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San Diego · Hotel shortlist

The best hotels near Hillcrest

Stefan Bauer

Stefan Bauer The American west

Updated 1 September 2026 · 66 San Diego hotels assessed

These are my five favourites in San Diego, out of the 66 that qualified. I read what other travellers scored them before I picked, so the order follows the guests, 4.9 down to 4.2.

All five are within 2.1 km of Hillcrest.

Hillcrest House Bed & Breakfast

Highest rated of the five

Hillcrest House Bed & Breakfast

★★★★★4.9 from 221 reviews

Hillcrest House Bed & Breakfast comes out on top of this list, and not narrowly: 4.9 from 221 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 and found under poi.

66 hotels in San Diego qualified for this list and five made it. Inn at the Park is the one I would book if the first is full.

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All five, ranked

  1. Hillcrest House Bed & Breakfast1

    Hillcrest House Bed & Breakfast

    ★★★★★4.9 from 221 reviews

    under 200 m from Hillcrest

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    • Inn at the Park2

      Inn at the Park

      ★★★★★4.4 from 1,262 reviews

      1.1 km from Hillcrest, about a 14 minute walk

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      • Abpópa Hillcrest3

        Abpópa Hillcrest

        ★★★★★4.2 from 239 reviews

        300 m from Hillcrest, about a 4 minute walk

        • Restaurant
        • Parking
        • Kid friendly
        • Air conditioning
        • Accessible

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      • City24 Hotel - Little italy/Mission hills4

        City24 Hotel - Little italy/Mission hills

        ★★★★★4.7 from 102 reviews

        1.7 km from Hillcrest, about a 21 minute walk

        • Parking
        • Pet friendly
        • Accessible

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      • Holiday Inn Express San Diego Airport-Old Town by IHG5

        Holiday Inn Express San Diego Airport-Old Town by IHG

        ★★★★★4.6 from 3,887 reviews

        2.1 km from Hillcrest

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        How this list was put together

        66 San Diego hotels qualify for this list. We ranked them on guest rating first and on how close they are to Hillcrest second, then 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

        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.