500 West Hotel

, San Diego, United States
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500 West Hotel

, San Diego
3 star

Rooms: 260

500 West Broadway - San Diego - California - 92101 - United States Hotel Website | 6192345252
181 Traveller

Reviews - 500 West Hotel

1/10
Worst
Submitted by: Lindsay Peterson in 10/11/05
  • Age Group: 26 - 30
  • From: United States
  • Traveller type: Adventurer
It is the worst hotel I've ever stayed. The bathroom is dirty and the people live there are weird. Go to other hotels.
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Historical Traveller Reviews of 500 West Hotel

Not too bad for the price

from A TripAdvisor Member
OKay, the shared bathroom is not as bad as it sounds. They are fairly clean actaully. Though make sure you bring your own slippers. The room is small, but very clean. Once advice though, make sure you request a room that is not facing the street. I was given a room facing the street, and it was really really noisy at night. There are two bus stops right in front of the building and since the hotel doesnt have AC, you would need to leave your window open. For the price, it's not a bad deal!

Affordable...better for the adventurous

from A TripAdvisor Member
I stayed here for a conference because all the downtown hotels were booked and I really wanted to be downtown. So I decided that it couldn't be worse than some of the places I stayed in Guatemala. The only thing that I didn't like was the shared bathrooms. Yes, they clean it very often (they claim every 20 mintues and I don't know, but they were clean), but still the idea of waking up and having to go down the hall to the bathroom kinda ----. If you can handle this, the rooms are nice, good furniture, tiny flat screen, good breeze from the ocean (no AC), right next to America Plaza trolley--great location, full kitchen, only one working elevator (and it is slow), decent diner, decent YMCA...So if you're looking for a cheap place, it's do-able. But if my company is paying, I'm going to pick a nicer place!

I would reccommend bringing your own towel (the ones they give you will work for your hair), bring your own toiletries (unless you want to smell like a lollipop), bring shower shoes (did i need to mention that?), and buy coffee from the super-friendly guy with his espresso stand in front (soooo much better than the diner crap). Go running along the ocean instead of using the YMCA (if you're staying here, you're cheap and paying $5 for a YMCA seems unnecessary). And don't leave anything in the fridge...same as any roommate, people will eat your food.

Good international crowd...that was cool. And people did hang out in the lounge most nights. I met one guy because I accidentally walked into his unlocked bathroom...Oops! So as I said in my title, this place is for the adventurous!

Not too shabby

from Fishi53
The hotel was not as bad as everyone claims it to be. Tolerance is a virtue?

Bathrooms were a bit eerie because of lighting but they were clean most of the time. There were sometimes things left in there by a previous user..but not a biggie, we even left something in the bathroom by mistake.

Never take that elevator..first two days there, it was broken, but when it got fixed...it just seem much safer to take the stairs! The rooms were a bit small and the bed being a bit small but we only slept there so it didnt matter. Construction was a bit disturbing in the morning.

The staff there was nice, have no complaints.

We liked our stay..it was 84 bucks a night. Cant complain too much!

Amazing price, scarey elevator

from A TripAdvisor Member
The upsides of 500 West: The hotel has lots of character, a beautiful lobby and cute, simple furnishings in the rooms. You can't beat the price (I was there 4th of July weekend for $87/night when motel 6's were charging $120), and the location is amazing--close to everything. The downsides: It has the scariest elevator I've ever been in. Just take the stairs and avoid it. The doors tend to slam hard, so if you're a light sleeper (or a little sick from too much booze!) you'll wake up as people come and go at night. Some of the bathrooms were pretty grimey--bring your flip flops to shower in. There's no a/c, which usually isn't a problem in san diego, but it wasn't a breezy night when I was there and the room felt pretty stuffy even with the window open. Overall: great value, but bring your flip flops.

A little scary but not too terrible

from Gasnuncklemonkey
My boyfriend and I reserved a full-size room to attend a friend's graduation. The pictures on the website looked inviting enough for the price. We weren't planning on doing a lot of lazing around at the hotel, so the amenities weren't a big deal. Besides, we were up for an adventure.

The location is excellent. It was easy to find and in a convenient part of town, near the ocean. The facade was inviting. The 500 West appeared to have lots of charm. The hotel lobby was simple, sleek and clean. My hopes were high for our room.

