Hilton Garden Inn San Diego Del Mar — Hotel in San Diego

If you’re reading this review: AVOID THIS HILTON HOTEL.

My partner and I were visiting LA from the East Coast and we were excited to spend a couple of days in San Diego. Upon arriving, I tried checking in early, around 1:30pm. They told me that the room was not ready yet, but that it would be ready shortly and they would call me when I could check in. I returned about an hour later, didn’t find anyone at the front desk, returned to my car, and called. They THEN said that it would be ready around 3:30 or 4:00pm. This was already inconvenient, since we had an event planned at 3:30pm and I would have preferred to freshen up, as one usually does at a hotel after a long day of traveling.

I ended up driving to the event, spent a fun evening with friends, and the whole time we joked about whether or not I had a room ready for me. To my dismay (and frankly, disgust), when I arrived back at the hotel, they had a hard time finding my room. Finally, they found my name and handed me the key card. I opened the door to the immediate stench of a dirty bathroom (a strong fecal smell like that of a bad truck stop), and the sight of a completely unmade bed. Blankets all disheveled, etc. it was clear that even with all of that waiting, no one had ever stepped foot in this room to clean it.

I went up to the front desk and was told that there were no other rooms available. One of the workers went to check on the room to see how bad it was, and the staff was at a complete loss as to how to proceed and what to do. One solution they came up with was a complimentary Coca Cola. Not exactly what I was looking for at the end of the night after waiting hours for a room that was never ready.

Knowing that even if they cleaned the room, they would likely rush through it, I decided to just grab my things and ask for a refund. With all of the recent flight cancellations, it was impossible to find a room anywhere and I was forced to drive back to my family’s house almost two hours away. I expected at least some sort of hotel credit for the complete and utter inconvenience on this trip, which obviously ruined our plans for the whole next day. No such credit was offered. They told me that they would write my name down and that I should expect a call. NO ONE ever called back.

I usually associate the Hilton brand with quality and reliability, but I was met with none of it during this ruined trip to San Diego. I will be sure to deter anyone traveling down south from staying at this location. What a...

I wish I could give half a star and that would only be for the clean rooms and two of the clerks at the front desk at night. Alyssa was very helpful with making sure all of our tickets for the next day were printed out and sent up to the room. Before that happened, I went to the bar to give my fiancé a corona which was advertised as a $5 charge. Before I went down to request this, my fiancé had one at the bar and was only charged $5 and he left his own tip. Keep in mind my fiancé is white and I'm black. I gave this bald headed gentlemen a $10 dollar beer and received only $3 dollars back. Now if I can recall it's our option to give tip at any bar. I didn't want to bring race up but it seem he didn't even want to help me. There were a few people at the bar that were super loud but he seem to be more interested in serving them than me. Next day I had a few questions about the breakfast and if we could get that sent up to our room. The staff was very short with me and seem to again not want to help at all. First I went to the front were Maricruz was occupying the desk, asked about the room service and she seem way too busy to even look up and ask for a min before helping me. She sent me to the bar/kitchen area again and I instantly thought "oh no not again". Let's just say we ended up going somewhere else. That night I was helped by a nice young lady by the name of Megan! She made sure to give me plenty blank sheets of paper for my son to draw on and keep him busy before bed. It honestly sucks that there are so many people that aren't that into their jobs like the little few that helped make our stay a little better. This morning was check out and we were asked by Maricruz about our stay and she seem to not really care again and yet again way too busy lol. Answering more phones while in the middle of us talking to her. I understand how to multi task because I'm a Pharmasist at a very busy location. I was just very dissatisfied with the overall stay. Sucks my fiancé had to spend his bday weekend...

There was one gal who was on duty a few of the nights we were there and she was lovely. The rest of the experience was rather poor.

Take note that breakfast is not included. You can get a simple hotel buffet breakfast but it’s $13 a head. So plan ahead for that (or book elsewhere where it’s included). There are no other restaurants nearby, either. The attached deli was closed during our entire stay so there is no food within walking distance.

The A/C units do not function properly. The fans don’t run if you leave them on ‘low’ or ‘high’. We were very uncomfortable not being able to control the temp.

The beds are just not comfortable. We’ve been home a couple of days now and I’m still trying to stretch my back out. The sheets don’t stay on and you’re laying on what is probably a 6 inch mattress with no box spring. The pillows can hardly be classified as such. I know some folks like softer pillows but these are basically nonexistent.

Most disturbingly and importantly, THREE times the house cleaning folks WALKED into our room WITHOUT knocking. One of the times it was a man, I was on the bed barely clothed but my fiancée was in the bathroom undressed. The guy realized we were in there and gave a vague sorry but rather than closing the door immediately he proceeded to stand there as if we should hurry out for him, or god forbid he was hoping to get a look at my fiancée. After a few seconds I got out of bed, still in my boxers, and escorted him out the door. It was a very uncomfortable experience and frankly I was nearly drawn to violence in this final encounter.

I do not recommend this hotel to anybody. I do recommend that kind manager(I do hope she knows I’m talking to her), leaves and finds a place that better suits her exceptional level of...