Recent trip as HH gold
Stayed here for 4 nights this last week. I was attending a conference in the convention centre, but also travelled with my wife and infant daughter.
After booking the hotel, I noted the adverse comments (particularly on tripadvisor) regarding the noise from train horns etc. I called the hotel and asked for a quiet room in advance of arrival. Upon arriving at 15:30, we were told that our room won't be ready until 16:30, but that we would have a quiet room, but no upgrade due to the hotel being busy.
Our room was a corner room on the 8th floor: it was away from the elevator, but was overlooking the train tracks. However, to be fair, although we heard the train several times, at no point were we particularly bothered by it, and our daughter slept as well as could be expected.
The main benefit for us of hiltons when travelling en famille is the free breakfast. There was considerable confusion for the first couple of days with regards to this benefit -- the breakfast vouchers weren't ready etc, but it was ironed out. The hotel allows full choice of the breakfast menu, not just continental. The quality of the breakfast itself is rather mediocre, and very expensive for what it is if one was paying. The selection is reasonable, however. One could have bacon -- stiff as a board, sausages (sadly no British bangers), overcooked scrambled eggs, breakfast potatoes and sad looking pancakes, and made to order omelettes, all from the buffet. On the plus side, the buffet also included some rather tasty smoked salmon, and a good selection of fruit, pastries etc.
One could even order the steak and eggs from the menu, which my wife did on our last day, although it was (as with all else here) over-cooked, but we were in a rush and just ate up. The staff were friendly, especially the hispanic restaurant staff.
The room was smallish, but with nice faux art deco decor. The bathroom was very much on the small side, but the shower had a good water pressure.
The pool was having work done on all but our first day. The hotel had made provisions with another hotel (?bayfront) but were too busy to take up the offer. I did check it out briefly on the first day -- the pool is very much on the small side, next to the even smaller gym.
The lobby was rather small. One week-days, there was a 'happy hour' in the lounge with free 'hors-d'oeuvres'. We only checked it out briefly one evening whilst waiting for friends. It consisted of sad looking salsa and chips, and 1980s style potato skins. My wife thought they tasted OK, though.
The location is excellent: it is 3 minutes to the convention centre for those on business, and at the corner of the gaslamp district. We didn't have a car, but parking is valet only at a stiff $35/night, although other cheaper options are nearby.
All in all, an OK stay. Nothing superb, but nothing terrible: just what one would expect from a corporate hotel. I don't think, as advertised, this is a 'boutique' hotel, although guests staying in the 5th ave lofts might disagree -- I didn't get a chance to find out. The quality of the restaurant was somewhat of a let-down. Many similarly priced hotels in SD have much better looking food offerings.
tb