Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina

[T&Dcruisers]

We are staying at the Sheraton Marina the night before our cruise. Looking at it on Google maps, it looks pretty isolated. Has anyone stayed here before? Are there any convenience stores within walking distance?

[Splinter]

You are right. It is isolated. No convenience stores on Harbor Island that I know of, although a couple of the marinas may have small shops that sell items to boaters. You would need to take a cab from there to someplace like the stores at Liberty Station (about 3 miles west on Harbor Drive, west of the airport) to find a grocery store or Trader Joe's.

 

The main advantage of that location is you are VERY close to the airport, and if you get up at the crack of dawn you can watch your ship come into the bay on its way to the pier. You will need to take a cab to the ship as well.

 

The only decent place to eat within walking distance is the Island Prime restaurant which is just a little east of there facing the harbor. Not open for breakfast.

 

Of the two Sheraton Hotels on Harbor Island, the east hotel (not the Marina) is the nicer one.

[cruiseinfoseeker]

We stayed at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina for two nights pre cruise at the end of March. What a great hotel.....everyone there had smiles and seemed sincerely happy to do anything and everything to make your visit nice. Although it is not walking distance to shopping I would definitely suggest staying at this hotel to anyone. Rental cars can be found deeply discounted if you shop around. The parking is approx $28 a day I think (valet). I suppose that may put a prick in one's budget if their stay is extended, but this hotel personnel is so nice I think that perhaps they would work something out for a long stays parking rate.

We would always stay at this hotel if we are in SanDiego again.

[EGG]

We stayed at the hotel post cruise. The cab fare was about $15 to the hotel from the port. We figured we would have to pay taxi fare no matter where we stayed. Our room was available when we arrived, and despite the low price, a special I was offered as a Starwood member, we were given a room on a high floor with a fabulous view and balcony. We stayed at the marina tower because the pool was there. It was a beautiful hotel and a beautiful room. I am a city girl and usually am not impressed by a city skyline, but I spent quite a bit of time on the balcony looking towards the Coronodo Bridge and the harbor as the sun set.

 

Downside - no public transportation in a city which has wonderful, convenient, inexpensive public transportation. We took a taxi to the zoo where we spent the day. About $15 to $20 each way. No stores or restaurants in the area. Not a city hotel.

 

After the zoo we spent a few hours relaxing at the pool. The other tower seemed like it was a long way off. There is a large parking lot in between the two towers which I believe is used by airport employees.

 

Upside - free shuttle to the airport. Quiet. Much quieter than the Hampton Inn we stayed at pre cruise and much much quieter than the Westin Gaslamp we stayed at for a conference.

 

Dinner - We were picked up by some friends from a previous cruise and we ate at a lovely restaurant at the end of the road. Otherwise, we would have had no choice but to eat at the hotel or take taxis to the restaurant. There are no stores.

 

We had a very early flight the next morning and we did not eat breakfast at the hotel, so we did not take that into consideration when booking.

[CRZCRAZY]

In the future if you're looking for a nice place to stay before a cruise, We've stayed a couple times at the Holiday Inn across from the cruise terminal. It has a great restaurant on site plus other dining across the street, and is close to the downtown San Diego area. The big plus is the walk across the street in the morning to the cruise ship terminal.