Tag: San Diego Hotel Reviews View All Tags
Tags: San Diego Hotel Reviews / San Diego Hotels / Hotel Openings / → All Tags
Mysterious 'Geisha Mermaids' at The Sè San Diego
You say Setai, we say Sè. San Diego's newest addition to their hotel scene, which was all set to be a Setai until the Miami property's Lehman Brothers affiliation sprang forth, has survived its first few months baring the fresher name of Sè San Diego.
With an "exclusive unveiling" rate beginning from $279, we've been holding our breath for the flood of first reviews, and were just rewarded with a full rundown in the LA Times' Travel section. The author, Beverly Beyette, scored $299 for a Valentine's night stay and proceeded to put the Sè through the paces, beginning with check-in difficulties and a displaced dinner and ending with curious hints at half-million dollar unisex bathrooms and "geisha mermaids."
Tags: Hard Rock Hotels / San Diego Hotel Reviews / Valli Herman / Hotel Staff / → All Tags
Does the Hard Rock's Vibe Manager Have Some Work To Do?
Art on the walls at Mary Jane's Coffee Shop at the Hard Rock SD.
The LA Times' Valli Herman recently reviewed the Hard Rock San Diego and for the most part, she liked the hotel. We think this is mostly because she was expecting a room and board version of the played-out Hard Rock Cafes, yet she found the hotel to be rather "well-run."
However, she did find the classic rock piping through the hotel to be a bit "goofy". She writes:
With a pantheon of classic, and often dead, rockers on heavy rotation, the hotel also isn't pushing any boundaries musically. After a few too many rounds of the Beatles, the Monkees and the Doors, I was tempted to call it the Classic Rock Hotel.
As we all know, the man responsible for the music at the hotel is Vibe Manager John W. Resnick. Now he might have to actually spend some time working at this job.
Still, Valli Herman had plenty of other nice things to say about the Hard Rock including this reassuring bit: "Snap-to-it service without attitude."
Tags: San Diego Hotel Scene / San Diego Hotel Reviews / → All Tags
Get Your Goldfish at the Utterly Cool Pearl San Diego
There's something to be said for having the imagination to turn a 1960s motel into a hip and happenin' hotel. We're quite impressed at how owner Greg Strangman has done this at the Pearl Hotel San Diego.
As well as renovating and refurnishing the rooms, Strangman and crew also sunk a heap of money and time into the public areas, creating a bar, poolside area and restaurant that are getting the locals talking as well as the guests.
The first few months of TripAdvisor reviews certainly show that the Pearl is living up to our expectations. Guests are raving about it! Just a few of the positives they mention are a funky atmosphere, friendly and fast staff, stylish furnishings, great lobby bar and poolside cafe, Xbox 360 available to play for free, and truly excellent food in their restaurant. And every second guest raved about having a pet fish in their room (they all have names, too).
Tags: San Diego Hotel Reviews / Reader Reviews / → All Tags
The Keating in San Diego is All Design and No Sleep
Usually we like to round up our favorite comments of the week and put them all together in a single post on Friday. But every now and then, there's a special commenter who grabs our attention. Namely, it's someone who stays at a hip new hotel and sends us their review.
We're not saying we don't appreciate the bed bug stories from Motel 11 in Indiana or Arkansas. Those are good to know for our next big road trip. But since we write so much about these new hip hotels we really want your take on them.
Hence, we are giving HotelChatter Maven Mari some big-ups today. She stayed at the brand new Keating Hotel in San Diego and wrote all about it. Now Mari, would you like two gold stars or the prized strawberry scratch n' sniff stickers?
Tags: Hotel Happenings / Hotel Bars / San Diego Hotel Reviews / → All Tags
Hotel Happening :: Beer Versus Wine at Rancho Bernardo Inn
This event has a little "What Will They Think of Next?" edge to it. Though in this summer of our bizzarely premature presidential campaign -- the election is still over 14 months away, people! -- it's a welcome relief to contemplate voting on anything other than who will be the next leader of the free world, especially when the candidates are as delectable as beer and wine.
On September 27, El Bizchocho Restaurant at Rancho Bernardo Inn in San Diego is hosting a six-course beer versus wine dinner.
Tags: Hotel Bars / Rooftop Bars / San Diego Hotel Reviews / → All Tags
Checking Out San Diego's Rooftop Hotel Bars
Altitude Skybar at Marriott San Diego in the Gaslamp Quarter.
