June 2026 San Diego Neighborhood Market Report
I’ve been tracking hotel performance numbers in San Diego for 40+ years. What I’ve seen over the past two months tells a nuanced story, one that won’t make the most sensational headlines but should matter to every hotel owner and operator in this market.
April 2026 was, by most measures, a very good month. May was more complicated. Understanding the difference between the two is worth your time.
The San Diego Tourism Authority entered 2026 cautiously optimistic, pointing to World Cup overflow, new property openings, and major events as the primary demand drivers for the back half of the year. The April and May data suggests that optimism was at least partially earned, though not evenly distributed across submarkets.
San Diego County Snapshot: May 2026 vs May 2025
San Diego submarket performance — April vs. May 2026
RevPAR and year-over-year change by submarket
| April 2026 | May 2026 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Submarket | RevPAR | YoY | RevPAR | YoY |
| Del Mar | $186.51 | +12.00% | $175.69 | +5.25% |
| Downtown | $214.44 | +10.81% | $186.02 | -12.71% |
| Chula Vista | $151.69 | +13.07% | $139.52 | +11.28% |
| Northeast / Escondido | $130.23 | +7.40% | $128.09 | -4.13% |
| Oceanside-Carlsbad | $150.80 | +5.57% | $142.74 | -1.54% |
| SeaWorld-Mission Valley | $128.12 | +6.24% | $121.28 | -3.43% |
| East County | $97.54 | +1.35% | $96.08 | -3.13% |
| San Diego County Total | $164.64 | +8.58% | $150.46 | -5.63% |
Jump to your submarket: Del Mar | Downtown | Chula Vista | Northeast / Escondido | Oceanside-Carlsbad | SeaWorld-Mission Valley | East County
Del Mar
April: Occupancy 81.67% (+4.21% YoY) | ADR $228.38 (+7.47%) | RevPAR $186.51 (+12.00%) | Booking Cost $6.75
May: Occupancy 76.15% (-1.14% YoY) | ADR $230.71 (+6.46%) | RevPAR $175.69 (+5.25%) | Booking Cost $7.09
Del Mar led the county in both months, and the reason is straightforward: strong bioscience, leisure, and group business all contributing at the same time. That kind of diversification is what every submarket hopes for. When you are not dependent on a single segment, a soft week in one area does not drag down the month.
Even as occupancy dipped slightly in May, ADR climbed another 6.46%. Operators here protected their rates, and their revenue held steady.
Downtown San Diego
April: Occupancy 82.86% (+7.30% YoY) | ADR $258.80 (+3.27%) | RevPAR $214.44 (+10.81%) | Booking Cost $5.91
May: Occupancy 77.66% (-5.99% YoY) | ADR $239.54 (-7.15%) | RevPAR $186.02 (-12.71%) | Booking Cost $6.66
April was a strong month for Downtown. The convention center market delivered occupancy above 82% and RevPAR of $214.44, up nearly 11% year over year. Strong group demand along the waterfront kept rates elevated and rooms filled.
May told a different story. RevPAR fell 12.71%, the sharpest decline of any San Diego submarket. This is the convention center market dilemma: when a major piece of group business shifts or cancels, the numbers move quickly. Operators in this corridor accept that tradeoff. The good news is that convention center markets recover when the calendar refills, and summer leisure and group business will help.
Chula Vista
April: Occupancy 71.96% (-8.28% YoY) | ADR $210.79 (+23.28%) | RevPAR $151.69 (+13.07%) | Booking Cost $4.06
May: Occupancy 67.71% (-3.26% YoY) | ADR $206.05 (+15.04%) | RevPAR $139.52 (+11.28%) | Booking Cost $4.31 | ALOS 2.15 nights (+1.20%)
Chula Vista deserves specific attention. The Gaylord Hotel has been open for less than a year, and it has already reshaped this submarket. In less than a year, the Gaylord has turned Chula Vista into a powerhouse. The combination of small group business, solid corporate performance, and weekend leisure is exactly the model other submarkets should study.
The metrics tell the story. ADR is up 15% in May, while booking costs fell 8.31% year over year. Average length of stay ticked up slightly. When the rate rises, acquisition costs fall, and guests stay longer all at the same time, that is a well-functioning operation, not a coincidence.
