Best Western Plus La Mesa San Diego — Hotel in La Mesa

Great alternative to Holiday Inn Express. No complaints. What to expect : Plenty of parking available although if you want to park under the hotel, there is a height limit. Trailers and RVs have parking in side lot next to the hotel. Parking is not an issue. Breakfast is comparable to most buffet style breakfast. Pancakes in a minute machine is wonderful. I would prefer bananas instead of just apples and oranges, but glad to know they are not cheap and set them out in the lobby. Coffee available throughout the day. Business center is fantastic and clean with two computers. Fresh baked cookies for arriving guests at check-in. Hotel has a great look inside. Both elevators are responsive and quick. Snacks available for purchase in the lobby 24 hours.

What's unexpected: Great customer service from front desk. It seems that the owner of this location really cares about your experience here. The employees are almost to eager to help to the point that it feels a little awkward. One employee was training at the time and he accidentally forgot to issue the fresh baked cookies and he was quickly corrected. Exterior of the building is clean and no trash was visible. The TV in the room is great. The size is comparable to something you might have at home and not those small cheap 29-32 inch screens. Their bath soaps and shampoos are those "Stress Relief" aroma therapy type that smell great.

How they can improve : Lobby seating is really plentiful, but not to functional for use. It really is just to sit down and wait to check in. You really can't sit and read or meet as they are literally in the way of guests. Smoking area is outside with patio table, two chairs and one bench, but no seating for non-smoking use. It would be great if they allowed the seating in breakfast area for sitting during the day even if they had to use the key to access and put food away from guests (not for group meetings - just for business use like laptops, report writing, and 1:1 meeting and discussions)

Have front desk be more people friendly rather than forced to be people friendly. Not sure how to explain this, but being genuinely friendly is easy to spot on a person. Staff should be more comfortable with themselves and not be afraid to deviate from standard greetings if those greetings are called for. One employee did stand out and deviated from "robot mode". He helped me find a great market with fresh made tortillas and hot deli: Pancho Villa Market. I was thrilled for his help. He had other suggestions for local spots as well. Great information and service. Thank you.

Overall: Definitely worth the stay. Easy access to plenty of businesses nearby from Walmart to Office Depot to Kinkos. Great local eats nearby with the usual corporate ones too. Don't be afraid to book, you...

Please read Mende Cordova review below...we were the people in her room. That isn't the half of it with what happened to us. We have been staying in San Diego for a week. We decided to stay another night in town, so didn't have a room booked. We just drove in, and Gabriel, the front desk clerk said he had one more room available. We go to the room, and realize that there are other people's belongings in our room. We immediately went back down to the desk, and he apologizes saying there must have been a mix up and that he will refund my 200 and some odd change and that we will have to stay somewhere else. Ok, no big deal, things happen. I stayed at the desk to get my refund, check my bank account, and realize that not only has he charged me the original amount for the room, but charged an additional 463, and blamed it on some night audit situation. So I'm out 700 dollars and he tries to tell me that it will be refunded. Both transactions show up as debited, and a PURCHASE. I also spoke to my bank and they had no pending credits at all. I asked to speak to the manager bc i was getting nowhere with him, and i wasn't just going to take his word that the money would be refunded. I guess it wasn't "a convenient" time for her to speak to me. After i raised hell and told him i wouldn't leave until my bank reflected the refund, he comped us the same room, and i had this family show up to get in their room!!! I will be calling corporate tomorrow, and i know these people were angry too, understandably. Gabriel wanted us to just put their things outside the door! We were like, no! You come get it, i know i would be furious if my things got put out and got stolen! Worst place I've ever stayed. And now I'm out 700 for the moment that i could have used on my vacation! I was trying to sort this out at the front desk for over an hour. Either this guy is an idiot, or he's a scammer. I was told he was a new employee, so who knows....

Upside of hotel is you can do your own laundry for free. Downside is that they don't have a service that does it for you. Upside is they have a disability room for wheelchairs and a disability access shower. Downside is nothing else is disability friendly in that room. Door is extremely heavy and hard to open when going in and out of room with wheelchair. Windows face street and you hear the freeway all night and all day long. They first advertised free breakfast but you only get a brown paper bag with fruit cup and bottle of water and a pkg'd tiny Danish. I wish They would reopen their restaurant for breakfast. They don't change sheets every day like they used to...only every other day. The sink backed up water and toilet took forever to flush. Upside to paying over $750.00 dollars to staying here was the staff... They were cordial and friendly. Employee Louis (pronounced Louize)?was wonderful! ALL of the staff was great and friendly. My first 2 coffee makers they gave me didn't work. The ceiling lights didn't work either as you enter the room. Supervisors and mgmt need to check that everything works in each room before renting them out. Our housekeeping lady was Elizabeth and she was great!! Overall I would come back but not to the room I had. This is a nice, friendly, feels like home hotel, however I felt I paid too much for staying there 7 days without the hot breakfast they used to offer...