Hotel San Carlos — Hotel in Phoenix

We decided to go on last minute staycation to this hotel we've wanted to stay at for years to ghost hunt so I called and told receptionist we were wanting a room that's known for activity for 3 adults since it was myself , my 17 or old daughter and her friend so I wanted my options for King size bed or rooms with pull out couch. He said he had room that goes forn$250 he would give me for $150 which I gladly accepted but when we got there the room (306) was nothing like the rooms I saw pictures of online. It was plain , white walls no decor , no seating except single chair at a desk and there was a connecting room but it was locked . We went downstairs to inquire about Marilyn Monroe room and told it also goes for $250 so I asked if we could have same discounted rate and he had to ask manager but asked what I thought was acceptable , I told him 175, $200 max but reluctantly accepted $225 cause it was next to heated pool and we had a 4th guest possibly coming . That room was great connected room had fridge but TV'S didnt have cable and wifi wasnt working half the time to watch stuff on our computer or phones. Then we realized pool was cold and asked if they could warm it so it would be heated by the time our guest arrived the next day of our 3 day stay and was told they weren't heating pool for use at this time , turns out they weren't cleaning rooms at this time either cause of covid all of which they failed to mention before I agreed to pay extra for a room next to a pool I was told was heated but a little cold at the moment which didnt surprise me since I've been to other boutique hotels with heated pools that only turn temp up when they have quests who plan to use it in order to cut costs on heating since pool dsnt get used very often during months it needs to be heated. Needless to say, I was pretty upset and felt they shouldnt be advertising a heated pool to get business or upsell to more expensive room if the pool isnt currently available for guest use because they dont want to pay to heat it and I quote "because of covid" . The chemicals in pool kills bacteria and viruses so pool use isnt going to spread the virus to others in the water unless you get in close face to face contact with someone who has it. I paid an extra $75 for 3 night stay for amenities they failed to mention weren't available and feel I should be given that money back . I regret I didnt get pictures of room 306 but I will say they need to hire more people as nice as the person who checked us in the first night, he was very friendly, the rest..not so much so. As for the service from the first time I called to inquire about rooms to my inquiry why room wasnt cleaned and pool wasnt being heated ....there is much to be desired and I would have to recomend staying elsewhere if your looking for acceptable service , rates , and being given best room options for your stay because you wont get that here . Most of the floors are closed because not many people are coming here , but that dsnt surprise me since they are rather deceptive about what they have to offer and once your there and want to get a different room they arent willing to offer it at the same discounted price cause your stuck either way . My guess is they only have 2 floors open because they dont get any repeat business with staff that isnt friendly and because people realize when they get there this place kinda sucks and it isnt because they xant provide same amenities other hotels offer, it's their lack of service , deceptive practices , and information they dont give you when you inquire about your stay and room options for the number of guests . I want my $225 back that I never would have spent if they had told me they weren't gonna heat the pool for us, if that's the case they shouldnt have even brought up the fact the pool was heated in the first place and I wouldnt have stayed the 2 extra nights or paid the extra $75 per night when I could have stayed in 306 and just went home the next day since i live in town . So much for going back here , i wish they had more...

My family and I stayed at the Hotel San Carlos last week. I booked it because I am a huge history buff and loved the nostalgia of staying in a 20s hotel. We traveled a bit out of our way and splurged a little bit more than we would have on a hotel room after becoming infatuated with this historic hotel. However, after our stay I will be leaving a negative review. I don't normally don’t take the time to review or rate places, but I think there are important issues that need to be address and that visitors should be made aware of.

Due to arriving at night and in an inner city, we planned on using the valet parking as advertised since the nearest parking garage is on the other side of the block. We were surprised to find that it was not actually offered. Instead, after making several trips around the block, we had to stop on a busy street to move a cone in front of the hotel to unload. The only way I finally came to this action was after a call to the front desk to inquire about the parking situation. My wife was approached by a homeless person asking for money as she had to stand there alone with the cone waiting for me to park. My parents had to do the same routine. Thanks to my mother’s condition, though, we had to unload her scooter into traffic without any assistance.

The next issue was with the room temperature. Due to the nature of the hotel, I didn’t expect to have individual room thermostats. That said, I also did not expected the rooms to be an uncomfortable 80+ degrees with the room fan on high as well. We were coming through after spending most of the day outside and looking forward to a break from the heat, which we only found in the pool. One member of my party has heart and lung issues, so we spent the night worrying about her health due to the temperature. Luckily, she ended up bringing a portable A/C so she was able to deal with it. When I went to inquire about the temperature at the front, I was offered a fan and told there was nothing else that could be done.

There was also no warm water. I hesitate to list this as a complaint, considering the cold shower wasn’t terrible in comparison to the heat of the room. My children were not too pleased when we made them take a cold bath to get the chlorine from the pool off.

This is not to say that the hotel does not come with its highlights. The vintage look was exactly what I was hoping to see. The two ladies at the front desk were very kind and the guy attending to the pool was also great. The history is there and evident, but I would not recommend staying there to others due to the major flaws listed above. The parking issue could be an easy fix by directing personnel to help and either fix/update the AC and water or warn guests about the issues prior to booking. However, these issues are public safety hazards and need to be addressed as soon as possible for...

If I could give this hotel zero stars I would. We were in town for a work conference and booked at the Hotel San Carlos due to its proximity to the venue. From the moment we arrived, the experience was appalling. There was nowhere to pull up to unload or check in—no valet, no designated area, nothing. We were forced to park in a sketchy garage about a block away and haul all of our luggage through the street.||During that short walk, we were aggressively approached multiple times by unhoused individuals, some of whom got uncomfortably close, asking for money. It felt unsafe from the very beginning.||Once inside, the situation only deteriorated. The building is extremely outdated, and not in a charming or historic way—in a neglected, almost condemned way. Our rooms were hot and stuffy, with no working air conditioning. The only airflow came from a noisy, decades-old fan that sounded like it might fall off the ceiling at any moment. The furniture was worn, the beds were sagging, and the bathroom resembled something you'd expect in a prison—cramped, grimy, and absolutely uninviting.|Security was nonexistent. There were no bolts or secondary locks on the doors, and the entrance to the building itself required stepping over people sleeping on the ground outside. The door to the room didn’t even reach the ceiling—there was a flimsy accordion-style panel filling the gap, which meant we could hear every single noise from the rooms next door. And I mean everything.||The TV had maybe five channels, the gym was out of order, and the pool was completely drained. The ceiling showed signs of serious water damage, with sagging and cracked areas that looked like they might collapse. The floors had an alarming amount of "give" to them when walking, like you were about to fall through. And the mirrors—floor-to-ceiling above the bed—felt less like a design choice and more like a clue that this hotel might primarily serve an hourly clientele. It did not feel like a place for professionals, families, or anyone who values safety or cleanliness.||To put it plainly, this was the most horrifying hotel experience I’ve ever had. I didn’t feel safe, I didn’t feel clean, and had we stayed we certainly wouldn’t have slept. We couldn’t get out of there fast enough and thankfully were able to secure accommodations elsewhere. ||If you're considering staying here—don’t. It felt like the kind of place you leave with a disease or...