While we waited at the desk, several eyebrow-raising, and most likely nostril offending, folks slipped through the door and made their way to the elevator. My hopes stayed high. We climbed onto the elevator to make our way to the 6th floor. The elevator is quite old and uses an antiquated system of key jangling for operation. My hopes remained high. We climbed off the elevator and onto the sixth floor. The windows at each end of the hall were open, but the musty smell apparently had not yet figured out that it was supposed to make its exit there. My hopes began to fade. We opened the thin wooden door to find what was surely a closet. "That's okay," I thought, "We don't need much space." I looked everywhere for the attractive bedding from the website photos, which must've made its escape through one of the open windows. I tried to adjust the blinds for more light with which to search, but the blind opening stick was evidently on the lam with the bedding. I sat down on the bed, slightly frustrated, and found that my feet dangled over the edge. I realized that our room was a twin, instead of the full we'd reserved. I sent "boyfriend" on a mission to right things. My hopes were slightly elevated. He returned with the message from the front desk, "Oh Sh**! There are no full-size rooms available. We'll just comp your room."

We went to the graduation and to dinner and made our way back to the hotel at 3 AM our time, our internal clocks not yet adjusted properly. We were very tired. The bathroom was across the hall. I pushed the thoughts of the other folks who might've brushed their teeth in the same sink out of my head. Why did I think sharing a bathroom with others might be okay with me? I climbed into the tiny bed and snuggled up to my boyfriend. The bed seemed bigger than I'd remembered a twin could be. We listened through paper thin walls as other visitors exited the elevator and stumbled down the hall to their own rooms and cars passed on the street below. We wished for air-conditioning or ceiling fans. We drifted off despite all of this and slept well.

Overall, not a terrible experience and one I am probably better for having had. We decided that this place certainly wouldn't be for the terribly uptight or for children, but it worked just fine for our purposes - and, after all, it WAS free.

worst place ever!

from A TripAdvisor Member
Like a lot of people who wrote reviews about 500 west, I thought I'd keep an open mind and try it out. $70 a night is quite a deal. But the problems began as soon as we arrived. We had no towels in the room or the communal bathrooms to shower with and when we called the front desk to request some, none came. So I called again just to be told to come down and get them myself. There was only 1 person working at the front desk the whole time we were there, and she was quite rude. At one point when I was waiting to get some towels, there were about 15 people waiting just to check in. Lets just say she had no idea what she was doing and the phone was also ringing off the hook. Management needs to hire some more housekeeping and front desk people. HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE place!!! Never again!

Great deal, cute hotel.

from A TripAdvisor Member
I had my reservations about this hotel, but I loved it. The room was clean and cozy and the community bathrooms were spotless. I could walk to the gaslamp district and the harbor, which I did. The staff was so nice. I got into San Diego at 8am and they let me check in early with no problems. My key did stop working at one point on my last day, but they fixed it promptly. For the prime location and the price, I don't think I would stay anywhere else. I had a great time in San Diego.

What a blast!

from A TripAdvisor Member
I almost didn't stay at 500 West after reading some of the reviews - but, I am so glad I changed my mind!!! My boyfriend and I were in town for the crew classic weekend and had a great time staying in downtown. The staff of 500 West was extremely professional and pleasant. We especially enjoyed the nightly gatherings in the lobby - the hotel had a pizza party and wine tasting in the lobby on the weekend we were there. We met a lot of interesting people and really enjoyed our weekend (without having to take a second mortgage on our house to afford the trip...). I can't say enough good things about 500 West. I would definitely stay there again!

I Stayed Here Again...and Loved It!!

from A TripAdvisor Member
I stayed at 500 West at the beginning of January and enjoyed it so I thought I would try it again. What a difference a few months makes!! The hotel was almost done and the staff seems to have found their groove. For the price and location, I wouldn't stay anywhere else in San Diego!

Great Location - Great Price!

from A TripAdvisor Member
I recently attended a conference in San Diego and came across a great place to stay at a super price.

The historic 500 West in San Diego (close to everything!).

Their Staff and Manager (Lisa Mendoza) made our stay in San Diego first rate! Their in-house and Concierge services also "first rate"...

What a find! If you are accustomed to great service and attention and like to save money, you gotta check them out!

Tom Catanio
Gerontologist

Top Local Tips for San Diego

Parking is either free or $15 I was visiting on a weekend -- which meant all the street parking was free. The lot next door was only $15 -- which is still a bargain for safe overnight parking.

Parking is either free or $15 I was visiting on a weekend -- which meant all the street parking was free. The lot next door was only $15 -- which is still a bargain for safe overnight parking.

Trolley system This system is great. Buy a day tripper for only $5.00 and ride the whole system for 24 hours ! Amazing routes all the way north and south and get off when ever you like and get back on again. MUCH BETTER option then the tourists trolley which charges $30.00 for the same thing!

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