The Beau Downtown San Diego Gaslamp Quar — Hotel in San Diego

Review of The Beau, San Diego

When we checked into The Beau, we were initially impressed. The lobby and bar are undeniably beautiful, and the charm of the older building is evident and appreciated. The style and atmosphere made a strong first impression.

At check-in, the front desk staff mentioned the hotel was relatively new and that guests tend to either love it or hate it. But, to be honest, we fall somewhere in the middle—not loving it, not hating it, but ultimately feeling it’s not worth returning to. Here’s why:

Room & Comfort:

• We had a corner room, which is supposedly larger than standard rooms, yet it was still extremely small. There was no space to store even a single carry-on suitcase without it getting in the way.

• The air conditioning situation was a major issue. It’s a loud, portable unit mounted in the window. It needs to run constantly to keep the room from becoming stuffy—and when it runs, it’s as loud as a leaf blower. Even on the lowest setting, the noise was disruptive and exhausting.

Bathroom Issues:

• While visually appealing—with nice fixtures and quality soap—the bathroom’s functionality fell flat.

• The toilet paper holder was hanging off the wall, a minor but noticeable maintenance miss.

• The shower water pressure was a trickle—so slow that a quick 5-minute shower stretched to 45 minutes, simply because there wasn’t enough water flow to rinse quickly.

Overall Value:

• At around $300 per night, the hotel doesn’t deliver the level of quality or comfort you’d expect.

• For just $50 more per night, there are significantly better options in San Diego that offer more space, quieter rooms, stronger amenities, and better maintenance.

We were hopeful and open-minded about The Beau, but after our stay, we simply can’t justify the price for the experience offered.

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TL;DR:

• Beautiful building, stylish lobby/bar.

• Tiny rooms—even the “large” ones.

• Loud, ineffective AC makes sleep and comfort difficult.

• Shower water pressure is extremely low.

• Some maintenance issues (e.g., broken toilet paper holder).

• Costs ~$300/night but lacks value—better options available for a bit more.

• Not terrible, just not worth returning to.

NOTE TO MANAGEMENT: (added 7/10/25) — you state that there are limitations due to the building being historic. Not an excuse for the issues I mentioned in this review: the hallways are gigantic, but the rooms are tiny, you could tweak the construction. IF that is not feasible, for any reason, why not reconfigure the rooms inside?

The furniture is spaced out in a way that is not an efficient use of space.

A/C? — put in a split unit, for Heaven’s sake! Easy and cheap and quiet.

Water pressure?— take out the superduper water saver out of the showerhead.

Toilet paper falling out of the wall? — put in a plastic insert and screw it back in.

The nasty smell in the room?— not sure what it is, and I’m not sure if I want to know. But one thing is please know that using a lot of Fabuloso to try to cover that stink up does not help, it just makes it worse!

It’s not rocket science.

— aside from tracking down what is causing the nasty smell, a Handyman could do all those items in one afternoon.

Please call me when you have this all fixed. It’s only then that I would give you another try.

-- When you charge $300/night, you can't have these...

Disappointing Experience at The Beau in Gaslamp District, San Diego I regret to share my experience at The Beau in San Diego's Gaslamp District, which, unfortunately, did not live up to expectations. While the hotel’s architecture is stunning and the staff is welcoming and friendly, there were numerous issues that significantly impacted our stay. First, despite booking through Expedia, we were not provided with the room we paid for. We had reserved a double room, but upon arrival, we were taken to a single room instead. To make matters worse, the room had a strong odor of tar, which the staff attempted to cover up by spraying a scented air freshener. While the gesture was appreciated, it did little to address the underlying issue. If you're considering staying in a room on the third floor (particularly on the north side), be aware that the view is essentially a wall, and there is persistent loud music coming from somewhere nearby. This noise continued late into the night and shook the room until around 2 a.m., making it nearly impossible to sleep. In addition, we were informed that the hotel’s bar and restaurant would not be open until May, which was a significant disappointment, especially since these amenities were part of what attracted us to the hotel. On top of that, parking came at a steep additional cost of $40 per day. Another frustrating aspect of the stay was the TV situation. The hotel charges extra for television access, apart from YouTube (but not YouTube TV). This felt like an unnecessary additional cost, especially given the circumstances. Ultimately, we decided to cut our stay short and not spend a second night at the hotel. While the staff did provide us with a different room to address the booking error, we did not want to be separated. Unfortunately, despite the discomfort and inconvenience, the hotel refused to reimburse us for the terrible night we endured. Overall, while The Beau has potential due to its beautiful architecture and friendly staff, the lack of key amenities, issues with room quality, and poor handling of our complaints made it a disappointing choice for our stay. I would recommend carefully considering other options before...

Really bad experience at this hotel. I booked this hotel on hotels.com and trust me - the pictures are better than the place itself, but thats besides the point.

I booked one night instead of two, which was my mistake. I went to work the next morning and left my girlfriend in the hotel while she waited for her mom and sister to come pick her up. At 11am, housekeeping came down and told her it was time to check out - i checked my reservation and saw i only booked on night - which was my mistake, so we tried to book another night - they couldnt do it. Again, no big deal - I didnt like the hotel anyways so i booked another one.

But, my girlfriend had to pack the bags and get out of the room. At 11:15 - someone came back to the room banging on the door telling her she needed to leave now. She had no problem with that, but when she asked if someone could help her take the luggage downstairs, the man rudely told her no and shut the door in her face. My girlfriends little sister had to come up and help her take all of the luggage downstairs while everyone at this facility just sat and watched. My girlfriend called me in tears and i am livid about it. Just a horrible experience with this place and I would never put myself of my loved one here again.

Not to mention the walls are paper thin and the beds are extremely uncomfortable. I could deal with all of that, but not how they treated my girlfriend

When I called the manager, he just told me he talked to the guy and since his housekeeper said that he wasnt rude, my girlfriend must be lying....