Pendry San Diego — Hotel in San Diego

This is an excellent property, in arguably the best location in Gaslamp, with awesome amenities. I can’t say enough good things about the quality of rooms, the pool, and the room service staff. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same about the people at the front desk and those that work in hotel management behind the scenes.

To set the stage here, we had our wedding block at this hotel a few weeks back. We booked over 25 rooms with them, coordinating these rooms over an approximate 6 month period, and generating an abhorrent amount of revenue for the hotel.

During the planning process, while trying to coordinate with the hotel, the Pendry management staff was impossible to get ahold of. We routinely tried to call to coordinate rooms, expand our room block, get updated room lists, and just conduct routine coordination with the hotel to prepare for the weekend and went weeks without the Pendry hotel management and sales staff answering or returning our calls or simply replying promptly to our emails until we were weeks before our weekend. There was no sense of proactive preparation done by the hotel whatsoever, and I feel this was the fault of a few people behind the scenes not the staff in its entirety.

But don’t worry there’s more: throughout the week our families adjusted our rooms and duration of stays. This was a huge mistake. Each time we extended our stay either on the front or back end, mind you this was days in advance of check in, the hotel management staff booked us an entirely new reservation by mistake instead of just extending our current reservations. They then at the end of our stay tried to charge us for 4 extra rooms that we “did not show up for” after they created 4 phantom reservations, often for people who already had reservations on our room list. The Hampton Inn on Pacific Highway would have handled this request better.

Perhaps the most egregious of their offenses was when one of my groomsmen booked a hotel room in our room block months in advance, then cancelled his rooms 6 days prior to the wedding instead of 7 days prior as they listed in their contract. Instead of mentioning that to us upon check in, calling us to inform us of this when it happened like any other 5 star hotel might do, this hotel management staff decided to keep this hush hush so they could pretend like the groomsmen in question didn’t cancel his reservation at all so they could both charge us for the no show fee and re-book the room to double up on revenue for this room. They knew for 6 days that he cancelled this room and tried to present a case to our families after the fact that he never cancelled at all so they could collect. If this was intentional, this is borderline criminal, unethical, and complete and total shady business practices that I would expect of a Red Roof Inn not the Pendry. Believe it or not the family of the bride and groom does not have enough time during wedding week to check with every person staying at the room block to ensure they cancel in time if they decide to do so, any other 5 star hotel would have called to inform the booking party to try to mitigate fees and charges but not this hotel.

Upon meeting with the team to dispute all these mistakes after the fact, the manager in question could not even comprehend what our frustrations were. I’m sure this is a routine practice for this group.

A terribly frustrating experience from start to finish, despite having a lovely time while we stayed because they didn’t bring any of this up until after we checked out and couldn’t do anything about it.

I’ll finish with how I began, if you are looking for a staycation or a romantic getaway with your spouse — this is the hotel for you. Unreal amenities and awesome location. Just make sure you book everything online so the people behind the scenes and at the front desk don’t completely...

I want to open this by saying that my experience at this property was transcendental. This team and this company are everything they've set out to be and more.

I will level with all of you. I am thirty years old and, in some respects, coming up in my career. All the things that I thought would signal success to me - luxury accommodations, trips to certain places, etc. - you think of all those classic brands, right? Marriott. Hilton. Ritz-Carlton. Even JWs. Well, I've splurged on some of these things and I have not been impressed. So, rather than try to book something myself, I used a service called Pack Up + Go and asked them to surprise me. I couldn't be happier that they selected Pendry.

These folks have NAILED "new luxury." The hotel has a timeless and classic design that you might think is from a certain period in the past, but everything is new, maintained, updated. In one case, a table was wobbly at The Provisional. They immediately moved me to a new table, apologized for the inconvenience, etc. I went back the next day, THAT TABLE WAS GONE. That seemed odd to me, as I am so accustomed to seeing hotels nowadays that are overwhelmed and understaffed. These guys were on the ball the whole time. Even people I had not met yet were greeting me by name. I asked one of them about it - her name was Lauren - wondering if it was facial recognition technology or something, and she just smiled and said "we all talk :)"

This experience opened my eyes to the world outside my loyalty points. Will I continue to use them? Sure, especially for little trips where I have to be in a certain city and just want something adequate. But this was a hotel that got my imagination running wild. This hotel inspired me to see more of the city, to think differently about my life, how I travel, what I value, and so much more.

