My family and I are looking to travel to San Diego this summer. Would we be better off with a hotel or house/condo for a week? We have three kids so we either need two adjoining rooms or a suite.

Based on my research I like a few hotels: Ocean Park, Hilton San Diego Gaslamp, Hyatt Islandia, Marriott Coronado and Paradise Point but I'm having a hard time deciding on one. The hotel doesn't need to be the Four Seasons but it does need to be nice, very clean, and hopefully centrally located. Is that possible with any of my choices?

Finally, does anyone have an opinion about which month during the summer would be best for visiting San Diego?

Thank you so much for all of your help.

I'm not nearly knowledgable enough to answer all your questions, but in an effort to keep it from sinking too far down, I'll tell you it depends on:

what age your kids are (Mission Beach area seems to be popular with teens)

whether you want to be on a beach

rental vs hotel depends on whether you're interested in doing cooking/saving $$ Personally, I think a suite arrangement with a kitchenette for breakfast/lunch snacks would be good.

There is a current thread (last post I think 5/7 poster is GLM designs) that has very good info & descriptions of the various areas. Type San Diego hotels in the text search box above & click find.

I don't think you want to be in the gaslamp district since there's not much going on there during the day.

My kids are 4, 8 & 11. We would like to be near the beach or at least have a water view.

Thanks for the info and I will check out the other thread.

Hi - I'm the person who started the other thread. If you read through them, you will see that I am undecided also but leaning toward the Bahia. It is located on Mission Bay and near the beach and looks llike it has lots for kids. Check out their website. The Marriott on Coronado looks nice too, but is a lot quieter, if that's what you want. I stayed at the Paradise Point years ago when it was different ownership and it was very nice. Good luck.

Thanks for the info. I read your thread and it gave me some good ideas. I like what the Bahia offers as far as location, etc. However, I worry about the rooms because the hotel seems old and hasn't been renovated as far as I can tell. I guess it is very difficult to find the perfect mix of quality and location.

The best month is Sept followed by August. July is when everyone from Arizona with kids goes so it can be crowded (most schools in AZ start Aug. 9 this year). Water Temperature doesn't get pleasant until July - but it can be cold anytime during the summer if the currents shift. Water Temp is rarely above 72 F

I stayed at the Bahai about 6 years ago and the rooms were okay. I have no idea what they are now. It is in a good location in Misson Bay. Ditto on Gaslamp area. Mostly for the older crowd and not very kid friendly.

I agree that the best time to visit is September (or even October), followed by August. June is cool and usually foggy, and July is crowded.

After driving myself crazy with all of the hotel options I have narrowed it down to the following: Depending on the AAA rate we get we will stay at Humphreys in a Marina Suite for all or part of our stay. The place looks nice and the rooms like clean and not shabby.


If the rate is really high then we will divide our time and stay at the Residence Inn in Sorrento for a couple of nights. I know it's not as close but I got a great rate for a 2 bedroom suite.

Any thoughts on my plan? Thanks again for any help.

Humphrey's is a neat place but is definitely not cetral and isn't in the greatest area. Sorrento is inland and residential but if it's cheap, it's cheap. I'd look into people selling their time shares, renting villas, etc. on consolidation sites and especially ebay and skyauction. A woman I know has gotten 2br condos in places like Palm Springs and Hawaii for less than $100 a night (by the week) that way. I don't know if you have the time for this much searching, let alone the desire to cook and clean once you get here (it is a vacation, after all). Still, I'd look into it before making a final decision. Oh, and really, rent a car. "Central" doesn't mean too much here, especially with kids. There is SO much or them to do here but most of it is kind of spread out.