Baltic Inn Residential Hotel in Downtown San Diego

Spending a week or more in even a chain hotel like Comfort Inn in downtown San Diego means dispensing a hefty chunk of your savings in hotel fee.... That is, unless you do a little research and find a good residential hotel that offer weekly rate. Luckily there are quite a few of those in the area (plus a few hostels, if you are a foreigner), and one of the most cost-effective (you get your money's worth) of them all is the Baltic Inn on 6th Avenue between Market and Island.

This place is right at the border between Historic Gaslamp Quarter and East Village neighborhoods. It is very close to Petco Park (home of the San Diego Padres MLB team), San Diego Convention Center, Horton Plaza, Horton Grand Hotel, William Heath Davis house, and lots of great restaurants. Lots of buses and trolley accesses nearby, which is good because the place hasn't got a parking lot (most residents use public transportation or own a bicycle). There is a pay parking structure, Park-It-On-Market, just a block north at the corner of 6th and Market where you can purchase a monthly pass to keep your car there, however (for around $160/month).

If you are looking to stay in downtown for a few weeks (as in vacation), Baltic Inn offers, for $156-165/week (current rate), a small room with a twin bed (if you are taller than 6'1" or so, chances are your feet will be dangling off the end of it), a small desk and chair, a small closet space, a television (cable tv with HBO), your own toilet, sink, small refrigerator, and a small microwave oven. There are 3 studio suites with own bathroom and kitchen for higher rent (though chances are they're all occupied by long term residents when you walk in). You can also buy a weekly maid service for an extra fee. You'll be paying rent in cash every week.

If you make less than $58,300 per year (and have proof of employment and clean rental record) and are looking for a permanent place to stay, though, you can apply as a long term resident (staying at least 3 weeks) and arrange to pay with a check instead. This hotel and its sisters (J Street Inn and Island Inn) house a lot of foreign students in town for the language school nearby, also. Foreign students are exempt from the min/max income rules.

Laundry facility, pay phone stalls, and soda/candies vending machines are on the north side of the building. You have to buy a laundry card from front desk ($5 upfront) to operate the washers and dryers (there are 4 each for the entire building, so laundry line can get rather long in the evenings and on weekends). They don't sell detergent there, but there is a CVS Pharmacy/Convenient Store right around the corner on Market Street that has practically everything. The closest grocery store in the area is Ralph's on G Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues.

There is no smoking allowed in the hallway, lobby, or shower, though there is a little patio facing 6th Avenue on the 2nd floor where smokers like to hang out in the evening. The common shower rooms are located in the middle north-south hall of the building; 6 shower stalls per floor. These are supposedly cleaned every day.... though sometimes aren't. The stairways are on north and south end of the 6th Ave side of the building. There is a handicap-accessible elevator, but it seems to break down a lot.

Wifi: The whole building is supposedly wired for wifi, but reception varies from room to room. Many tenants can't get wifi signal in their room and have to come out to the main lobby (signal is strongest there), where there is also a free internet station with a printer for tenants (20 minutes time limit when someone's waiting). You can also opt for reliable internet access via cable... for $50 more per month. Otherwise, you can walk 5 blocks to the Central Library on E Street (at 8th Avenue) to use the free internet access there. Café Noir on 8th Avenue north of J Street (by Petco Park) has free and secure internet access for its customer. Java Jones on 9th Avenue north of Market and It's A Grind at the southwest corner of 1st and G have free open internet access.

Security is pretty good. They've got a guard on duty at night and there are surveillance cameras on all the
north-south hallways. Being right next door to downtown's oldest pub and diagonally across the street from Stingaree (a rather high-end club), it can get pretty rowdy in front of this place on weekend nights. The staff are mostly very nice and efficient and will do their best to help you (though not always).

Pest control every other month: Baltic Inn does pest control for 2 of its floors every first Tuesday of each month (so that each floor get sprayed with insecticide every other month). You will be required to move all your luggage and possession onto your bed and desk on the day of the service and stay out of the room for 4 hrs. This is worth the trouble, though. This hotel is one of the cleanest and roaches-free of downtown's residential hotels.

The major downside for staying here is noise. The walls are thin here and some tenants really don't realize how loud they are... There are some drunks there you don't mind waking everyone up in the wee hours of the night hollering or singing (or doing whatever clankering loud things that drunk people like to do when it's dark outside)... Calling front desk won't help much unless you can tell him which room the sound pollution is coming from (which means you have to go and walk around the hallways in order to locate its source)... And yelling at the culprit works even less, since some of them are attention-seeking psychos who will only yell/sing louder when they realize that they're being heard and are successfully annoying you.

Then there are also some who like their music so much they insist on sharing it with the entire building every time they feel like turning on the stereo (the rule of thumb is, if you turn on the stereo in your room and can still hear it once you've stepped out into the hallway and closed the door, then it is too loud). Some of these folks will turn the volume down if you knock on their door and ask nicely. Some, however, won't...

Being just 3 city blocks away from Petco Park also means that you can forget about being able to hear your own thoughts while sitting in your room if there's a concert playing there (or if the Padres are having a home game... and celebrating their win with fireworks).

The worst aural offender there, though, is the frequent false fire alarm (that also usually happens in the middle of the night). I know the alarm is meant to be very loud to ensure that it will wake even a rotting corpse up in case the building has really caught on fire, but the alarm here really goes a step further and nearly incapacitates you with its brain-splitting shriek.

All that said, if you are on a budget and are looking for an affordable, safe, and very convenient place to stay in downtown San Diego for a few weeks, the Baltic Inn (and its sister hotels: J Street Inn and Island Inn) offer some of the best deals in the area. The noise and frequent elevator breakdown problems are far outweighed by the perks (besides, you can always wear earplugs to bed... and the place only has 4 floors).

Baltic Inn:521 6th Avenue (between Market & Island), San Diego, CA 92101. Tel (619) 237-0687.
Website: www.affordablehousingsd.com/baltic-inn.asp Email: info@affordablehousingsd.com