One of the hotels you may see in the San Diego Comic-Con hotel lottery is the SpringHill Suites San Diego Downtown/Bayfront by Marriott. This hotel opened in 2016 and is located just a mile from the San Diego Convention Center and 2 miles from San Diego International Airport. We had the opportunity to stay at this hotel just before Comic-Con 2017 and we’re excited to share our experience with you so you can see if this hotel is a good fit for you.
The SpringHill Suites San Diego Downtown/Bayfront Hotel is a modern hotel, conveniently located in Downtown San Diego. While this hotel is “downtown” it’s about 1 mile from the San Diego Convention Center (so 1 mile from Comic-Con) and the Gaslamp Quarter. Depending on your own personal preference, this could be a good or bad thing. For our family, we usually prefer being a bit away from the heart of downtown San Diego, which is very busy and tends to have a party-like atmosphere at night during Comic-Con. So, you aren’t super close, but you aren’t far away either.
It’s worth noting that while we stayed at this hotel near Comic-Con time, we didn’t actually book this hotel through the hotel lottery system. As you’ll see, we stayed in a room with 2 queen beds + a sofabed, which seem to be harder to reserve during the hotel lottery. This is not to say that you can’t book a room with 2 queens beds during Comic-Con, but in our experience, we’ve seen the rooms with 1 King Bed + a sofabed more often as part of the lottery.
Our Room
We had a room with 2 queen beds, plus a sofa bed. I’m not sure what the square footage of the room was, but it was as standard as most SpringHill Suites. We had 5 in our room and we were comfortable. The beds were very comfortable, although the sofabed was what you expect from most sofabeds (are sofabeds ever as comfortable as regular beds??). Room cleanliness is of topmost importance for me at the hotels we stay at and I was extremely happy with the condition of our room. And since this hotel is still fairly new, so it doesn’t show signs of aging.
The sofa/sofabed is the living room area. While not completely separate from the other beds, there is a bit of a wall and privacy glass partition so it does give the feel of it being a separate space. The room is also equipped with a mini fridge and a small microwave. There was one TV, as well as a desk space. The TV can be a bit of an issue to see from both the beds and the living room space at the same time. This wasn’t much of an issue for us, but it may be for you.
I love rooms with ceiling-to-floor windows, which this hotel does have, giving us a nice view of the bay and the USS Midway. I’m not sure if all rooms can see the water, but our room was on a higher floor and closer to the bay than some of the other room locations.
Speaking of the USS Midway, as you can see, this hotel is within walking distance. If you look at the photo below, just before the USS Midway, you’ll see the Broadway Pier, where you can take the ferry to Coronado Island. We recommend doing both of these things if you are staying here.
One of my favorite parts about our stay at the SpringHill Suites San Diego Downtown/Bayfront was that on Saturday night, we were able to watch the fireworks from the USS Midway. I believe this may only be during special events and holidays, but it was a nice surprise. I caught a bit of it on SnapChat:
Free Breakfast
The SpringHill Suites San Diego Downtown/Bayfront offers a free breakfast full of options. The cool thing about this hotel is that there are two places to enjoy breakfast — you can sit inside in their usual breakfast dining room, which offered the full selection of breakfast foods. Or you can sit outside on the balcony which overlooks the bay (weather permitting). They set up a buffet on the balcony with plenty of items.
View of Breakfast on the Balcony at Springhill Suites San Diego Downtown/Bayfront
Other Dining Options
While there is no room service at SpringHill Suites San Diego Downtown/Bayfront, there are several options close to the hotel. Connected just outside the hotel is the “Beach Hut Deli“, which offers sandwiches, salads, and “beach munchies”. Located within walking distance (5 min), along the bay, is the “Carnitas’ Snack Shack“, where they serve tacos, sandwiches, and beer. They even have a happy hour!
If you are interested in taking a stroll, there is a Claim Jumpers Restaurant located at another nearby hotel (about 1/2 mile). Since this restaurant is opened late, we ate here our first night. There is also a Ruth Chris Steakhouse and Hazelwoods On the Bay (another sandwich place), accessible from Harbor Drive. If you want even more options, you can walk or take a ride down to Seaport Village (1/2 mile away). Another idea is to hop on the ferry and eat at restaurants on Coronado Island. You could even take the trolley at the Santa Fe Depot nearby and travel to other areas of San Diego.
There was also a “Market” area off of the lobby that offered an assortment of snacks, beverages (including wine), and quick microwavable meals.
Parking
We did use the parking garage at the SpringHill Suites San Diego Downtown/Bayfront. Self-parking was about $35 a night when we stayed, but as we’ve found throughout the years of visiting San Diego, these rates are subject to increase over time — be sure to check the hotel website for updated pricing. We found their parking rates are in alignment with the other San Diego downtown hotels, perhaps even a bit less.
We had no issues with the parking garage. The hotel website did say it’s “limited self-parking”, so we were concerned we might not get a spot, but there was plenty of spots, even though our stay was on their busier nights (Friday and Saturday).
We decided to visit the USS Midway on the Sunday morning of our checkout and rather than leave the hotel and pay for parking at the USS Midway parking lot (or elsewhere) we left our vehicle in the SpringHill Suites San Diego Downtown/Bayfront parking garage. The staff said that after a certain time (which I can’t recall what time), we would just have to pay an hourly fee. We calculated out this cost and it was going to be less expensive than leaving and parking elsewhere, so we decide to leave the car there and walk over to the USS Midway.
If you are staying at this hotel for San Diego Comic-Con, the Comic-Con shuttle does pick up at this hotel.
Some Additional Thoughts:
- The staff was great – very friendly and helpful.
- There is a gym & pool, but we didn’t use either. The pool is located outdoors on the rooftop and is heated.
- The rooftop balcony was great for relaxing. It even has seating placed so that you can face the bay.
- During our stay, there was a wedding reception in the pool area. While this didn’t bother us (it was over by 9 or 10pm), we could hear the music and laughter in our room. If you are sensitive to this, you may want to ask if there will be any parties at the pool and ask for a room further away.
Will We Stay Again?
Definitely! We’ve already booked a room at this hotel for another stay in 2018.
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