Hilton Hotel Bayfront San Diego

Found this hotel on Priceline for less than $100/night, after taxes and fees. We used it for a quick, relatively inexpensive weekend trip from LA, and for those purposes it was well suited. However, being a new hotel (it just opened a few months ago of this review), it definitely seemed to have a few kinks to work out.

Reading some of the other reviews online, there were complaints about the view/construction. Half of the hotel faces a less than scenic harbor, the other half faces the bay and city. We got a room facing the city, which was very nice. But if you got a room facing the other direction, it could be fairly unpleasant. We didn't notice any construction or hear any noises while there.

The hotel has the potential to be very good. The rooms are fine and comfortable, the interior is modern, but there are just lots of weird inconsistencies that just feel off, and detract from the experience, and leave it more at the average rating.

First off, the design of the hotel is a bit odd and intimidating. The lobby is really large, the ceilings are really high, and everything else (the reception desks, seats, etc) just seem oddly small in comparison. There is a level of intimacy lost when there is so much empty space floating around. In contrast, the floors on which the rooms are located are maze-like, almost claustrophobic, with different directions and wings extending for different distances.

The service is also quite poor, and something we noticed on a few occasions. First, when checking in, the receptionist didn't seem like she was in the happiest mood. We were assigned a room with 2 queen beds, and I asked if we could be moved to a room with just one king. She said there were a few rooms available, but that they were either a) on the other side of the hotel, facing the harbor/port or b) would cost $30 to upgrade. I asked if she would be willing to upgrade us for free, and she said no.

Her explanation was that the hotel was fully booked. But she had just told me that there were a bunch of rooms available (for a price), so that didn't seem honest at all. In addition, although there were some conferences going on, the hotel seemed relatively deserted. And I don't think a hotel making rooms available on Priceline would be one running on full capacity. So definitely a knock on the hotel in terms of service, and dishonesty, and something that would make me pause before deciding on whether or not to stay at another Hilton, if other alternatives focused more on retaining customer loyalty were available.

The service at the bar in the lobby was also very poor. We sat down and had to wait 10 minutes for a cocktail waitress (this despite the bar being 90% empty). Lisa ordered a coke, and after 10 minutes it hadn't arrived. So we just left.

Since Lisa was still thirsty, we looked around for another place to get a drink. Our room didn't have a fridge or mini-bar (another odd thing), but there were vending machines at the end of each floor. Unfortunately, the vending machine on our floor was completely out of everything. We were able to get drinks at another vending machine on another floor, but again it just seemed like one of those small, inconvenient things that you wouldn't expect at a nice hotel...

In summary -- decent hotel facilities, but still working out a lot of kinks in service and attention to details.