SPECIAL REPORT: SAN DIEGO/ Doing the "second city" three ways:

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), May 18, 2003 | by GARY A. WARNER

San Diego doesn't have much standing on the "hot" lists of the world's most cosmopolitan cities. Many guidebooks seem to take pleasure in paying backhanded compliments to the alleged banality of the Golden State's "second city."

"The acceptable face of Southern California. ... Affluent and conservative, but it's also easygoing and far from smug," says the Rough Guide to the USA, published in Britain.

"Conservative, comfortable and affluent San Diego is a great place to enjoy the laid-back California lifestyle," echoes Lonely Planet USA, based in Australia.

While San Diego doesn't have the cultural standing of San Francisco or Los Angeles, it's far from the outsider's stereotype of a monochromatic metropolis filled with Republicans in golf slacks.

Fans of the city know the many flavors that earned it the nickname "jewel of the West Coast" from another guidebook, San Diego Access.

Here are three of the many slices of San Diego, each offering a very different take on life around the "other" city by the bay.

CLASSIC

The Del. The zoo. Old Town. Destinations for visitors for nearly a century. The classic San Diego itinerary. The sites that have been popular since our grandparents' time.

Start with the long drive over the San Diego-Coronado Bridge and past the anchored Navy aircraft carriers to Orange Avenue on Coronado. Though many call it an island, Coronado is actually a fist- like chunk on the end of a long, thin peninsula called the Silver Strand.

At the end of Orange Avenue rises the Hotel del Coronado. It's the most recognizable single image of San Diego - even though Coronado is an independent city.

Known to most as simply "The Del," the hotel, with its turret- like red roof in front of its beautiful white-sand beach, adorns countless San Diego postcards and guidebooks. The hotel dates to 1888 and retains a Gilded Age glow after a recent $55 million renovation. The Del is where legend has it that the future King Edward of England met American Wallis Simpson in 1920, the future "woman I love" for whom he would give up his throne. Most royal biographers believe they didn't meet for another 11 years, but the story lives on.

The popularity of the hotel really took off with 1959's Billy Wilder movie comedy "Some Like It Hot," starring Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis (doing a great Cary Grant impersonation), shot in part at the grand resort.

The secret to the Hotel del Coronado is knowing how to play the room game. Like many famous hotels, The Del has tacked on a modern annex that has fine rooms and amenities but none of the history and charm of the main building. Guests who expect to be snug in the old wooden rafters of the main building may find themselves in the "resort" section. Make sure to ask exactly where your room is.

Regardless of your room, there's still that wonderful 300-yard- wide sand strand, rated the nation's best beach for families by USA Today.

If you want classic San Diego at a somewhat lower price tag, check out the U.S. Grant, the historical downtown hotel that's part of the Wyndham chain. The hotel offers frequent discounts that reduce room rates to less than $160 a night.

But try to splurge on the Del's opulent Sunday brunch.

Another classic destination is the San Diego Zoo. Sometimes the beaten path is beaten for a reason. This is one of the finest collections of wild animals - many say No. 1 in the world.

The zoo was originally a home for animal orphans. Harry Wegeforth started the collection from a small menagerie left behind at the Panama-California Exposition in 1915. Today, the San Diego Zoo covers 100 acres and is home to more than 4,000 animals from 800 species.

A pioneer in cageless display areas, the zoo features open spots with names like Hippo Beach, Sun Bear Forest and Polar Bear Plunge.

The zoo has kept its edge by forever changing. It negotiated a 12- year deal in 1996 to host two panda bears, Shi Shi and Bai Yun. In 1999, they became the proud parents of a baby boy panda, Hua Mei.

The zoo's sister operation, the San Diego Wild Animal Park, about a half-hour north of downtown, reverses the roles of a traditional zoo - the people ride in trams while most of the animals roam relatively free in massive enclosures.

To round off an evening, head to one of the city's classic eateries. Casa de Bandini is only 20 years old, but is housed in an 1829 adobe building that's one of the oldest in the city.

For a taste of the city's largely Republican old boys' network, settle into a plush leather booth at Dobson's. Martinis and meat are the staples here, though locals love the mussel bisque.

CLASSIC PARTICULARS

HANG YOUR HAT: Hotel del Coronado, 1500 Orange Ave., Coronado. (800) 468-3533 or www.hoteldel.com. Rooms from $260 per night.

U.S. Grant - A Historic Wyndham Hotel, 326 Broadway. (877) 999- 3223 or www.wyndham.com. Rooms from $320. Discounted rooms are usually available through wholesalers like www.quikbook.com and www .Hotels.com.

GOOD EATS & SPIRITS: Casa de Bandini, Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, (619) 297-821. Dinner for two from $30.