Going to San Diego--stay in Chula Vista or somewhere else?

There are a couple of hotels on woodlawn the Best Western and the Travelers Inn on E Street, or the Bay Breeze Inn on H Street. The newest hotel is on E Street just a block away it is the Comfort Inn, It is less than a year old and has a continental breakfast. The area on E Street isnt bad. You will be close to a bunch of fast food restaurants, Mc Donalds, Wendys, Taco Bell. Also there is the trolley and bus station and the information Center at E Street and I-5. The Black Angus across from the Best Western has a bar and real good Steak. For fish Anthony's is to the West of I-5 on E street and El Torito Mexican restaurant is close to that. They also have dancing and a bar. This area is very popular with Arizona summer tourists as it gets busy in the beach area and this is the only decent area left close to Downtown.

Its an ordinary suburban town. Nothing really great or bad about it. It is on the beach and very close to down town San Diego. You could certainly do a lot worse. The trolley goes right through it so if I were you and planning for a trip to downtown SD or Tijuana - I'd take the trolley. You don't want to be taking your car into Tijuana. If all you are doing is just going to down town sd and not anywhere else - the trolley will save you a lot of hassle finding parking plus the expense of gas.

Do Not stay in Chula Vista. I stayed at a hotel called The Best Western- Golden Triangle in Clairemont. It was literally a 10 minute drive to everything. The beach, downtown, airport, zoo, Balboa Park. It only cost $99.00 per night, may be higher for you though depending on when you are coming.

Chula Vista should be less expensive than downtown and really not that far away. It is not the greatest town though for safety. Gaslamp is fun but expensive. Any of the beach towns are fun (pacific beach or ocean beach). La Jolla is nice too but a little far away and expensive

Chula Vista is ok, but a little bit of a drive from most of San Diegos attractions. Did you look into Hotel Circle? Very centrally located and reasonable. Skip Tijuana unless you want to be in a crime infested rat hole of a city.

Chula Vista's great if you want to stay in the San Diego area but dislike the charm, beauty and general safety of San Diego. You could also stay in National City and be near scenic shipyards and payday loan shops. Hooray for South Bay!

get the actual scoop from travellers who have gone there by going to www.virtualtourist.com and keying in chula vista, you can see what is there, the best places to go etc.

While there's nothing wrong with Chula Vista it's nowhere near any of the things tourists usually plan to do when they visit San Diego and so for that reason I'd suggest you'd try another area. The Mission Valley hotels/motels are not in a particularly interesting part of town but almost everything you'll want to see is within a few minutes' drive, and the costs aren't too outrageous. Whoever said there are beaches in Chula Vista doesn't know what they are talking about...I lived in Chula Vista for years so I know it's an extended drive to get to the nearest beach, which is probably Coronado, which is at least 20 minutes drive away thru a very unglamourous part of town (Imperial Beach). Imperial Beach is probably the least desirable beach area in the county owing to it being subject to contamination from sewage overflows from Tijuana. You don't want to go there, trust me. The water adjacent to Chula Vista is bayfront, not ocean front. Aside from the Nature Center there's no recreational anything there. If you are in Mission Valley, for instance, you are within a 10 minute drive to downtown/Gaslamp area, Padres ballpark, downtown harbor and harborcruises, the zoo, Balboa Park, the mission, the beach area (Mission Beach, Ocean Beach and Pacific Beach); less than 20 minutes from La Jolla/Birch Acquarium (better than the CV nature center), La Jolla Cove, Torrey Pines, etc. Also less than 30 minutes from north county locations such as Del Mar, Solana Beach, Encinitas. In Chula Vista you are only close to Tijuana, which will really disappoint you as a tourist unless you are between the ages of 18 and 21 where you can drink legally there. Even then, take the trolly to the border and you can easily go there if you want.

I'm only just going to add my two cents since others have great detailed reasons for not staying in the Chula Vista area. When I go visit cities as a tourist I like to be where the action is within walking distance or a short ride on public transportation. Hotel circle is a great place to be especially if you can get a hotel near the trolley system. You can get to the Nature Center by trolley if that's one of the places you really want to go to. Other than that you'll probably find yourself holed up in your hotel and double checking the locks on your door if you decide to go with Chula Vista.