Hotel Zindel — Hotel in San Diego

Hotel Zindel is centrally located and only two blocks west of India Street – the heart of Little Italy. It was raining during my trip, so I didn’t get a chance to check out the area, but many of my local friends said the food in Little Italy is amazing. It’s about a 7-10 minute drive from the airport. Please note this hotel is on the corner of a busy street and under the airport flight path. Ear plugs were provided, and I had no issues with noise. Checking in was “okay.” They had to reset my door codes because I asked for an early check-in, which they were able to accommodate. I understand security and flexibility are important, but you still need three (3) door codes to get to your room. One for the exterior door leading to the courtyard, one for the glass door leading to the hotel lobby, and another code to enter your room. The courtyard is very pleasant, and wish could have enjoyed, but it was raining the whole time I was there. There is no designated parking lot.

The hotel is quant, and I read somewhere it was originally built in 1910. There is a guest game room downstairs with an attached kitchen. I was able to get ice from the refrigerator and there was extra coffee supplies for the Keurig located in my room. I booked the “Queen Classic” room, and it measured probably around a 13’ x 13’. I traveled alone, so the size of the room worked. It might feel a little cramped for two adults. There is no place to sit other than the bed. The bed was wonderful! The mattress felt like memory foam and was very comfortable. I’d say this bed was firmer than soft, and an abundance of bed pillows were provided. The Queen Classic room had its own private bathroom, but not all the rooms do. I know some accommodations share a bathroom with 3 other rooms. So be careful when you book if this is a dealbreaker. The private bathroom is roomy but has a very tiny sink in it. There are zero shelves in this room except for one above an open-air wardrobe rack and one little one under the nightstand which I deemed useless. There is also no place to put your hygiene items, or anything else for that matter. There were no drawers or storage space, and I literally had to put all my stuff on top of one nightstand. If you use electric hair styling products while looking in a mirror, bring an extension cord because there are no outlets in the bathroom and the bathroom mirror is the only one in the room.

There is a refrigerator, Keurig with coffee supplies (no cream – sweeteners only) along with a small safe. I pushed my suitcases up against the door at night because there is no inside door lock, which made me slightly uncomfortable. There is a nice Samsung TV and access to your own streaming subscriptions if you want to log in. I just watched the free Samsung TV channels. There is a massive ceiling fan, so if you get hot like me, you don’t need to bring your own. There is also a portable AC/heater with a remote control to adjust the temperature in the room. There was a blow dryer, iron, ironing board and what I think was a white noise maker. The room didn’t smell, and the linens were clean. I didn’t really hear anyone other than some movement in the room above mine, but nothing crazy. My overall experience was 3...

I'll start by saying, we will stay here again! Since there weren't many reviews, I want to be thorough with this one.

The hotel is a new remodel of an older building. The shower had hot water and was clean with beautiful tile, and the bed was by far the comfiest bed I've ever slept in! It was so comfortable that I want to know the brand and model of the mattress so we can purchase one for home.

We had a corner room that did have a fair amount of road noise, being by the interstate onramp, but the noise-canceling machine was great, and we didn't even need the supplied earplugs—probably because the mattress was amazing! I did have to close the bathroom door at night, as the street lights were quite bright, and that helped block out more of the road noise.

Other guests were mostly considerate. Thursday night was the quietest, while Friday I got a bit concerned as a neighboring room was quite enjoying their music. However, they stopped shortly after we returned to the room and well before the quiet hours. At 2 AM on Saturday morning, I was woken up by guests coming in, but they didn't stay loud for long, and I quickly fell back asleep. It is an older building, and sound does travel, so you can only hope that other guests are as mindful of this as you are.

Coffee was supplied in our room as well as in the common area, and I loved the common area coffee! The Keurig allowed you to make a latte or cappuccino with the normal pods, and it was delicious. Snacks are provided in the morning, including oatmeal, cuties, danishes, and muffins. There is also water in the fridge for guests.

The heating and cooling in the room worked great; it was instant and fabulous to warm up to when the day turned chilly. The only things I would improve on are maybe adding a small chair in our room to have somewhere else besides the bed to sit on, and better towels. They're small and not as absorbent as I would like.

With it being a new remodel, I do wish they had spent some time making the drywall smoother or more attention to trim and whatnot, but overall it was great and more importantly, clean. I wore white socks, and they barely picked up any dirt or dust.

We saw a desk attendant each evening who greeted us, but as we didn't have any questions or concerns, we didn't really chat much with them.

One thing to note on the negative reviews is that (as stated) there is zero parking. Do not plan to park a car here unless you want to park under the interstate overpass. Also, while I booked a room with a private bath, there are rooms with shared bathrooms. Be mindful of that when booking.

It does say contactless check-in, and we had no issues with three different door codes. However, with today's technology, you should be able to get one door code for all three for each separate guest.

Overall, I was quite happy with our stay. It felt safe and secure, and was clean and we both slept well and you can’t beat the location within walking distance to bars and restaurants in Little Italy. Well done...

Great price for the price. I'd give it 4.5 stars if I could. Its a modern, neatly designed/maintained, take on a classic rooming house/hostel, build into a refurbished building from the 1910's. We stayed in the queen single rooms and it worked well. The room was clean, set up well, had its own personal sink + mirror for tidying up. The AC/Fan combo was solid. I sleep hot and I was plenty cool. There's a miny fridge and Keurig machine in the room as well with pods but I recommend just going to the communal room and use the hotel's machine as it has more options, syrups, etc.

The one trippy part is that there's 1-2 communal bathrooms per floor (also a toilet/sink in the community room). I never had to wait to use it. The staff and the guests kept it clean. You do bring your own towel, washcloth, bathmat from your room. It was a big spacious shower that was plenty hot. One other thing is that it gets a bit "echo-ey" in the AM when people are getting up or leaving for the day. It's like a large, hardwood floored, home and you can hear luggage moving, people using the stairs, doors shutting. Its not obtrusive but it is there.

There's also a great second floor work space all along the North facing aspect of the building. It seats about 6-8 people. Lots of light and very quiet. The patio is charming as well, complete with water fall, fire pit tables, couches and a beautiful mural.

The neighborhood was killer. I'd never stayed in the "little Italy" and "Bankers hill" sections (you're right on the border between both) and it was awesome. It's a 15 min walk to the harbor and a 10 min uber to the downtown/convention/Petco as well as the Zoo/Balboa park area.

The self check ins are cool but I had a snafu with my email that prevented me, for about 30 min, from getting into my room. It got all cleared up and we got into our rooms.

I wouldn't book this room if you're looking for a super private get away to yourself or couple. I do recommend it for business, bachelor /bachelorette/friend get away because of location and price.

In short; I liked it, I'd go again, its...