AMERICAS BEST VALUE INN SAN DIEGO DOWNTOWN - 1840 4th Ave. San Diego, CA 92101 US United States Phone Number

3.5 out of 5 Based on 76 guest reviews, Average

Based on 84 traveler reviews

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Most Recent Traveler Reviews:

“It's all in the name !!”

May 15, 2013 Andy-green84

For an inn this hotel was very impressive , little walk from gas lamp area . The rooms were nice enough and very clean . Little fitness suite and guest... more »

“Fantastic.”

May 8, 2013 KillerRabbit, New York | Trip type: Family

Clean, very comfy and warm room. Soft bed blacked me out in minutes. With fridge and microwave- priceless!! Thermostat allowed me to create a warm, cozy sauna that magically cured... more »

“Fantastic value for downtown!”

Apr 30, 2013 CountryBumpkin08, Somerset

The rooms were slightly small but the wifi was incredible. The best I have ever had in a hotel, I downloaded so much video to watch on the plane! The... more »

“A Gem Despite The Cranky Reviews”

Apr 29, 2013 BoltzMan, San Juan Capistrano, California | Trip type: Couples

I don't give out "5". Ever. Ever, ever. And this is, if not the first one, then the first one to a budget motel, but this ABVI deserves it. If... more »

I don't give out "5". Ever. Ever, ever. And this is, if not the first one, then the first one to a budget motel, but this ABVI deserves it. If you only have 10 seconds to read this, read this: Stay here. If you have longer and want to know why, here it is:

This is an urban hotel in an incredibly desireable city, with few flaws, and at bargain rates. We stayed two nights this past weekend - when San Diego was basically sold out - and found it excellent. And that's from someone who enjoys places like the US Grant and the Del Coronado. by category, here's why:

The building: This is a 5 story hotel, with an immaculate elevator (rosewood panelling, yet) without the usual graffiti, rising from a basement (with a small exercise facility and business center, a lower courtyard, and the finest vending machines every to give you fresh sandwiches, ice cream, chips, candy, almost 20 kinds of soda and more!) to the top, rising from a delightfully flowered courtyard with benches opening off of the lobby. The building looks as if it was freshly painted last week - I understand it's been a couple years, which speaks well of the maintenance - and is spotlessly clean and in almost perfect condition. The lobby (slightly cramped) has another customer computer and staff that are invariably helpful and considerate and yes, Bobby blushes when you mention his "Trip Advisor" fame.

The Rooms: Rooms are small, yes, but almost in a boutique-hotel sense. The furnishings in ours (316, a handicapped room in the corner) were new, chic, and free of dust and dirt. A microwave (it didn't work at first; promptly replaced), a large dorm-type fridge and coffee maker (with decent coffee, even) made it a near-kitchen, next to the sink, with a granite counter of home quality. The bed, a queen (they don't have kings, I think because of room size) was comfortable (a bit soft) with three pillows, and a small desk and chair were very functional. WiFi worked, and so did everything else. The bathroom was spotless too (a little musty, I think from lack of use of that room), and shampoo, lotion and soap were all nice. Hot water was abundant.

Breakfast: A few snotty reviews I saw before reserving complained about this, and those people should get lives. This was the best "continental" breakfast I've ever seen. No, there weren't hot foods (duh; look up "continental breakfast," folks!), but excellent FRESH bagels (at least 4 kinds!), good packaged sweet rolls (my wife hates these things...but LOVED the ones here!), oatmeal, oatmeal bars, "tiger bars," juice boxes (wish they had orange, though), EXCELLENT coffee, and even three kinds of creamer, in a nice breakfast room that even had daily papers.

Complaints about noise are foolish; like much of downtown San Diego, this hotel is smack dab beneath the approach to SAN Airport. So yes, during the day there is a lot of flight noise. It's gone at night. Yes, the rooms lack much of a view; and ours faced a wall. That's true of the US Grant, too, at $300 a night; if you want a view, plan to pay for it or get a life and leave your room. The neighborhood? As safe as home, with as many (and no more) homeless people as any other part of California. We chatted with a couple of them at the wonderful Taco El Rey taco stand around the corner, and I hate to tell you, folks but they're nice people, sometimes nicer than picky hotel guests. More neighborhood? The ABVI is 2 blocks from Balboa Park, and it took us only a delightful 20 minute walk to be at the Art Museaum complex. Dinner in Gaslamp? Walk out of the hotel, turn right, walk 50 yards and cross the street, and you're at a bus line that arrives about every 20 minutes...on time, right into the center of Gaslamp, the Harbor, and more. More good stuff? When we checked out, Bobby stored our (and many others') luggage for a few hours in a storage locker behind the front desk. That's hotel service you only see at the "bigs".

There are a few small things that would be nice to see here: Milk in the breakfast room, and cream cheese to go with the bagels instead of only butter, and OJ as well. Perhaps a small guest laundry, too. But that's it.

I've stayed at hotels in LA that were comparable to this (including being underneath landing planes) and paid double the price, and I've paid a lot more in San Diego and gotten a lot less. My wife looked at me as we were leaving and said, "This is really a small boutique hotel," and she was right. We'll be back.

Yeah, a five. I hate to do that. But I can't not. « less

“Cancelled booking and stolen possessions.”

Apr 24, 2013 RachelFoskett, London, United Kingdom | Trip type: Friends getaway

Unfortunately I had a very bad experience with this hotel and it's staff, and would not recommend staying here. The day we arrived (after a long flight from the UK),... more »

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