William Penn Hotel

This so called hotel does not deserve even the one star… One word I could think of about this place… RACIST!!! If you are someone other than white, BEWARE!!! The old douche bag needs to get laid I think, he’s so miserable that he has to ruin other people’s night out… I’m really glad I didn’t book my room here…
Me and my family were down in San Diego for a graduation and we decided to go bar hopping and hang out with our cousins before we call it a night. Since one of my cousins rented a hotel for herself, her boyfriend, her sister and her sister’s friend in Gaslamp, she invited us to meet at their hotel to show us the hotel they are staying at. We were about to leave when this rude ass old man comes barging in, demanding us to get out or he’ll call the cops… First of all, we weren’t doing anything illegal, 2^nd he had no right yelling and screaming the way he did… I’ve never been yelled at by any other hotel staff I’ve dealt with in the past… What he did was invasion of privacy and he had no reason to barge in my cousin’s room and start yelling for everyone to get out!!! He could’ve easily asked everybody in a polite manner but no!!! He chose to be a DICK!!! Fucking rude asshole… There was a white guest that we passed on the way down that he politely conversed with, so I believe our race had something to do with the way he treated us… We were treated like a bunch of kids… My cousin deserves a refund since this old man ruined everything, she ended up hauling her stuff out and stayed somewhere else. And of course the owner could careless…
So do yourself a favor and skip this wannabe hotel and stay somewhere else with a much nicer staff. Unless you want this old jerk barging in your room demanding you to get out or he’ll call the cops… Never again will I set foot in this horrible nightmare!!!
To the grouchy old man, you need to retire because obviously you’re in the wrong place to work at, caught you sleeping on the job when we were outside… you can’t even stay awake at your so called job!!! Lame!!!

I wish I could give this place negative stars!!!
I always thought I would do a positive review on this places due to multiple stays and my brother renting out a whole floor for his wedding but this last stay has put a BAD taste in my mouth! I will never stay at that so called hotel again!
BEWARE!!! This can not be a meeting place before heading out to a club or bars, even though it is the heart of gaslamp.
We were in gaslamp to celebrate my cousin’s graduation. All my cousins were in town from as far as LA and riverside. Some cousins and siblings live in San Diego. We planned on meeting at our hotel before we headed out to a club. There was is older man (so called receptionist) …last time I checked receptionist are usually more helpful and a lot nicer. The first thing this guy says to us is «you know there’s only 4 people to a room?!!» Not nice at all, actually very rude! Even after my boyfriend told him at everyone was just meeting here or changing here. He just kept following us every time we would let people in. We were waiting for my sister, which was the last person to arrive. We were all ready to go, shoes on and everything. My boyfriend went down to get my sister so she could leave her purse in our room. After only being in our room for about 2 hours, The rude man followed them all the way to our room and demanded they open the door. He barged into our room and started yelling «everyone out!» I couldn’t believe what was happening. He didn’t even give anyone a chance to talk or even grab our belongings. I was so mortified… Embarrassed and pissed at the same time! How could someone treat their guests that way!!!
After sitting at a bar and talking about what we should do, we all decided to leave that horrible place and stay at my sisters place. We walked in not even wanting to talk to the guy, all we wanted was to grab our things and go. But he started yelling again «only 4 people can go up there!!» So myself and 3 other people grabbed bags, food and drinks at 3 in the morning. When leaving all the rude guy could say is «should I say you’re checking out?» I had to walk outside while my boyfriend had a few words with him. I was always taught if you have nothing nice to say don’t say anything at all.
Now 3 days later… No phone call or anything from the manager or owner! What kind of business is this?!! Have they heard of customer service!!! We’re not even expecting our money back or even an apology but a simple phone call to see what happened that night would be nice!
So If you’re looking for a place to stay in gaslamp… DON’T STAY HERE!!! Unless you want a babysitter for a receptionist!

This hotel in the heart of Gaslamp needs staff improvement. Starting with the Old Douche guy (Receptionist). Just saying! this hotel sucks!!!

This place is horrible! The old fart receptionist is rude! Yes! I’m pissed off! That old man needs to get fired!

Great location an very helpful staff! Fun to talk to about the local nightlife. Stayed here for SDCC, would stay here again! We split the room between 4 people and it was giant and a full kitchen (they encourage you to explore the local lifestyle and try to feel like a native, I respect that).

Excellent size rooms — feels like you’re in old apartments converted to hotel rooms… but in fact, they are suites.
Excellent location — smackuedab in the middle of SD’s Gaslamp.
Love the noise on the weekends — reminds us rural folk that there is life beyond the 10PM closures of OC and LA…
LOVE the gate-​lock elevator — Very «20eme siecle» feel, and reminded me of the wonderful, tiny elevators throughout Europe…
The parking is close by (about two small blocks or so), and gets you out of the place — it’s a pleasant walk through the gaslamp. Very fun.
There was an odd absence of staff throughout our stay, however, and nobody ever manned the front desk.
Also, there is no room service to speak of, as far as I experienced.
But as long as you know these things, your stay will be as comfortable as mine was.

