Surfer Beach Hotel — Hotel in San Diego

I'll start with the bad and hopefully finish on a good note.

When we arrived, we found out we had to pay extra to park in their parking lot, where the spaces are incredibly tiny (we saw numerous SUVs parked in compact spots, probably due to lack of space).

When we arrived in our room, my SO noted that the floor was sticky (she took off her flip-flops and walked around barefoot) - I then opted to keep my shoes on in the room. This was probably for the better, because after I took my first shower, I took the wet floor towel/mat and dragged it around the tile floor with my feet. When I picked it up, the towel was BLACK. I don't think those floors had ever been cleaned, or if they had, very poorly. Gross!

The carpet in the room was just as bad. When I walked around barefoot I could tell that it was greasy / dingy, and a bunch of dirt / crumbs stuck to my feet whenever I walked around (not from us!). Also, the heater installed into the wall was burnt and discolored orange/brown.

The linens appeared to be clean at first glance, but I noticed stains on some of our towels, and a permanent discoloration (it looked grey or "wet") on the side of our bed sheets. One of the pillowcases we received, we think may have had blood spatter on it, too, but it was faint.

It is worth mentioning that this place has NO AIR CONDITIONING. They say they advertise it (or they "don't advertise what they don't have"), and that the ocean breeze is enough to keep the room cool, but we stayed in the middle of a hot period in August and it was very uncomfortable sleeping at night when the room is 80 degrees and the humidity is no doubt near 100%. All they give you is a box fan in the closet to keep you cool ... and ours was dusty.

Lastly, the elevator seemed to be an afterthought... It realistically can only hold two people with luggage, so if you have any more than that, you'll be waiting for a second trip. And it's pretty slow, too.

On a more positive note...

The view was amazing. During the time of year that we went, the sunset was blocked by the other half of the rooms, but that's not something anyone can control.

The beach access was very convenient, it literally only takes a minute or two to get from your room to the beach and back again.

The bathroom in the room was clean, I didn't notice anything wrong with the shower or toilet, which is good.

The staff seemed friendly when we checked in and out, but that interaction was limited and we didn't get a lot of other time to talk to them.

The pool and pool area are nice... It's a 3-8½ foot pool ,which you don't typically see anymore, which was a pleasant surprise. They have a station for washing yourself off after coming from the beach, if you want to swim in a pool instead of the ocean.

The local area is good, there are a lot of local restaurants and shops that are within walking distance.

So overall, not a clean stay, but the location was good. If you're going to be spending minimal time in the room and don't mind the heat or humidity, it's not a bad place.

Note: I would have contacted the staff about the room cleanliness, but I read a bunch of other reviews saying similar things so I figured it wasn't really worth it to "poke the bear",...

When we arrived the 2 gentlemen working the front desk were very kind and welcoming. They answered all of our questions. One of the main things we asked about was parking. Due to it being a holiday weekend we were concerned about finding parking when returning to the hotel. We were assured there would be no issue and the hotel has a system in place to monitor parking lot occupancy so they won’t double sell a spot. We paid with a QR code at the desk $80 for parking during our stay. We checked into a ground floor room. Right when you open the door a strong pet urine odor hits you. We had our 9 month old who has severe allergies with us and the room was not going to work. While going to the front desk to check on a room switch my spouse was already seeing if there were any other non pet hotels with availability (everything was booked). The 2 gentlemen at the front desk were able to move us to room 302. When we entered the room it was nothing like the photos. Extremely small and outdated. The carpets were filthy and would turn your feet black if you walked bare foot. The bathroom was comical. The shower has maybe a 2 foot opening and is around 6feet tall with a 5 foot tall shower head. The sink is the size of an airplane bathroom sink. The second night of our stay we were gone a majority of the day for a 4th of July event. When we got back to the hotel there was no parking. We went to the desk and the lady gave us a slip to go park in a parking garage and we wouldn’t have to pay if we got our vehicle out by 1pm. We had plans the next day with family so having to coordinate to get our vehicle out once parking became available in the hotel lot made us late. In addition we were charged $60 because the slip was only good for $100. When we let the front desk know they said we would need to call the parking company. The 3rd day of our stay our 9 month old cut her finger on the shower drain cover that was not installed properly. When we told the front desk he laughed saying she is too small to take showers. She cut her finger on your rusted drain cover and you laugh? We really were letting him know there was blood all over the sheets and towels and maintenance should address the drain since it was obviously a safety concern. Nobody addressed the issues.The last night we returned to the hotel with no parking again. We choose to drive around until we could find a spot we didn’t have to double pay for again. Every issue we had we spoke to a staff member about. The morning of check out we were asked why we stayed and didn’t address the issues with the manager!!? The manager said she is an onsite manager. We never seen her and were told my staff we had to come back to speak to her. First off we were from out of state and on a holiday weekend everything was sold out or we would have definitely moved hotels so asking why we stayed is a no brainer. After reading reviews we are not the only ones who have had issues and they all seem to not be addressed by the...

Thie place is VERY outdated. The lobby has an old building odor, and looks like something from the 70's. The location is the real winner here. Directly on the boardwalk... We stayed 8 days. And spent a lot. Our room was clean (ish) the linens were freshly changed. The carpet IS severely stained & IN desperate need for a cleaning. The countertop had been broken up & "fixed" with clear silicone (poorly i may add) It looked bad. The tile floor had major cracks & was lifted, it was very uneven & difficult to walk on. Behind the bathroom door, there was pink slimy mold all along the hinges/door. Also the door (under lock was filthy) I literally wiped it down & it came right off. The headboards are covered with cloth. it would be fine if they were clean. Where your head touches, its all dark with head sweat and god knows what else. Absolutely unacceptable. The AC unit was so loud that u couldn't hear yourself think. It was completely rusted out. GIGANTIC rotted metal holes exposed on the outside top of the AC. The unit was low to the ground. I was surprised that they allowed this. This is very dangerous for a small child or anyone for thar matter. The rotted metal would definitely cause an infection. (Pictures attached) Some of the staff were GREAT. Some were not. I have previously worked in Hotel hospitality. These things should NOT be happening. There is NEVER an excuse for filth. Being old & outdated IS one thing. ITS NOT OK to rent out a dirty room. IF u cant hire enough cleaners, then don't rent the unit. I believe that the MANAGEMENT is to blame 10000% They should be checking the rooms regularly. Our toilet was faulty also. It barely flushed. Sigh. One of the NIGHT CLERKS:::: (He is a younger kid who worked the nightshift of 9/29/2025 & We were checking out early. I went down there at like 5 am. He was nowhere to be seen, but I could hear him talking to someone. I asked if I shoulf leave the keys in our room when we leave around 5 am. He said to return them. Went to return them; the doors were locked & took a bit for him to come out. The hotel lobby is open 24/7 as they have the ONLY coffee pot. ANYWAYS: He unlocked the doors, but wouldn't allow us into the lobby. It was very strange. He was in a hurry to shut us out. He opens the door a slit, just enough to take the keys. We wanted coffee, but he wouldn't let us in. Not sure what he was doing but I do know that he isnt allowed to do that. I would havr fired him on the spot. The views were awesome... but we like stayed in to sleep. I didnt feel comfy there due to the filth. Again. THIS is all on management. Whoever owns this facility,really needs to protect their investment. This could be a wonderful High investment property. It is okay to have old outdated hotel, but there's zero excuse for dirty and filth. We payed a...