Review: W Hotel San Diego

It's nice that they've added blackout curtains in the rooms. They used to have only white louvered shutters (which look like they are still there behind the curtains). The shutters looked nice, but did next to nothing to darken the rooms.

The room reminds me of IKEA. Don't know why.

I'm usually a big fan of W hotels but the W San Diego is one of the poorer ones from the brand. The rooms are so outdated and their pool is a joke. But I think SPG gets this so it's appropriately priced as a Category 4 unlike other W hotels which tend to be Cat 5 or 6.

Very nice toilet picture. Thank you.

They totally hired an Ikea designer. It looks OK for $151/night. Tiny swimming pool would be a no go with kids and San Diego weather.

This hotel really looks like shit.
South Beach is one of the only non-cheesy looking W's in the system.
I think I just hate the brand.

JRL

So basically the Cool Corner Room is...a normal room with a long corridor for an entrance?

Being that I work essentially next door to this hotel, I'm glad your take on it was essentially the same as mine. The last time I was there was before their renovation, however, so it was good to see what has changed.

I do agree, however, with others that this hotel is not nearly as impressive as some other "W" properties - though at $150 and listed as a category 4, it meets expectations.

Curious to see your other reviews. We enjoy an occasional "staycation" and have drifted among several of the local properties.

The room was already turned down at 9:00 a.m., with curtains drawn and robe splayed across the bed? Not cool.

Interesting.. Agree the pool is useless. Rooms dont look too luxurious for the brand. How was the area around the hotel? Were you there on a weekend? Curious about noise from the rooftop. Headed to San Diego ourselves this spri g and have nights at the Grand Hyatt Manchester (been there?) and the Park Hyatt Aviara (read your review).

Totally unappealing to me. Looks very cheap and tacky. We stayed at the Hyatt Manchester over the holidays and loved it. Recently renovated so the public spaces are really nice, rooms were comfortable, lounge on the 33rd floor is huge with good offerings for breakfast and evening snacks. Their pool area is also very big with fire pits. A family was roasting marshmallows when we were there, but we were too late to get the s'mores kit they sell at their deli on property. Next time we're in the area, we're definitely trying that. Oh, and great views of the water. Definitely our 'go to' hotel when we're in San Diego next.

@ Dima -- Probably because that's where they bought the furniture. 😉

@ wwk5d -- Hah, in fairness the entry level "Wonderful Room" does look quite a bit smaller:
http://www.starwoodhotels.com/whotels/property/rooms/room_class_detail.html?propertyID=1433&roomClassId=1000492696

@ Mark S. -- Generally agree, though I'll give them the benefit of the doubt on this one. My guess is they expected a guest to arrive late the previous evening, and hadn't "unturned" down the room yet. I can't hold that against them when they let me check in so early. 🙂

Probably zero people care about this, but I find two things infuriating about Kelvin Restaurant's name.

1) "Kelvin is the unit of measurement to gauge COLOUR TEMPERATURE." Uh, sure, but it's also a unit of measurement to gauge HEAT temperature.

1a) Why on earth did they spell "colour" with a "u"? For that matter, why is "COLOUR TEMPERATURE" in capital letters?

2) The degree mark (°) in front of the K shouldn't be there. Room temperature is not 295 degrees Kelvin; it's simply 295 Kelvin, which is rendered simply as 295 K.

:end rant:

I used to live in SD and compare to the other big hotels the location of the property was a little bit strange for me, on the back side of both commercial area and Little Italy with tons of homeless people sleeping on the surrounding streets

I really don't get their showers either. There's basically a foggy glass wall separating them from the main living area, which is a huge privacy issue. I do like the brand, designs and service though.

@ Steven L -- glad to see I'm not the only one who couldn't figure out why there's a degree sign in from of K on their sign!