Perfect location on the Gas Lamp District. Affordable luxury for even the most broke party goers. Sits on top of a Starbucks to fix your morning hangovers so you could continue partying like a rockstar. If you’re looking for a peaceful getaway, this aint the place to go. Came here for a girls weekend and had a blast. Exceptional service. Would surely stay here again!

Horrible service!
Very unprofessional staff– did not appreciate being HARASSED repeatedly throughout our trip simply because they didn’t like that we had guests over, guests who weren’t even staying the night!
We understand that they did not want more than 4 people in the room overnight because of «safety hazards», which is already ridiculous because yes, the rooms are pretty big, but they freakin’ felt that they had to remind us every time we passed by the reception desk.
We explained to them that our friends were just visiting and they pretty much demanded that we tell our guests to leave the hotel. The hotel staff worked overtime to keep an eye on us and to make sure that our guests left the hotel –_​– wtf?!
The room is pretty nice, big living room, small kitchen, and big master bedroom. This place could easily bed at least 6 people. Not sure on the cleanliness of the place, no one ever came to clean our room and no one was helpful when we called to request for additional towels/​toilet paper. The elevator is creepy old and too small. This place is located in Gaslamp and is walking distance to all the bars. However, I’d never come back again after the horrible service. Obviously they don’t care about their clients & they ruined our trip. never ever again. Do not come here !!

GUESTS ARE NOT ALLOWED in this hotel. What the heck is that??? Its in the heart of the gaslamp district and we tried to bring in friends to pre-​party and such and they would always stop us and tell us that we cannot have more than 4 people stay in the room and they needed to leave. BUZZ KILL!!! The employees are rude and not helpful at all. They also seem like are spying on you, either that or they are racist since we were the only asians staying there and they wouldnt stop harrassing us. The elevator is super old (with a permit that expired in 2008) and is hard to make it work correctly. In addition, there is no parking at all, not even valet. They direct you to nearby parking for $ 10/​day but even that only has about 10 parking spots. There is no room service, no one that cleans your room even if you wanted to, no phone to call for service of any kind, and not enough toilet paper. The room was large, but the beds were back-​breakers. The couch had white stains on the cushions and the pillows had bloodstains on them. You also have a nice view of brick walls through every window. I’d rather sleep on the street than come here again. WORST HOTEL EVER!

I stayed here with 3 friends in June.
I was stoked about the ratings and reviews, the price and the location!
I called to get directions and parking directions. When we I got dropped off to register and check in, there wasn’t really a front desk. There was a small desk, and a receptionist sitting there with a laptop.
But this hotel lacked communication with their employee’s because the receptionist sent us in circles, and friends were lost trying to find parking. The receptionist admit that she didn’t really know where it was.
The elevator was creepy. Very old school, with the door + gate. I took the stairs for the next three days.
They supplied everything for you to cook with, but they weren’t really clean. The dish washer was leaking. And they didn’t supply any soap so I guess that’s why the dishes etc, were still dirty from the previous guest.
One pillow had a big blood-​like stain under it. It took them 2 hours to bring more towels. They also aren’t clear about room service. From little questions such as new towels, old towels, trash, what do we do with it? Call? Someone will get it in the morning? We didn’t throw out our trash for three days. It didn’t pile up though, but it would be nice for guest to not feel the need to call every time they had a question.
The room was very nice.
I didn’t mind the noise from the nightlife downstairs.
So the first night, when we came back from dinner around 9pm, we realized that we were locked out from our hotel. Not our room but we couldn’t get into our hotel. There was a gentleman sitting at the front desk, and we were knocking but he ignored us. I assumed he thought we were strangers trying to find the restroom or so? There were also other guests who were in front of us who were trying to get in. I guess the guy receptionist was aggravated with the nightlife/​drunk ppl? I don’t know? So finally he opened the door for us and we told him we were guests there and he asked where were our keys. We told him that we showed him our one key, and he finally stopped giving us an attitude and ran somewhere to get us a new one. Even if he was aggravated, I honestly don’t blame it all on him for it. The Hotel should have two people working night shifts instead of one.
Ok. So I HATE Unilocalers who have so much negative things to say, after the fact. Hate it. HATE IT. Like they secretly hold it all in until they get home to their computers and become little devils ahhh. I like to give people the opportunity to make things better. I don’t review a lot. I love to give positive reviews. So after getting lost trying to find parking, and being locked out of our hotel, and endless weird customer service I decided to call the hotel representative.
I told her the situation, and wanted to know the cancellation policy because I was so upset. Yet, she wasn’t sympathetic, she didn’t apologize at all. She didn’t apologize for not making sure that her staffs were able to have clear directions to the parking lot for the guests. Or for us being locked out because they failed to give us a working key to get into the front. Instead, she made it seem like I was lying about the whole thing. Her response was — «I don’t see what was the problem» — when I told her we were finally allowed into the hotel. Imagine if we were there on another night, and the hotel door was locked, and the receptionist was not downstairs. (Out of the 3 days, Saturday, was the only day we saw the receptionist downstairs, no one else was there Sunday, Monday or Tuesday all day) My eyes just TEARED up to her response. I couldn’t even be on the phone with her anymore. I told her that she needs to communicate with her staffs, I said thank you, and let her go.
I hope that I gave some insight to future guests here, so they know what to expect as soon as they arrive.
The parking is on the side of Nordstrom. ²⁄₃ blocks away, for $ 10 a night?
The hotel staffs, don’t enter your room so if you make your mess, you clean it up and take it out yourself, which was fine with me because I’m not messy.
Hotel room is nice, customer service needs work.
Im done writing. Take care. Please have better customer service :)

