Hotel Indigo San Diego - Gaslamp Quarter, an IHG Hotel

A Green Building With a Desert Rooftop by the Ballpark

Ninth Avenue in the East Village is a working street: parking structures, breweries, the back of the ballpark. Hotel Indigo sits on it in a building that was put up to a green standard and holds LEED certification, a detail that shows in the way the rooms are made rather than in any signage. The lobby leans into local reference, and the design language changes floor by floor in the way this brand likes. Then you take the lift to the top and the whole thing makes sense: an open-air terrace with the downtown towers on one side and, close enough to hear a crowd, Petco Park on the other.

Why It Works

We chose it for three concrete reasons. The rooftop is the first: Borrego Rooftop Kitchen and Cocktails is a proper bar and kitchen with a skyline view, not a plunge pool with a drinks trolley. The second is the building, certified under the LEED programme and still unusual for a downtown hotel of this size. The third is the walk: a ball game, the Gaslamp Quarter's restaurants and the convention centre are all reachable on foot from the door, which is what makes a downtown stay worth choosing over a resort further out.

Why This Location

The East Village is the part of downtown that filled in last, so it reads younger than the Gaslamp Quarter two blocks west. Petco Park is the anchor and sets the rhythm of the neighbourhood: quiet on a weekday, loud and cheerful when the Padres are at home. Walk west and the Victorian frontages of Fifth Avenue take over, with the restaurants and bars that make the Gaslamp a destination. The convention centre and the waterfront are a little further on, and the trolley stops within a couple of blocks for the airport run and the ride out to Old Town.

Fast Facts

• Price: Premium

• Vibe: Downtown design, ballpark energy, unfussy

• Rooms: 210 rooms, with skyline and ballpark aspects worth requesting

• Best For: Baseball weekends, conference and Comic-Con trips, city breaks without a car

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel: Hearing the ballpark crowd from a rooftop table on Borrego's terrace

• Dining: Borrego Rooftop Kitchen and Cocktails, desert-inspired in look and menu, for dinner and cocktails above the street

• Amenities: LEED certified building, rooftop terrace, fitness centre, dogs accepted, walkable to the trolley

• Attractions: Petco Park a few minutes on foot, Gaslamp Quarter two blocks west, San Diego Convention Center and the waterfront a short walk, Balboa Park a short ride north

Rooms Made to a Standard

The 210 rooms are city rooms: compact by resort measure, well made, and quiet for a street this central. The green build shows up in the fittings and the air rather than in decoration, and the decoration itself follows the local-reference idea the brand is known for. Ask for a high floor facing the ballpark if the baseball is why you came, or the skyline side for the towers at dusk. Families take the double queen rooms; dogs are accepted, which downtown hotels do not always manage.

Borrego, and What Happens After Dark

Borrego Rooftop Kitchen and Cocktails is the reason to stay in rather than go out on the first night. The look is desert: warm earth tones, low light, planting, and a terrace that faces the skyline. The kitchen works through the evening and the bar list is built for the view. On a game night the terrace fills early and the noise from the park becomes part of the evening, so come up before the first pitch if you want a table on the rail.

What to Know Before You Book

Rates and availability here move with the calendar at Petco Park and the convention centre, so a midweek stay outside a big event is the calmer and better-value visit. Parking downtown is a matter of structures rather than driveways, and the trolley makes a car optional for most trips. Light sleepers should ask for a room away from the avenue on a game night, and anyone here for Comic-Con should book far ahead, when the whole quarter goes at once.