The Sun, Sand, & Seamen of San Diego

Yves Navant

When considering that winters in Colorado are so cold that even twinky barbacks bundle up to survive the subzero temperatures, I often daydream about warmer alternatives.

The smart traveler would flee the freeze in a pragmatic manner — I’d suggest California, specifically San Diego. Less sleaze than Los Angeles and a little more sedate than San Fran. Unless you want to return to the Mile High in need of a vacation from your vacation, San Diego is truly one of my favorite American cities.

Flying into San Diego is an experience itself, as it appears you’re flying right into the downtown area. (Your plane descends directly into a crowded metropolitan area.) San Diego’s oceanside airport is comparatively small, but it is the gateway to a lovely west coast city, so we tactfully overlook that.

San Diego’s Hillcrest area is very LGBT friendly and in fact, is branded as such, with a large (and I mean large) city-approved and privately funded Pride flag that waves appropriately at the intersections of University Avenue and Normal Street. Hillcrest is the most populated area of the city, which makes perfect sense because homosexuals typically make things cool, fashionable, and relevant.

Hillcrest is also close to the historic Gaslamp Quarter, a charmingly urban iteration of Victorian architecture with an acceptably gentrified vibe thanks to an era of urban renewal that began in the 80s and 90s. The Gaslamp features several entertainment venues and nightclubs and some fairly stellar restaurants.

Downtown San Diego features some exceptional hotels, and some not so. The US Grant is a luxury hotel by way of historic building and seems to have more than its fair share of handsome bellhops.

The W San Diego is like a tall nightclub with all the amenities you want in a hotel but never actually use, ideal for cruising younger and presumably slightly privileged travelers. The W’s room rates are nearly what a real person and their roommates would pay for rent monthly, which is odd citing the hotel’s precarious geographical location in an area of the city that could use a bit more … gentrification. While on a business trip in San Diego, I was returning to the W one evening and had to walk through a tent city while carrying a Louis Vuitton laptop bag, so that was understandably awkward. Returning to my exorbitantly priced room didn’t seem as grand after I appeared to be a privileged storm trooper, marching through a crowd of homeless families. I also experienced odd, middle-of-the-night knocks on my room door at the W. (Luckily I could provide what the visitor was looking for. I can’t imagine I’m the only guest who has survived this phenomenon.)

The Manchester Grand Hyatt is by far my favorite. Book now and acquire a room on a high floor — I promise you’ll thank me. The Manchester Grand’s cinematic lobby makes all of my youthful dreams of opulence a reality. The higher rooms have a spectacular ocean view and overlook the Gaslamp Quarter, while also providing a voyeuristic paradise; each tower’s internal rooms face one another, allowing guests a peek at a crossword puzzle of people-watching greatness. It’s like “Rear Window” but hotter and without the killing. On my last visit, I was staying on the same floor as Charlie and Max Carver and two cast members from some Comedy Central show, one of them being the round-faced kid from “Pitch Perfect.”

Clearly from this missive, you can tell I adore San Diego; the pace of the city, the natives, the ocean air; the servicemen and women.

I musn’t fail to mention that San Diego is a military city, hosting our brave men and women from the United States Navy. To further entice travelers to visit San Diego, it must be said that some of those aforementioned brave men and women are impossibly attractive. Who doesn’t want a brief and passionate fling with a Naval Officer while you’re taking a break from your daily routine?

I know I do.

Book some travel to San Diego. I’ll meet you there.