Stayed here last month to burn off my Aspire free-night cert that Hilton had kindly extended for me. Had my pick of the litter in San Diego, and went with this one. Was selling for $280++, def a good use for the free-night cert at that price.
Overall, very disappointing stay. The upsell at this place was startling. The desk agents must make commission on upsells as it was quite a push.
Check-in they barely acknowledged by Diamond status. Told me I had a $15 credit. Never mentioned anything about a $15 destination credit.
The reason I went there was because it was cold and rainy in SD, and the hotel had a jacuzzi looking out over San Diego bay. Sounded like a perfect way to warm up after walking around for sunset. Alas, the jacuzzi was surrounded by yellow tape and an out-of-service sign that looked like it had been there for awhile.
Asked for an upgrade at Check-In as a Diamond member. Was told I could purchase a few upgrades for a hefty fee, and they tried to explain how it was worth it. They "upgraded" me from bridge-view to bay-view which is just the other side of the hotel. Not even a high-floor room. 8th floor, I didn't even have to use the 9-16 floor elevator to get higher. The view was nice.
Forgot to ask for late check-out and in their SMS chat they said the latest they could do was 12. Apparently check-out here is only 11? I asked about being Diamond, expecting to get 2-3pm. Nope, 1pm the latest. However, sir, we can do 2pm for $50 and 3pm for $75. Stopped by the front desk and got the same story.
Had two beers at the hotel bar to polish off my $15 credit. That ended up around $36. Gotta give kudos to whoever came up with the credit idea - it will def drive up revenue as people overspend, I did! Was quite surprised when I checked out to see that indeed I got a 2x$15 credit as they told me i had 1x at check-in, and also the $6 tip was eaten up by the $15 destination fee that I did get (I didn't know it existed till I got it!). So that was a nice surprise, especially as this hotel was out to suck every penny out of my wallet, and I got out of there for free with my benefits.
Wouldn't recommend it as it was so insulting to be so continuously upsold, especially on the late check-out which costs them zero, and is the one (only?) Diamond benefit I seem to get any use out of. Wish I had stayed at the more modest Homewood Suites near the airport. Why does it always seem like the service is better at the more down-to-earth hotels than the fancy ones?