3 Star Priceline "Name Your Own Price Hotels" in SDU5

In my blog on August 6, 2008, I provided a map of 4 star hotels that participate in Downtown San Diego in Priceline's Name Your Own Price. This is a follow-up of the 3 star hotels that are available in Priceline's "Name Your Own Price," along with a map, and a link to their Tripadvisor.com page, and ranking. If you are wondering where I got the information about the hotels that participate, please see my June 23 article on "Priceline's Name Your Own Price; or How to Find a Discounted Hotel on Your Next SD Visit." If you use Priceline's "Name Your Own Price," you will get one of the seven hotels below. You will not get a hotel that is not on the list below.

If you are looking at the 3* hotels for Downtown and Harbor Island, this is a place where you can save yourself over $125 (<$100 per night for a room typically costing >$225) per night by following the prior link and find your hotel by going to the map of 3* hotels. One of the differences in the 3* and 4* hotel maps is that for the 3* hotels, there are two hotels that are on Harbor Island, which would mean you will need a car if you are coming to SDU5.

Overall Map of the 3* Downtown/Harbor Island Priceline "Name Your Own Price hotels

3* Courtyard by Marriott San Diego
530 Broadway San Diego, CA 92101 (619) 446-3000 - Tripadvisor #19 of 242

3* Doubletree Hotel San Diego Downtown
1646 Front Street, San Diego, CA 92101 (619) 239-6800 - Tripadvisor #136 of 242

3* Holiday Inn San Diego - On the Bay

1355 North Harbor Drive, San Diego, CA 92101 (619) 232-3861 - Tripadvisor #116 of 242

3* Sheraton Suites San Diego at Symphony Hall
701 A. Street, San Diego, CA 92101 (619) 696-9800 - Tripadvisor #60 of 242

3* Westin Emerald Plaza

400 West Broadway, San Diego, CA 92101 (619) 239-4500 - Tripadvisor #111 of 242

3* Hilton San Diego Airport Harbor Island (Harbor Island)

1960 Harbor Island Drive, San Diego, CA 92101 (619) 291-6700 - Tripadvisor #149 of 242

3* Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina (Harbor Island)

1380 Harbor Island Drive, San Diego, CA 92101 (866) 716-8130 - Tripadvisor #100 of 242

Free Quick Downtown Museums to See - Former SD Trust and Savings Bank

Recently I went to a meeting at the The Courtyard by Marriott at 530 Broadway (Broadway at 6th Street). The Courtyard by Marriott is the site of the former San Diego Trust & Savings Bank. In the basement you will find a small museum, with a vault, historic pictures of the bank, and a meeting table set up within the vault.

Alternatively, if you need to have a meeting, there are several nice meeting rooms with several historic pictures of San Diego as well as bank memorabilia.

If you are going to Horton Plaza or the Gaslamp, and have 15 minutes, it is worth the trip. The Courtyard is across Broadway from the Sam Goody in Horton Plaza.

For a map to the museum, please click here

Brew Pubs in Downtown San Diego

On a recent trip, I found a link in a beer trade magazine to GoodBeerMaps.com. GoodBeerMaps.com has a .pdf for all of Southern California brew pubs. Since the Southern California map stretches from San Diego to Paso Robles, so I wanted to make a special walking map for the SDU5, although there are a paltry two places in SDU5. I have added a third.

Karl Strauss, 1157 Columbia St, San Diego, CA 92101
Karl Strauss Web Site (If your a looking for a menu suggestion, try the fish and chips).

Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery, 401 G Street, San Diego, CA
Rock Bottom Web Site

Yard House, 1023 4th Street, San Diego, CA
Yard House Web Site

Revolution Money Exchange - For the College Student and eBay

Ok, this is not specific to downtown San Diego but Revolution Money Exchange is a great way to give that college student a credit card, without letting the card get them in trouble. Revolution Money Exchange is similar to PayPal in that you can transfer money to someone using a Revolution Money Exchange account, or directly from a Bank Account. The difference is in two areas. First there are no fees to transfer money from either a bank to the Revolution Money Exchange (same as PayPal) and you can have a Credit Card associated with your Revolution Money Exchange account. This way you can give that college student $200 for travel money on the Revolution Money Exchange card. If the card is lost or stolen, you just transfer all of the money out of the account, and cancel the bank connections. If your college or high school student is on a trip, and needs more money for an emergency, you can transfer money to the card for the special need.

