wholeinone04

I've got a wedding in SD on Sat. Oct. 11 and it's at Paradise Point down the street. That room would cost me $300 after parking, fees and tax so I'm looking to stay over here instead. I've got Hyatt plat status, a bunch of Chase UR points and a free night (cat 1-4) cert that should hit my account in a month or so (my 1 year anniversary).

I was planning on staying at PP or paying with points for a room here. But then I saw a post above that mentioned the free night cert and that reminded me that I will have one to burn soon. You guys think it's good value to burn my free night cert here?

FYI for someone who was asking, I just used a free suite night at GH Istanbul and didn't have to pay the resort fee. Correct me if I'm wrong, but i think when you use a free night cert there are no fees/taxes but when you pay points there are.

Anyways, my other concern is parking...$34/day is a joke for valet. I stayed at Estancia in La Jolla last weekend and scored some awesome free parking right next to my room I know there is parking on the street in front of the entrance at this hotel but I seem to remember you're not allowed to park overnight or something like that. We will uber/lyft to/from the wedding so once we park our car, we prolly won't need to move it.

Anyone?

wholeinone04

Bueller?

Windward Side of Life

If you're asking if using a free night cert is worth saving ~ $300, then yes, I'm pretty sure most of us would agree that's very good value. My experience has been that usually free nights, even on points, don't pay resort fees. YMMV.

Also, my last stay there was almost a year ago and parking was waived. I've stayed with them numerous times over the years though and I'm diamond, don't know if that factored in. It's become more difficult to predict or understand their methods (madness?) over the past couple of years. I would plan to pay parking if you stay as the ample street parking is not allowed overnight, regrettably.

wholeinone04

Thanks for the reply, need to get my diamond status back Cheers bud.

Windward Side of Life

Never hurts! But as I said my last stay was almost a year ago and I have no idea exactly why they waived the parking; if it was a one-off, diamond status, stay history, gracious or inefficient agent, whatever else. I didn't expect it as much as in year's past. Again, they're all over the place now. But it can still be an enjoyable place if room and rate are right.

luv2ctheworld

I stayed overnight (weekend) a few months ago and the lot was full. I complained about the lack of parking spaces to the front desk and they removed the parking charge.

This has been mentioned in this thread previously.

twinklehead

I am debating on a stay here the first weekend in November but after reading all the reviews I'm a bit scared. Admittedly, some are from a while ago but there hasn't been any new information and that is scaring me.
I am a diamond and planned to apply a suite upgrade here along with some free cc nights that I need to burn sooner than later. However, I'm wondering if that is a bad idea since I just confirmed with the hotel that I will indeed get the $19 resort fee ($21.37 after tax) along with the $29/day parking fee.
So any thoughts because I already booked my nights but I am seriously doubting if I want to stay with all those added fees. Unless anyone thinks I have a possible chance of getting those fees waived or at least reduced???

777 global mile hound

My more recent experiences here are the rooms and suites have more wear and tear to them but they still fall in the satisfactory zone for a decent enough enjoyable stay.
However I would only stay in one of the top 4 floors in the tower building
Come knowing the team and management is not nearly as inspired like the past and front lines not as empowered to make guests as happy.
Breakfast is weaker in the club lounge than in years past and no consideration or option is given for Diamond member's to enjoy breakfast
in the Red Marlin where the team and breakfast are to be admired. Not even for an upcharge.
Even if you get breakfast included in a package rate as a Diamond member they have a disappointing policy of buffet only. You can't order off the menu
The Red Marlin team here have many years experience serving guests very well ^

Suite upgrades get a Diamond very little here essentially an alcove with a desk making the room seem a bit bigger.
If you have work/business to do this comes in handy.
The resort fee is a cancer and for all the reasons previously mentioned I now dine and pay for my breakfast on occasion at the Red Marlin
and stay at other hotels without the fees and find much lower rates and value.
That's thousands in lost revenue over fees and lack of choice of elite members benefit from just this guest alone each year.

