Holiday Inn Express San Diego South-National City by IHG — Hotel in National City

Well when we arrived we were pleasantly surprised...walking into the lobby, it smelled freshly cleaned and looked like it had recently had a cosmetic makeover. All the decorations were modern and brightly, pleasantly colored.

Check in was smooth and courteous.

The ride up in the elevator was scary...very DARK inside and they make the most unsettling noises.

Elevator opened onto our hallway, which also looked like it had been recently redecorated...new carpets, fresh wall paper...but be warned ceilings are barely 7ft tall. Nasty ceiling tiles obviously are hiding the addition of the sprinkler system and other facility systems. Felt creepy walking down the squat hallway.

Room was lovely! Fresh everything, curtains, furniture, flooring. Bathroom was tiny but impeccably clean. Room came with fridge and microwave, king size bed (too soft) and full size hide a bed sofa (without any kind of linens whatsoever!). Called the front desk and poor attendant was "the only person in the building" and could/would not bring us proper bedding. We had to fetch it ourselves. And then we only were given a comforter, a flat sheet and this bed scarf thing...DUH, where's the pillows, bottom sheet & mattress pad. Guy was too harried to do anything about it so we made do.

We reported a broken ice machine on our floor and were simply told to use another floor's. Was not repaired in the 4 days/3 nights we were there.

Air conditioning didn't work so great, froze one half of the room but lacked proper power to circulate in the whole room leaving half of it stuffy.

Jacuzzi continues to be broken (see other reviews)! We were there 3 nights...one guest said she had spoken to the front desk about it and it was to be repaired Monday...hot tub never did work! And let's not forget the fact that at no time during the 3 days were there pool towels available!!!

Breakfast...what a joke! Stale pastries (every day), dried out breads, rubbery/weird/tepid eggs, and GROSSLY watered down juices. Bacon & sausage was okay. Eating with tiny plastic implements is just ridiculous...doll house sized plastic ware. You'll see in other reviews the property owner blames this on corporate and what they are allowed to serve...poor excuse for stale products however.

Other guests were rude! There was a kids basketball team there. And adult guests were on the public balcony playing music and drinking beer. TVs were blaring and we could hear EVERY footstep through the thin walls & ceiling. Called the front desk about the rowdy kids & adults and it was handled within minutes.

Staff was a mix of helpful and helpless!

Overall, it was an OK hotel but it is better when viewed from afar. The new decor doesn't make up the other missteps.

And lastly, the owners, reply to these reviews sort of says it all...lots of excuses for the same complaints.

We visit San Diego 1-2 times a year and I'm not certain I would stay at this Hilton...

Stayed with you 3 days this week - as a retired hotel professional with 39 years in operations and sales/marketing and 10 years in meeting/event/travel planning, I look at properties with a different eye.

We stayed at your property at the recommendation of the company for which we were doing work because of the location - just a mile from where we were working. The 5 minute commute was great!

I want to give kudos to Mario and the rest of your front office staff - everyone we spoke with was very nice and most accommodating to the extent they could be.

Our room (321), though a bit small, was more than adequate for our needs, We were working all three days and in the room for a minimum amount of time in the evenings. Your housekeeping and maintenance staffs do a lovely job of keeping the rooms clean and well maintained.

A few comments -

We had some remote control issues with the TV, and as hard as he tried, Mario admitted it was an ongoing problem and was unable to fix it and had no spare TV's to change ours out. He did kindly offer to move us the 2nd day of our stay, but with the equipment we have to drag around, it was more of an inconvenience than the TV. It would have been nice for him to be able to switch out the TV.

Realizing that Holiday Inn Express has a standard for the breakfast bar, I would like to say that the eggs everywhere (other than hard boiled) are consistently either weird tasting or tasteless. It would be nice to offer maybe fewer muffins and maybe some hash brown patties. The gravy all three mornings was soupy.

In the unlikely event no one else has mentioned it, the gap in the shower doors (more than an inch it appears) allows water from the shower to flow freely onto the bathroom floor. Our bathmat was used each morning to soak up the spillage.

While the lobby area, breakfast room, hallways and guest rooms are most pleasant, both elevators are like little dark caves - I would recommend somehow improving the lighting as it's almost scary.

The biggest issue, though, is while your swimming pool is clear and clean, the hot tub was atrocious. It was nice and WARM when we put our feet in to relax at the end of a busy day but we refused to get INTO it, though, due to the very cloudy water, dirt and some kind of green debris all over the bottom. Compared to the pool, it looked like it hadn't been cleaned or maintained in a very long time.

We will be back to the area probably within 60 days, but not sure we would stay with you again based on...

We arrived in the evening for a late check-in. We were welcomed by the nighttime frontdesk staff named Mariano (per name plate) with a dirty look, yelling “Who let you in, how did you get that car in?!!” and other unwelcoming lines. Apparently, he’s mad because the front parking lot is supposed to be closed for the night for maintenance. Instead of professionally informing us, he rather went off, towering over us, and went on and on about charging us for damages. He kept cutting us off when we tried to speak, blowing things out of proportion in front of our child.

We’d understand if it’s urgent; however, there’s a much civilized way to communicate. One can rush WITHOUT BEING RUDE AND CONDESCENDING.

He was already watching us from the lobby as we pulled in, he could’ve come and advised us, if it was really that pressing. Also, we spoke to him over the phone just earlier to inform that we’re checking in late, why didn’t he mention it if was so vital?

To set it straight, we did NOT intentionally drive through a taped off driveway as he was implying. The SINGLE piece of tape was NOT up. It was a breezy night. Only one cone was placed on each end of the driveway leaving the middle part OPEN without the tape. All other cones were condensed on another side of the lot. The letter-sized paper signs posted far on the wall were folded in half by the wind, thus, not readable when pulling in. We saw another car parked on the said lot. And so, we drove in. Coincidentally, our camera was rolling capturing these facts plus the ridiculous actions toward us. Later on, we checked out with no additional charges, because indeed, there’s no damage. He just OVERREACTED.

There was no apology or any redeeming closure of sort, even just for professionalism’s sake. The mean look was even sustained whenever seen on site. To be honest, it denotes racism, but we will not focus on that. For someone from the hospitality industry, specifically a frontdesk staff, he was nowhere near hospitable and clearly didn’t have grace under pressure. The situation was poorly navigated, labeling it unprofessional is an understatement.

All said and done, if we were proven at fault, so be it. But..was yelling and acting barbaric necessary?? In front of an innocent little child??

On the other hand, the lady and younger gentleman at the frontdesk during daytime were nice. The incident with the nighttime staff left a bad taste in our mouth though, we’ll skip using and recommending...