I talked to lots of people in San Diego about my trip, and every single one of them gasped when I told them I was at the Pendry. "Oh my God, that's like the nicest hotel in San Diego, that's so lucky that they picked that for you!" You know what I bet would've happened if I'd said Omni, or Marriott, or Hilton? "Oh, yeah, I've heard that's nice." One Uber driver even told me there's frequently a lot of social unrest outside of the Hilton and I was lucky they didn't put me there. But the Pendry has a flawless reputation in the community, and for good freaking reason.

My room was quite possibly the most comfortable and stylish hotel room I've EVER had. And, look, I'm a pretty persnickety guy. I notice details. I've stayed in luxury hotels and called the front desk to let them know air filters need to be changed, bathroom fixtures are loose, etc. This room was flawless. It was so relaxing to just be, to spend the day seeing the city, come back to the room, hook up my phone to the Chromecast, watch an episode of something to unwind and then sleep in what was one of the most comfortable hotel beds I've ever had.

This place has an amazing location. There are lots of bars and restaurants around, the whole area is super walkable, at some points during my vacation I just went outside and walked around aimlessly hoping to happen upon something fun. I was never disappointed. If you're a walker, it's a half-hour walk to Little Italy where you can find some really nice restaurants as well (I would walk there and then catch a ride back).

I will also add that it is on the same corner as a pharmacy and a really great store called The Wine Bank that has a fantastic selection of wines and champagnes. So, if you're looking for a couples date night location...look no further ;).

If you are traveling and you're looking at this property, or, quite likely, any other Pendry property - take the plunge. Go for it. Get what you're paying for -an unforgettable and...

I had the enormous pleasure of spending my birthday here this weekend, and while I didn't stay in a room (I live locally), I did experience three of the restaurant/bars, the spa, the pool deck, and the night club. I really can't say enough great things about this extravagant new addition to downtown San Diego. While the building and décor are spectacular - opulent, bright, airy, sexy, sultry, refined, and timeless, what really stands out overall is the staff. I can say without a doubt that I've never experienced such over the top customer service. From the valet, to the front desk staff who held our bags and escorted us around, to the spa personnel, the hosts, bussers, and servers at the restaurant, EVERYONE had a genuine smile on their face, in their voice, went out of their way to assist us and make sure we were completely pampered. Each time we thought it couldn't get any better, it did. In a high-end, "place-to-be" facility you sometimes get some attitude, but there was none of that here. Everyone is just so NICE!

This review would be 10 pages long if I listed each little attention to detail, and I wish I was better with names so I could give kudos to each person who made my weekend special, but here are a few examples: -Thursday night with my husband at Lionfish, we ate at the bar. My husband ordered a glass of wine, and the bartender poured him a little taste first to make sure he liked it, without him even asking. That NEVER happens, particularly not at a crowded downtown bar! I asked a couple questions about some of the cocktails, and based on my questions, he recommended something else that wasn't on the menu, and totally hit the spot! It was exactly what I was looking for. -Friday at the spa, we brought a bottle of champagne, which they allowed us to open for a small corkage fee. When they served us our first glass at The Pool House bar where we were having lunch, they brought us a little bowl of sliced strawberries to add to our champagne! -At the spa, as my sister and I were sitting chatting in the little relaxation area, the spa manager came by with these luxurious blankets for us just in case we were a little chilly. -As we were wrapping up at the spa, another woman came by and asked us if she could get us anything. I asked if they had any coffee, to which she said yes. Rather than just bringing us two cups of coffee, she brought out this very elegant French press setup with two gourmet flavored honeys and fresh cream. She prepared the coffee just for us and brought it out to us to drink at the pool deck. WOW! Talk about feeling cared for! -At Provisional last night, the manager Woody brought our group of 5 out complimentary glasses of champagne in vintage champagne glasses complete with an explanation of the history of the glasses.

In addition to the service, I would be remiss if I didn't mention how amazing the food was as well at Lionfish, The Pool House, and Provisional (ate there Friday night, and it was so good I came back the next night too!) The massages my sister and I received at the spa were also excellent, and the masseuses were very nice. The locker/shower/steam room facilities were opulent, and even the shampoo/body wash were amazing! They had a very nice selection of teas, berries, and other nice things in the relaxation room.

All in all, I (and the 6 other people who went with me Thursday, Friday & Saturday) am beyond impressed, and can't WAIT to go back to try the rest of the dining/drinking establishments, experience the spa again, and perhaps indulge in a stay-cation. The prices are on-point with the quality, and even surprisingly affordable in some cases. I hope that as the newness wears off, the stellar customer service never...