San Diego Travel Forum

My wife, daughter and I will be coming to SanDiego for two nights after Christmas and we thought we would spend the day at the Zoo.
Any suggestions for a good hotel close by. I don't mind if we have to drive as we have a rental car but I would like a one bedroom with at least a hide a bed or maybe two queen beds if possible. Location and price ar most important.

There are a few little, more B&B places north of Downtown like the Britt Scripps Inn and The Keating House.
The Balboa Park Inn is probably the closest though, it has reasonable rates, and it's supposed to be fairly nice. Parking is an issue in that neighborhood though, if that concerns you.

Try the Hotel Circle hotels for pricing and closeness to the Zoo. See the website: http://www.sandiegohotels.com/ and go to the middle search and scroll up to Hotel Circle, click on and check them all out. They are all close to the Zoo.

The zoo is really easy to get to so I would shop for price and location and not worry about being that close. We were just there and stayed at the Double Tree Golf Resort way north up I-15 and it still only took us 20 minutes to drive. The zoo doesn't open until 10:00 AM so it's not that important to be that close to get there early. Hotel Circle is a good place to look for a wide selection in a small area.

I've been happy with the Sommerset Inn on Washington. It is about a mile or two from the zoo, and easy walking distance to lots of great restaurants. Prices are modest for very large rooms ( it was designed as a residence hall, then later converted to a hotel. )

The suggestion of Hotel Circle is useful as a variety of hotels are concentrated in that area which offer free parking and some with quite reasonable rates. As for the one bedroom, I'm not sure that the less expensive hotels/motels have one bedroom suites.

The Sommerset in Hillcrest does offer one bedroom suites and free parking. As HB stated, it is located within walking distance of the heart of Hillcrest and there are many restaurants to choose from in that area. I have a tip about it on my Hillcrest page if you'd like a better idea of it and the area it is located in.

http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/16c12/b7dce/3/

We have stayed at the Comfort Suites near Hotel Circle a few times and the rooms are large with seperate sleeping areas, not seperate rooms however. The price reasonable, but the location is not conducive to walking. However, a short drive over the freeway will put in the Fashion Valley Mall and Hazzard Center shopping area with plenty of places to walk to.

We have also stayed at several Residence Inns (La Jolla, Downtown, and Carlsbad) They have large rooms with full kitchens some with fireplaces. Only downside to RI is they are usually in more comerical locations (except the Downtown location) and you will have to drive. They usually offer some form of free breakfast and a cocktail hour.

We went with the Summerset Inn because of size, location and price. I will let you know if it was a good decision when we return.

Thanks for the update.

I look forward to your review when you return.

The Summerset is maybe 2 stars. Location and freeway access is 5 stars but the hotel is old and kind of dirty. The rooms are large which is a plus and the kitchen had most everything we needed. The staff at the front desk was very helpful. This hotel needs some rubbing and scrubbing and it would be great.
It looks like they don't spend a dime to maintain it. If it was cleaned up with some fresh carpet and paint I would stay there again no problem.
But right now I would shop around a little first. I really like everything about this place except it reminds me of an old Motel 6 as far as quality.

Thanks for the update!!