Hilton San Diego Bayfront
by Michelle O.
Gorgeous view and prime location!I love the modern feel, the blue and white colors and the open feeling. They have self parking that costs $21. Honestly, unless you arent able to walk, don't bother paying for valet parking, stupid and expensive! So park on the the 3rd floor, this connects to the hotel, you walk on a slight bridge. You walk right in and the check in is on the left. They charge your card for parking right there. When you do park, make sure you still have that white ticket they give you.I paid $112 at http://hotels.com for one night. A non-refundable room. I requested to have a ocean view when I made the reservation and I got it! :D For an extra $25 hat day, we could have upgraded to a deluxe room. I also booked for one queen bed. They said they ran out. How is that possible? If you pay for that, you should get that. Whatever, no big deal I guess, so we got two double beds instead. Got to the room and the beds are amazing!!!! Super comfy and I just kept wanting to sleep. Again, we had an awesome view. The bathrooms are nice, except the fact its so bright! I thought I was going to be blinded!Location, location, location. This place is very couple, business oriented. Not too many kids around. Though the location is very nice. Only a couple blocks from the gas lamp district. Which I suggest everyone to go to. Plus you can walk there and save yourself the trouble to park, save yourself money and if your drinking no need for a DD.So honestly stay here if possible! Awesome!
by Shelly T.
Nice hotel, but nothing too exciting to rave about. Location was good. Few blocks walking distance to Petco Park and Gaslamp. Hotel was nice with contemporary decor. Rooms were pretty meh though... Kind of small and bathrooms were standard - nothing special. We did get a great view though of Downtown and the Bay. Lame thing is they ask if you want to pay $15 at check-in to "upgrade" to a nicer view. I was on vacay so I said okay. Haha, I'm such a sucker.Hotel pool was meh too... it looked way bigger in the pictures. There was enough chairs to lay out but it still seemed a little limited. When we were there, there were a lot of kids. Nice view of the bay. Followed another yelpers advice and walked our butts to the bar to avoid the 20% "convenience" charge. The rest of the hotel was nice... the outside area was a nice big open space, which was very enjoyable for taking in the pretty SD weather.Overall a nice hotel... going to agree wtih Russell S. and say good spot for conventioning, but choose another place for vacationing. We still had a good time though. :)
by Inigo M.
Beautiful hotel-- new, clean, modern, good water views (except for Dole trucking / distribution facility on one side). Very nice lobby. The hip-happening Gaslamp Quarter and San Diego Convention Center are blocks away.Rooms are big, clean, and well-appointed. Decent cable selections on flat-screen TV. Wifi is not free-- $14 for 24 hours of 'basic' Internet access, $20 for faster Internet (20 Mbps up / 1Mbps down), or $7 per hour.Free in-room safe.Plush beds are easy to fall asleep in.Paid ~$85 per night via Hilton website for Thanksgiving week.Garage self-parking next door for $21 per night (in-and-out access at any time, unlike some hotels).
by Russell S.
Stayed here for Comic Con 2009.Great proximity to everything Gaslamp-y.It's not as upscale as the Omni across the street in terms of amenities, decor and service - but the views of the convention center and the ocean are pretty amazing.I like how they try to create a beach atmosphere without actually having access to a beach.They lose marks for having to pay twice for internet if you have a laptop and a mobile device. Also the crowd at the bar in the lobby rated pretty high on the douche-o-meter, which I was very surprised by considering majority of the guests were here for Comic Con.Conventioning? I'd say yes. Vacationing? Try the W or the Omni.
by Venus J.
Fell in love with the salt water pool and the location is right there on the bay. It's close enough so you can take a quick walk across the street to the downtown Gaslamp district.We stayed one night with our two kids (ages 8 yrs and 9 yrs). The hotel is very clean and the decor is modern. There is a nice breeze that comes into the lobby area and it's just a fresh feeling hotel. The beds are very comfortable. The rooms are not noisey at all.We spent most of our time by the pool. The pool is kid-friendly but you don't feel like you are at a public recreation center. The deepest section of the pool is, hm, I think 5 feet? It's big enough so everyone has enough space. They also have about three cabanas that are free - first come first serve basis. It's a family friendly hotel in the sense that you don't feel you are at a daycare, but it has that touch of class and sense of getaway-feeling that you can enjoy with the kids. They have a lot of fresh towels on hand and the restrooms are clean and very nearby. There are also a lot of lounge chairs available s you can layout and a big screen tv that shows animated graphics along with music.There are also a couple of tables with shade you can sit at - so if you want to sit but not layout and have a nice light snack or lunch with drinks, that's definitely doable too.We bought food and drinks at the pool and honestly, it's typically priced for that sort of hotel. It is pricey but you are paying for convenience. But at least the food is tasty (has that sort of organic yummy thing going on) and the drinks were also good (just strong enough but it wasn't like you were buying pre-made watered-down drinks). Also the service was also very pleasant - very friendly waitresses. I mean overall, we had such a wonderful time.We had a nice view of the bay from our room as well. At night the kids and I ordered dessert (it was our son's 8th bday so to celebrate we went to Legoland the next day). Room service was also really nice and friendly. The deserts were yummy - we were treating ourselves (we don't normally order room service).I'm a fan of this place. The only downfall is that parking is very expensive - but it is everywhere downtown. It's really not worth it to try a cheaper parking garage to this place because it's a bit off the beaten path. But close enough to walk without luggage. I tried to block it out of my mind but I want to say it was about $27 for self-park (don't quote me). One other thing too is that the guy at the front-desk when we checked-in was sort of unhelpful/snobbish - but whatever, he wasn't staying with us in our room.One other thing - if you forget to bring something and are hoping they have a well-stocked gift shop - you better make sure you bring whatever it is you need. The gift shop is pretty basic/dissmal. And overpriced (typical though). You might need to take a walk to downtown to find things you might need.We were able to get a great price at this hotel on Priceline but I hear http://discounthotels.com was offering even better pricing. We got our room for a total of $135 (with tax) but I hear on http://discounthotels.com people were getting their rooms for $114. Not sure if this is because of the economy and it's a new hotel - but this is worth more than $100 for sure.Hope this helps! If you get a great deal on this hotel you can't lose.
