My wife and I are going to be in San Diego for our 25th wedding anniversary at the end of April.  Need hotel recommendations. Looking for a very nice hotel (AKA not Motel 6 or the like) with good (AKA not Burger King and the like) restaurants within walking distance. A bar at the restaurant is a plus. Some attractions within walking distance also a plus.  We want a nice hotel with things to do at the hotel in case we have a day where we want to be lazy.

Attractions.  So far Sea World, The Queen Mary, The USS Midway, the zoo, La Jolla,and Legoland are on the list of possibilities.  We will have a car so we can get around.

Your suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Hotel Del Coronado. You're welcome.

If you want to be downtown check out the Westin in Emerald Plaza. Tall building hotel with amazing views. Downtown is where a lot of great places can be found to eat, in the Gaslamp Quarter.

https://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_5/1852658_.html

http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_157/1958256_San-Diego-in-March.html



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If you want to be lazy, hotel del coronado is the correct answer. Also check out the San Diego Zoo Safari Park as a possible place to go. Torrey Pines State Reserve as well.

I ran a search before posting and neither of those popped up.  I could understand the one that's a year old didn't pop up but the other is from January.

The Del Coronado is out of my price range. I'm trying for about $200/night max. Still want to be in a good neighborhood that's safe to walk in the evening and has restaurants and shops.

Lou & Mickey's.

Not cheap but damn decent steak house.

They have this roasted goat cheese appetizer that I could have made a meal of myself.   Basically it is toast with roasted garlic, goat cheese, and roasted balsamic tomatos that you assemble yourself.

It is so good I cannot go a week without making it.    

My suggestion?   Ask for it to be brought out at the same time as your steak/main course.    Then you can slice a piece of steak to put on your toast for a kind of o0en faced sandwich.

Their mac&cheese is pretty good as well.

Me and the girlfriend went 160 dollars on dinner for 2 but it was worth it.   It is r8ght across from Nobu in the gas lamp.


Then there is Hodads for a huge great burger.


Also Supernatural Sandwiches up in Miramar is awesome with a grilled cheese shrimp and bacon sammich...

The Queen Mary is 2+ hours north.  If you still want to see it, the Iowa is 10 minutes away from the QM.  And more interesting (to me).

So far the Del Coronado and the Westin downtown have been recommended.  Any other hotels I should consider?

We live too close to overnight too much and haven't been down there for a while.  We tend to go north to Santa Barbara and beyond instead of south to San Diego these days.  My impression of SD is that much of it is sketchy in the downtownish/harbor area and there is a lot of tourist demand and snowbird demand that can drive prices up in the less sketchy areas.  Also a lot of business, military and government activity to push prices up.  The Hotel Del, is as already noted, the pricey King of the Hill.  But you might want to check other Coronado options.  Mission Valley/Hotel Circle is a traditional vacation lodging area.  

So that's not likely much help.  Be a little aware that it may not be sunny and beautiful all the time.  We lied about that.  But it's past the rainy season and may be ahead of May Gray and June Gloom.

Things to do?  Tons.  Besides the zoo, Balboa Park has a variety of museums.  Safari Park (I think that's what they call it now near Escondido).  You are really in the greater L.A. area when considering the Queen Mary.  Lots of recent attention to proposed plans for redevelopment of the Queen to include keeping it from sinking or falling apart and attracting more tourists.  I've been on it a few times for events but never specifically just to tour it.  I think it's past it's prime, young people are unaware of the whole old steamship era and modern cruise lines are like mega party pontoons in comparison.  Lego Land?  Never went with my kids and not sure the draw for adults without kids although the flower industry in the area may have blooming fields that might be worth viewing.

Do not waste your time on the Queen Mary.  That is if it hasn't sunk at it's mooring by then.  She's leaking badly (to be expected from a ship that hasn't moved and had no real hull maintenance in decades).

The USS Iowa is ok, but the prices are a rip off as you don't get to see much of the ship.  However, a short distance away is the SS Lane Victory.  She's a WWII victory ship.  It's owned and run by a non profit and you can see almost all of the ship.  Plus if your timing is right and you want to pony up the money you can take a cruise.

The only way the USS Iowa will cruise again is if aliens attack California, and they make a movie about it.

Paul, I just booked a room at the Embassy Suites. Looks convenient to Gaslamp District and USS Midway.  

You said you've stayed in the area.  How is it at night?  Ok to walk?  Is it really noisy?  That's one of my concerns when booking a hotel in a city I don't know.  Ended up in a very nice hotel in a very bad part of town in DC. Another time ended up in a hotel in New Orleans with a room that shared a wall with a nightclub.

Been a while since I lived down there, but I'm thinking there were some nice motels on the edge of Old Town.  Walking around to them was (back then) safe.  Also, you can take the trolley from the Gas Light District to Old Town.

There are some really great museums up in Balboa Park, most are closed Mondays.

We were there in January for a week and stayed at the Sophia Hotel. It's in the gas lamp. It was Very nice and located centrally.

Check out Humphrey's Half Moon Inn and see if there are any concerts there while you're there.  Great place to stay!

National Salute to Bob Hope and the Military by Eugene Daub & Steven Whyte.  This is adjacent to the Midway and well worth some time.  Especially if you either got a chance to see a USO Show or caught some of them on TV.  It's been a while since I saw it and it may have been kind of new at the time and don't recall the explanatory detail on each member of the "audience" so it might be fun to take the notes with you.  

https://www.portofsandiego.org/public-art/view-the-art-directory/778-bob-hope-tribute-by-eugene-daub-a-steven-whyte.html

There are several other notable ieces of public art in the area as well.

It's touristy but the old town trolley is good for seeing the highlights of the town quickly.  I agree, a good hotel near the gas lamp district is what you want.

Wife and I just got back from San Diego.  Beautiful place. If it weren't for the politics I'd consider living there.  

We ended up staying out by Mission Valley. Very convenient location. We could get to most attractions in under 15 minutes and the hotel was a lot cheaper because it included parking, breakfast, and wifi for what the room alone would have cost us closer in.  Plenty of restaurants and stores nearby.  First night we went to Target and stocked up on snacks and bottled water.

For future San Diego visitors, here's a money saving tip. Get a Go City Card for San Diego attractions.  We saved about $60 using the card rather than purchasing tickets at the gate.  We visited Legoland (skip this if you're over 11), USS Midway, took the one hour harbor cruise, the old town trolley tour (gave us an idea where we wanted to go and where we didn't), visited Seaport Village (tourist trap), Birch Aquarium (disappointing), and took a walk on the beach near Encinitas. We drove through La Jolla.  Interesting area but we couldn't find parking. After about 45 minutes we gave up and said we'd try again another day. Unfortunately we never made it back.  Next time.

Thanks to everyone who made suggestions.