The Best Family Friendly Hotels in San Diego

San Diego is one of the most family friendly destinations in the country, with mild weather, a famous zoo, several world class theme parks, and 70 miles of stunning coastline with sandy beaches, crashing waves, and curiosity stoking tidepools. When it comes to hotels, families have a lot of options, from Downtown high rises with cool perks for the pint size set to bayfront resorts within easy reach of SeaWorld. With a car, you’ll have easy access to all that the sprawling region has to offer. Click through hotel profiles for detailed info on location, parking, and more. Now all that’s left to do is tell your kids about your San Diego vacation plans. Let find out The Best Family Friendly Hotels in San Diego below.

The Best Family Friendly Hotels in San Diego

Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina

Set on Harbor Island, right on the water, the sprawling Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina has two buildings, the Bay Tower and the Harbor Tower. There’s a catch: The pair of towers are completely separate, requiring a 7 minutes walk to get to one from the other. Between them, the contemporary hotels have a lot to offer, including jaunty nautical decor, rooms with balconies and panoramic views of the city skyline and bay, three pools, on site dining and drinking options, a spa, and a private marina with watersports rentals. The Sheraton, which is a short walk from several visit worthy restaurants on Harbor Island, is a 3 minutes shuttle ride from the airport and a 15 minutes drive from the Gaslamp Quarter.
The Port of San Diego runs a waterfront shuttle servicing hotels and attractions along the bayfront, including the USS Midway Museum and Seaport Village. Bright rooms riff on nautical flags with blue accent walls and chairs with a few accents of red, including throw pillows and geometric red and white flag prints that look like contemporary art. Floor to ceiling glass sliding doors open to private balconies that overlook a variety of views, including the marina, the bay, Coronado Island, and the city skyline they’re best from the upper floors, natch. Rooms in the Bay Tower tend to be more spacious. Dogs are welcome at the Sheraton and can walk their humans on the paved trails that line Harbor Island. It’s a cat free zone though.

Hilton San Diego Bayfront

You can’t get much closer to the Convention Center than this Hilton. The 30 story high rise which overlooks Petco Park, the Gaslamp Quarter, the Coronado Bridge, and beautiful San Diego Bay is just steps from a trolley station, making getting around a breeze. In addition to the stellar views, the hotel features striking public artwork, a saltwater pool, a spa, and a bright lobby bar that has iPads for guests to browse and an outdoor terrace with bay views. Standard rooms are clean and comfortable, with unobtrusive contemporary decor that feels just slightly dated. It’s no big deal the public spaces are airy and inviting and the views are some of the best in town.
The suites are much swankier than the regular guestrooms. Like the rooms, the hotel’s bathrooms are pretty generic: granite counters, stone tile floors, and a walk in shower or shower tub combo. The suite bathrooms are a big upgrade, with soaking tubs and windows that frame fabulous views. Contemporary and stylish, the high ceilinged lobby has floor to ceiling slatted sycamore wood screens that reference tidal sandbars and seating in cool blues that nod to the color of the ocean. As part of the Port of San Diego’s Percent for Art program, the expansive lobby includes several public artworks.

The Dana on Mission Bay

Set around an Omega shaped cove on Mission Bay, the Dana is the closest hotel to SeaWorld and offers a free shuttle to get you there. The sprawling property, which was built in the late ‘60s, has plenty more to keep guests busy, including two outdoor pools, a restaurant, a private marina, and watersports rentals so you can play on the bay. Many recently refreshed rooms feature views of the Dana’s lush tropical landscaping or waterfront.
Refreshed in 2015, contemporary guestrooms are simple but tasteful, with warm wood furnishings, white louvered shutters, and subtle tropical accents. The Dana’s standard Marina Cove rooms lack views but upgrade slightly and you’ll have views of the tropical courtyard, pool, or marina. The Water’s Edge rooms, located in a curved water facing wing of the hotel, are more spacious and feature private patios or balconies that look out on Mission Bay and Sunset Point.