*sigh* now it's San Diego indecision!
 

Currently I'm booked into 2 hotels ... the Marriott Coronado and the new Homewood Suites at Liberty Station. I've been yo-yo-ing between the two and now have both booked and unable to make a decision!

Marriott Coronado appears perfect. But something is nagging at me. We need to stay on a Saturday, Sunday and Monday. If I ask for just the Sunday and Monday, I get a nice package offered to me, which includes breakfast and parking. But when I add in the Saturday, the package disappears and the rate is higher without breakfast and parking, than with! I did phone and asked if there was any way of booking the Sunday and Monday on the package deal and paying the higher rate for the Saturday, but the person I spoke to didn't seem to understand my question, so I gave up.

Likewise, the Homewood Suites seem perfect, but people keep mentioning 'smells' and that it's not a very good area to stay. Well, I wouldn't know, not having been there before - anybody any thoughts?

I'd call again and talk to a different agent. Just say you want to book Sunday/Monday with the good package, and then the best rate available for Saturday. Sounds like you had a lousy agent taking the first call. They should be able to handle this.

Its a new area in terms of new hotels / restaurants. Its near the former Marine training center. But it is a perfect location for access to the downtown, airport, beaches, etc. I usually stay on Shelter Island, which isn't much farther past that. That being said, Coronado is a great area and a lot of fun. Its up to you. If you are happy with the rates on Coronado and get the package for Sunday / Monday, go for it. Either way, you should be able to enjoy SD as it is a great city.

I made the mistake of phoning the UK number on the back of my Rewards card. The person I spoke to didn't appear to speak English ... I'll maybe phone the hotel direct.

We're stopping at lots of Marriotts on our trip; love their beds! And, if we stay at the Marriott Coronado, we would have enough points for a free night at the Heathrow Marriott when we return. Alas though, your points need to be at least 7 days old. Grrh.

tchoiniere, yes I looked up a lot of info on Liberty Station, including the USS Recruit, which is 'parked' right next to the hotel. It all sounds very interesting, including the ship . I think it would be an ideal place for us to stay - lots of space, breakfast, free parking and a fridge, which the Marriott doesn't offer. Who cares about a 'funny smell'?! :)

was the funny smell a sewage smell. there is a pump station not far from there and sometimes when the wind switches you can get a "funny smell". but it's not an all the time occurance.

The Marriott Coronado is a much better location. It's close to downtown, you can get there by ferry/water taxi if you don't want to drive and park. The view of the San Diego downtown skyline is fantastic. Coronado is a lovely little town to stroll and the beach by the Hotel Del is one of the best in the world.

The Homewood Suites is on the site of the former Naval Training Center, San Deigo. Part of the site is preserved for historical importance, part has been developed. It isn't the most convenient area, IMO, for tourists, but it is closer to Point Loma and the Cabrillo National Monument.

Barbara, thanks for the correction. I couldn't remember if it was Marines or Navy. Of course, went for the wrong one...

Wild, dunno if you can use a UK credit card to book a hotel in the UK via Priceline. However, if you're looking for a room at Heathrow upon your return, I'd suggest giving it a try. 4-star properties at LHR are going for considerably less than $100.

Barbara is right about this, the hotel at Liberty Station would be a boring place to stay. I don't think it's a high crime area, but there's not a lot around there that would interest a toursist.

Like Barbara, I live in SD.

Hope you have a great trip.

Hi bookall
I've never gone through Priceline, simply because it's (I think) impossible to get triple rooms and there is myself, hub and adult son. We can't generally afford 2 rooms - although sometimes we splash out! I've got a room booked for when we return to the UK, but at a Travelodge (£15!!!). We're stopping at the Marriott Heathrow the night before our flight and we're parking our car with them. Total cost is about $400 for the night's accommodation + 4 weeks parking. The cost for a night's accommodation only, on our return, because it is a weekday, would be about the same. Too much!

