
Booked a double room for the fourth of July weekend and had the worst experience from the gecko. Before we arrived, I had called the hotel to check my reservation and asked about early check-in fees. The person on the phone stated there were no early check-in charges and it was a matter if there were availability. Informed her that we will be arriving in 1.5 hours or at 9:30am and she informed us that there is a room available for us. We got here at 9:30am and I went to the front desk to check in. The staff assisting me told me that there will be a $25 early check-in per night if I check in before noon but no additional charges if I check in after noon. I told her that one of their staff told me there are no charges to check in when I called to check my reservation. She insisted that there is a charge. At this point I was like ok that's fine and didn't want to argue with her. We decided to go out to get brunch then come back at 12. We came back a few mins after noon to check in again and was assisted by the same person. The person told me that there will be a $25 charge for checking in early. I told her that she was the one who told me that there will not be any charges after noon. She said no there is still a charge for checking in early. I was not happy about this. I told her that it's absolutely outrageous that she is telling me two different things and making me run around. But not only that, her words are also inconsistent with what I was told over the phone. I told her that I spoke with her when I came in at 9:30am and it was her who told me there are no rees after noon. She then proceeded to say oh we aren't supposed to do that and that she remembered me and that she will waive the fee this time as if I was in the wrong. First of all, if she had told me earlier that there will be an early charge to check in before 4pm, I would not have been running around and would have came back at 4pm. In addition to that, the room was dusty when we walked in. The entire table and dresser was covered in dust as if they never cleaned this place.The dust in the room immediately triggered my allergies. I would never stayed if my trip was more than 2 nights. The fridge door was broken. The beds were small for a 4 person room. The bed was like a plus size twin bed. Mind you, we are petit Asian too and it felt like two people barely fit on the bed. The bed is supposed to be for two persons. The parking is $42 per night and the parking area by our tower is always jam packed and barely any handicap parking near the building. Good location as it is walking distance to seaport village, pier, little italy, and gaslamp district but cleanliness and service are horrible. I will never come back...
Read moreUpon early check-in the front desk lady immediately wanted to charge us a fee for checking in early. I memtioned that I called in earlier and was told it wasnt a problem, it was not enought I then had to ask if being a diamond member changes things. She was still reluctant, I had to insist that its a benefit and more importantly I already called in and asked, eventually she gave in. Moving forward I asked if theres an upgrade available, we asked if there is a large room available due to having a baby and carrying a lot of baby necessities, we were also worried of disturbing others. She immediately said there is a charge for upgrading. I again had to ask if being a diamond member allows for an upgrade, she reluctantly said shes dont think so and i had to ask her to check. After she checked she seemed unhappy and just gave us our room keys and told us if we have any questions just call from the hotel room. No pool information, no map, no breakfest information.... no information or guidance of any kind. We walked around blindly looking for our building and room. Once we got to our room we were immediately disappointed as our room had two connecting rooms. Not only were we afraid of others entering our rooms we were also afraid of the baby crying at night and disturbing those around us. I will say that the only thing that we were happy with was the bay view. The locatuon of the hotel is very good being in the center of things. We just tried to forget the bad experience and look forward to the good stuff like the view and things to do. The next morning i called the front desk to ask for breakfest information and the lady that answered said there is no breakfest. I mentioned to her that on the website it shows breakfest available. She casually said she is aware of this but there is no breakfest and that she will inform the manager. At this point I broke and became frustrated and angry. It was sickening how they purposefully mislead people with false advertisement. Almost like a bait and switch tactic to lure people in and then its too late to change anything. We had mutiple available hotel option to us and we ended up deciding on this hotel due to the breakfest, there were other hotels we could have went with. To sum it up:||The service was bad.||The intenet was bad to non-existent.||There were no amenities to utilize.||The hotel room was old||Again the only thing good about this hotel is...
Read moreThe location of this property is perfect, but overall it feels more like a strong 3-star hotel than the 4-star rating advertised.
On the positive side, the staff were gracious enough to upgrade our room after learning it was my young daughter’s first visit to San Diego before school starts. That gesture was appreciated.
However, there were several issues that made our stay less enjoyable:
Hidden Fees: We prepaid all nightly and property fees in advance, but upon arrival were hit with an undisclosed “Destination Fee” of $25 per day. You don’t learn about this until check-in, yet you’re charged even if you cancel. It felt deceptive.
The junk fees are illegal in California. We won't be paying them.
Dining Limitations: Microwaves are not included in the rooms, presumably to encourage dining at the hotel restaurants—which close early. This meant dragging my daughter out late at night to find food offsite when she got hungry.
Housekeeping Concerns: Each time housekeeping came through, small cosmetic items would disappear. It didn’t feel like theft, more like carelessness, but still unsettling. Most concerning was when my daughter’s medicated skin patches, left on the bathroom counter, were gone when we returned.
Room Condition: The room was dated. The shower grout had black stains, the shower faucet leaked, so we heard the shower leak all night.
Safety Issues: The balcony railings were cracked and rusted, with visible deterioration around the concrete slabs and bolts. I did not feel safe letting my daughter lean on them. (With a background in construction, I pay close attention to these details.)
Excessive Pricing: The hotel left bottled water in the room one day, which my daughter drank after returning from an excursion. Only afterward did we realize each bottle was $10, so I left the other water bottle full on the desk, but they're charging for two bottles of water for $20 anyway. Between that, the hidden fees, and inflated charges at local restaurants, it often felt like we were being nickel-and-dimed.
Buyer Beware: Be prepared for surprise fees, no in-room microwaves, deferred maintenance, and overpriced extras. We also noticed restaurants around San Diego charging more than menu prices, so keep receipts and check bills carefully.
The location is excellent, but the overall value and experience did not match what...
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