TRAVEL INFO: SUN DIEGO

GENERAL TRAVEL & NEIGHBORHOOD INFO FOR YOUR NEXT TRIP TO SAN DIEGO (I used to provide this for applicants flying in for interviews)

AIRPORT: SAN (San Diego Airport) is about 20 minutes from our hospitals

WHERE TO STAY:

There are numerous places to stay and visit during a trip to San Diego. I would recommend choosing your hotel based on the area in San Diego you want to spend the most time. Tripadvisor.com and VRBO/Airbnb work great too but here is a quick list of my recommendations. I do this solely based on the location of the hotels. I have not actually stayed at these. I personally would probably recommend a beach spot at the bottom of this list but a lot of people like the nightlife of the Gaslamp district. This list is far from complete but it gives you a couple great options. You cannot go wrong in what’s known as American’s Finest City.

Gaslamp: This is where most of the nightlife is downtown. Tons of places to eat, bars to drink and things to do at all hours. It will be a bit pricier down there though. It is always "on", every night of the week so this is not for your relaxing beach trip. Hotel options: San Diego Marriott Gaslamp (Great location), Courtyard Marriott (also pretty close to everything), there is a W Hotel is a pretty cool spot but a few blocks from where the action is. If you don’t mind spending some money, The Grant hotel is pretty cool. I would recommend that you stay on a high floor as it can be loud at all hours. As far as restaurants and bars, there are too many to mention. Searsucker is phenomenal for a bar (serious watering hole) or restaurant but getting a table might be difficult. I would recommend you at least grab a drink there. Shout House is a dueling piano bar which is a fun place to have a drink as well.

Little Italy: Close to Gaslamp downtown but a little more chill. It's mainly a strip of great restaurants. The waterfront is close by and great to walk around. It's probably 10-15 minute walk to Balboa park if you want to go for a run, go to museums or just walk around. You can walk to gaslamp in about 10-15 mins or probably 5 mins by scooter (they are everywhere). Recommendations: Porto Vista (awesome location) for hotel and seems to be pretty cheap. Grab a drink at Craft and Commerce or Kettner Exchange. Awesome spots. Davanti Enoteca is one of my favorite restaurants there (get the focaccia di recco). If around for Saturday morning, they have one of the numerous farmer’s markets in town but by far the best one.

La Jolla: Well known. There are the seals on the beach, snorkeling, high-end tourist type of place. Amazing restaurants but spendy. Hotels: Pantai Inn (amazing location but no pool so if you are into that, try one of the other hotels), La Valencia is sweet, La Jolla Suites is also an awesome location but much cheaper though not as nice. Grab dinner at Eddie V's if you want an amazing view and are ready to pay some money for it. Lunch at Cody's is perfect. Everything in la jolla is more expensive as a rule. There are however some more beachy options in La Jolla. An absolutely lovely locals beach there is Windansea beach. You can find a little Airbnb around there pretty easily.

If you are looking to stay at the beach (your answer should be "of course"), here are your best 3 options in addition to Windansea Beach mentioned above in La Jolla:

Del Mar: on the northern end of San Diego County (approximately 25 minutes drive from the hospital). Gorgeous long beaches, perfect spot to run along the beach, there are a couple great restaurants on the water, higher end beach but also great place to surf or boogie board (or take a surf lesson). I'm biased because I lived at the beach here for a long time and live very close still but it is one of the best spots in San Diego as long as you don't mind being a little drive from the nightlife downtown. A great hotel option is Del Mar Motel on the Beach (hands-down best location on the water and not too expensive usually, “motel” is a misnomer here) or doing a rental from VRBO. L'Auberge if you are feeling like spending cash or are independently wealthy but the motel still wins out on location. Eat at Jake's or Poseidon on the water. Otherwise, for a cheaper deal, head to En Feugo or Del Mar Pizza so you can grab food and walk to the water for sunset. If jogging, run south to the Torrey Pines State Park (at the south end of del mar) for great running/hiking/walking on cliffs overlooking the ocean.

Coronado Island: awesome small town feel, this island (sort of more of a peninsula) is connected to downtown by a bridge. cute shops, great if you are traveling to San Diego with a significant other or kids. The beach is wide and flat. Very nice and possibly one of the most beautiful beaches in southern california. Great restaurants. You can look at the best hotels to stay at on trip advisor but the classic is Hotel del Coronado. It's a very old landmark hotel with a great pool, restaurant, spa, etc. It's not too cheap but a great spot on the beach. You can VRBO close by for MUCH cheaper but this is a point at least you can use to search near by. A lot of bars and restaurants you could chill at at night though only gaslamp will be happening at all hours. Dinner at Il Fornaio is perfect. It looks back onto downtown San Diego.

Pacific Beach/Mission Beach: This is your college student/surfer hang out. Tons of bars and some restaurants, mostly geared towards the younger crowd. A cheaper option for a beach stay but the beach here is actually fantastic, plus great for surfing lessons. There is a boardwalk that is cool to walk on or rent bikes/skateboards/rollerskates. The whole area gets fairly packed. Hotel: Tower23 is probably the best spot here. Right in the action. Great restaurant downstairs. It's in the middle of the action.

I hope that helps guide your next stay in San Diego. If you bring kids/significant others, you can go to the world famous San Diego Zoo unless you prefer to spend the day at the beach or hiking. Golfing on the world famous Torrey Pines Golf Course, hot air ballooning, hand gliding over the La Jolla Cliffs, diving or kayaking at La Jolla Caves are all among the millions of options.