Holiday Inn San Diego On The Bay Hotel

Went to a reunion event held at the hotel. Room was adequate (I’m easily pleased). Staff did an excellent job on the event and seemed friendly. Only complaint was during check-​in. Okay, after a 6 hr drive we arrived early (1 PM). We were told to check back at 3 PM as the room was not prepped yet (and they did call housekeeping to fix it). Came back at 3 and the room was still not ready (again, housekeeping was checked) and it was also shift change. It was suggested that I return at 4. I declined and just stood waiting. After a couple of phone calls, the room was ready at about 3:15. Picky, I know, but… Being old and half deaf, I didn’t notice any water noise.
Note: we stayed in the older section of the hotel.

Are you looking for a hotel for a special event? Look no further the staff her a wonderful. Charlene Poissot and her staff are fantastic to work with. I highly recommend you give them a call.

Not bad kinda pricey pool sucks and the gym lobby Secruity can be bttr but rooms were actually surprising clean restaurant located in the same place kinda helps and a steak house next door but the city in general is awesome but the free bus they offer is a shame takes u no were waste of time. Wouldn’t go there again unless I had no choice. Cause lack of amenities

After the first few hrs of being here, I’m ready to check out. This HI was just like a crapy Best Western or a Motel 6. Except rooms are around $ 140.
Room looks like a used furniture store and the walls are paper thin. I can even hear my neighbor fart!
No fridge, no microwave, no padding left on the office chair & the rooms are very small.
Vallet is very professional, those guys are great & the staff is friendly.
Now, work on the rest.

Location, Location, Location!
Long before Monkey started running, whenever waiting for the shuttle, runners inspired… Dark and early mornings, afternoons, evenings… runners ran by. Monkey now happily stays here for business, only to enjoy being one of those runners as well.
Nevermind the plumbing makes noise when you need water, can hear planes taking off as if you were at the airport, pillows are tagged «soft» & «firm», yet suck either way… Nevermind when you turn on the heat, cold air swirls into you room. Monkey love the location on the bay, close to downtown, Balboa Park, fantastic sunsets and only a pedicab away from nearby shopping. South Tower bay view rooms give you a bird’s eye view of the visiting cruise ship. Enjoy the direct hit of the fog horn when it leaves in the evening!
Concierge is helpful and eager to please. Free Wifi worked well. A generous 5 stars for the location, minus 2 for having to put up with what you shouldn’t have to, leaves a compromising 3.

There’s wifi
Parking is far and getting around the buildings is sometimes confusing Specially at night. It also gets crowded fast. And there’s a daily parking fee of 22 dlls.
If you get a room with a view of the bay. Totally worth it.

Not one of the best Holiday Inns that I’ve ever stayed at. The location of this place is wonderful if you’re partaking in any boat trips that leave out of the harbor. Totally walking distance… an easy 8 mins. The location was kind of the only good point. I’d say.
We paid an extra few dollars to have a «bay view» and while the view was fine, the balcony was a total joke. You could open the slider door, but you couldn’t walk or stand on the balcony… it was what is more commonly known as a «Juliet balcony».
The hotel itself is in desperate need of a makeover… everything just looks really old to me. The room & bathroom were both pretty small. The bed wasn’t very comfortable and OMG the pillows on the bed were for midgets… literally. They were MAYBE as long as wrist to elbow on my arm. That was terrible. The shower situation was an older model tub with a shower curtain… ew.
The front desk staff was very accommodating and was more than happy to fill my request of 2 rooms right next to each other for our friends… I’ve had hotels have problems with that before, so that was nice.
The restaurant attached to it Elephant and Castle Pub was pretty cool, but that is a separate review.
All-​in-​all, I wouldn’t stay here again UNLESS I was going to be a part of another boat cruise out of that harbor that I was going to be drinking on and wanted easy access back to a hotel without a cab.

