San Diego · Hotel shortlist
3 star hotels downtown in San Diego
Stefan Bauer The American west
These are my five favourites in San Diego, out of the 33 that qualified. I read what other travellers scored them before I picked, so the order follows the guests, 4.7 down to 4.4.
Hotel Z is the one I would book myself.
Highest rated of the five
Hotel Z
★★★★★4.7 from 2,072 reviews
Hotel Z comes out on top of this list, and not narrowly: 4.7 from 2,072 guest reviews is a score that holds up at that volume, which is the whole test here. A perfect ten from nine people does not beat it.
It is a 3 star property, found under downtown and around $205 a night on the dates we checked.
33 hotels in San Diego qualified for this list and five made it. SpringHill Suites by Marriott San Diego Downtown/Bayfront is the one I would book if the first is full.
Why it works for this trip
- Air conditioningthe one that decides a summer trip
- Family roomscots and larger rooms rather than a squeeze
- Step free accesslevel entry and a lift
- Dogs allowedno kennel to arrange before you fly
All five, ranked
-
1
Hotel Z
★★★★★4.7 from 2,072 reviews
- Pet friendly
- Kid friendly
- Air conditioning
- Accessible
-
2SpringHill Suites by Marriott San Diego Downtown/Bayfront
★★★★★4.5 from 1,870 reviews
- Pool
- Spa
- Gym
- Restaurant
- Bar
- Parking
-
3Residence Inn by Marriott San Diego Downtown/Bayfront
★★★★★4.5 from 777 reviews
- Pool
- Gym
- Restaurant
- Bar
- Parking
- Pet friendly
-
4Marriott Vacation Club, San Diego
★★★★★4.4 from 1,744 reviews
- Pool
- Spa
- Gym
- Restaurant
- Parking
- Kid friendly
-
5Club Wyndham Harbour Lights
★★★★★4.4 from 727 reviews
- Spa
- Gym
- Restaurant
- Parking
- Kitchen
- Kid friendly
How this list was put together
33 San Diego hotels qualify for this list. We ranked them on guest rating, then on class, and took the top five.
Two things decide these lists. The first is my own time in the city: every hotel on this page is one I have stayed in, walked into and looked at, or gone back to check. That is where the shortlist starts, and it is why some well reviewed places are not on it.
The second is the numbers, and those are what set the order. The rating and review count come from the big travel sites, pooled through Google, so a score here reflects Expedia, Booking, Hotels.com and the rest together rather than any one of them. I also read the review breakdown by topic, which is where the figures on service, breakfast and location come from. Hotels with fewer than forty reviews are left out altogether, because a rating that thin is not a rating. No more than two come from one neighbourhood.
What I do not do is move anyone up the order. The ranking is the guest score, highest first, and nobody pays to be on the list.
Distances are straight lines from published coordinates, so the real walk is a little longer. Amenities are as recorded by Google Hotels and can change without notice. Rates are an indicative nightly figure for a midweek autumn stay, not a quote. Check the booking page before you commit.
Stefan Bauer The American west
Chases total solar eclipses. Seven of them on four continents, from Wyoming to a fishing town in Chile. Banks days off through the on-call rota and books the trips years ahead, because eclipse dates do not move.
Trip Grapevine earns a commission on bookings made through the links on this page. It costs you nothing, and it does not change the order of the list, which is set by the measurements above.