Southern California Split Stay - Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina/Residence Inn - thoughts?

[BlueFairy]

Hi all,

We are new to SoCal and want to have 5 nights in San Diego before we move to DLR. We will arrive Sat. afternoon and are considering spending 2 nights at the Sheraton Marina near the airport (on Starwood points). Get the lay of the land, spend our first full day at either the zoo or Sea World, see a Pacific sunset (dinner?), then checkout on Memorial Day (hopefully late) with time for enjoying the resort and the bay/beach areas. The drive to Residence Inn San Diego Rancho Bernardo/Scripps Poway for a 3 night stay (free Marriott nights) with access to free parking, laundry, kitchenette (feeding 2 young children),space to spread out in a suite, free breakfast and wi-fi. We will have a car for the whole 5 nights. This hotel is not in a prime tourist location, but it gets fantastic reviews from families on Trip Advisor. 2 more full days in SD (the other park and possibly the safari park or exploring some other sights). Finally on checkout day (Thurs.) we will drive to Anaheim (possibly via the coast) and checkin/drop the car.

Comments on splitting a stay in SanDiego would be very helpful. We love the idea of staying on the water close into town, but honestly we haven't found something that fits our need for space. Also, food budgeting is a concern (more of an issue on not eating out every meal for 11 days rather than cash flow). We need to be in either the Starwood or Marriott chains.

 

[endy]

We usually stay further to the south of SD so I'm not an expert on locations. We always camp so don't know about motels. I have never found an issue getting aound the SD area. Other than getting to Legoland and Animal Park both are 30-45 minutes away.
Doing SW and the zoo while you're close to the airport is ideal.

With young kids the tide pools at La Jolla are great as well as Birch Aquarium. Legoland is also great with younger kids, it's more of a full day park tho. You could go there the day you head to DL, it's on the way. The Animal Park shouldn't be too far from your second motel, it's inland so go early in the morning as it gets a lot hotter than the coast.
With having a kitchen and a few simple meals plus getting some laundry done before DL you should be more relaxed and ready for DL.

I always have a cooler filled with drinks, yougurt, snacks, fruits and find this cuts down on the 'I'm hungry". And it is healthier plus saves a ton of money when a bottle of water can be 2-3 $$.

 

[BlueFairy]

Bumping. Anyone else have an opinion?

 

[paulakimtrac]

Did your visit already occur?

 

[BlueFairy]

No. We are still almost 3 months away. Still planning a split - 2 nights waterfront in town, 3 nights inland in a suite with a kitchen.

 

[paulakimtrac]

Split stay can work fine. It's just a bit more driving. Have fun!