I am coming to San Diego in late August for a week of R&R just to head south of the border. Any suggestion on where to stay? Options I am considering are:

1. Stay at the Motel 6 at Chula Vista, rent a car and go to TJ daily. Motel 6 at Chula Vista seems a little better and safer than the one right at the border. Will be parking the rental north of the border.
2. Take the rental to TJ and stay at a Motel the entire time, although rental agreement won’t allow me to go to Mexico with the car (Probably not a good option – Didn’t have a good experience last time I drove the rental to TJ)?
3. Take the bus from the airport to the border and stay at a hotel in TJ for a week and take the bus back to the airport. What hotel/Motel do you recommend? Should I go on the cheap or spend a little more for a nice place?
4. Any other options ….

You don't need to rent a car to stay at the Motel 6 in CV or to stay in TJ. The E street trolley station is right across the street from the motel 6. If that's where you want to stay I would just take the trolley to the motel 6 and also back and forth to TJ. If you want to drive around SD or down to Rosarito or Ensenada then you can rent a car for a day or two. There's a budget in Chula Vista within walking distance from the Palmero or H street trolley stations at L street near I-5. Budget allows their cars to be driven to into mexico as far south as Ensenada. You do have to pay $20-25 for Mexican insurance though.


Personally I wouldn't stay at some lousy motel 6 in CV. For the same amount of money or less you can find much better accomodations in TJ near the ZN and you won't be wasting your vacation time on the trolley. I decent motel to stay at for noobs visiting TJ is La Villa de Zaragoza. Here are directions and contact info:
Ave. Madero No. 1120 between 7th and 8th, St. Zona Centro
Ph. (01152-664) 685-1832 Fax (01152-664) 685-1837

Below are a couple of TJ websites with hotel information. This site also has a hotel section under Tijuana as well.

http://www.tijuanaonline.org/
http://welcometotijuana.com

Although I do recommend the Hotel La Villa de Zaragoza, if you do decide to stay there don't use your credit card. Some guys have been ripped off there in the past. I did use my card there once when I didn't have any cash on me and I didn't have a problem but you never know.


After you've been in TJ for a few days and you've found your bearings, you might want try a few nights at the Hotel Cascadas (located above Miami and Las Chavelas) or Hotel Coahuila (next to the Adelita Bar). Each has jacuzzi rooms for about $60 dollars a night. They're both in the ZN so don't expect to get a lot of sleep if you stay at one of these hotels.

¡Buena suerte!

Stay at the Travellogge at the border. About 50$/night and a 5 min walk to the border.

dear hobbyist,

I have to agree with vegasgator. The motel 6 or budget inn right at the border are fine. I've stayed at both hundreds of times and have never had a problem. I prefer motel 6 because of the dennys next door and the coffee in the lobby in the morning. I would say the chula vista motel 6 is like ten/fifteen minutes away. Good luck.

Putamadre, Great detailed information. Thanks. The idea of staying in TJ and not wasting time going thru the border everyday is intrigueing. In addition since I plan on spending most of the my days in TJ, I like hotel being a few block away from the ZN. I am reading the feedbacks on the LVZ right now but at the same time I am sota taking a poll and will decide on the hotel later.

Btw, I am not exactly a complete newb. I have a few trips to the zone under my belt, but don’t want to get too confident and get in trouble. That’s why I joined this great site to get advise from vets of fun in TJ.

Guys, Are the motels mentioned safe enough to leave expensive cameras in the room - albeit hiding it – and expecting it to be there when I come back? Also, what is the best way of going from SD airport to the border if I am not renting a car?

Consider Pueblo Amigo in TJ. If you have a AAA card, you can often get a rate of $90 for a junior suite. Less for a regular room but I haven't had one of those in long time. If you are going solo, no need for the junior suite.

Here's a link to the San Diego MTS. Use the trip planner starting from the airport terminal 1 or 2 and ending at the San Ysidro trolley station. The transfer point from the bus to the trolley is at American Plaza which is just east of the Santa Fe train depot. If you're lucky the one way trip should only take a little over an hour.

http://www.sdcommute.com/


If I remember correctly LVZ has safes in the rooms. If not there's one in the front office. I have never had any personal items stolen at LVZ.

PutaMadre, Thanks for the link. I looked at the commute and it takes 1.5-2 hours if nothing goes wrong. My flight comes in at 8:30pm and I leave a week later at 6:30 am! I know lousy schedule but that was my only choice at the sale prices.

Anyone knows how much is a cab ride from the SD airport to the border? Also, I will have a camera bag and a large gym bag with me, what should I expect at the border, coming and going? Post 911, I assume they will/may search my bag, how much time should I allow for going thru the border? Everytime I walked across I didn't have anything with me so it was very quick.

It depends on how immersed you want to get in the Mexico experience. It's certainly more of a rush to actually stay in TJ. For a newbie visitor to Mexico I would NOT advise driving into TJ, though. Leave the car at the border and take a taxi to your hotel and then to the Zona.

Fellow Mongers, I contacted a couple of cab companies in SD and the fare from the airport to the border is around $45. This info may be useful for the next TJ vacationer so pass it on.

Now, given that I will arrive very late at night and leave very early in the morning to/from airport, and the round trip cab fare will be about $90, I think I will rent a car for a week for about $200 to keep my options open.

Also, I just made reservations at the LVZ (without the CC guarantee) but it will be around 11:00pm when I arrive on Monday night. If for some reason LVZ doesn't honor my reservation or play hardball on the rates, what other motels do you recommend?

Buick, I looked at the Pueblo Amigo web site and it looks great. I may stay a couple of nights there for the change of scenery. Thanks for the heads up.

I would say skip the rental car and take the bus/trolley to the border. Leave TJ the night before and stay someplace near the airport on your way home.

Set up your reservation at the Villa Z with a credit card, but when you get there pay cash. That's the only way, in my experience, they will hold your room. Or stay the first night at the PA, the Real del Rio, or one of the other good hotels in TJ, and then go to the Villa Z the next day (where you have made a normal reservation).

In a weeks stay you will save anywhere from 2 hours to 12 hours of standing in line by not crossing the border every day.