San Diego County is a dynamic flowering of connections between seemingly disparate communities. All the top-draw sites in California’s second-largest city continue to attract visitors—Balboa Park, SeaWorld, San Diego Zoo, Legoland, Old Town and La Jolla, to name but a few—but San Diego, as a collective whole, continues to reinvent itself.
Meeting and incentive business is gradually returning from a widespread economic downturn. New hotels continue to rise from the ground up. Construction and cranes still appear all over downtown, a prime example of long-term successful revitalization.
Venturing toward the more untapped outer regions of the county, additional options for groups continue to materialize in places one might not expect. Planners might not anticipate the presence of golf courses, wine country, desert activities and even Indian casinos.
Margie Sitton, vice president of sales for the San Diego CVB, says that face-to-face meetings are making a huge comeback. While video conferencing has become a trend, more folks coming to San Diego are doing so for the human connection and the real word experience. The airport is a short cab ride from all the action, and travelers are directly immersed upon their arrival.
"When people get off the plane, they’re right at the destination," she says. "They see the ocean, they see the palm trees, they smell the ocean air. They know they can have their meetings and solve their problems and do whatever they need to do."
Downtown San Diego
The downtown San Diego one experiences now seems worlds apart from the downtown of the ’80s and early ’90s. During the decades following the post-WWII suburbanization of America, downtowns and city centers across the country fell into ruin, with San Diego serving as a prime example. Urban decay and commercial wreckage could be seen in parts of the city even into the 1990s.
"If you drove toward downtown, as soon as you got close, your motor would just automatically turn off," Sitton quips. "It was that bad."
But after a long urban makeover, downtown San Diego now bustles and thrives with shopping venues, hotels, restaurants, bars, boutiques, nightclubs and a plethora of activities. The Gaslamp Quarter, a 16.5-block historic district, thoroughly rocks at nighttime, providing an entire subculture of restaurants, bars, nightclubs and retail stores. Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres, has greatly contributed to the area’s revitalization since it opened in 2004. Little Italy also provides an authentic experience straight down to checkerboard tablecloths, romantic eateries, outdoor cafes and a European ambience.
The San Diego Convention Center sits right on the bay and a proposed phase three expansion of the facility includes a five-acre rooftop park above 225,000 square feet of contiguous exhibit hall space and about 100,000 square feet of meeting room space. The plan also adds a new 80,000-square-foot ballroom to the current facility. When finished, the convention center will have more than 750,000 square feet of contiguous exhibit hall space, making it the largest on the West Coast.
Numerous hotels are near the convention center, including meetings standbys such as Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego and San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina.
With San Diego’s rich military history as a Navy town, the USS Midway is a consistent winner for groups of 100 to 3,500. Over 250 events are held onboard every year. Koleen Roach, director of meetings and conference management for Securian Financial Group, brought 800 people to the Midway for a final-night extravaganza and said the evening provided a quintessentially San Diego experience.
"It’s a perfect facility to have a party if you have a big group," she says. "People getting off the bus were just looking at this magnificent vessel and saying, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe my company’s having a party for us on this.’ And then getting up on the flight deck, and you’re right in the harbor, and you can tour all those planes, and the sunset was spectacular. From the moment everyone got off the bus and onto that ship, they were having a good time."
Coronado
To reach the celebrated "island" village of Coronado from downtown, visitors can either take the ferry or drive across the San Diego-Coronado Bridge, an icon of the city. Coronado seems like a separate island unto itself, but it’s really an isthmus and claims some of the most expensive real estate in North America, plus the legendary and monumental 28-acre Hotel Del Coronado, or "The Del" for short—a quintessential SoCal landmark and one of the country’s most famous hotels. A true beachfront resort by any definition, The Del regularly hosts a top-end clientele and is common for weddings, banquets and over-the-top affairs.
For planners, The Del offers 65,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor function space that flawlessly juxtaposes high-tech meetings technology with the natural beauty of the Pacific Ocean. The property recently finished a $2 million renovation of all of its interior meeting space, including its oceanfront ballroom.
