San Diego Hotels

San Diego is located along the coast of Southern California near the border with Mexico. The city, the oldest in California, is known for its pleasant climate with moderate year round temperatures. It has become a popular destination for hosting conferences and trade shows. Many San Diego hotels cater to this industry and offer quality rooms and large banquet style facilities. It is also a family destination with two of the city's biggest attractions being the San Diego Zoo and SeaWorld. Consequently there are also a wide range of hotels in San Diego from budget to upper end options.

The city center is home to historic buildings, naval attractions along the waterfront, museums, shopping, restaurants and more. A couple of the highlights of this area include the Gaslamp Quarter National Historic District with Victorian homes from the late 19th and early 20th Century, and the San Diego Maritime Museum and Star of India sailing ship. Nearby, San Diego's 'Little Italy' is a quaint area with many restaurants and shops.

This is where many of the best hotels in San Diego are located and is also one of the most convenient locations for visitors to stay. Some quality hotels in the downtown core which cater to both business travelers and tourists are the Omni San Diego Hotel and the landmark Westgate Hotel along with the Se San San Diego, near the Gaslamp Quarter. Near Horton Plaza in this same area is the beautiful, historic US Grant Hotel, built in 1910, and the W San Diego, also close to the Gaslamp Quarter.

The San Diego Zoo is one of the largest zoos in America and is laid out with lush vegetation and large enclosures that flow down the hillsides. The zoo is part of Balboa Park, an area once used for the Panama California Exhibition in 1915/16. Today the park is a beautiful green space and cultural area with gardens and old Spanish-Mexican style buildings that were built for the Exhibition. These structures now house numerous museums and arts centers, including the San Diego Museum of Art.

SeaWorld in San Diego is a huge water based amusement park and aquarium with performing dolphins, whales, sea lions, and all kinds of marine life. This is a huge family attraction and visitors can count on spending a whole day here. Both Balboa Park and SeaWorld lie outside the downtown core.

One other area of note is San Diego's Old Town, which includes Old Town State Historic Park, and is a recreated 19th Century town with shops and restaurants, as well as some original adobe structures. Some of the Old Town is a pedestrian only area and a great place to spend a couple hours walking around. This area lies outside the city center but is easy to get to by bus or car.

There are many luxury hotels and resorts located a short distance outside the city center that offer a range of services including spa and golf resorts. Some of the choice hotels in this category include the Grand Del Mar, offering both Spa and golfing, and the deluxe Rancho Valencia Resort.

Getting around San Diego is not difficult and the city center is fairly compact. There are buses and trains that service almost all areas of the city. There are also ferries and water taxis that will take visitors from downtown to Coronado across the bay. The airport is located just outside downtown San Diego, between the city center and Sea World. There are numerous hotels around the airport which can be convenient for stopovers but for those interested in sightseeing around San Diego it will mean driving or taking public transport to all of the major attractions.