sacha

Looking to book a recently refurbished or new one bedroom suite in SD for 5 nights in April. As we don't want to spend oodles of money - no more than $140 per night (these five days in SD are the middle leg of a 15 night Californian fly drive holiday) I have concentrated on the brand new Residence Inn Hotel Circle, Doubletree Club Hotel Circle and Comfort Inn 2201 Hotel Circle South. Other options are the Comfort Suites Mission Valley (Camino del Rio South) or Courtyard by Marriott in Sorrento Mesa. Any comments on any of these suite hotels OR their locations would be much appreciated. We will have a car and are travelling with our two children aged 6 and 8. Thanks.

xyz

i can't comment on the hotels, but Sorrento Mesa is the boondocks fro ourists--nothing there. Hotel Circle is in Mission Valley, which is a central location. (I am not aware of a Residence Inn on Hotel circle--are you sure they don't mean "newly refurbished"? Or perhaps they were called something else previously and Residence Inn is their new name? Just don't want you to be misled--perhaps some other San diegans can clarify).

Ann

Just got back from San Diego. After weeks of research, we decided on the Bahia Resort which was fabulous. It is centrally located on Mission Bay. We reserved directly with them - got a l bedroom suite with full kitchen - two double beds and fold-out couch. It was perfect for our family with two children. In the summer (high season) this goes for 350-$370/day - we got it for $130 with an automatic upgrade to bay view. It is owed by the same local company that owns the Catamaran and the Inn at Torrey Pines. Very well managed. Beautiful heated pool and jaccuzi area which our children loved even in early January. Free parking is also included which is not available at most of the other hotels that I researched. I would think that anything at Hotel Circle would charge for parking.

Oh by the way, you can also buy discounted Zoo, SeaWorld, and Wild Animal Park tickets in their giftshop if you are a guest. And there is only a 24 hour cancellation requirement. I think that is very important especially when traveling with small children.

sacha

Thank you both for replying. To xyz: the Residence Inn is new, due to open in April, apparently? 2201 Hotel Circle South. Any info anyone regarding location?
Ann, the Bahia looks fantastic, as does the Catamaran and Paradise Point. The one bed suite at Bahia for the days we want (12th to 17th April) is $290 per night. You got a great rate! Thanks anyway.

Quinty

Go with the Residence Inn. They have great (Wonderful) beds, fireplaces, kitchens, etc.
For the money you can't go wrong especially if it's new.
We always stay at the Hilton just down the road, it's okay, but it's my husband's business hotel. Also, I've stayed at the Comfort Suites, and I'd pass on it. The rooms are smaller than what you'd expect for all the amenities they list.
By the way, hotel circle and mission valley are the same place. Literally the difference is just going under a highway.
This area is convenient for getting to the beach and shopping. There are also grocery stores, pharmacies and lots of restaurants in the area.

Quinty

I should mention, there are all the restaurants and shopping etc., but it is not a walking distance type of area. I always drive around there.

xyz

Sacha:

In my original reply I said, "Hotel Circle is in Mission Valley, which is a central location." If you are not familiar with San Diego, perhaps that post was ambiguous, so please let me clarify.

Mission Valley is an area of San Diego, and Hotel Circle and Camino del Rio South are in Mission Valley. Both streets run parallel to Interstate 8, and are immediately north and south of it respectively (sort of like access roads). As Quinty pointed out, Mission Valley has numerous hotels, restaurants, shopping centers, a mall, theater, etc. There are a few condos and apartments, but it is primarily a commercial district. There are no tourist attractions in Mission Valley and it's not on the beach. But because of its central location and excellent freeway access, it should work fine for you since you will have a car.

My only reservation regarding the Residence Inn is that you are arriving the month it is scheduled to open. There could be a delay in opening, some parts of the hotel may still be under construction, staff may not be fully trained yet, amenities not fully functional, etc.--well, you get the idea--sort of like moving into a brand new house. I ran into this once on a trip to Boston, and it was such a nightmare that I ended up moving to another hotel. Just something to consider.

pam

I notice that the "King Inn" in hotel circle are always very reasonable. They are old I know, but for what they are looking for perhaps they would work. Any thoughts?

Sara

When I think of Mission Valley, I think of conferences,conventions, and shopping malls. It's basically all cement, not particularly scenic, and not conducive to simply strolling around--mainly freeways and busy thoroughfares.

Have you considered the Pacific Beach/Mission Beach area? With two small children, you might enjoy that location more.

