Originally Posted by
Gongzuokuang
I ended up staying at the Kimpton Alma, and I must say it was a really good experience.
I paid for a room, and booked two others on points. They upgraded every single room. They were significant upgrades.
Not only that, but they also gave more breakfast coupons than I was entitled to, and let everyone play the “secret password” game, even thought they maybe were not required to since it was all under my name/account and on points. Every time I was looking for something they exceeded expectations.
There were small first-world problems. Housekeeping forgot to come a few times, and when they did come they didn’t leave enough towels or replace the creamers and coffee. We had problems with the refrigerator freezing things and engineering was not taking care of it. The bartender did not want to accept some of the drink vouchers. But all was forgiven in my mind every time I talked to the front desk, they were always super accommodating and the over-the-top friendly for a USA hotel. IMO, it’s less about looking for “perfection”, and more about how the place responds to concerns. They were on their game and I was impressed. And I’m not easily impressed.
The only thing I found that was a legit beef was the parking. The valet people were almost always MIA. I would get tired of waiting and park in the garage across the street. Trying to retrieve the car was sometimes a wait. And whether across the street or valet, it was STUPID expensive. $60 per night. Outrageous. And if you use valet, you pay even more than $60 because you need to be a decent person a tip (even if they didn’t deserve it). Perhaps they could offer free or discounted parking to Diamond members? Anyway….
Oh, and the location was great! You are on the edge of the Gaslight Quarter, and it’s a mere 1-block walk to restaurants, bars, and rooftop bars. Want to run? Run down Broadway to the bay, then south along the bay to just past the Convention Center, then head back up 5th street. Nice 4+ mile loop.
If you are trying to decide where to say in San Diego, especially as a Diamond, this is the place.
I came back from a 4-night stay on points last week. Agree with all the impressions of Gongzuokuan: Generous upgrade to 1 Bdrm Spa Suite on 12th floor (as Diamond (Ambassador)), frontdesk staff was amazing for a US hotel, my social password gift was a bit disappointing (cocktail kit without any booze inside?!?), breakfast was quite nice, parking is very expensive and waiting time can be quite long, housekeeping is not great, location is great (despite many homeless and drug addicts in all central San Diego) for convention center, waterfront, gaslamp district, if your room faces north the jangling/honking of the streetcar can be quite annoying.