggest problem with noise is that OB is directly on the flight path from the airport. And the flights start really early in the morning. We solved the problem by leaving the TV on with very low sound at night. Then, we didn't hear the planes in the morning.
The surrounding area was interesting. It's definitely not the upmarket part of town. It's perhaps a bit dirty and too real-life for some vacationers. There are lots of restaurants and shops. A nice grocery was a couple of blocks away. There are surf shops, a used book store and an antique mart. There is a cute restaurant out on the pier. On Wednesday night, there was a local farmer's market. It was quite nice.
Be warned that there are a lot of transients around. They tend to group near one part of the seawall. We stayed away from them particularly at dusk. However, I was never asked for money.
My daughter is 12 and we made the decision to not go out into the area after dark. When my son was with us, we felt fine. After he left, we felt uncomfortable venturing into the street area together at night. We were so tired from everything we did during the day, that it was fine. The hotel and its parking lot felt very secure. Other people may feel more adventureous. Given my daughter's age, we did what felt right for us.
The beach is quite nice. There is a killer dog beach, blocks away. The hotel does allow dogs in some rooms.
Overall, we enjoyed our stay at the Ocean Beach Hotel. I would visit again.
Apr 7th, 2006, 12:13 PM
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I think that is a fun area and not frequently mentioned in reviews. Dog Beach is a riot although a did have the experience of having a black lab think my leg was a fire hydrant. Fortunately I did some fancy footwork and managed to get out of his aim in time.
Did you eat at that little restaurant out on the pier? I didnt but it looked cute and like they had pretty good food-
Did you eat at that little restaurant out on the pier? I didnt but it looked cute and like they had pretty good food-
Apr 7th, 2006, 03:15 PM
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We walked out to the pier a couple of times. One night, we ate clam chowder in a bread bowl. A little pricey at about $8 but not bad chowder. We really wanted to have their mango pancakes for breakfast one morning but there wasn't enough time. There was a big swell that day. The restaurant would gently rock when the waves hit the pilings.
If I was to go back as a "couple", I would stay in OB. It's definitely more adult than kid oriented. Seemed much more of a local place.
If I was to go back as a "couple", I would stay in OB. It's definitely more adult than kid oriented. Seemed much more of a local place.
Apr 7th, 2006, 04:47 PM
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HI..
OB is a different bred of cat all together of San Diego.. It is in a time warp of sorts in the 60' or 70's which is my era but it is slowly coming around to things like Starbucks (which they fought for years on) Funky, Surfers and Bohemian types.. I don't know many people who stay there because there isn't alot of Hotel/Motels.. Alot of my friends have homes up the hill and they are not cheap..$1Million and up for a 1950's style home.. I am glad that you had a good time.. It usually can get pretty rowdy down there with all the great dive bars.. My fav is Pacific Shores! Alot of College age kids and homeless are there but it is a better vibe, I feel than PB..My husband and I still go down to OB and have some drinks at Pac Shores or Sunshine Company..
Flight pattern goes right over starting at 6:30am and they are loud..
The beaches are gorgeous toward Sunset Cliffs..the pier is great as well..
OB is a different bred of cat all together of San Diego.. It is in a time warp of sorts in the 60' or 70's which is my era but it is slowly coming around to things like Starbucks (which they fought for years on) Funky, Surfers and Bohemian types.. I don't know many people who stay there because there isn't alot of Hotel/Motels.. Alot of my friends have homes up the hill and they are not cheap..$1Million and up for a 1950's style home.. I am glad that you had a good time.. It usually can get pretty rowdy down there with all the great dive bars.. My fav is Pacific Shores! Alot of College age kids and homeless are there but it is a better vibe, I feel than PB..My husband and I still go down to OB and have some drinks at Pac Shores or Sunshine Company..
Flight pattern goes right over starting at 6:30am and they are loud..
The beaches are gorgeous toward Sunset Cliffs..the pier is great as well..
