We arrived in San Diego in the morning on June 10th. We stayed at La Pensione Hotel, a European-style hotel in San Diego's Little Italy neighborhood. (I think “European-style” refers to the small rooms.) The hotel is on Date Street, about 3 blocks from the waterfront and a short cab ride from the B Street Cruise Ship Terminal where the MV Explorer is currently moored. For those considering using this hotel, you need to know that it has a checkout time of noon, and checkin at 3PM. This is pretty inflexible, so be prepared to wait for a time if you arrive early. Luckily, the lobby has comfortable chairs and is relatively quiet. The lobby and reception area are done in purple, mustard, and grey marble/masonry; it’s a very modern look. The owners have a dog named Penny who has the run of the place. The price is good, $90/night for a room with a queen-size bed and a fairly large bathroom (a great price for San Diego!), and it’s recommended by Frommer’s Budget Travel for that reason.
After getting into our room, and having a nap, we decided to have some authentic pizza in the neighborhood. We went to Fillippi’s Pizza Grotto across from the hotel, a local institution since 1950. The pizza was pretty good.
