I'm planning a five-day, four-night trip to San Diego in mid-September and need a nice, safe hotel for a 40-something solo gal traveler. I'm looking for a pool where I can swim laps; free high-speed internet access; free parking, free breakfast and a central location for handling appointments in different parts of town. I don't want to spend more than $100 a night, including tax. If there are nice nearby shopping/entertainment areas to enjoy after business hours, that would be a bonus!

Your suggestions immensely appreciated.

You may want to either increase your budget or reduce the amenities. I was going to suggest Humphreys as that has the best pool of any hotel that I have stayed at but doesnt have free breakfast. I believe the rate is around $180 per night plus taxes. You will not find a hotel for $100 including taxes unless its a 1 star. Maybe with priceline but then you don't have control over amenities.

The Bay Club on Shelter Island is probably closest to your amenities but their pool is pretty small. And even then the price is ~ $150 after taxes

If someone knows of a hotel in SD that has what this poster is looking for and is less than $100/nt, I'd love to know about it.

just checked expedia.com for mid week September and the BW Island Palm on Shelter Island might work for you.$99 a night and across the street from the SD Bay.
US Grant is $160 but its a Luxury collection hotel by Starwood and I have never seen it that price..if you can bump up your $$ it is an exquisite property.

It is possible to book Humphrey's Half Moon through Hotwire closer to your dates. I use betterbidding.com along with Hotwire to make an educated guess about which hotel I'll end up with. According to betterbidding.com, Humphrey's will come up listed as 3.5* San Diego (SeaWorld-Mission Bay-Shelter Isld). It looks like someone recently booked two nights there at $69/nt plus ~$10 taxes. Parking is $10/nt. If you spend less than $10 on your breakfast, then you still stay under $100/nt even though you are paying for parking and breakfast.

Of course there is no guarantee that this comes up for your dates. So, if I were you and I really wanted a deal like this through Hotwire, I'd go ahead and book a room at my second choice (someplace that doesn't require a down payment and allows cancellations up to the week before my trip), keep watching Hotwire and betterbidding.com, and as soon as it comes up on Hotwire, purchase it and cancel the other reservation. You do have to assume some risk in not getting exactly that hotel on Hotwire though...so whether you are the risky type or not is up to you.

And it looks like the continental breakfast buffet at the restaurant on-site is $9.95.

Except for mega-events, such as this weekend's Comic-Com, hotels in downtown San Diego can be gotten for under $100 on Priceline.

Check out biddingfortravel for the latest successful bids.

If you have not used Priceline before, please come back and ask. It'll never do to dive off blind and start making bids on Priceline without knowing first what it's all about.

Good luck on your hotel search.

Places to go after work: Gaslamp District, Old Town, drive to Coronado Island, walk along the seashore in several places (Sunset Beach for one) or just sit at a beach restaurant like the Green Flash (my personal favorite) and watch humanity go by.

http://www.greenflashrestaurant.com/

I'm certain others have their favorites too and can give you more recommendations.

Thanks, everyone, for your great tips. I'm leaning toward the BW Shelter Island, which has everything I want, and great reviews, and I've seen it in my price range. Is it a convenient location for getting around town, would you say?

overall, its a great place for the price and the Brigantine down the street has the best happy hour everyday with the best fish tacos and marg's and Point Loma Seafoods is excellent too.
Bali Hai for mai tais and good Hawaiian food with killer views of downtown SD.
Takes less than 10 minutes to get to downtown on Harbor drive.
Make sure you get to Liberty Station for Tender Greens and they have a Trader Joe's and a great wine bar too.

ksucat, thanks for the extra help. I will check those out!

Hi folks...

I just scored two nights at The Omni in Downtown San Diego for $90.00 per night. With taxes the two nights cost $212.00 This is a four star hotel. The on-line rate for this hotel starts at $261.00 per night. The Omni is in the heart of the Gaslamp Quarter. I put a bid in on Priceline for a three star hotel at $90.00. I was told I was accepted and upgraded to a four star hotel. This was yesterday. My two dates are for mid-October. I am coming in for a Cruise. You gotta love Priceline!!!!!

That is a HUGE score Ruby..good job on the bid.
Rooms are really nice..ask for a high floor room overlooking the SD Bay..
Happy hour at McCormicks and Schmicks at the Omni rocks too..it's an everyday HH and we really enjoy it.

We stayed at Omni Christmas 2004 and loved it. You do know that you will have to pay for parking, if you have a car -- I think $30 a night?

Great location and ask for a corner room, nicely. We got a suite just for asking, but it was a really low occupancy period.

Deb

Fantastic, k-cat! My cousin will love the happy hour part. She loves her vino. If this poster goes to Trip Advisor for The Omni she would see tht lots of folks are scoring this hotel. I was pleasantly surprised!

Deb...We are in town for only two nights before we get on a crusie ship. No parking for us. We only have one full day to run around. I guess we need to decide what we want to do.

Have you been in San Diego before? The zoo is great, as is Balboa Park and all the museums.

Deb