by Natalie J.
Ok, so, The Hilton Bayfront is the new kid on the block and boy you sure could tell.First the Hotel as a whole is fabulous. It is modern, clean, bright and spacious. My room however was not. Stained sheets, sticky fingerprints on the window and even an uneaten peach left in the room on the carpet when I arrived. I don't know what happened with the cleaning staff for my room but I think I know. They are/were understaffed. They were overwhelmed for one of the largest conventions that takes place in Sand Diego. When I first I arrived I could not find a parking spot and I had to hunt someone down to show me were to go. That was one turn off. The parking is shared with the general public because they don't own the parking structure. What a pain for $21. The desk staff was not super friendly either. No smile and he just seem annoyed already. Both at check in and check out.The Vela restaurant does a breakfast buffet and they were so packed every table was taken. One poor sever was working this huge section. Not his fault, but not everyone was doing the buffet so food was slow coming for some. Overall I liked the Hotel they just need to bring it up to par and I think it will be a big hit.
by Naj T.
We check into this hotel last Saturday 05/16/09 to celebrate our 11th year anniversary. My husband has mentioned to the front desk gentleman that it was our anniversary and would appreciate a nice view. When we got into our room, there were 2 queen size bed and a beautiful view of the bay. I called the front desk requesting a king size bed and told her that it was our anniversary and would prefer a bed instead of 2 beds! She said it would be additional $20 charge if I decide to change room. I had her speak with a manager to get a complimentary charge and succeeded. It was 2 rooms away from us and we still had the beautiful view of the bay. The room itself wasn't all that. I would expect it to be a little more classier being it is a Hilton. During check out though, the front desk did not ask or even had the courtesy to ask if our stay was pleasant. Not even a greeting from her. We found that pretty rude of her. Overall, the front desk wasn't has friendly as I thought they would be. Do not plan on staying in this Hilton anymore.
by Jeff F.
Stayed here last week and I definitively say that the Hilton Bayfront is definitely your number one choice if you're doing anything at the convention center. There are four or five restaurants at the hotel and if you want go beyond chain food, a 5-10 minute walk gets you into the Gaslamp.Lobby and room was laid out nicely (pretty incredible views from the room). Diamond members get free internet and even if I had to pay for it, it would have been well worth it - 1.98 Mb/s down and .95 Mb/s up - great connection for a business traveler. The free breakfast passes were odd because they were vouchers for starbucks, but if you actually wanted to eat breakfast (have cereal or eggs), you have to pay above and beyond the voucher.The gym was very good and there's a few pools in the hotel if you're into that sort of thing.I would have given the Bayfront 5 stars if they didn't insist on using an address that no GPS and/or Google Maps recognizes (and actually brings you to the wrong place)
by Ken G.
This was a very good hotel, conveniently located near downtown San Diego.While the outside of the hotel is fairly basic, the interior is sleek and modern. Rather than the "dark" mood of a W Hotel, this Hilton has a "light" mood and is perfect for the Bayfront location of San Diego. There are plenty of areas to lounge around and enjoy the calm atmosphere. The staff is pretty friendly, although I wouldn't quite say they were welcoming.When we showed-up, we asked for a room with a nice view and that's exactly what we got - a fantastic view of the Convention Center and northwestern San Diego.The best feature of the hotel is the location - it's right next to the San Diego Convention Center - you can't really be any closer to the convention center than this location. It's also within walking distance to the Gaslamp District, which is very nice and convenient. The hotel does have a really strange entrance, though: you have to either walk up a driving ramp to access the main lobby which is on a second level, or you have to go through a side entrance and then take an elevator/escalator to access the hotel. While most hotels have very easy access to the lobby from the street, this hotel does not do that...it's really kind of weird.
by h l.
Stayed here over Memorial Day weekend and had the best time ever. The Parking was a little expensive but the room rate we were able to get evened that out a little. Our room was so clean and had every amenity we needed with a beautiful view of the Coronado Bridge. The lobby was so pristine and the staff was very helpful. We also had a great experience sitting in the bar overlooking the bay and enjoying a few afternoon beverages. The only downside is there is a lot of cool wind coming off the bay so its pretty chilly on the patio and windy down by the pool. Also, heated saltwater pool with a huge tv and its own private bar? I have died and gone to heaven! Perfectly tucked away from the rowdy crowd that comes out at night but not a far walk if you want to go join in! Can I go back now???
