After arriving at Lindbergh Field, business travelers will appreciate the airport’s proximity to downtown San Diego. As opposed to many major cities’ distant suburban or rural airports, you’re only a five-minute drive from the heart of downtown San Diego, less than four miles from two principal terminals at Lindbergh. Many business travelers may choose to stay at one of the numerous hotels directly adjacent to the airport, in the Point Loma, Harbor and Shelter Island areas.
Hotels that cater primarily to the businessperson are conveniently located throughout the downtown area, fanning out from the harbor along San Diego Bay, interspersed among office towers in every direction. Directly alongside the bayfront is one of San Diego’s most distinctive landmarks and frequent destinations for the business traveler: the sprawling San Diego Convention Center, host to the 1996 Republican National Convention and seven million conventioneers in its first decade.
After its recent expansion, the San Diego Convention Center now offers well over a million square feet of exhibition and meeting space, both indoors and on a terrace that looks out over the bay and Embarcadero Marina Park. Adjacent to the convention center, you can visit dozens of shops and restaurants at one of San Diego’s most unique shopping centers, Seaport Village, which stretches along the harbor with incredible panoramic views over San Diego Bay. Several major hotel chains offer thousands of rooms within walking distance of the convention center.
Just across Harbor Drive, you’ll find the gateway to the district that’s largely responsible for the renaissance of the downtown area… the Gaslamp Quarter. One of San Diego’s most blighted inner city areas only twenty years ago, filled with decayed warehouses and abandoned buildings, the Gaslamp Quarter is now a vibrant 16-block area filled with a diverse array of restaurants, nightclubs and bars. The Gaslamp Quarter comes alive every night, particularly on the weekends, and offers abundant choices for dining, live music and dancing, all within walking distance of downtown hotels.
