Hilton Garden Inn San Diego/Rancho Bernardo — Hotel in San Diego

The Hilton Garden Inn Rancho Bernardo is currently remodeling. My sister and I stayed from the 21st December to the 28th, 2021. The Business Center, with computers, printers, etc. is currently CLOSED. The venue for morning breakfasts has moved to a windowless Conference Room on the 1st floor. Front Desk Staff service diners by taking orders to the kitchen, but the small size of the Conference Room results in very cramped quarters, especially for two wheelchair bound guests I observed who had to wait for seating. Heated serveware contained potatoes, sausage, bacon, and scrambled eggs. Cereals, juices, and hot drinks are self serve. The staff carefully wiped tables between clients, but the carpeted floor is unappealing for food service. Our room was spacious and clean; the HVAC system performed efficiently and quietly. Lighting at bedside was too dim for reading. Because I am a senior, I was surprised there was no hand rail in the shower....families with children might request an ADA compliant room. (I thought ONE hand rail was the minimum for regular showers -- I could be mistaken.) This isn't an age related need; it's a safety issue for everyone. The TV appeared HD, but no information was in-room about operating the system. Between the two of us, we figured it out -- a schedule, and/or instructions would be welcome. At check-in, we were informed maid service is performed every third day. No explanation was given why. We didn't expect housekeeping on Christmas Day, but every 3rd day was unexpected. Not the most warm greeting. We were assured we could call the Front Desk for additional towels. We approached housekeeping staff and requested daily service except for Christmas. They were happy to oblige. The parking garage was impacted by storage of building supplies, presumably for the remodel . Additional furniture were stored in the outside parking lot, under tarps. As a result, fewer spaces were available, and it was pouring rain that week. The housekeeping staff were helpful and performed their tasks cheerfully & efficiently. The night before departure we confirmed with the Front Desk staff that help would be available to assist with luggage early -- we expected our Airport ride to be on time for a 7:00am flight. The following morning we were told nobody would be available until 8:00 am. No joy --- in fact, the young lady at the desk was the ONLY person present & said she could not leave her post. This is not good value for service.

The Hilton Garden Inn at Rancho Bernardo has seen better days: hopefully the completion of remodelling will integrate better facilities and additional staffing from midnight to 8:00am.

To compete with the Rancho Bernardo Inn, I hope the Hilton expands it's footprint and offers more, whether it's an upgrade in décor, a bigger pool, or a more upscale menu with room service. As it is today, the Hilton Garden Inn is outdated and downright embarrassing to offer visiting family members. Perhaps the Hilton Home Office is unaware of the demographics in Rancho Bernardo. A large percentage of people living here are retired.....and older. Homes in the 'Over 55' developments are 2 or 3 bedrooms. Families travel here (often with children) to visit elder relatives and need a better place to stay. My adult children won't stay at the Hilton Inn; they find it more suitable to rent a house and ask me to join them. I hope Hilton steps up to the challenge and improves this much...

It appears someone is deleting their negative reviews. Allow me to resubmit my previous negative review from my experience from July 10th/11th along with my most recent negative experience.

July 10th/11th: I was on company travel; my coworkers recommended this place. I made reservations a week in advance, got a confirmation my room was booked. I've been up since 3am working and traveling all day throughout the country. I just arrived in town at midnight and went to check in just to be told they over/double booked. Not only is my room not available, but there's no other rooms in the hotel available. Grant it, the lady at the front desk was apologetic and called around other hotels to get me a room for the night. She even tried to give me a discount for my stay, but that does me zero good considering my company paid for everything. They ended up sending me down the road to the courtyard that seems like it's just a notch better than a Motel 6. I have to get up in 6 hours to go to work and the last thing I want to do at midnight is play musical hotels. Total BS and horrible experience, future guests, beware!

Sep 2nd/3rd: I called the day of my company travel to ensure my room was available due to my last horrible experience. The lady who helped me had no issue with me using my name (I use my wives Hilton member point's). I arrived close to 9pm PST and tried to check in. The hispanic lady at front desk looked like she was having a hard time finding my reservation, so I mentioned I used my wives Hilton member #. She ended up finding my reservation but for some reason, the reservation was only in my wife's name even though I booked and paid for it in my name. The lady then asks if my wife is with me and I said, "No". She said, "well I can't allow you to stay here unless your wife is with you to confirm you're on the reservation". I asked if she was kidding me because I received the confirmation in my name, and it was reserved thru my employer and my company travel card that is in my name. She again asked if my wife was with me and I said no, she's back in Florida. I offered to show her my reservation email, but she refused to see it. I ended up having to call my wife and wake her up at midnight just so the lady at the front desk could confirm her email and confirm I was supposed to be on the reservation. After literally, a 10 second phone call, the lady at the front desk allowed me to continue with my reservation. Then to add to my lovely experience, the bathroom in my room smelt like a hot sewer and the air conditioner was restricted at 70 degrees so I couldn't even air out the stank. There were smudges of some brown substance on the bathroom door (hope it wasn't what I thought it was). On top of that, my coworker got meal vouchers for breakfast, but I didn't and instead got charged $19.95 for their weak breakfast. If I was paying out of pocket, I would never stay here, I only make a reservation here because I have a small selection to choose from thru...

I was exhausted when I arrived, but my room wasn’t ready. The assistant manager was very nice, offering to give me a different room. I wanted a room facing away from the road, so he told me to wait until 4:00. It wasn’t ready at 4:00 either. It was almost 5:00 when I finally got in. I was hungry, and the restaurant wasn’t open, so I bought some snacks. The manager comped the snacks in compensation for the wait on my room. |Most of the staff was professional and friendly. Very helpful. The restaurant/bar staff was especially kind and attentive. |The beds in my room were so hard, I couldn’t believe it. No give at all! I didn’t sleep at all the first night, and got up with my back and all my joints aching. Made it hard to concentrate at my meeting the next day. |I told a desk clerk I was going to the Kiln building to the left of the hotel, if you’re facing the hotel, and I wanted to know which door to go out. She told me that I was going the wrong way, that Kiln was the opposite direction, across the parking lot. So I started that direction, then realized I was right, and turned back the right way. Why did she give me directions if she wasn’t sure where it was? |I told a desk clerk about how hard the beds were in my room, and asked if a different room would have better beds. She argued with me, as if she could prove to me that the beds weren’t what I had experienced at all. She said they had never had a complaint before, (so I’m lying?!!) They couldn’t move me to a different room, so I asked for a roll-away cot, and she said they couldn’t do that in my room. She did say she would bring up two extra comforters to see if we could rig up something to make it more comfortable. She wrote herself a sticky note, but never showed up. I took the comforter off one bed and doubled it under the fitted sheet. It allowed me to sleep a little better the second night.|This hotel was right next to the meeting place, which is why I booked there. I have a week of training in September, and I had hoped to stay there again, so I don’t have to rent a car, but not now. I need to be able to sleep. |The restaurant was superb. Service was amazing, and the food was made to order, hot, fresh and delicious. |The carpets and furniture throughout the building badly need to be cleaned. The halls smelled musty, thank goodness the room did not!|The air conditioner worked beautifully, which is very important. |Usually when I stay at a hotel, I enjoy the luxury of being somewhere nice, with a few nice luxuries I don’t enjoy at home. The towels were perfection. The linens were nice. But the TV had limited choices. I’m used to having way more choices than at home. Not this time! |Cleanliness was lacking. There were brown spots on the toilet that I easily wiped off with a moist tissue. This dirt made me wonder how clean the floor and other things were. |So it was a mixed experience. I would not stay here again, but I might come for...