Thanks Barbara and L8. Yes, I completely see where you're coming from, which is why I haven't (yet) cancelled the Coronado booking. However, we did a quick rundown of things last evening, and it stands out a mile which place we should stay booked with.

Price (3 nights, 3 adults)

Coronado Marriott $1215
Homewood Suites $1132

Breakfast

Marriott - No (purchase separately at around $18 pp)
Homewood - Included

Parking

Marriott - $20 per day
Homewood - Free parking

Locality

Marriott - 5.17 miles, 11 mins to Seaport Village
Homewood - 3.86 miles, 7 mins to Seaport Village

Sleeping arrangements

Marriott - one room with 2 double beds + rollaway bed.
Homewood - 2 x bedrooms, with K in one and Q in the other + 2 bathrooms + sofabed in sitting-room

Balcony and view

Marriott - balcony + bay view
Homewood - balcony + bay view (although not totally certain on that, but it doesn't matter overmuch)

Nearby

Marriott - shops and restaurants
Homewood - shops and restaurants

Fridge

Marriott - no - just a minibar, which you shouldn't touch!
Homewood - yes + full kitchen.

Bad

Marriott - nothing evident
Homewood - possible smell (could be sewage, somebody mentioned tidal - and somebody else mentioned 'dead fish')

Wifi

Marriott - pay (I think $9 per day)
Homewood - included

But I still haven't decided!! We are not too fussed about locality, as such - just as long as it's safe and within reasonable reach of most places.

Do yourself a favor and quit looking. Make a reservation and then STOP your search. You can obsess about this until the moment you arrive at the hotel.

Travel involves a few risks. Hotels are part of that risk. Just relax.

You're going to have a car right?

Then the Homewood will save you the money you spend on the car and Sport Arena area (Homewood) isn't far from anything.

Since I live in SD, I don't spend much time at hotels so I'm not sure what it's overlooking.

There are lots of stores and resturants in that area. Old Town is nearby, so is the airport, Sea World. It's not far from Balboa Park and the beaches.
Even though breakfast is included, you won't be far from one of my favorite breakfast places- Perry's. If you decide to go, order one frittata breakfast to split btwn 2. It's huge and it's good. PS don't let this info get out - go early.

The Homewood Suites should be fine. I didn't realise it's right on Harbor Drive. It's new, so everything should be in good condition, etc. It's less expensive so go for it. The outdoor firplace looks nice.

L84Sky,

I think you and I had the same idea of the location of the Homewood Suites. If you take a look at the map on the hotel web site, it's actually not a bad place.

Yep Barbara. I was curious about this hotel and went to Tripadvisor.
The guy who wrote about the dead fish said, "We walked over to the rocks where the water was and it smelled like dead fish" Doesn't sound like he went very far away from the hotel. Also, he heard airplanes "all day long". Again, he didn't get far away from the hotel during the day. Personally, I wouldn't trust that review as it sounds like wildblueyonder is going to have a lot more fun.

Won't ya?

BTW, wby, if you wanted to stock the fridge there's a trader joes pretty close to this location, For some organic food- People's Food Store in Ocean Beach is just a car ride away. Plus, a multitude of reasonably priced restaurants in the area.

Of course, you are going to hear planes all day long. Its about a mile from the airport. Its a convenient location to everything

I think I'll cancel the Marriott then, shall I?!

Did you know that SpongeBob is soon to invade San Diego, with a new Nickolodeon Resort being built at Liberty Station? Ooh!

L8 - yep, I'd noticed the Trader Joe's - it's our favourite place to grocery shop!

I think the bloke who did the 'fish smell' review might well have been writing on behalf of the Dana ... but, whatever, certainly he doesn't get out and about much if he listened to those planes all day!

Thanks guys! :)

don't worry about the planes you won't be in your room most of the day anyhow and they stop flying at 11:30 pm and do not resume flying til 6:30 am. it's really a very convientent location to a lot in San Diego.