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Another San Diego Hotel Gets So-So Reviews From the LA Times

Where: 432 F Street [map], San Diego, CA, United States, 92101

Yesterday the LA Times said the Ivy Hotel was too porn-centered (sample quote: "The 159-room, $90-million property could pass as Playboy Mansion South, from the skin-baring cocktail waitresses to the $3,000-a-night specialty suite with king-size bunk beds, a group shower and, ahem, a fireman's pole") and today the paper is again giving a new San Diego hotel a blah review.

This time the target is the The Keating Hotel.

The LA Times liked the slick design from the Pininfarina company, who is behind the design of Ferrari and Maserati cars. Indeed the paper writes: "If a hotel can be a sports car, then the Keating is one." However, under the hood there seems to be some problems:

The bare concrete floors were painted with the slick gray paint you see in car repair shops. The large shower enclosure was situated prominently in the bedroom; it's not opaque, so it's not for the shy, and there's no tub. The pebbly plastic sinks were set into a stainless-steel counter top; lotions and shampoos were in test tubes. Just as cars are built with compartments that hide and slide away, so was this room. The "dresser" is hidden in under-bed rolling drawers; the closet, too, rolls into an enclosure. The windows are shielded by blinds that look like the retractable sunshades in luxury sedans.

More problems include an absent turndown service, noisy neighborhood, no room service, bad lighting, a members-only club, and a random door that leads to an adjacent nightclub about which reviewer Valli Herman said: "I left fast, Ferrari fast."

Related Stories:
· San Diego's Keating Hotel looks slick but sputters [LA Times]