The Del is not the only option around, however. On its own 80-slip marina jutting out into the water is the Loews Coronado Bay Resort, offering over 400 guest units, each with bay, marina, pool or garden views. Planners have access to 65,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting space.
In residential Coronado are stately homes, grand Victorians, senior communities and affluent beach lovers. It is part Navy town, part upscale retirement community, part SoCal sheen and part Main Street—all in one relaxed island-like paradise.
Old Town/Mission Valley
Nestled where highways 5 and 8 intersect, San Diego’s Old Town presents the most wholesome place to relish in the city’s history, especially its Mexican and Spanish heritage. Father Junipero Serra established the first California mission here in 1769, and nowadays the area contains dozens of historical buildings, landmarks, galleries and restaurants, plus Old Town San Diego State Historic Park and Presidio Park. Ripe with cultural and military history, Old Town is easy to get to via public transportation, as the blue line goes directly from downtown.
Old Town is great for touring by trolley or especially by foot. Self-guided maps are available and the neighborhood contains more historical sites than one can shake a stick at. Over 100 stores populate the village, making it a pleasant getaway from the core of downtown San Diego.
Mission Valley has plenty of hotels, including Town and Country Resort & Convention Center, as well as malls, golf courses and Native American gaming. Additionally, the NFL’s San Diego Chargers play at Mission Valley’s Qualcomm Stadium, a venue housing numerous clubs, lounges and restaurants.
Planners can arrange all sorts of adventures at the stadium, from team-building activities to corporate functions, from on-field shenanigans to drag racing in the parking lot.
La Jolla/Mission Bay
North of San Diego proper, La Jolla features some of the most picturesque coastline in the country, in addition to luxury homes and inviting resorts, including The Lodge at Torrey Pines, Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa, Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines and La Jolla Shores Hotel.
With exclusive upscale boutiques, restaurants, a Mediterranean climate, plenty of beaches and activities such as hiking, surfing and golfing at Torrey Pines (a PGA-tour course), La Jolla remains one of San Diego’s top tourist draws. The University of California San Diego (UCSD) also sits right nearby and includes the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, one of the most renowned centers for marine science research in the world.
The lagoon area of Mission Bay itself, home to the world-renowned SeaWorld, is an outdoor sports and fitness mecca. Spanning 4,200 acres, about half of which is water, Mission Bay Park attracts every possible type of outdoor recreation enthusiast, including joggers, sailboarders, scuba divers and volleyball players. The area represents the prototypical outdoorsy SoCal water-centric wonderland.
Paradise Point Resort & Spa and Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Resort and Marina are meetings favorites.
North and East San Diego County
Just 25 minutes from downtown is North San Diego County, home to many resort properties and spas, as well as plenty of surfing. San Diego proper has the bays while North San Diego County has the beaches.
"We call it God’s country," Sitton says. "It’s less urban and more wide-open spaces. The place is different, much slower than central San Diego."
The area’s top meetings resorts include The Grand Del Mar, L’Auberge Del Mar, Four Seasons Resort Aviara, Rancho Bernardo Inn, La Costa Resort & Spa and Pala Casino Spa Resort.
East San Diego County likewise provides what the city doesn’t: endless countryside. With deserts, mountains and hiking trails, the area offers numerous recreational options for groups. The Anza Borrego Desert State Park is the largest state park in California.
San Diegans refer to East County as their "backyard," where planners will also find an activity they probably wouldn’t automatically associate with San Diego. Native American casinos are on the rise and they often provide entertainment and an ambience almost rivaling what one could see in Las Vegas. Golf courses and spas are common, and resorts offer plenty of meeting facilities. Barona Valley Ranch Resort & Casino, Borrego Ranch Resort & Spa and Sycuan Resort are among the most popular choices.
Gary Singh is a freelance writer living in Tom Waits’ San Diego Serenade.
