TWA884

The Inn at the Park, located in the Hillcrest area, received positive feedback in the GLBT Travelers forum back when it was the Park Manor Suites.

Arsey00

There isn't a lot in Hillcrest itself, but all along Sixth Avenue, running alongside the park, you have several choices. Including the above mentioned Inn At The Park. The further north you are (toward the end of the alphabet), the shorter the walk into Hillcrest, 10-15 minutes at most but if you can find something around Thorn or Upas, you'll be right on the doorstep. Fifth avenue in the same blocks will have less choice but will cost less as they don't have park views.

djtsukasa

To be honest, without knowing where your conference is I'd say just stay downtown, and if you want to go to hillcrest take a cab/uber up to hillcrest since it's close in cab terms. Even if you weren't in gaslamp, you could stay closer to the bay like the Hyatt/Marriott or even the Hilton, although it is a bit away "downtown" and is closer to Petco park.

Hotel circle does suck, so maybe just stay in Mission Valley as an alternative? There are several not-too-bad hotels there such as the doubletree, and even a marriott even though that's on the east side of MV.

gj83

I stayed at the Sommerset Suites once. I would not recommend it. I think most of the people lived there so it was the "extended stay america" type crowd.

They also made a photo copy of my license at check in. I don't like that.

For all future visits to UCSD - Hillcrest I stayed at the Hampton Inn in Kearny Mesa.

sherlinsmith12

Sounds good...Thank you guys for sharing this.....

rubesl

For what it's worth, our son lives in SAN at Front & Market. We always stay at either the Doubletree on Front (Little Italy), which is very nice, with a friendly staff, or the Indigo on 9th (Gaslamp, by the ballpark), nice & trendy. Both are equidistant from him. Which one we use depends on whether we are using Hilton or IHG points.

busilyidle

Have you checked out Wyndham? It's a pretty nice place too. Very accessible location, service is superb and the rooms are very much well-maintained. ^

Madone59

You won't find much in Hillcrest, take a look at Mission Beach area. It's not as bad as hotel circle or gas lamp quarter when it comes to tourist volume. Also, you can enjoy some of time on the beach

carlosdca

Sommerset and Inn at the Park, for now, are really the only options in Hillcrest. The Inn is old school (grandma's decoration) and should be better than Sommerset.

There is another one called Hillcrest something. I've heard weird stories about it. It does not look like a full service hotel. I probably would not recommend it.

If was not a local, I would probably stay at the Inn, anywhere downtown or at a Hillcrest condo from AirBnb. Downtown has the most hotels and it is VERY convenient to Hillcrest (a very short and cheap uber or cab ride, as mentioned before).

M60_to_LGA

Just circling back. Ended up staying at the Sofia downtown, which was a nice hotel, and the location was good. There's a stop for the 11 bus, which goes to Hillcrest, located literally across the street - so that was fine for my purposes.

Veeeeerrryyy glad I didn't stay closer to the Gaslamp Quarter. On a Saturday night I figured I'd walk down to see if I could find a decent pub or chill bar, and - I don't know if it was due to Memorial Day weekend or not - the place was Florida Spring Break-level insane. Huge crowds of drunk bros all over the place, could barely walk down the sidewalks, drunk guys screaming out the windows of their big SUVs while speeding down the street, just a vibe of way too much alcohol and testosterone mixed together... no thank you. I walked a couple of blocks and went straight back to the hotel.

Jay71

Hoping to get some guidance around which downtown San Deigo neighbourhood to stay in. We're considering: Little Italy, Marina area, Gaslamp Quarter, and south of the Gaslamp Quarter. We might try to bid for a hotel.
Or are these areas pretty pedestrian friendly and walkable between each other?

We'll be in town midweek (Tue to Thu/Fri) and hoping to stay somewhere central and somewhat "lively". Ideally, we'd be able to walk to/around a safe pedestrian friendly area in the evening (to ~10pm?) with restaurants, bars, window shopping, etc. Other threads seem to indicate we need to stay in the downtown area if we want to have access to anything somewhat later night. But we're open to being convinced to staying in other areas and just visit downtown since we will have a rental car.

SANspotter

Yes, all of those you listed are very pedestrian friendly and good places to hang out for an evening. Little Italy is a bit further out, but walking between the other areas is very easy since they are in the same general area. You could walk to Little Italy from the Gaslamp, but it is a bit of a trek.

If you want "lively" (with bars, cafe's, restaurants, and shopping), stay anywhere in and around the Gaslamp district. The Marina area is a bit more quiet since it's on the water, but walking to the Gaslamp district takes just minutes.

Forget staying elsewhere and dealing with a rental car. Parking is expensive downtown!

FlitBen

Since you have a rental anyway you could look at the places around Hotel Circle such as the Comfort Inn & Suites. The area may be more convenient to the other attractions further west and north. From the nearby Old Town station you could also try riding the green line into the Gaslamp Quarter.

gpia

Not a local, but having just visited that very same area: stayed at the Marriott Gaslamp Quarter, and while it's not exactly the perfect hotel, I found the location to be ideal. Short walk to the "lively" areas, through what felt like very safe streets.

Make sure to check for "packages", found some offers with parking included that were actually cheaper than standard rates.

Jay71

Thanks for the replies. Very helpful guidance!