I was not impressed… I didn’t pick the hotel and actually wanted to book at a different location nearby for an extra star and less than $ 40 more. I wish I would have…
The guy at the desk barely spoke English, there was some kind of mix-​up about our reservation (we used Priceline) but they got us the same type of room we booked — a king bay view.
There was a heated argument between staff and a group of patrons in the bar downstairs that moved into the lobby as we checked in… not the best first impression.
Our room was clean, spacious and over-​all quite nice. Everything looked new-​er and we had a nice LCD TV. We had a good 14-​th floor view, as well.
Shortly after checking in, I received an email receipt notifying me of a charge on my card from the hotel… one that I was not made aware of or given any kind of receipt for. Needless to say, I was not pleased.
I did see a piece of paper that was slid under our door while we were sleeping when we woke up and that was a receipt for a $ 22 charge for parking. What the what?! Spend $ 170 for a room and parking wasn’t included… that was lame.
I mentioned the fact that I was not pleased about the lack of communication when we checked out but I gather they hear it a lot.
Overall — room was nice, I’d rate it a 3.5÷5. Service — ¹⁄₅.
I doubt I’ll return.

I must say for the location, view adn price this Holiday Inn is pretty clutch! It is literally right on the bay and our room from the 3^rd floor had a great view over looking the water, the Star of India, and a vacationing cruise ship. We defiantly enjoyed the fresh bay air by keeping out patio door open the entire time.
It is also great walking distance for exploring the fun areas of San Diego. It takes about 5 minutes to walk to Little Italy/​Old Town and then just over 10 minutes to walk to the Gaslamp/​Horton Plaza! What more could you want in a single location?
The only downfall is noise. Because this hotel is located on the north side of Harbor Drive, you are closer to the airport. Therefore, you can easily hear planes landing and taking off from SD Airport. The second noise addition is the fog horn that goes off in intervals all night. It simply faded into the background for us, luckily. If you are a light sleeper though, you might want to stay somewhere else.

The location of this Holiday Inn is great, but otherwise the hotel is just ‘alright.’ It’s well-​worn. and has undergone seemingly half-​hearted attempts at modernization — new and aged segments within the rooms don’t really blend, and the areas where work was done are glaringly visible. The rooms were generally clean and bright, which was helped by light-​toned furnishings. The brightness made stains on the desk chair and carpets visible, but it wasn’t too bad. The bathroom was clean also, except for the mold-​stained shower. (I was also disappointed by the low water pressure in the shower, but I’m greedy about that.) The daily cleaning quality was widely inconsistent. The noise on the ‘back’ side of the hotel (the Pacific Hwy side) didn’t bother me. .. but I love the sound of train horns and am used to general road-​traffic noise, so this may be something for others to be aware of.
The hotel is located right across N. Harbor Dr. from the water and the maritime museum, a couple blocks from Little Italy, and a 20-​minute walk from Seaport Village and the most lively areas of downtown. It’s also about a 20-​minute bus ride from Balboa Park — you could probably walk in around an hour — although the hotel has free shuttles there off and on throughout the day. The staff is very friendly, welcoming, and knowledgeable.

