The US Grant, a Luxury Collection Hotel, San Diego

Broadway's Grand Hotel, Built by a President's Son

Ulysses S. Grant Jr. spent five years and a fortune putting this hotel up on Broadway, and it opened in 1910 as a palace of more than four hundred rooms designed by Harrison Albright. It faced the plaza where the city had just unveiled an electrically lit fountain, and for decades it was where San Diego did its public business: fourteen presidents, Einstein, Lindbergh, and a long parade of people who wanted to be seen in the lobby. Restored twice since, it now holds 270 larger rooms behind the same facade, and the marble, the ceilings and the sense of ceremony survived the work.

Why It Works

Three things settled it. The building is the genuine article, a 1910 grand hotel still doing the job it was built for rather than a new tower borrowing the language. The ownership gives it a story no competitor can copy: the hotel belongs to the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, whose ancestors held this land long before Broadway existed. And the Grant Grill is a destination in its own right, which means dinner downstairs is a decision rather than a fallback. Add a central Broadway address and the case makes itself.

Why This Location

You are on Broadway, the spine of downtown, with the plaza and its fountain directly opposite. The Gaslamp Quarter begins a block to the south, so the restaurants and the noise are close but not under the window. West, Broadway runs down to the harbour, the cruise terminal and the waterfront promenade, all comfortably walkable. The trolley stops outside for the airport and Old Town, and Balboa Park with its museums and the zoo is a short ride north. For a car-free stay in San Diego, this is the address that works hardest.

Fast Facts

• Price: Luxury

• Vibe: Grand hotel, marble and ceremony, downtown formal

• Rooms: 270 rooms and suites behind the original 1910 facade

• Best For: History-minded travellers, business stays, car-free city breaks

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel: The Grant Grill, and the plaque marking the sit-in that ended its men-only lunch rule

• Dining: The Grant Grill for dinner and cocktails, a dining room that has been the hotel's signature since the fifties

• Amenities: Spa and wellness treatments, fitness centre, historic ballrooms, valet parking, dogs accepted

• Attractions: The plaza and its fountain opposite the door, Gaslamp Quarter one block south, waterfront and cruise terminal a walk west, Balboa Park and the zoo a short ride north

The Grant Grill, and the Sit-In That Changed It

The Grant Grill opened as the hotel's signature room in the fifties and kept a men-only rule at lunch for years afterwards. In 1969 a group of women attorneys sat down anyway and refused to leave, and the policy did not survive the afternoon. The restaurant marks the moment, which is the rare case of a hotel dining room remembering something other than its own menu. The cooking today is Californian with a formal edge, the bar list is long, and the room is dark and clubbable in a way new hotels cannot fake.

Rooms Above the Marble

Reducing four hundred and thirty-seven original rooms to 270 left them generous, and the restoration kept the tall windows and the proportions while putting modern bathrooms behind them. Interiors are classical rather than fashionable: pale walls, dark wood, custom carpets, and a great deal of framed art. Higher floors give the better light and the quieter night; rooms on the Broadway side get the city, rooms at the back get calm. Suites open up the corner spaces and are the ones to book for a stay of more than a couple of nights.

What to Know Before You Book

This is a working downtown hotel, so midweek belongs to business and conferences and weekends are the gentler stay. Parking is valet, which is the sensible answer in this part of the city. Ask about the ballrooms if you like the architecture; they are the most complete survival from the original build. And book the Grant Grill when you book the room, because tables there fill with people who are not staying in the hotel at all.