Rooftop Cinema Club Embarcadero — Local services in San Diego

This was SUCH a fabulous find! I don't usually pay attention to FB ads, but I am so glad I did this time!

We've always loved to sit outside and watch TV so this was the perfect setting for us, I booked as soon as I checked out their website and some reviews. We chose our movie, which started at 3:15. I was a little worried about the sun but they timed the movie start PERFECTLY, the seating was out of the sun by then. Towards the end of the movie, the sun did hit the screen a bit but the quality of the screen is a good one and we saw the entire movie just fine.

Adirondack chairs are the perfect choice. They've got a decent pad on them, but after reading reviews I still took a pillow just in case - used it for more lumbar support because they've got head cushions attached. I also took a blanket, because you never know what the wind will be like, and I'm glad I did because I needed it after the sun went to the other side of the building.

They've got games to play while you're waiting for your movie to start (they send you an email with the time you're allowed in, we got to go an hour early). There's a bar (which I did not partake in) and a snack shack. Their snacks are traditional movie fare, which I'll admit is a bit of a disappointment. But I knew that going in so we didn't expect to have a 'real' meal while we were there. I'd read that the popcorn is 'meh' and I'd say that I agree, we will still purchase it when we go again.

The headsets are a good quality and we experienced no difficulties operating them. I have always hated over-the-ear headsets, so ended out holding them off my ears for a bit (some doctor told me it's an issue with the cartilage so unless they're the size of Princess Leia hair buns then I'm uncomfortable in them). It would be great if there was some way that I could use my own headset, but I know that's like a LOT to ask for.

The website isn't the easiest to navigate, you don't get to see all of the movies on one page - you have to scroll left and right. That's not the fault of the local folks, so I don't want to ding them on it.

Parking - depending on the day of the year, it's possible you can use the hotel's parking garage (I believe they validate your parking and you get a discounted rate, but don't recall). We went on the 4th of July and they informed customers that the garage was only for hotel guests. But they are right at one of the green trolley stops, so not hard to get to if you do public transport or walk.

We LOVE LOVE LOVE this concept and will go again. What a great use of space, especially in an area with weather like SD.

Thank you for reading my review. Maybe I'll see you...

It was my first time to this place. It began poorly and unfortunately ended even worse. When I got there I thought I could buy a ticket from the box office if they had one, but I was told that I would have to buy my ticket online. I saw something on the website about a military discount but when I asked them, they told me they didn’t know about it. Not a huge deal but still a little confusing and annoying. At least the woman at the front was very nice and the guy at the concessions was also very pleasant. The big problem came after the movie. I took the elevator down to the hotel lobby and went to use the restroom but it was locked. I proceeded to the front desk and explained that I had just come down from the Rooftop Cinema and needed to use the restroom. Both front desk agents acted like they were clueless about the restroom situation. The male front desk agent was especially dismissive and said there was nothing he could do. The funny twist here is that I used to work for Hyatt Hotels so I know that he could have easily gotten a restroom key to give me access. So I had to escalate the issue and requested to speak to the Manager on Duty and even then the male front desk agent hesitated to call. I also explained to him that there would be other patrons coming down after me needing to use the restroom but he ignored me. Sure enough at least five other patrons came down asking to use the restroom. All I could do was laugh at the incompetence of the front desk. Finally the Manager came down and opened the restrooms for all of us. By the way not one employee of the hotel apologized for any inconvenience or even smiled for that matter. They all need to be retrained. As a side note, I was told that the hotel doesn’t own the cinema. However, since the cinema is located on hotel property there must be some sort of contract/agreement for the cinema to be there. Which means that because the cinema restrooms are closed for renovations, there should have been communication between the cinema and hotel in order to make restroom accommodations for the patrons of the late showing. What a bad experience, hopefully the problem gets fixed. Until it does, I will not be back to this place. It’s a shame because it’s such a great late night entertainment concept. For the record, all of this happened tonight Monday, 8/4 after the 10pm showing of How To Lose A Guy...

I’ve been coming and seeing movies at this cinema for a while and have always had a great time, even bringing friends, I even saw the dark night for the first time ever at this cinema which was pretty momentous for my friends and i!

But recently, my friend and I went to play pickleball and the courts were in disarray; only two had nets set up and they were in use. We looked around for a worker for a while, trying not to be a bother, but no one responded. Figuring they didn’t care, we started moving a net ourselves.

Out of nowhere, a worker ran over and yelled at us that we’d “been told several times” not to do that, which was confusing because no one had spoken to us. I apologized and asked why, and if we could move a different net. Suddenly, four more workers came out and just started yelling “you can’t do that,” claiming there were plenty of courts (there weren’t) and not actually offering any help.

The whole thing felt surreal, like a prank. They said we’d be blocking a line (there wasn’t one, and the next showing was three hours away). We were open to using any court, but they wouldn’t communicate. Eventually, someone finally came over and asked with an obvious attitude why “had to use that one,” and we explained that we didn’t,,,, we’d tried to ask about other options multiple times and why there was an issue to begin with.

I’ve worked in the service industry for years, so I always try to be understanding and respectful. But this interaction was just frustrating and bizarre. There was no effort to solve the issue, just hostility.

What’s disappointing is that I’ve loved coming here, but this experience genuinely made me question returning. It felt like they were playing a joke on us with how over the top the reaction was. I assume they’ve had problems in the past, but we weren’t trying to break rules,, we tried to ask and got ignored.

Thankfully, a nearby family saw what happened and invited us to join their game, so the night ended well. But really, all of this could’ve been avoided if someone had just calmly said, “Hey, you can’t move this net, but here’s what...