I still recommend this hotel overall albeit knowing the downfalls and would avoid staying here unless the rate was very agreeable.
In the past paying a bit more still made sense
The hotel is illusionary thinking they are in Carmel or Hawaii to demand it from all guests
I still love the views from the upper floors and when the stars align I still like coming to stay here even though the hotel guest scores
have fallen significantly on social media mostly due to some needed renovations and the newer nickel and dime policies
Manchester Grand has the edge now locally IMHO with better club offerings and a recently renovated rooms and suites
Mission Bay was my hotel of choice for many years and still can be on occasion. I'm more neutral now on the property overall

joetro

Any updated reviews, especially from a Platinum folks? I don't care about the club or breakfast, and I would use a free anniversary night. It seems like a fairly good value for more of a resort/beach location, being close to mission bay beach and having access to a great resort and pools. I wouldn't be in the room itself much anyway, and it seems like I could take the hotel shuttle from the airport. I would plan to go as a single traveler over Labor Day weekend, so perhaps it might be overrun with kids.

AlwaysSunnyInORD

I stayed here about 4 or 5 months ago on a couple of free nights and was Platinum at the time. The room was good (clean and no issues), pretty standard for a Regency. Platinum status didn't get me any preferred room that I could tell. In fact, my room preference for a high floor was ignored or unavailable when I checked in.

The hotel location is somewhat by the beach. I would say it is around a 15 to 20 min walk to the Ocean Front Walk beach. Perhaps they have a shuttle that can take you to the beach? I never checked on that. The hotel is very close to SeaWorld so I think families are the norm. The pool looked nice but it was packed full of kids when I was there.

elg26

Well I had my first stay over the weekend at this property so I figure I would give a quick review:

Stayed 3 nights….3/12-3/15…..

Giving an “A” to the Front desk:

For my wife and I – abut 6 months ago I booked a standard room and used my last DSU from last year to upgrade to suite.

Interestingly enough In addition I booked 2 nights 3/13-3/15 for my sister-in-law. I used a Chase Hyatt 1-4 category free night for 1 night, and then booked a Regency Club room for the 2nd night (that was all they had available since I just booked this last month).,…. under separate reservations. When I checked in the front desk manager merged the 2 reservation so she could stay in the RC room and have Club access the whole stay.

Now for me upon check-in, I recently dropped back down to Platinum on March 1, and when I brought this up in conversation, the front desk said they would add in the Club access for me…. Was really nice touch and was very appreciative…..


Rooms: B-

the Waterfront Suite was ok….compared to many of the other Hyatt suites I have stayed in….. in was a decent size but there was nothing really special about it….seemed a little bit worn……and bathrooms were fair… TO be honest, in hindsight, I would have preferred to stay in the Tower in a RC room….and saved my DSU for another reservation……plus the Tower it is closer to the Pool area and front lobby anyway…..

Exterior: A-

Love the feel walking outside around the property….either around the pool …..on the walkway behind the hotel on the bay…..or just hanging by the fire pit outside the Red Marlin having a drink…. Just very relaxing with all of the palms and other vegetation……


Overall we enjoyed it….. again my tip is unless you are getting a free upgrade, stay in the Tower…closer to the action…. Save your DSU or points …..

skunker

Used my soon-to-expire Chase free night to stay here on Friday. Checked-in around 6pm, but went straight to dinner not to the room. Hotel was full due to a Mary-Kay convention.

I requested a high floor, non-smoking king. I was given room 316, which it turns out only got the king request right. Returning from dinner we walked in and instantly recognized the smoke smell and could barely talk over the air purifier running on "super-turbo" mode. Called down to front desk and was told no other kings were available. A double queen room was available down the hall. Keys were brought up by a bellman. So, I ended up with a low floor, non-smoking queen room. At least they covered parking when I checked out.

PS: I've stayed at this hotel about 6 times in the past 3 years.

dtremit

I used a suite upgrade here a few years ago and was assigned to a suite with a desk -- really very disappointing, as it was on the back of the tower with no view at all. Frankly, I would not consider it a suite -- it has no additional living area, just a desk in an awkward bump-out. If they even had a few armchairs in the area, it would be a lot better.

I complained to the desk as soon as I got to the room -- something I normally do not do -- and was reassigned to another suite on the water side of the property. Same footprint as the "desk" suite, I believe -- but the bed was in the desk area, with the main part of the room used as living space.

I would use the upgrade again if I could confirm a room like that in advance -- seems like that should not be too much of a stretch, given it's only a junior suite. But I'd rather stay in a regular view room than the desk suite on a vacation.

Vuelos

So you are getting the diamond bed type guarantee points?

777 global mile hound

I believe that's been discontinued by the Gold Passport folks