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By Angela Wibking

In science fiction time travel is often achieved with the aid of some sort of high-tech gizmo. In one of my favorite books, though, all it takes to shift centuries are a few old bricks.

In Jack Finney’s novel Time and Again, when a modern day resident of New York City steps back in time to 19th century Manhattan, his route is via the famous Dakota apartment on the upper West Side. The intriguing premise is that such perfectly preserved architectural specimens of yesteryear like the Dakota can serve as time portals for individuals with enough imagination to use them.

Arriving one afternoon at the Heritage Park Inn in the heart of modern day San Diego, I felt such a time travel premise could easily apply to this small hotel. I might step inside it in the 20th century, but I might step back out into a San Diego of 100 years ago, when the inn was built.

Not only have the inn’s owners Nancy and Charles Helsper lovingly recreated the elegant, romantic style of Victorian times in the inn’s décor, they have also managed to recapture the graceful pace of that bygone era. It doesn’t hurt, of course, that the inn is part of an 8-acre park devoted to preserving the city’s once-endangered Victorian architecture and history.

Guests at Heritage Park Inn have their choice of 8 different rooms, all with private bath. Or they may stay, as my husband and I did, in the Manor Suite, a spacious 2-bedroom suite located in the 1887 Italianate house located directly next door to the main inn.

The suite is popular with families with young children since there is a small separate bedroom with trundle bed for the kids. It’s also appealing to honeymooners because the main bedroom features a king-size four-poster bed and antique fainting couch and a large bath with a Jacuzzi tub big enough for two.

In the sitting room adjacent to the main bedroom, guests can enjoy vintage movies played on their own TV or simply relax and read on the large sofa.

Welcoming touches are everywhere, from the nightly turn-down service with Godiva chocolates and a fresh rose on the pillow to a clever device that dispenses piping hot water for a cup of tea or coffee whenever a guest craves one. There’s also a refrigerator, and an iron and ironing board in the hall closet.

I even found the usual room diary, in which previous guests had recorded their thoughts on their stay at the Heritage Park Inn, full of surprising personal touches. There must be something about the inn that brings out the romantic—and candid—side of people because I’ve never read quite these sorts of tributes in an inn guest book before.

Honeymooners, anniversary celebrants and young parents out for a night away from the kids all write of how the inn has rejuvenated their lives and relationships. There’s even one entry from a woman recovering from the violent death of her husband at the hands of his former wife. With this kind of reading at your bedside table, who needs a Harlequin romance novel?

Other thoughtful touches for inn guests include a cookie jar filled at all times with Charles’ homemade oatmeal or chocolate chip cookies and a video library of films. A classic is shown nightly in the main inn, while Manor Suite guests can choose their own movie for in-room viewing. We selected the 1959 comedy Some Like It Hot starring Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis, that was filmed in San Diego at another grand hotel, the Del Coronado.

Afternoon tea is included in the room rate, as is the full cooked breakfast served at 8:30 a.m. in the lovely dining room in the main inn. Here, again, little touches make the difference.

Rather than trust to chance that guests will mingle on their own, Charles and Nancy provide placecards at the breakfast table with each guest’s name printed on both sides of the card. One not only knows where to sit, therefore, but one also knows the names of others at the table without asking. The breakfast menu includes coffee or tea, juice, fresh fruit, homemade granola, muffins and a different hot entry (Eggs Florentine or French Toast with Apple Cider Syrup, for example) each morning.

If you can’t make the 8:30 a.m. breakfast seating, as we couldn’t because of an early flight home, the inn staff will prepare a luscious continental breakfast for you. Our own meal of blueberry, bran and corn muffins with strawberry and honey butters and fresh pineapple with yogurt was discreetly placed in our refrigerator while we were at dinner the evening before. Early the next morning, we had only to prepare a cup of coffee in our room and enjoy our meal before we made the quick, 10-minute drive to the San Diego airport.

The inn sits atop a tree-lined cobblestone drive in Heritage Park Victorian Village, a unique county park dedicated to the preservation of the city’s Victorian architecture. The park consists of seven restored buildings, all of which were moved from other sites in San Diego in 1976 to create this oasis of gingerbread-trimmed porches, stained glass windows and wrought-iron park benches. Some of the buildings house shops and one, the Temple Beth Israel, was the city’s first synagogue and is now a non-denominational chapel popular for weddings.

Besides touring the park, there are enough attractions within easy walking distance of the inn to keep guests happily occupied for days. And the city’s other big draws, like the world-famous San Diego Zoo or Sea World, are only a short drive away.

Just a block down the hill from the park is San Diego’s Old Town, a state historical park that celebrates what was once the center of the city and depicts a Mexican plaza with an early American influence. Old Town buildings date from 1821 to 1872 and include a 19th century restaurant and a one-room schoolhouse. There are also shops, including a general store filled with old-fashioned treats like sarsaparilla and beef jerky by the pound, and Mexican arts and crafts and garden boutiques.

Also within a few blocks’ walk of the inn is Bazaar de Mundo, a browser’s paradise of shops and restaurants that is perfect when you want to indulge in what our innkeeper hosts call “retail therapy.”

Rooms at Heritage Park Inn range from about $90, for the Country Heart Room with double iron bed, to $150 for the Forget-Me-Not Room with antique sleigh bed. The Manor Suite cost is $225 per night for two (a nominal fee is charged for each additional suite guest). For more information or to make a reservation, call (800)995-2470.

**Photo by Angela Wibking

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