Best hotel in San Diego?

Sorry in advance if this is the wrong forum but can anyone with experience help me in deciding which hotel to book for 4 nights in san diego for a first visit with my wife. my dates are September 1st for 4 nights
I was close to booking the OMNI but then read a couple of poor reviews. FYI we are in our late 40's/early 50's

I really enjoyed this The Bay Hotel - mainly for the views of the harbour and locaton:

http://www.bayclubhotel.com/

Also - for something a little more expensive - http://www.hoteldel.com/

Hotel Del Coronado is beautiful, I spent 1 night there in 2006, beautiful and very nice inside. The ice cream shop on site is amazing!

Luke

You have to decide where you want to be and what you want to do whilst in SD.

BE AWARE - There are home San Diego Padres Baseball matches on the Friday/Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues/Wed when you're planning on being there, so Hotel prices will be high and occupancy rates even higher - you'll have little chance of getting good deals that weekend. Also, as a result, SD will be absolutely heaving. On the plus side weather will be great in September - so maybe go a week later or earlier?

If you want to be in the downtown/Gas Lamp quarter, then there are a bunch of nice hotels. The Omni is one of the more expensive, however there are plenty of others. One very good one if you can get a bit of a deal, is the Marriott Gaslamp at 660 K street - near the Omni, which I've used and enjoyed (the view from the roof-top Altitude bar is wonderful) and the big plus is that it's just on the south side of the Gas Lamp qtr and well-positioned for all sorts of bars/restaurants/live music. Still worth it without a deal in my opinion.

Also good but a few minutes further away is the Marriott Marquis and Marina overlooking the harbour (get rooms at the back as you get trains through the middle of the city at night - and they can be loud - this is one of the problems with several hotels in that area INCLUDING the Omni; the sound didn't trouble us, but does some people). You can tell we use Marriott for business!

Further out there are some nice choices (beware anything on Coronado is at least a taxi-ride in to the downtown area) further out but it's a balance of location v price. Same is true of the Sheraton over by the airport (and OTHER marina - so watch out for that)its an ok hotel, cheaper than a lot of others but not great access to downtown.

NOTE: Re the Bay club and Coronado hotels mentioned, both require a taxi ride to get to the downtown area where the majority of the restaurants/bars/entertainment are located. That's not to say that the hotels aren't nice, but location really is everything in SD, and I'd definitely stay downtown in the GL quarter if I were you. Took my wife to SD for a long weekend a couple of years ago and she loved it (I've been there many times on business). Let me know if you want suggestions for things to do/see etc.

Thx guys, great help. Being first visit I guess we need to be central to everything, reckon we will do a city tour some shopping a couple of decent restaurants and as weather so nice a hotel pool wouldnt be a bad thing. Due to our age we not into the club scene however like to be able to walk around safley taking everything in and people watching( not wierd honest! ) any suggestions will be cool

I've updated my original comment re Baseball - see first paragraph.

As for "clubs" etc, you'll be pleasantly surprised how sophisticated some of the bars/restaurants are etc, there ARE clubs for raver-type people but they're definitely in the minority. FWIW, my wife and I are late 40's and we love the city (and we're Brits).

We have stayed in the Hilton Gaslamp twice,both times we have upgraded to the loft suite. Not cheap but lovely and just right in the entrance to the Gaslamp. There is a train track just outside but it did not bother us at all. If you go to the Omni join there loyalty program as you get free wifi etc.

I enjoyed the Midway Museum - but I'm a boring bugger. Although Mrs Monster liked it too...
And 40 bucks each for SD zoo!! We expected to keep a selection of animals for that money! (A tight, boring bugger is probably more accurate). We still enjoyed SD though. Oh, and La Jolla up the coast is lovely - really good for al fresco lunches and people watching.

I enjoyed the Midway Museum - but I'm a boring bugger. Although Mrs Monster liked it too...
And 40 bucks each for SD zoo!! We expected to keep a selection of animals for that money! (A tight, boring bugger is probably more accurate). We still enjoyed SD though. Oh, and La Jolla up the coast is lovely - really good for al fresco lunches and people watching.

Another vote for La Jolla, very beautiful and one of my favourite places in the world. Check out the seals there, if it's the right time of year you can see the cute seal pups too.

Also worth a visit to Georges for lunch/dinner - amazing views from the hill top terrace! http://www.georgesatthecove.com/

Luke

[Scrooge]

I would say stay in the Gas Lamp area as well.

Note to be rude, but what sort of budget are you looking at per night ?

Edit : Take a look HERE

Edit 2: Forgot to mention, I love the Manchester Grand Hyatt

SD is very spread out. Gaslamp is an option, but no matter where you are in the city, you will find driving around a must - unless you opt for something like the Coronado and decide to spend all your time on the beach and in the surrounding areas.

Several of the coastal towns north have very neat smaller accommodations, at prices that go from reasonable to luxury, La Jolla has already been mentioned and is really great (I'm there three or four times a year), if you intend to drive there are decent hotels up by the college, or there are a couple of nice places in the town. Carlsbad and Encinitas are really nice, too, especially the latter. Depends on what you are most interested in doing. I always stay in La Jolla myself.

A few things to do in San Diego;

USS Midway Aircraft Carrier - North Harbour Drive.
Balboa Park - >5 Museums, Zoo, Golf, Science Centre.
Scripps Institute Aquarium - North of La Jolla (pronounced Hoya)
La Jolla - expensive shopping/restaurants/people watching.
Sea World - if you're into that sort of thing...
Point Loma & Cabrillo Point (National Park & Whale watching)
Shopping Outlets - Carlsbad on the I5 north about 30-40 mins)
Tour of San Diego Padres baseball ground - 7th & K street
Sea Port Village - West Harbour Drive.

Bars/Restaurants - Huge choice in the Gaslamp Quarter
Jimmy Loves.
Croce's (as in Jimmy Croce).
Dicks Last Resort (everyone should try this once!).
Henry's Bar
Altitude Bar on top of Marriott Gaslamp.

General tip - cheapest parking by far is "Park it on Market" at corner of 6th and Market Street.

thx all! keep it coming been really helpfull

have provisionally booked the Hard rock as good reviews on tripadvisor and managed to get a suite for around $300pn.
Figured as we want to see as much as possible in the short time(we have a car) best be based in downtown and travel out rather than the opposite.
Any further thoughts or advice i am still happy to recieve! thanks agin for alll the help y)

I'm over in San Diego in the summer so I've been lurking in this thread to pick up a few tips. Thanks to the contributors for the advice