Here is a story for you —
My gf and I decided to take a last minute trip to SD on LDW. Almost everywhere was sold out aside from the ridiculously expensive hotels — so we had to settle for the Holiday Inn — which was fine since we did not plan on spending much time in our room anyway.
I requested the highest floor they have with the best view. The reservation desk told me that the highest floor they have with regular rooms is the 12^th floor because they do not have a 13^th floor and the 14^th floor is strictly suites. She guaranteed the 12^th floor and «upgraded» us from the skyline view to the bay view.
We arrive at the hotel — check-​in — get in the elevator and stop at the 2^nd floor. (–_​-​) I immediately went back down, with the bellhop following us (annoyed), and told the gentleman at the front that I was supposed to have the 12^th floor. This manager was a younger gentleman and was very accommodating when he realized their mistake. Unfortunately, we had to be «downgraded» again to the skyline view because they had already given away all the rooms with a bay view.
Honestly, I liked the skyline view much better. Maybe because I love the city lights.
Moving forward — we get to our room and it is barely decent but we manage. Get ready to go out to the bars, leave the room, gf forgets jacket — walk back to the door and realize our keycard does not work. I jiggle the doorknob and walk right into my room WITHOUT A KEY.
Now, I am thankful my gf forgot her jacket because otherwise either all of our belongings were going to disappear or we would return from the bar with a psycho tailng us and give him full access to our room and ourselves. (Did i mention both my gf and I are very young and pretty?:) or worse — WHAT IF WE HAD CHILDREN WITH US?!
We call the front desk and demand to speak with a manager — by this time, the managers have changed shifts and we have an older «gentleman» named Rafael. He tells us that security went up and the door lock has been fixed — we are free to go back up to the room. My gf and I said there is NO WAY we are staying in that room again — we DO NOT FEEL SAFE.
Rafael did not seem pleased by this. He unhappily offers to «upgrade» us and «do anything to make your (our) stay more pleasant». It is way passed 10PM and we have nowhere else to go so we humor him and listen to his offer. Based on the type of hotels I have visited in the past, an upgrade is something better no? lol
He says «Trust me. This room is much better. It is definitely an upgrade. You will love it.» And i told him specifically do NOT MAKE ME WALK to a different building to see a room that I am not going to be satisfied with. Sure enough — he sends me to the TENTH FLOOR of the South tower (I was on the 12^th originally) to a room that is not only smaller than our but has a horrible view of the top of buildings and ¼ of a bay view!!!
Pissed off — I march down and tell him that this is no upgrade whatsoever and he acts SURPRISED lol. I was very close to losing my patience with this «gentleman» but I bit my tongue. He says «Okay, okay — now this room — you will have zero complaints about. I am sure. It is definitely an upgrade and it is on the 14^th floor.»
My gf and I were under the impression that the 14^th floor were the suites — based on what the reservations desk told us — so we walked to check them out and guess again!!! LOL we walk up and it is the same exact room as ours on the 12^th floor but with a horrible horrible ½ bay view ½ roofs of buildings. At this point — i was done.
I walked down — told him we are staying in our original room but we are leaving in the morning to the San Diego Marriott Marquis & Marina who were charging the same exact rate as the Holiday Inn on the second night. Rafael did not even budge or seem to care. He did not even comp us the room that night and we ended up paying for a room that had a broken lock.
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***Might I add — — - the balconies are extremely DANGEROUS because they are way too low. I am 5’7″ and with heels i become 5’11″ at least and I felt like I was going to fall over. The railing only came up to about the BOTTOM of my pants pocket.
***Also — the balconies are literally attached to one another with ZERO sense of privacy. I could see straight into both of the rooms next to us, including all of the balconies on either end.
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Check out my awesome review of the Marriott after we switched hotels!

$ 135 for one night? 2 queen beds? Ummmm that’s a bit much… for that price, I could have stayed in Vegas at the Bellagio or the Caesar’s Palace… come on now, this is a Holiday Inn. Ok but besides being overpriced, they did have a pretty neat room. It was basic and had basic cable. Shower and bathroom looked neat and organized. Our «view» out the balcony was of the back of buildings… nothing great.

Pros… great location, on the Bay, and the staff was very friendly and helpful
Cons… room was clean and just that, a room with a view of another building… blah
strange noises like a banging pipes sound at night, shower took forever to heat up in the morning and the water pressure wasn’t getting the soap out of my hair anytime soon.

I’m not sure where to begin. Not my favorite Holiday Inn. Outside of the location, I am not sure why people would choose this hotel. It was dated and simply not up to par. The cooling system didn’t seem to be working. The counter space in the bathroom was nonexistent.
I will say the valet/​concierge was helpful and kind, but everyone else seemed uninterested.
Again, the location is amazing and if you get a view of the bay, fantastic… but that’s about it.

If you’re cruising out of this port of San Diego, then do what we did, we booked a room for two for about $ 112 and then upgraded for $ 40 to a 5^th floor room that had the Harbor View – ask for the South Tower.
This did two things: (1) got us away from the train noise that everyone had complained about if you stay in the other tower that faces the train tracks with all the incessant dinging of the crossing rails and the blowing of the train horns, and (2) got a great view of the harbor in a serviceable (but dated) room, with a balcony.
In fact, we woke the next morning to find the ship we were to sail on pointed directly at us, since it docked on the same pier we were facing. You also have a view of the Midway Museum located a few piers to the left.
So this hotel has a great location if you save yourself the aggravation of the noise by asking for a harbor view in a high room.

I was there a user meeting conference. I like Westin hotels better. The bed in my room 555 was uncomfortable, mediocre catered food, no safe to store my laptop, no fridge to keep my drinks cold. The flow rate and pressure on the shower is very low.
Only plus side is that housekeeping was very good about making the bed nicely and restocked everything well.
I paid $ 140 a night, while I could have paid $ 100 at another Westin nearby. I only stayed at Holiday Inn because there conference was there. Next year, I will plan to stay at another hotel.

