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San Diego · Hotel shortlist

The best hotels near Usd

Stefan Bauer

Stefan Bauer The American west

Updated 1 September 2026 · 42 San Diego hotels assessed

These are my five favourites in San Diego, out of the 42 that qualified. I read what other travellers scored them before I picked, so the order follows the guests, 4.4 down to 4.

All five are within 3.0 km of Usd.

Cosmopolitan Hotel and Restaurant

Highest rated of the five

Cosmopolitan Hotel and Restaurant

★★★★★4.4 from 958 reviews

Cosmopolitan Hotel and Restaurant comes out on top of this list, and not narrowly: 4.4 from 958 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 4 star property, found under poi and around $174 a night on the dates we checked.

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

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All five, ranked

  1. Cosmopolitan Hotel and Restaurant1

    Cosmopolitan Hotel and Restaurant

    ★★★★★4.4 from 958 reviews

    2.1 km from Usd

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    • Kings Inn San Diego2

      Kings Inn San Diego

      ★★★★★4.3 from 3,573 reviews

      2.0 km from Usd, about a 25 minute walk

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      • Homewood Suites by Hilton San Diego Hotel Circle/SeaWorld Area3

        Homewood Suites by Hilton San Diego Hotel Circle/SeaWorld Area

        ★★★★★4.2 from 1,751 reviews

        1.6 km from Usd, about a 20 minute walk

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        • Holiday Inn Express San Diego Airport-Old Town by IHG4

          Holiday Inn Express San Diego Airport-Old Town by IHG

          ★★★★★4.6 from 3,887 reviews

          3.0 km from Usd

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          • Crowne Plaza San Diego - Mission Valley by IHG5

            Crowne Plaza San Diego - Mission Valley by IHG

            ★★★★★4 from 2,695 reviews

            1.4 km from Usd, about a 18 minute walk

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            How this list was put together

            42 San Diego hotels qualify for this list. We ranked them on guest rating first and on how close they are to Usd 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.