Lodging & Travel

The story of one the most legendary hotels in San Diego’s Gaslamp District is just as fascinating as that of the city itself. History abounds at the Horton Grand Hotel, which is a restoration of two separate historic hotels: The Grand Horton Hotel and the Brooklyn-Kahle Saddlery Hotel.

The two hotels were built in the mid-1880s and were originally located where Horton Plaza mall now stands.

The savvy business traveler will always keep an eye on the bottom line. And accommodation can do more to open the eye than most any expense of travel. But rates for the major hotels vary only a little. And where does it say the traveling business-person has to watch the bottom line from an antiseptic single room in one of the interchangeable chain hotels that dominate in most major cities? Nowhere.

In San Diego, these days, the better downtown hotel is the unique new independent Horton grand that harks back to the good old San Diego hostelries of yore.

The newest, The Horton Grand – on the edge of San Diego’s historic Gaslamp Quarter – is actually the oldest hotel in San Diego. And maybe the best.  The hotel holds memories of guests like Kalakua, King of Hawaii; and Benjamin Harrison, President of the United States. Hollywood royalty like George Raft and Lou Costello; Wyatt Earp, his eyes cold as the glint of gunmetal; sports heroes like Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, and the beloved Babe Ruth who raised the home run to an art form.  You can explore the full history here.