Hilton San Diego Bayfront Trip Reports and Reviews
Hello,
Just spent a 4-night Diamond AXON award stay at the Hilton Bayfront San Diego. Some pros and cons listed here:
Pros:
- Nice location on the bay across from PetCo Park and a 5 minute walk from the Gaslamp district, trolley station, and convention center. Close to the action without being too close.
- Generally good front desk, housekeeping, bar service with two exceptions below.
- No problem with parking, though at $21/night ymmv as to whether or not you think it's a good deal.
- Very nice facilities - everything in our room worked, everything was clean, room seemed more spacious than it was due to high ceilings/large window.
- Good and uncrowded workout facilities. Very nice pool/sauna area.
- Great view from our room on the 16th floor to the north (downtown and the marina/bay). A warning, though, that views on the south side are less than impressive.
Cons:
- No exec lounge and a poor food substitute - crackers, olives, and hummus in the bar each day. Starbucks "drink and a pastry" in the AM. Would have been better off selecting free internet. Speaking of....
- Poor internet service at $13.95/day. Needed to re-authenticate several times, which led to 7 days of internet service on my 4-day stay. Speaking of...
- I tried to check my folio in the room on the TV. It never worked - always showed a zero balance. So....
- I went downstairs early on the day I checked out to review my folio, which was $491.57. Huh? Two days were charged at $30 per, and one at $197. Plus the aforementioned 7 days of internet in 4 days, plus 3 days of parking (I used 2). 15 minutes later, and after being told by the rather unprofessional counter staff that that amount was the "tax on my room", they took off the charges to be billed to Hilton and removed the excess parking and internet charges. No apology, no nothing, for wasting my time.
- The other poor experience we had was being walked in on by housekeeping staff during there turn-down service. No knock-knock "housekeeping", just the unmistakable sound of the electronic door unlocking and someone starting to enter. Not cool!
- Free Hhonors water was only available from machines on floors 29-30. Since we were on 16, and the elevator banks are basically 1-18 and 1-5/19-30, getting water entailed going downstairs, running up to 29 or 30, going back downstairs, and going back to the room.
To sum it up:
- It IS a nice hotel in a great location.
- Don't select the MyWay food option if you'll use the internet.
- Don't expect ANY special treatment as a Diamond, and you won't be disappointed! Seriously, maybe I have high standards, but I expected better treatment.
- I'd happily stay here for a conference if someone else was paying.
- And finally, the Embassy Suites less than a mile away treats their Diamond guests much better, and I'll be heading back there again next time I'm in SD.
Dave