San Diego Trip Report
Jan 22nd, 2008, 09:19 AM
#1
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San Diego Trip Report
Wow, what a beautiful city! A special thank you to Tahiti Tams and Barbara for being especially helpful and to all the other posters who provided me with useful information.
I was there this past weekend with some of my friends from high school .We went to high school in Panama (43 years ago) and meet in different cities every year or two for catching up.
Where we stayed: We booked the Sofia. $99 per night for a room with one or two queen beds, $149 per night for a suite. The rooms are very small, so the suite worked best for those who were sharing. Good value .
What we liked:
front desk staff: very nice and accomodating
amenities: great linens and free bottled water, microwaves, fridge and coffee maker in room (7/11 nearby)free internet in lobby and three computers plus a printer for guest use
beds: VERY nice, quite comfortable
Rooms are as noted very compact. They are well decorated and efficiently planned. The curtains are heavy and I was never disturbed by street noise (room 304)
Common areas are well decorated and make great conversation areas (despite the Christmas decor which is still up...a little wierd but tasteful)
Walking tour offered for free on Sat and Sunday morning. Excellent, just over an hour touring the Gaslamp district, Embarcadero and waterfront. Very well done.
Location: It was very easy to walk to shops (if there were any speciality or interesting shops in this area of San Diego, I never found them. Either the standard mall stuff or tourist souvenirs), restaurants, and clubs.
On site restaurant, Currant, and the bar: Loved this. The bar is very attractive, albeit rather noisy when the Charger fans are in high gear. Good happy hour. The dinner at the restaurant was excellent. We had the breakfast buffet every morning. Good strong coffee, house made pastries of extremely high quality, fresh berries, melon and pineapple, house made granola and french toast, and yogurt for $9.99. Perfect for us. Restaurant staff is very good, well informed, courteous and helpful.
What we didn't like:
Housekeeping, capricious at best. Some days they came, some days they didn't. I left most mornings by 7 and twice returned to change for dinner around 6 and the room had not been cleaned. Several of our group had delayed checkin and two were checked into rooms which had not been cleaned. (there are some management issues at the hotel, staff communication is not good. Checkout was slow for several people.)
Bathrooms: nearly all of us commented on this. They don't have a complete shower closure, a half wall of glass in the European style which yielded a wet (as in soaking) floor after showers
The bathroom door is a sliding glass (frosted) door which never fully shuts. Not a good thing in a shared room.
No exhaust fan.
The sink is on a stand outside the bathroom and is sloped so that if the water comes on a bit fast it will slosh all over the floor.
Highlights: Balboa Park was terrific. I had a great day there and enjoyed an excellent lunch at Prado.
Coronado. It is an interesting place for an afternoon trip. Unfortunately it was simply too chilly the day I went to ride my bike as I had planned. Ann Marie, I hope it was better for you!
Restaurants: I loved my dinner at Currants at the hotel. It was excellent. I also liked the food at Dakota, but the noise level was unbearable. We had dinner at a friend's home (wonderful catered meal) and a completely forgettable meal in Old Town.
I am looking forward to my next visit in November. Great city!
I was there this past weekend with some of my friends from high school .We went to high school in Panama (43 years ago) and meet in different cities every year or two for catching up.
Where we stayed: We booked the Sofia. $99 per night for a room with one or two queen beds, $149 per night for a suite. The rooms are very small, so the suite worked best for those who were sharing. Good value .
What we liked:
front desk staff: very nice and accomodating
amenities: great linens and free bottled water, microwaves, fridge and coffee maker in room (7/11 nearby)free internet in lobby and three computers plus a printer for guest use
beds: VERY nice, quite comfortable
Rooms are as noted very compact. They are well decorated and efficiently planned. The curtains are heavy and I was never disturbed by street noise (room 304)
Common areas are well decorated and make great conversation areas (despite the Christmas decor which is still up...a little wierd but tasteful)
Walking tour offered for free on Sat and Sunday morning. Excellent, just over an hour touring the Gaslamp district, Embarcadero and waterfront. Very well done.
Location: It was very easy to walk to shops (if there were any speciality or interesting shops in this area of San Diego, I never found them. Either the standard mall stuff or tourist souvenirs), restaurants, and clubs.
On site restaurant, Currant, and the bar: Loved this. The bar is very attractive, albeit rather noisy when the Charger fans are in high gear. Good happy hour. The dinner at the restaurant was excellent. We had the breakfast buffet every morning. Good strong coffee, house made pastries of extremely high quality, fresh berries, melon and pineapple, house made granola and french toast, and yogurt for $9.99. Perfect for us. Restaurant staff is very good, well informed, courteous and helpful.
What we didn't like:
Housekeeping, capricious at best. Some days they came, some days they didn't. I left most mornings by 7 and twice returned to change for dinner around 6 and the room had not been cleaned. Several of our group had delayed checkin and two were checked into rooms which had not been cleaned. (there are some management issues at the hotel, staff communication is not good. Checkout was slow for several people.)
Bathrooms: nearly all of us commented on this. They don't have a complete shower closure, a half wall of glass in the European style which yielded a wet (as in soaking) floor after showers
The bathroom door is a sliding glass (frosted) door which never fully shuts. Not a good thing in a shared room.
No exhaust fan.
The sink is on a stand outside the bathroom and is sloped so that if the water comes on a bit fast it will slosh all over the floor.
Highlights: Balboa Park was terrific. I had a great day there and enjoyed an excellent lunch at Prado.
Coronado. It is an interesting place for an afternoon trip. Unfortunately it was simply too chilly the day I went to ride my bike as I had planned. Ann Marie, I hope it was better for you!
Restaurants: I loved my dinner at Currants at the hotel. It was excellent. I also liked the food at Dakota, but the noise level was unbearable. We had dinner at a friend's home (wonderful catered meal) and a completely forgettable meal in Old Town.
I am looking forward to my next visit in November. Great city!
Jan 22nd, 2008, 09:50 AM
#2
Hi! I'm glad you had a mostly good time. The weather wasn't toooo chilly, I hope!
It's nice to have some details about your hotel. It's pretty new and I don't think anyone else here has used it.
It might be warmer in November.
It's nice to have some details about your hotel. It's pretty new and I don't think anyone else here has used it.
It might be warmer in November.
Jan 22nd, 2008, 10:12 AM
#4
Sounds like a fun reunion.
I hope it's warmer when you go back. Coronado would be wonderful for a bike ride. I loved just looking at the homes and the yads and flowers. It's the first time I realized a whole lot of people can live without screens on their windows!
I hope it's warmer when you go back. Coronado would be wonderful for a bike ride. I loved just looking at the homes and the yads and flowers. It's the first time I realized a whole lot of people can live without screens on their windows!
Jan 22nd, 2008, 04:28 PM
#7
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Cmc I'm glad you had a good time.
Your description of the shower made me laugh. I flooded the bathroom in Prague last year, and I had a hard time making myself understood at the front desk.
The price certainly was good .
And the breakfast sounds wonderful.
It all sounds great. Thanks for the report. It boosts San Diego up a few notches on my 'list'.
Your description of the shower made me laugh. I flooded the bathroom in Prague last year, and I had a hard time making myself understood at the front desk.
The price certainly was good .
And the breakfast sounds wonderful.
It all sounds great. Thanks for the report. It boosts San Diego up a few notches on my 'list'.
