Best Western Yacht Harbor Hotel — Hotel in San Diego

This place could be so much better and looking at the reviews maybe we got unlucky, twice.

Location - we found it a decent location for food and having a wander. Downside later.

Staff - warm welcome and most staff we met were friendly.

Cleanliness - rooms were spotless clean.

Room - Room furniture and bathroom all okay if somewhat dated, pretty much what you get with best western, however see below

So why the 2 stars?

aircon - zero control just did its own thing, cold.....San Diego was not hot while we were there.

Noise!

Room 1 - located almost on the road, could hear people talking from below, they weren't being loud, road noise felt like you were on not near the road. We asked to move rooms.

Room 2 - facing the runway so loud plane noise, facing the road so road noise, we were sat in the room thinking, this seems loud, we opened the sliding patio door, pretty much no noise difference, closed the door and spotted the culprit, there are gaps all around the door, the wind blows the curtains even with the door closed. Attempts have been made to add foam to the sides but they have failed. The result was a noisy freezing room where we had little to no sleep. We were booked in for 3 days, and a first for me, we left the hotel after one night.

The reception were understaning and based on their response, the close to hand list and speedy Starbucks voucher they obviously need to do that often.

Breakfast - oh my, maybe we timed it wrong but it was rammed and such a scramble for food I have not seen since returning to the mess hall at base after a water only route march in the army. We grabbed a few bits and left.

Replace the doors and windows with new and efficient ones and you will be well on your way to a much better hotel. Rooms that are basically open to the outside world should not be rooms one actually pays for.

Btw - the cleaning staff became very grumpy when they were informed we were leaving. I know not why.

Had an email from the manager but he failed to use his full name in the email and no, I should not be calling you, you should be calling me.

I have often stayed in beat westerns in the UK, they are often of a medium quality but in traditional hotels with traditional values, think Fawlty Towers without the mad management.

Based on this stay, use a Best Western again?, Let's say I'll be exploring all other options first.

This stay almost made a bad end to a lovely holiday, fortunately an opposition hotel brand...

Arrived early and was told our room would be on the first floor but wasn’t ready yet. We left and went to the zoo. Arrived back around 6pm and stood there exhausted while the lady was staring at the screen lost and got the assistant manager. At no point during this lengthy and frustrating process did either employee acknowledge the excessive wait. No apology. Nothing. Finally just handed over the keys and told us the room number. First thing we wanted to do was shower. Couldn’t do that- there was no shower curtain. Called the front desk for one. 30 min later, still no shower curtain. Called again. Finally received it. Turning on water in the sink and shower smelled like sewage. Room Didn’t smell the best and the ac wouldn’t get the room cold enough. Noticed a huge hole behind the ac filter. Probably why. At 11 am Sunday morning, my husband noticed the door could be opened without a key. We called the front desk and was assured it would be fixed. We arrived back at 7pm and the door was never fixed.went back downstairs to talk to someone since we needed to leave for dinner. Finally spoke to someone understanding and apologetic and gave us keys to move to a different room. It was at this time we found out why our room didn’t smell great and we had been awaking with stuffy noses- we were originally put in a smoking room by the asst. manager despite the fact our room was booked in a double queen non smoking!!!More time now wasted having to move rooms. Water didn’t smell like sewage in this room but the shower wouldn’t drain til several minutes after the water was shut off. I got breakfast this morning and took one of the two keys out of the card holders when I got back, the key wouldn’t work so I had to bang on the door to get my husband to hear from the shower. Upon check out- the assistant manager was there again and stated nothing about the issues. I asked him if he bothered reading the report and notes from the night before. Still- zero accountability or apology. All he said is that since we booked through a third party, he’d have to talk to them about it and I should call him later to see what they’re going to do. Zero acknowledgment of their actions/inactions for the awful encounter we had and inconveniences to say the least. I better be credited for at least a full three nights for this nonsense! (UPDATE TO THE ASST MANAGERS RESPONSE: NO, he did not ONCE apologize. There has been NO refund...

The location is perfect, the balconies are a nice extra with or without view of the harbor, its only a short trip to Downtown San Diego and La Jolla and if you're lucky you get a parking space in the garage (otherwise you have to park on the open second deck of the garage). Sounds perfect so far, but the reason for only 3 stars is the motel itself.

They are renovating right now, that was no problem for me. But it seems they are only doing it on the ground floor in the reception area and not in the guest rooms. And those really need a little touch up. The carpets in the hallways and rooms are worn. There were scratches in the wallpaper in several places along my way to my room and in the guestroom. The furniture is old and worn, too. The mattresses were the worst on my whole trip (about 15 different motels in 3 weeks). I never slept on such a squeaky mattress. Whenever you moved the person beside you would wake up from the sound. And they were so uncomfortable we both woke up with back pain every morning. So it wasn't only my problem.

Everything simply shows it's age and in my opinion a little neglect. Part of the staff was sometimes outside in the garage smoking, doors to staff rooms (the hotel's laundry and other storage rooms, etc.) were constantly open and looked not that inviting. And for the price you have to pay it can't be about the view and location alone in my opinion.

I tried breakfast once and left even before I got my coffee, simply because the machine wouldn't work and only dispense water with a light brown touch. There was nobody on staff for the breakfast room to fix the problem and while leaving the room I saw several cups with this slightly brown stuff in the trash, so I wasn't the first one to have this problem. At least there was coffee in the lobby available 24 hours a day.

I really wanted to like this place and thought longer about giving it 4 stars because of the pros listed above, but they really need to change some things in my opinion.

The potential really is there with all the good things listed, but please adress the...