Very happy with the price we paid for the room, the location is prime and the free wifi a double plus.
We really had a good time walking to the maritime activities which are right across the street.
Here’s a little hint: don’t pay the overnight parking fee of $ 24. You can park for free at the meter parking after 6pm as long as you are on your way by 9am in the morning. And who isn’t when you’re a tourist on vacation wanting to see the sights!

The location can’t be beat– right on the marina with a few floating ship museums right across the street. The hotel is walking distance from the airport — did it yesterday in 25 minutes– and near enough to downtown ammenities that a carless trip is possible.
The hotel is showing its age, and there’s signs that maintenece hasn’t been spectacular. Like in the elevator, an empty phone box, just sitting there empty with the door hanging off.
Still it’s comfortable, clean, has decent free soap…
But what the heck is wrong with people who SMOKE in non-​smoking rooms. The smell NEVER COMES OUT. I signed the stringent non-​smoking policy, then went to my room that smelled of a freshly cleaned ashtray.

This Holiday Inn is need of a drastic face lift STAT.
Located along the waterfront, I originally thought that this hotel would make a for a nice stay and far enough away from the craziness to give me a comfortable nights stay. From the very beginning I knew I was dead wrong. The parking area is confusing. After finding a parking spot trying to find the main lobby/​check in area was a challenge.
There are separate towers and I was assigned to the tower furthest away from the the checkin desk. Oh well, once I get to my room I can relax and unwind. Again, I was wrong, my room was dated and did not get the feeling it was entirely clean. The carpeting was old and the bed had tiny pillows that I could never find a position to make myself comfortable. Truthfully the bed gave me the heebie-​jeebies. The bathroom was dark and cavelike. I have nothing against caves, but the thought of having to go spelunking to take a shower just did not appeal.
As for getting a restful nights of sleep, you can toss that straight out the window. Even though my room was on a higher floor, I could hear the train whistle all night and into the wee hours of the morning.
The hotel bar was nothing special, but was fine. I met one of my co-​workers for a drink and were treated to a decent happy hour of martinis and gimlets for half price.
Considering I could have stayed at the Hyatt down the street for just $ 10 more I was very disappointed. Unless you find a screaming deal on priceline I would not consider staying here.
My friend Sheila T sums up like this.
«Plane travel not exciting enough? Come spelunk and fight bed bugs with us at the Holiday Inn! We not only have cavernous bathrooms for your rock climbing pleasure, but we also have a bed bug sanctuary in every bed to assure a sleepless night. Life’s a cavernous jungle and Holiday Inn wants you to be prepared for what lies ahead.»

A lot of Unilocalers were kind of hard on this place but they also look to be either hardcore vacationers or relatively rich business folks and professionals. I am a poor government appointee who travels on business travel and somewhat easy to impress. (The fact that hotels give you free shampoo bottles still kind of blows my mind.)
Not everyone has the luxury of traveling first class and therefore expecting first class accomodations wherever they go. Generally speaking, this Holiday Inn covers the basics all right. Pros include a free shuttle service, relatively updated rooms, steady hot water, and fantastic hotel restaurant, The Elephant and Castle, a British pub style restaurant! Is it easy to be snobbish towards this restaurant. Yes, but also note that most Holiday Inns have crappier restaurants or no restaurant. There were gorgeous views and the hotel is right on the water near the maritine museum, Seaport Village, and other nice places to walk to. It felt nicer than the average Holiday Inn.
Cons include tiny shampoo bottles (and no conditioner unless you ask for it.), terrible, terrible wifi speed, thin walls, faint smells, $ 22 parking, and loud blaring trains. There was a random hair on my pillow when I first came in and when I came into the room the bed was not pushed in all the way when it was last made.
They did mess up my business trip reservation initially (I was coming in Monday, but they put down Tuesday) which was kind of worrying because if I had not double checked I would have been screwed. When I pointed out the mistake they said they could not book me Monday– Friday. without wiping the group business discount for my initial reservation (which they messed up on) of Tuesday-​Friday.
Free wifi is better than no-​wifi, but there is no wired option and the wifi is really not fast enough to work with. I would almost rather have paid the ridiculous wifi fee leveled at other hotels to have functional interenet. Reception was fine, but I was getting slower speeds than an 28.8k modem, guys.
There are some parts of this hotel that are stressful, but the Elephant and Castle has $ 4.50 pints downstairs, so if you are aggravated by train noises and slow wifi you can always get drunk and chill out.