HOTEL REVIEW | RATING: * * *
Hilton San Diego Resort & Spa: renovations and rough patches
The touched-up resort has 18 acres of diversions for all -- families, sightseers, even the lethargy-loving.
Hilton San Diego Resort & Spa on Mission Bay
Southern California hotel reviews
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THE GIST:
Three things I liked:
• Contemporary renovations improve the indoors and the outdoors.
• The parklike setting on Mission Bay.
• Children’s amenities make it an excellent family destination.
Three things I didn't:
• At check-in, an inferior room was offered for the price of a superior one
• Food service and preparation seem institutional.
• Inadequate in-room storage.
What's a vacationer to do in these times of high prices for fuel, food and fun -- the fundamentals of travel?
Strategize.
It may pay to choose a hotel loaded with lots of extras that make the cost seem less painful. Otherwise, a budget vacation can seem like ordering a decaf, nonfat, soy latte. If I want deprivation, I'll stay home.
For more ideas on where to stay in Southern California, visit our hotel reviews page.
That logic may be why the freshly renovated Hilton San Diego Resort & Spa on Mission Bay has been sold out most weekends this summer, even with rates that range from about $219 to $849 a night, with most in peak season at $300 and up.
With its multifaceted appeal, the resort is a crash pad for sightseeing tourists and also a self-contained haven for the lethargy-loving.
The sprawling, Mission-style resort has finished a second phase of renovations that makes staying on the property a more attractive option. The hotel's management company, Noble House Hotels & Resorts, oversaw $8 million in improvements to the lobby, pool area, gift shop and Acqua restaurant and added the Aroma coffee bar.
Last summer, the resort finished a classy $13-million rehab that tidied up public areas and turned the 357 guest rooms and suites into convincing imitations of pricier boutique hotel rooms. Essence, the resort's new $5-million spa, features residential, not clinical, décor throughout the nine treatment rooms and lounge.
But first impressions during my visit on a sold-out weekend in mid-July primed me to expect the worst. After driving nearly three hours from downtown Los Angeles, I had to flag down valets and bellmen at check-in. I had booked, weeks earlier, the least expensive room available ($351 for a total of $417 with tax and $22 for parking), but my sister, Leslie, and I didn't get our promised two queen beds and "villa garden view."
Instead, we were booked into the hotel's high-rise overlooking the noisy freeway -- a cheaper room, with no offer to reduce the rate. After a 45-minute dispute, during which we refused a room with a rollaway bed and witnessed other unhappy guests with the same problem, we were upgraded to a much larger studio room in the villas with the appropriate beds and view. (I never mentioned that I was a reviewer.) We were even happier when the front-desk manager sent a bottle of chilled chardonnay to slake our annoyance.
Lesson: Always carry printouts of your confirmed reservations, study the property map and be sure you're getting what you paid for.
Both the high-rise and studio rooms felt comfortable and featured sophisticated ruby and espresso tones on bedding and furniture, faux-stone bathroom tile. But TVs were CRT, and the storage space was skimpy.
The bathroom was well-illuminated and the beds cozy with lightweight comforters and quilted bed throws. Internet connection ($11.95 a day) is not wireless and may anchor you to an ill-proportioned writing desk and chair.
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