Lori

We stayed at a Hampton Inn & Suites on Greenwood St, just 5 minutes drive from Old Town over the Christmas holidays. Room was $99/night, it had king bed, sofa (opened to bed I believe if needed), desk, etc. Also microwave, fridge & wetbar. Decent sized room, closet w/iron & ironing board. Very nice continental breakfast included. Staff was very pleasant and accommodating. Hotel was also very quiet, out room faced inside toward the pool. Hotels are Hotel Circle can be noisy, traffic is zooming by all day long on the adjacent freeway.

x

my sisters family stayed at the old residence inn and were very pleased. so hopefully the new one will be just as good. i'd probably take a chance with that. i'm sure if something goes wrong, hopefully they would comp you or move you to one of their other locations. hotel circle is definitly not an enjoyable place for "evening strolls" but they are the most reasonable hotels in san diego. you'll be there to sleep and play in the pool. very close to everything.

sacha

Thanks everyone for replying and for all your suggestions.
Messageori - I checked out the Hampton Inn you recommended but it would seem that they do not offer a two room suite. Thanks anyway. I am sure that the area is nicer than Hotel Circle!
Messageyz Thanks for elaborating on the Mission Valley area. I was pretty much aware that it has little going for it other than a central location and cheap hotels! I wish I could find a nice one bed suite somewhere 'more scenic' but I am happy to stay in Hotel Circle and spend the money we save on accommodation charges on other things. The Residence Inn suite is $109, the Doubletree Club is $89.95 (no breakfast) and the Comfort Inn in Camino del Rio South is also $89.95. Pretty good huh? Embassy Suites Downtown on the other hand is $279 and even the Residence Inn on Kearney Mesa Road is $179...

xx

Check out Quality Inn Suites 1430 7th Ave. Cont. Bkfst, but $6.00 parking fee.

Sara

So if a person wanted to be more in an area for evening strolls and still fairly convenient for the "main" attractions of San Diego where would be the best place? I really like hotels that offer a breakfast too, a suite would be nice but not necessary. We will have a car but would use the trolley if it were convenient.

x

For suggestions, please type San Diego into the text search box above.

pam

Sara,For p.m. strolls and trolley access, the Gaslamp district. For on the beach, no trolley, P.B Mission Beach, La Jolla, which has many upscale shops and dining. Coronado Island would also be good. If you have a car these locations would offer better ambiance that hotel circle. La Jolla and Coronado being the more influential of them all.

Linda

I can't figure out why people think the Gaslamp district is so great, I was just there and saw lots of homeless in the doorways and generally it didn't look that great, not a place to "stroll" at night I would not think. Actually, most western cities are not "strollable" in that sense of the word. They are spread out areas of hotels here and there. The downtown area of SD may have so nice new hotels (Hyatt, etc.) but it's not a place for strolling at night. I'd stay elsewhere, and go strolling in the daytime! Seaport Village is a nice place to wander around in and has some good places to eat too. Take the ferry to Coronado Island and stroll around over there. You can't do any walking on hotel circle and the hotels on Mission Bay are spread out, you can walk around the grounds but that would be it. The streets are not for walking.

Old Town is the best area for walking around in during the evening I would say, lots of places to eat.

Marie

If you are talking about the Comfort Suites on Hotel Circle, then my advice for that hotel is STAY AWAY. I stayed there with 2 friends in 2001 and was pretty disapointed. Why? Let me LIST the reasons:

- We chose this hotel over other "suite" type hotels based on pictures in the AAA book. The picture made the room look spacious. When we got there we found out that the picture was very misleading. It must have been taken from some angle to make it look spacious. In reality, it looked like the Comfort Suites had taken a normal sized hotel room and cramed 2 beds and a sofa bed in there. It got pretty claustrauphobic in there after a while.

- The AAA book also had a picture of the complimentary breakfast "buffet" that the hotel offered. The picture made the buffet look very appetizing - including several types of fruit like strawberries and oranges. Again - misleading - in reality the breakfast was the typical chain hotel "beige" breakfast and the only fruit was macintosh apples - every day.

- Parking was horrendous - extremely tight. We had a Ford Taurus, and had to let all passengers out of the car before parking it. Families with mini-vans and SUV's beware!

- My key card decoded THREE times during our 7-day stay.

- And lastly, there was a sign on all entrances (except the front entrance) that said something along the lines of "Caution: Hazardous materials on premises. Could be dangerous to pregnant women and ..." What the? We asked the hotel clerk the cause for the sign - he didn't know or wouldn't say. It was probably nothing - simply a sign the hotel had to put up due to some law in California. But we saw that sign every time we came and went from the hotel.

On the plus side, the hotel does have a decent pool, hot tub and a washer/dryer for the use of the guests. And it is within walking distance of several casual dining restaurants (like TGI Friday's).

All in all, not a pleasant experience. And you can bet that AAA heard about it from me.

tina1

Am a little confused. Is the Doubletree within walking distance from the Fashion Mall(??? name). We will not have a car and will want to walk to the shops if poss.