If you are an eBay seller, you can receive money as a merchant without any fees. I have switched from PayPal to Revolution Money Exchange for eBay auctions. I have a few reasons for the switch. First, after eBay acquired PayPal, if you want to offer PayPal, you have to accept all forms of PayPal payment. This means that if the user sends money by credit card, your account has to accept credit cards. For PayPal, only merchant accounts can accept credit cards. Once your PayPal account is a merchant account, you are charged $0.30 per transaction + 2.35% of each transaction. I don't object paying these fees for PayPal users with a credit card, however, PayPal merchants have to pay this on every transaction. Historically, I found that 1 in 8 payments was using a credit card. This translates to PayPal getting $0.30 per transaction + 2.35% of each transaction, plus the use of my money. After I realized all of the fees I was paying to PayPal, plus the advantages of Revolution Money Exchange, it seemed like an easy switch.

If you like Revolution Money Exchange, you may also want to investigate Obopay.

San Diego's Largest Public Companies

Sempra Energy, number 232 on the Forbes list for 2008

SAIC, number 289 on the Forbes list for 2008

Qualcomm, number 297 on the Forbes list for 2008

Jack in the Box, number 694 on the Forbes list for 2008

Leap Wireless, number 999 on the Forbes list for 2008

4 Star Priceline "Name Your Own Price Hotels" in SDU5

You've seen the kitschy Priceline "Negotiator" commercials, and here you can learn the details about how to take advantage of those low prices that your neighbors and business travelers friends are getting. In my earlier post, I discussed how to use the Priceline to find a discounted hotel. Discount means a 4* hotel in downtown San Diego for less than $120 per night on a hotel room that would typically cost $265 or more.

Here you can find a map of the 4* hotels for San Diego Downtown and Harbor Island. If you are looking at the 4* hotels for Downtown and Harbor Island, here is a hint; there are no 4* hotels on Harbor Island. All 8 hotels are in SDU5. Save yourself $150+ per night by following the prior link and find your hotel by going to map of 4* hotels

4* Hilton Gas Lamp Quarter Tripadvisor.com #31 of 242
4* Hotel Solamar Tripadvisor.com #36 of 242
4* Manchester Hyatt Tripadvisor.com #45 of 242
4* Marriott Gaslamp Quarter Tripadvisor.com #13 of 242
4* Marriott San Diego Hotel and Marina Tripadvisor.com Link #42 of 242
4* Omni San Diego Hotel Tripadvisor.com #6 of 242
4* W Hotel Tripadvisor.com link #83 of 242 hotels
4* Westin Gaslamp Quarter (Horton Plaza) Tripadvisor.com #43 of 242

Interactive Google Map of SDU5 Neighborhoods

Here is a new map of the downtown San Diego Neighborhoods, including:
Columbia
Core
Cortez Hill
East Village
Gaslamp Quarter
Horton Plaza
Little Italy
Marina

What Are the SDU5 Neighborhoods?

SD is city of neighborhoods and each one has a name, although it can be hard to find that name. For SDU5 the list is easy to find. In those quarterly mailers from CCDC telling us how lucky SD is. If you have not been following the Voice of San Diego, they you may want to read some of the recent stories about the Executive Director of both the Center City Development Corporation (CCDC) and the South Eastern Development Corporation (SEDC) both resigning in the same week in July 2008.

The CCDC does have several nice maps of the downtown neighborhoods.

If you are outside SDU5, you can find your map at the SD City Government page. If you ever wanted to see the pink sidewalks of Burlingame, now you can find it.

Smart Car

In March of 2007, I signed up and paid $99 to get on the Smart Car list. In January 2008, my Smart Car Passion Cabriolet was delivered. Whenever I take the car out, it always draws lookers and questions. On a road trip with the Smart, I decided to become the inquisitor. I have four questions for anyone who wants to talk to me about the Smart:
1. Have you seen a Smart Car before?
2. What do you drive?
3. When looking at the Smart, what are the first three things that come to mind?
4. Would you buy one.

In my first outing, there were three different groups shadowing the car. I spoke to two of the groups, and learned
1. Yes/Yes;
2. 66 Volvo 122S/Chevy Tahoe
3. Clowns; Man, that car is small; Is it Safe; Great Car for Parking; This car should get 60 MPG (I said that I was getting mileage in the high 60s).
4. Maybe, if it got better gas mileage/Only as a car for around the city and not on the highway.

A fourth group came up, and said:
1. Yes;
2. (I'm an idiot. I didn't ask).
3. Its so cute; Dealer is too far; It looks great for parking.
4. Am interested, but the dealer is a long distance from where I live

While I was talking to group 4, a car Saab convertible drove by, and stopped in the street to yell to friends in groups 1 and 2 that they had bought a Smart, then the horns started bleeping to get the traffic moving.