San Diego hotel help !!!!!!!
 

I have looked on a bunch of sites and read many reviews and am still having trouble narrowing down where to stay in San Diego.

Over X-mas/New Year's we will be driving down from SF, in SF we are staying at the Ritz, in Monterey we are staying at the Monterey Plaza and in Santa Barabara we are staying at the 4 season Biltmore. From everything I have read there is no true 5 star accomodations in San Diego. My family (girls 6 & 9)+ husband plan on going to the zoo, seaworld, shopping and just relaxing while in San Diego. The beach is not super important as we live on the beach in Massachusetts but it would be nice. We need a pool that is kid friendly and we will have a car.

I have narrowed it down to:
Paradise Point
Marriott Marina
Catamaran Hotel
Hilton La Jolla
Grande Colonial

Please give me your opinion or other suggestions. Price is not a huge issue. Most of the reviews I have read date back a few years and it is possible that some of these hotels have done some renovations.

you should probably get a map and look at the points of interest you are visiting. la jolla is about 20 minutes from the zoo (on a good traffic day)fyi: there is a five star hotel- the four seasons aviara in carlsbad and it is really lovely...but not convienent to downtown sites.

If you are staying at the RC in SF, and the 4S in SB, then none of the hotels in your list belong with your first two.
Really. You'll be disappointed in each of them.
You might look into the 4S Aviara in Carlsbad as noted above. Or even the Parisi in La Jolla. Neither is well located for San Diego activities like the zoo and Sea World, but you'll have to compromise one way or another...either hotel quality or location.

How about the Lodge at Torrey Pines? Or
Rancho Valencia?

I have been told that La Jolla is a great place to stay and the 4S is not in the best of locations. Can anyone give me a recent opinion on Paradise Point?

I second the Lodge at Torrey Pines. We stayed there with our 10-year-old two weeks ago. It's a beautiful place. The staff could not have been more helpful. It's minutes from San Diego (our son went to Sea World with his cousins while we went to Del Mar one day). The kids were were made to feel welome throughout the hotel. The pool is shaped like a Red Cross X -- the deepest section is 5 feet -- with ample, wide stairs at two ends and kid-size deck chairs. In the previous weeks of vacation we had stayed at the Ritz in Pasadena and the Ritz in Laguna Niguel. Torrey Pines was easily their equal. See: www.lodgetorreypines.com

I third the Lodge at Torrey Pines. Splendid property. And you're still quite close to San Diego, so it's not like you're in the car for an hour to get everywhere (like you would be in Carlsbad).

I can give you a long negative review of Paradise Point. Or I can simply say "don't bother". It's old, it's cheaply furnished, it's sprawling, it's like a nice convention hotel from the 1960's. It's not Paradise.

I just stayed in the paradise point hotel in San Diego for labor day. I actually really liked it. yeah, it's not your typical modern hotel, but it's absolutely beautiful in a nature way. The rooms were nice--they were kind of like staying in a cottage..and the area was beautiful. 4 huge swimming pools, a hot tub, put-put, croquet..i can go on.. There's water fountains everywhere--it's really nice. I would definitely reccomend it.

But, flyfaraway, consider that "kgn" is going to be comparing Paradise Point to a Four Seasons and Ritz Carlton. On a scale of 1-10, if the first two are 9+, PP isn't more than a 6 (at least in my opinion as of a stay there in February of this year).

A quick look at user comments at Travelocity (I trust them) give decidedly mixed reviews to Paradise Point. The grounds always get great remarks, but some grumble about dirty, poorly-maintained rooms.

The Lodge at Torrey Pines is a AAA Five-Diamond facility-- something to bear in mind.

rwilliams: Do you have an opinion on Lodge at Torrey Pines? There seems like a lot of positives to booking there.

Any feedback on the Sea Lodge or Scripps Inn

I am probably leaning towards The Lodge. Thanks for the info, it is always appreciated