CA San Diego Dana Inn and Marina Coastal

[dbnyc]

this is a great family motel.

it's clean and very centrally located in San Diego for visiting all the major attractions.

the exterior of the 2-story motel buildings leaves something to be desired. dull, grayish brown, faux Polynesian decor.

there are no elevators.

i couldn't believe how small and basic the hotel "Lobby" is. but the staff was friendly and helpful.

most rooms only have shower stalls. that may sound bad, but actually the shower stalls are some of the nicest ones i've ever seen. the bathrooms really were designed very well, w/ a small window for ventilation and natural daylight, and bright flourescent lights to keep things well lit at night.

if you have small children, you can request, and are more likely to be granted, one of the few shower/tub combo rooms.

there are double sinks on a large counter/vanity right outside the bathroom.

the interior of the rooms is very basic, well worn, but still very clean and well maintained. (i don't know if that makes any sense) there was a mini-fridge that was difficult to set to the right temperature, so our water bottles were ice the first morning.

because of the exterior entry rooms, you can hear other guests walking by and hear their conversations very well through the front door of the room.

i probably won't be staying here again, but that's only because i don't like the whole motel exterior-corridor thing. we only stayed here because we needed to be as close as possible to the Paradise Point Resort (part of wedding party) and couldn't afford there.

for those of you who don't mind motels, this is probably as good as it gets as far as motels go.

oh, and this motel is NOT within comfortable walking distance to anything other than its own marina.

the walk to the Mission Beach and Belmont Park is about 30 minutes, and pretty much along a highway.

driving is really the preferred method of getting around in San Diego.

[WillTravel]

Hi dbnyc, did you get this hotel through Priceline or Hotwire? What was it rated, if so?

I have seen this hotel advertised as part of various air/hotel packages and I did consider this hotel. The location (and the non-Priceline price) made me decide against it.

We just went to San Diego and got around to lots of places quite nicely by bus and trolley (and occasionally cab), but we had a convenient starting location (the Howard Johnson on Rosecrans). We passed the Dana Inn and Marina on one bus, and I can see that it would not be terribly convenient to take the bus everywhere from there. I think you could walk to Sea World, but that's about it.