1. Best Western Blue Sea Lodge
City: Pacific Beach, CA
Category: Accommodations
Telephone: (858) 488-4700, (800) 258-3732
Address: 707 Pacific Beach Drive
Description: At the Blue Sea Lodge you can choose from 128 luxury oceanfront rooms or standard rooms with private balconies or patios. Some rooms feature sunken tubs and skylights. Start your morning with coffee on the patio by the oceanfront pool and hot tub, which has direct access to the beach. Then spend the rest of the day sightseeing, swimming, or strolling along the beach boardwalk.No restaurants are on-site, but dozens are within 4 or 5 blocks. If eating in is more your style, ask about suites with kitchens. A few are available.
2. Catamaran Resort Hotel
City: Pacific Beach, CA
Category: Accommodations
Telephone: (858) 488-1081, (800) 422-8386
Address: 3999 Mission Boulevard
Description: Long a fixture in the beach area, the Catamaran has 315 rooms with unparalleled access to both the beach and the bay. All rooms and suites are decorated in muted greens and pinks. Most rooms have a refrigerator, and all have a balcony or lanai. The Catamaran has a water sports center on the bay, a spa, and a fitness center. The authentic stern-wheeler Bahia Belle cruises Mission Bay nightly from the Catamaran, offering cocktails and dancing. The Atoll Restaurant serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily, including an award-winning Sunday brunch.
3. Crystal Pier Hotel & Cottages
City: Pacific Beach, CA
Category: Accommodations
Telephone: (858) 483-6983, (800) 748-5894
Address: 4500 Ocean Boulevard
Description: These Cape Cod-style cottages on the Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach may be the most romantic lodgings in the county. The surf swirls around the pilings under the pier, lulling you to sleep in a comfy double bed or on the futon couch in the living room. The cottages have full kitchens and one or two bedrooms. They also have private decks right over the water. There are only 29 units, and they book up months in advance. (Book 6 months ahead in winter, 11 months ahead in summer.) There’s a two-night minimum stay in winter, three nights in summer. Insiders consider them one of the best hometown escapes imaginable.
4. Tower 23
City: Pacific Beach, CA
Category: Accommodations
Telephone: (858) 270-2323, (866) TOWER23
Address: 723 Felspar Street
Description: Named for a lifeguard tower on Pacific Beach, Tower 23 is the hippest hotel on any San Diego beach. Splurge on a Sanctuary Suite with whirlpool tub and rain shower or go for the Surf Pad with the spot-on view of the boardwalk and beach. A Zen theme prevails from the cushy Serenity beds to the glass walls and water features that seem to change with the sun’s light. Flat-screen LCD TVs and X-Box entertainment centers are available in all 44 rooms, and the whole building has wireless Internet access. The in-house JRDN (Jordan) restaurant throbs with youthful exuberance on weekend nights, as tanned hipsters dine on sushi and seafood. Noise can be a problem, but it’s great fun to slip into a surf-sun-and-fun attitude and slip off to sleep to the sound of crashing waves long after the partiers have gone home.
5. Beachfront San Diego Rentals
City: Pacific Beach, CA
Category: Accommodations
Telephone: (858) 483-6116, (800) 248-5262
Address: 4603 Mission Boulevard
Description: This company handles condo rentals at Capri by the Sea, an upscale beachfront property in Pacific Beach. There are several different-sized units with separate bedrooms and kitchens. The location is ideal, right on a slight cliff over the ocean between Pacific Beach and La Jolla. The company also handles homes and condos in other beach areas. Some have nightly as well as weekly rentals.
6. Blind Melons
City: Pacific Beach, CA
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (858) 483-7844
Address: 710 Garnet Avenue
Description: This is not a place to dress up. Throw on a pair of jeans and come listen or dance to the tunes of nationally known blues, jazz, rock, and hip-hop artists. The cover charge varies according to the fame of the band, but it ranges from around $3.00 to $12.00. Monday is open-mic night; sign up in the morning or in the bar after 8:00 p.m. This is the epitome of a beach bar, so expect the crowd to have a free-and-easy attitude. Although music is the main attraction, there are pool tables and some patrons are always glued to a sporting event on one of several TVs.