Northeast and Escondido
April: Occupancy 76.80% (+4.33% YoY) | ADR $169.57 (+2.94%) | RevPAR $130.23 (+7.40%) | Booking Cost $5.12
May: Occupancy 73.09% (-5.16% YoY) | ADR $175.25 (+1.09%) | RevPAR $128.09 (-4.13%) | Booking Cost $5.45
April was a solid month here, driven by strong corporate business in the southern portion of this submarket. May softened on occupancy, though ADR held a 1.09% gain. The occupancy decline pulled RevPAR down 4.13% despite the rate improvement. Booking costs ticked down slightly in May, which is a positive signal.
The corporate base in this corridor is a real asset. Operators who have worked to build those relationships over time are better insulated when leisure demand softens.
Oceanside-Carlsbad
April: Occupancy 79.02% (+3.49% YoY) | ADR $190.85 (+2.00%) | RevPAR $150.80 (+5.57%) | Booking Cost $5.43
May: Occupancy 75.15% (-3.13% YoY) | ADR $189.95 (+1.64%) | RevPAR $142.74 (-1.54%) | Booking Cost $5.51
April showed solid group and corporate business, with leisure holding up alongside. May was tougher on occupancy, but operators here made the right call: hold rate. ADR came in at $189.95, up 1.64% year over year, even as the rest of the county faced pressure. RevPAR declined only 1.54%, the second-best May performance in the county behind Chula Vista.
Holding rate in a soft month is always a harder decision than it looks in hindsight. The Oceanside-Carlsbad results suggest operators here have the discipline to make it.
SeaWorld and Mission Valley
April: Occupancy 79.55% (+2.93% YoY) | ADR $161.06 (+3.22%) | RevPAR $128.12 (+6.24%) | Booking Cost $6.78
May: Occupancy 75.75% (-4.52% YoY) | ADR $160.10 (+1.13%) | RevPAR $121.28 (-3.43%) | Booking Cost $6.91
April delivered a good mix of leisure and group business, keeping results positive across the board. May saw occupancy soften, but like Oceanside-Carlsbad, operators in this corridor held ADR above the prior year. RevPAR declined 3.43%, a manageable outcome given the broader county softness.
Booking costs at $6.91 are the highest within the San Diego submarkets tracked. That is worth watching as summer demand builds.
East County
April: Occupancy 74.80% (+2.44% YoY) | ADR $130.41 (-1.07%) | RevPAR $97.54 (+1.35%) | Booking Cost $5.16
May: Occupancy 73.85% (-0.46% YoY) | ADR $130.11 (-2.69%) | RevPAR $96.08 (-3.13%) | Booking Cost $5.45
East County remains the most challenging submarket in San Diego. Casino competition in the area has likely contributed to softness in rates in both months. April’s modest RevPAR gain of 1.35% was the weakest in the county. May was weak across the board, with occupancy, ADR, and RevPAR all trending downward.
Operators here need to lean harder into their specific value proposition. Competing on price against casinos is a difficult long-term strategy. The opportunity lies in identifying guest segments that casinos cannot serve well and building occupancy around them.
What the Booking Cost Numbers Tell Us
I pay close attention to per-room-night booking costs because they reveal how efficiently a hotel is acquiring its guests.
San Diego County averaged $6.23 in May, up from $5.84 in April. Chula Vista is the standout at $4.31 in May. Phoenix, for comparison, came in at $3.81. Operators in those markets are not over-relying on OTA channels, and their profitability reflects it.
This matters more than most operators realize. Kalibri Labs data show a $1.5 billion decline in U.S. hotel revenue capture in 2024, meaning top-line rate growth is not always translating into bottom-line gains. The gap between what guests pay and what hotels keep is where booking costs live. If your costs are creeping up, it’s worth having that conversation with your revenue management team before summer rates peak.
If your booking costs are creeping up, that is a conversation worth having with your revenue management team before summer rates peak.
Getting Ready for What Comes Next
San Diego is well-positioned for summer. Comic-Con, convention business, and World Cup overflow were all on the horizon as May closed. Los Angeles posted lackluster World Cup results in May, but those numbers were expected to improve in June as the tournament progressed and visitor patterns solidified.
The market is not without risk. If gas prices climb significantly higher, demand from cost-sensitive leisure travelers could soften faster than current projections suggest. But at current price levels, demand for mid-tier and upper-tier has held.
My view is that operators who maintained rate discipline in May put themselves in a stronger position for the summer. Holding rate when demand softens is one of the hardest calls in hotel management. The submarket data from May suggests that those who held will see that decision pay off.
San Diego remains one of the most resilient hotel markets in the country. The diversity of demand, the year-round appeal, and the strength of submarkets such as Del Mar and Chula Vista give this market a foundation most cities would envy.
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