From Your Hosts, Katrina & Gerardine
The Local's Handbook
to San Diego
Everything we know about our two neighborhoods — the places we love, the ones to skip, and the tips we share with every guest.
8 guides · Updated regularly
We've spent years in and around Hillcrest and the Gaslamp Quarter. These guides are what we actually tell our guests when they ask "where should we go?" — not a generic roundup pulled from a listicle, but our personal shortlist. Use them to plan ahead, or just pull one up when you're hungry and don't want to overthink it.
For Work & Extended Stays
Guides for Professionals
Traveling Nurses
Travel Nurse Housing Guide: San Diego
Commute times to Scripps Mercy, UCSD Health, and Kaiser, night-shift survival tips, and everything you need to know before your first day on contract.
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Remote Work
Furnished Rentals for Professionals
Resources for corporate travelers, remote workers, and professionals relocating to San Diego for a month or more.
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Neighborhood Guide
Explore Hillcrest
San Diego's most walkable neighborhood. Vibrant, welcoming, full of good food, and endlessly explorable. Here's how to make the most of it.
Hillcrest · Brunch & Coffee
Host Favorite
A Host's Guide to Brunch & Coffee in Hillcrest
Where to go, what to order, when to beat the lines at Snooze — and the two coffee shops we'd both pick for a working morning.
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Hillcrest · Dining & Nightlife
Best Dinner & Nightlife in Hillcrest
From authentic Italian to the best local bars and breweries — here's where the neighborhood actually goes after dark.
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Hillcrest · Things To Do
Markets, Balboa Park & Local Secrets
The Sunday farmers' market, Balboa Park trails and museums, the zoo, and the spots most tourists never find.
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Neighborhood Guide
Explore the Gaslamp Quarter
San Diego's historic entertainment district — 16 walkable blocks of great restaurants, rooftop bars, live music, and the waterfront, right at your front door.
Gaslamp · Dining & Rooftops
Host Favorite
Best Dining & Rooftop Bars in the Gaslamp
Our go-to restaurants and the rooftop bars worth the wait — including the one spot with the best view of Petco Park you've never heard of.
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Gaslamp · Entertainment
Entertainment & Nightlife in the Gaslamp
From intimate jazz clubs and speakeasy bars to live music venues and high-energy dance floors — the full spectrum of downtown nightlife.
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Gaslamp · Things To Do
Beyond the Nightlife: Gaslamp by Day
Petco Park, the Embarcadero waterfront, Seaport Village, trolley lines, and everything else worth doing before the sun goes down.
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Ready to make it home base?
These neighborhoods are our backyard. Stay in one of our personally-hosted homes and we'll make sure you feel like a local from day one.
