This is a really comfortable place in a low key neighborhood that's pretty central to everything. We walked to Sunset Cliffs (30 mins) and Ocean Beach (15 mins) and drove most other places. Gaslamp Quarter, Little Italy, La Jolla, Balboa Park, Coronado, etc. are all about a 10 minute drive.
San Diego's airport is right in the middle of downtown, so it's hard to escape air traffic noise pretty much everywhere, but it does fade into the background.