LODGING

The U.S. Grant Hotel 326 Broadway San Diego, CA 92101 (619) 232-3121

For hotel reservations, please call the US Grant directly (1-800-237-5029) and ask for the UIST room rate ($159/night).

The US Grant has been recently extensively renovated and is now a Grand Heritage (Wyndam) hotel. It is a trolley ride from the beach, walking distance to the zoo and harbor, a short cab ride from the airport, and across the street from restaurants and shops.

Fodor's says:

Far more formal than most other hotels in San Diego, the doyenne of downtown lodgings has a marble lobby, gleaming chandeliers, attentive doormen, and other touches that hark back to the more gracious era when it was built (1910). Funded in part by the son of the president for whom it was named, the hotel was extremely opulent; 350 rooms of 437 had private baths, highly unusual for that time. Through the years it became noted for its famous guests--U.S. presidents from Woodrow Wilson to George Bush have stayed here. Taking up a city block--it's bounded by 3rd and 4th avenues, C Street, and Broadway--the hotel occupies the site of San Diego's first hotel, constructed by Alonzo Horton in 1870. Appropriately enough, Horton Plaza is now across the street.