An article in this month's Budget Travel mentioned 25 things to love about San Diego. And since we're big San Diego lovers we had to check it out.
The very first thing that BT loves is the rooftop bar at the Hotel Solamar, which we've already checked out. But BT informs us that the Marriott in the Gaslamp Quarter also has a bar atop their hotel, the Altitude Skybar. Here's a description from the hotel website.
22 stories above downtown with stunning ocean, skyline, and ballpark views. Altitude Skybar & Garden Lounge named to Conde Nast Traveler's 10th annual Hot List!
Flickr has some photographic evidence of the ballpark views and they are pretty sweet.
Yet those two aren't the only ones with rooftop bars in San D. We cover a few more after the jump.
Tags: Haunted Hotels / San Diego Hotel Reviews / Hotel News / → All Tags
Hotel Del Coronado Ghost 'Speaks'
We've written about the famously haunted Hotel Del Coronado and its creepiness before. Legend has it, a 24-year-old preggers golddigger named Kate Morgan checked into the hotel under the false name Lottie Bernard. A few days later, she was found dead near the hotel's back entrance and her death was ruled a suicide.
This was 1892, by the way, and girlfriend has been hanging around the hotel ever since. She pulls the cliche ghost-y moves like slamming doors and randomly turning on TVs, nothing new, but people have also reported an ultra-freaky indentation on pillows (like a head is resting there) that keeps reappearing despite fluffing or tossing the pillow. Ew.
Tags: San Diego Hotel Reviews / → All Tags
Disappointing Bar and Restaurant Scene at the Ivy Hotel for One Guest
[Ed. Note: Hotel Maven Cavazoo stopped by the just-opened Ivy Hotel in San Diego and was not too pleased with the food and bar service.]
Upon entering the Ivy Hotel in San Diego, CA I was instantly mesmerized by the luxury and innovative design of the space and expected the service and crowd to match. I was, however, sorely disappointed.
Tags: Hotel Opening Rates / San Diego Hotel Reviews / → All Tags
Hotel Opening Rate :: The Keating
If you weren't turned off by the LA Times so-so review of The Keating Hotel in San Diego, then you will be happy to hear of the hotel's opening rate specials. Or will you?
The site says the Spring Special Rates are good until June 20th but when we checked a regular Stanza is going for $359 on weekends while during the week it's as low as $319. That doesn't sound like a very big deal to us.
However, if you select the Promotional Rates near the bottom of the booking rate, you can see the "Keating Prepaid Special" which means if you book online, pay in full and don't cancel you can score a room for $323 on a weekend night. But judging from the recent review, you may want to wait until the opening kinks have been smoothed out.
Related Stories:
· Another San Diego Hotel Gets So-So Reviews From the LA Times [HotelChatter]
· Hotels in San Diego [HotelChatter]
Tags: Valli Herman / San Diego Hotel Reviews / Hotel Openings / → All Tags
Another San Diego Hotel Gets So-So Reviews From the LA Times
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]
Tags: Omni Hotels / San Diego Hotel Reviews / MLB Travel / Baseball Park Hotels / → All Tags
Omni Hotel San Diego's Secret Petco Park Lair
A super secret HotelChatter spy in San Diego snapped this shot of the Omni Hotel San Diego's special entrance to Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres baseball team. If you stay at the Omni, you won't have to fight the crowds to get to your seat at the game. You can just walk through this entrance here on the 5th floor of the hotel. The skybridge will take you to the plaza level of the stadium where you can grab a bite to eat before watching the game.
Our informant also let us know that the owner of the Padres owns the Omni as well and has the top floor all to himself. So if you big spenders are trying to book the rooftop and can't, now you know why.
Related Stories:
· Omni Hotels [HotelChatter]
Tags: Killer View / San Diego Hotel Reviews / → All Tags
Room with a Killer View? Embassy Suites San Diego
A very close friend of HotelChatter sent us this view from Room 1016 at the Embassy Suites San Diego. Our friend insists that this view is a Killer View, it's just that he only had his cellphone camera handy.
We admit this could be killer if you overlooked the parking lot and concentrated on the San Diego Bay and the U.S.S. Midway Aircraft Carrier. But it doesn't really excite us. That's why, once again, we're calling out to you readers to pleasepleaseplease send us your room views or upload them to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool . These can be killer or anti-views, but preferably killer so we don't have to rely on last-minute camera phone shots.
Hotels In: Africa | Asia | Australia | Caribbean | Europe | North America | South America
Our Publications:
Jaunted | HotelChatter | VegasChatter