I walked into paradise!
There’s a living room, kitchen, a master bathroom and bedroom
You are in the heart of the Gaslamp District. everything is in walking distance.
My girls and I fell in love with this hotel!
It was worth every dollar!
I’ve stayed at the Marriott and the Hark Rock, not as impressed as I was with this hotel. When I come back to San Diego, I’m staying here again.
Enough said!

Very nice hotel with huge rooms in the heart of Gaslamp quarter. It’s a very old hotel which was refurbished very well. Because of its location it is very noisy. The bars around play music till 2 am on the weekends and sometimes during the week.
The hotel is more like an apartment house. I wouldn’t call it «hotel». It is not very well managed for a 3 star hotel. The reception is not staffed after 7pm and before 11 am. And even during the day it’s hard to contact anybody. We tried to reach them over the phone without any luck several times. There is no housekeeping. So we had to ask them after a week if they could change the bed linen. Because of the old unreliable lift with manual folding doors I wouldn’t recommend this place to a wheelchair user.

We are locals who checked into the William Penn for a nice little staycation in the Gaslamp and let me tell you we were not disappointed in the least with our accommodations.
The hotel is in an older building that was formerly a condo complex. This conversion resulted in nice spacious and nicely renovated rooms for guests to enjoy. Our room was nice and clean and came packed with amenities.
If you are looking to go spend some time in the Gaslamp I would highly recommend that you check this place out.

4 and a half stars.
My friends and I wanted a quick weekend getaway — nothing too flashy, expensive, or far. We decided to go to San Diego since it’s nearby our hometown but yet, a totally different, tourist-​friendly city. After much research between quality, price comparison, and area, we decided to stay at William Penn.
Aside from the old towels that they gave us, the room was fit for an SD local! WP is comprised of condo-​converted hotel rooms that were perfect for our needs. If you’re looking for practicality, locality, and and everything else-​ality, William Penn is the place to stay.
Located in the heart of Gaslamp quarter, William Penn is nearby at least 5 night clubs, dozens of restaurants (including ghirardelli chocolate shoppe!) and a mall. Its proximity to anything from night clubs to grocery store ranges from 0 – 3 blocks from the hotel’s entrance.
«But why would I need to go to a grocery store,» you ask. Well, because not ONLY are the 800 sq ft flats well decorated, clothed, and spic-​and-​span clean; but WP provides their guests with pots, pans, utensils, plates, dish-​cleaning supplies, extra toilet paper, and whatever else you could ever want in a temporary getaway house. So if ever you are against exploring beautiful Gaslamp during lunch, whip yourself a meal on their electric stove, store the leftovers in their medium sized fridge, and fall asleep in either the bedroom or living room — both equipped with a flat screen television to lull you to sleep.
If you’re looking to have a good night’s sleep on a Friday or weekend evening, do NOT stay here. Around 2 – 4 AM, the streets are flooded with drunk and loud people and unavoidable din will come crashing into your room. Even though my friends and I were pretty drunk and eager to sleep, we found it difficult to disregard the echoes and banter outside — we finally caught sleep around 4AM.
We paid $ 129 flat rate for one night which does not include additional $ 10 parking.
I have stayed at «nicer» hotels before, but I loved how William Penn accommodated all 4 of us, was as comfortable as home, and was so local to everything! The value is superb; I would stay here again!
Side note: The bed is a comfortable queen size, and the large couch folds out to a full-​sized bed. Uncomfortable, but doesn’t matter when you really need some shut-​eye. Internet is free!