San Diego - Radisson Harbor View
 

I just took the plunge and booked Priceline for San Diego for a weekend later in September. From what I have read it is very hard to get "deals" on nice hotels in San Diego. We were hoping for Gaslamp/downtown area but ended up with the Radisson Harbor View for a Priceline bid of $80.00 per night. I just went on TravelAdvisor and reviews are not good. This is for my daughter's 14th b-day and now we're locked in so looking for POSITIVE comments! One of the reviews said it was walking distance to Little Italy, Wharf, Seaport Village. Is that true? If so, that would be really good news. Any good, fun restaurants within walking distance. Thanks for your help because right now I'm feeling kind of down about this. Yes, yes, I know one always takes a chance with Priceline.

the hotel is fine. it is right off a freeway off ramp so i suppose if you're on the wrong side of the building, it might be a little loud (that would also be the same side that the approaching planes land, too).

aside from that, the location is ok. you can walk to many places - the area is safe, and cabs are readily available to take you the $4 fare to the gaslamp if you want.

you'll be fine.

Read your post and then went to tripadvisor and read the reviews. In your shoes, I would decide to treat the hotel like "just a place to sleep" and plan activities out and about. Ask for a high floor (and maybe bring along some Febreeze in case the room smells). I'm not familiar enough with that area but I personally don't like the Gaslamp district anyway. It feels "fake" and honky tonk. There are much prettier areas of San Diego.

I would either rent a car if you weren't planning to, or make use of buses, trolleys, the sightseeing tram etc.

I would spend one day at Balboa Park visiting the zoo and/or the museums, gardens etc. The Prado restaurant there is very nice, good food and festive. I would spend the other day either in La Jolla or Coronado. You'll have a great time.

My husband and I stayed at the Radisson about a year and a half ago - also through Priceline. Our bid was $75, so it's right in line with what you got.

When we got there, we asked for a non-smoking room facing toward the harbor and on as high of a floor as was availible. The hotel staff accomodated our request. I don't remember what floor we were on, but we had a nice view from our room of downtown and a bit of a harbor view. Our room was very quiet - no freeway noise at all.

The room was nice, not luxurious, but it was clean, comfortable, and spacious.

The location was ok - definitely walking distance to little Italy and the harbor. We walked to the Gaslamp dist, which was quite a few blocks. They had pedicabs all over when we were there, so we took one back to the hotel. There isn't a lot in the Gaslamp for a 14 year old anyway - mostly bars, pubs, and clubs. There was some construction when we were there on neighboring blocks to the hotel. Maybe it's finished and some cool places have moved in there.

The only real complaint I had about the hotel was the parking garage. It was very tight and although we did fine getting the car in and out, we really had to pay attention so as not to scrape the walls.

This hotel is a good "home base" for exploring SD. It's not a destination in and of itself though, more like a place to hang your hat. It's only a couple blocks from the trolley line and a short drive from just about everything in SD.

call and ask for a room on whatever is the quieter side. mention it's your daughter's birthday so special occassion. i might throw in a couple of packages of earplugs just in case. your only there for a weekend so you'll only be there to sleep. and, you got a good price - not many hotels in san diego for $80. just have fun and don't sweat the small stuff.

We are home and had a BLAST in San Diego. Really enjoyed SeaWorld and the Zoo. We were prepared for the worst with the Radisson and actually ended up being pretty pleased with it. The first room we were given (on the 8th floor) had not been cleaned (it was 7pm) so they gave us another room on the 20th floor. We could see the harbor, full moon, Petco Park. It was beautiful! Our room with spacious with two double beds and the bathroom had a nice spacious counter. We were very comfortable. Both nights we ended up walking (easily) to Little Italy and had reasonable and enjoyable dinners at Filippi's. For breakfast one morning walked from our hotel to Hob Nob Hill Restaurant. A good old-fashioned breakfast spot. Our last morning had a great breakfast at Buster's at Seaport Village. For our purposes the hotel worked great for us. We were gone all day at SeaWorld and the Zoo so really just slept there. The Parking Garage is truly the tightest we have ever experienced. Grateful to escape it without a scratch! Thanks for all the help.

Glad you had a good trip. I warned you about that garage - LOL. When we were there, we were laughing at the signs about unauthorized vehicles being towed at the owners expense. Yeah, I'd like to meet the truck driver who could tow a car out of there! Ha ha.

I am headed down to San Diego on Thursday and I can't wait!