Cortez Hill

The Cortez Hill neighborhood is one of the oldest residential neighborhoods in San Diego and is named for the rich mythos surrounding the glamorous, historic El Cortez hotel. The El Cortez saw the likes of such illustrious guests as U. S. Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Gerald Ford, and singers Bing Crosby and Elvis Presley, making history in the 1950s as home of the world’s first outside glass elevator. Its regal Spanish Colonial Revival-style façade has long presided over the San Diego skyline as one of its most recognizable structures, and still does as a refurbished condominium building.

This elevated neighborhood, comprised of 30 city blocks south of the I-5 between Union Street and Tenth Avenue, is one of the more peaceful places to live in downtown and offers stunning views of the surrounding cityscape, Balboa Park, the San Diego Bay and the Pacific Ocean.