San Diego This Winter?

My hope when I visited San Diego last year was to find that Valhalla of winter getaways, a place with warmth, water, and a vibrant urban culture—without having to fly all day and speak another language. San Diego offers the right mix. You can’t argue with the weather: Winters are not hot, but they are reliably sunny and days in the 70s are plentiful. You can’t argue with the setting: San Diego has more beachfront than any other California city. You can’t argue with the amenities: Some of America’s best resorts are here.

But it’s not Valhalla. Scratch the surface, and you’ll find that San Diego is really several cities, each offering indulgences, but not the total package. If you visit this metropolis—roughly the population of the Twin Cities—you need to focus on your priorities from the outset, lest you find yourself driving endlessly on the city’s congested freeways in search of the amenities your chosen base lacks.

ORIENTATION
San Diego County sprawls from the Mexican border to well beyond the city’s northern limits. The city’s downtown and inner core are rebounding from several attempts at gentrification, the most recent of which seems to have finally taken. Sparked by the lovely, well-integrated Petco Park baseball field, condos and stylish hotels are filling the historic core. North of downtown, the yuppified Hillcrest/Uptown neighborhoods are anchored by the city’s jewel, Balboa Park, which boasts San Diego’s legendary zoo, most of its best museums, and charming architecture.

The downtown waterfront is shared by the U.S. military and commercial development and lacks appeal in many places. The convention hotels that line the beaches here are not true resorts and will not satisfy those looking for a resort experience. For that, you need to travel by ferry or on a circuitous freeway to Coronado, an island shared by the military and many retirees and empty nesters. Or you can head up the mainland coast to the well-heeled suburb of La Jolla and environs for a more upmarket, old-money experience. Coronado is to La Jolla as Bloomington is to Wayzata.

Arguably the area’s best resorts are well inland, in the region’s northern fringes. They are splendid destinations, but more than an hour from the city’s amenities in rush-hour traffic. It isn’t practical to stay there and participate fully in the urban experience, so you do have to choose.

FOR THE BEACH LOVER
Although close to the city center, much of Coronado is paved over, and its resorts are dated and crowded. The century-old Hotel Del Coronado, though charming, is of another era and too small and full of day-trippers to satisfy folks expecting a Scottsdale or Laguna Beach–type experience. 619-435-6611

Instead, migrate up the coast to La Jolla, a bustling burb that caters to San Diego’s elite and upscale vacationers with great shopping, good restaurants, and a walkable beachfront. La Jolla lacks a true resort, but if you want to stay right in town, the ocean-view Hotel Parisi has a modern, serene ambience that compares favorably with the oceanfront dowagers that dot Prospect Street. 858-454-1511

Close by, but sitting in splendid isolation, is the Lodge at Torrey Pines. A modern beachfront resort built in turn-of-the-century Craftsman style, it sits on six acres, adjacent to the famous namesake golf course and the Torrey Pines State Reserve, which has a great beach and forests for hiking. The lodge’s restaurant, A.R. Valentien, serves California cuisine in a relatively formal setting and is regarded as one of the region’s best. 858-453-4420

A wild card option is Tower 23, a new, contemporary beachfront hotel between San Diego proper and La Jolla. The stunning boutique facility features high-tech, minimalist rooms and suites. My caveats are its youthful and less-than-assured staff and the adjacent stretches of public beach, tacky strip malls, and commercial chain store developments. If your room only faces the ocean, however, you’ll be delighted. 866-869-3723

A visit to this area should include a stop at the Salk Institute, the renowned, private biological research facility founded by Jonas Salk. The minimalist, modern structure was designed in the 1960s by acclaimed architect Louis Kahn and is the architectural highlight of San Diego. Tours are available by appointment and well worth the time. 858-453-4100

The San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art in downtown La Jolla is strong in works by postwar California artists. Warhol, Stella, and Rauschenberg are represented as well. 858-454-3541