Embassy Suites Hotel San Diego Bay Downtown

, San Diego, United States
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Embassy Suites Hotel San Diego Bay Downtown

5 star

Rooms: 337

601 Pacific Highway - San Diego - California - 92101 - United States Hotel Website | | 6192392400
357 Traveller

Reviews - Embassy Suites Hotel San Diego Bay Downtown

8/10
Good, but not great
Submitted by: margie in 01/02/10
  • Age Group: 4150
  • From: United States
  • Traveller type: Family Traveller
The main negative about this hotel (Embassy Suits, downtown San Diego) is that it is a bit run down. The furniture is a bit scarred. The cupboards under the sink are a bit worn. There was rust running down the tiles from the safety/handicap bar in our shower. Another negative is the cost of parking. If you have a car, there is nowhere to pare, except the hotel and it is required valet parking (no self parking.) Also, I got woken up by traffic noise every morning, even though we were on the 11th floor. Otherwise, we enjoyed this hotel. The pool is indoors and heated. They offer a full, free breakfast, including made-to-order eggs/omlettes, warm pancakes/french toast, bacon/sausage, cereal (4 kinds), milk (nonfat and regular), juice (4 kinds), coffee, flavored coffee, fruit, bread, sweet rolls, donuts, and muffins. There is a reception at night that offers free drinks (alcohol included) and hor de ourves. It is close (walking distance) to major downtown locations (conference center, Sea Port Village, Midway Aircraft Carrier, Tall Flag Ships, and the Gas Lamp District. The sheets and towels were clean. The view of the harbor ant night was beautiful. The lobby/central area is beautiful, featuring a meandering waterway filled with fish and turtles (my kids even got to feed the fish one morning), pathways, bridges, and lots of plants. The staff is extremely helpful. My son had some homework that his teacher had sent with him. One assignment required him to illustrate a concept with color, but he had not brought his colored pencils. The front desk had crayons! (They offered us a coloring book, too, but my son is 11!)
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7/10
Great Hotel & Great location!
Submitted by: Quyen in 03/08/06
  • Age Group: 31 - 40
  • From: United States
  • Traveller type: Family Traveller
Our family always chooses this hotel as our primary destination lodge when staying in San Diego. We stay here at least 1 to 2 times a month. We like the large two rooms, compimentary cooked to order breakfast and evening manager reception. It is also within walking distance to nearly everything (shopping and train). However, the hotel's restaurant's service and food is not so good. It is very expensive and the service is always so lousy. Other than that, the hotel is great!

Historical Traveller Reviews of Embassy Suites Hotel San Diego Bay Downtown

Location is best quality

from NorcalSacramento_CA
The location to Seaport Village, Midway museum, Petco Park, and the Gaslamp section are Embassy Suites biggest plus. The rooms need some serious upgrading. Furniture and rugs have had their day. The staff was very friendly and helpful. The indoor swimming pool is very inadequate. It is small and was like a steam room, but that didn't matter as there were always about 30 or more kids in the pool and spa, rendering it unuseable by adults. The complimentary breakfast was above average. In the evening, popcorn, peanuts, and corn chips with drinks was what I expected. Overall - the $239+ per nite is too much. The Hyatt down the street was only $20 more.

Not What I Hoped It Would Be

from A TripAdvisor Member
This hotel is in a great location in San Diego. The rooms are fairly large. There is a "free" breakfast every morning that is quite good, but it is usually very crowded. The room had a small refrigerator and a microwave (good when traveling with kids). The room had two TVs (but both were a little out-dated). The furnishings were not hideous, but they were a little worn. The staff was very friendly. The elevators were slow.

The mandatory valet parking (at $22/day) was a mess! We typically had to wait between 15 and 30 minutes for our car each morning.

We did not get the room selected in our reservation (we were told no such room was available...King bed with balcony and no smoking). The room we got had no balcony (but did have the King bed with no smoking).

Absolutely Love Embassy

from alexis_diamond
Growing up I always went to Embassy and now as an adult, I am still staying there. This hotel was amazing. My trip started off at Holiday Inn, and I quickly canceled and went straight to the Embassy. Good thing I did, because the breakfast was amazing, the pool was great, the service was excellent, and the people were fun. I would love to stay here again!

Pleasant

from eme1970
I have to say that we were pleasantly surprised here. The staff were all nice and helpful , room was a little old, but clean. The views of the bay were absolutely awesome. The downside, room service was horrible! The food arrived cold and was unimpressive. Save your money and hit one of the nice restaurants along the harbor. Overall, we would stay here again just for the views of the ocean.

It was just ok...

from jetsetera
I stay here every 6 months for a convention. I didn't stay recently but January 13th - 15th 2005. I've stayed here two times now. The rooms aren't too bad. It's not my choice as work books it for me. All rooms are suites I believe. There's a mini fridge. A living room area and then the bedroom. There's a complimentary happy hour where drinks are free from 5-7 or something. Cocktails and chips, etc. This is handy as I meet my colleagues for drinks after the tradeshow. There's a pool in the hotel. No hot tub. I haven't tried the pool but it looks so small...it's not even worth putting my suit on for. And the restaurants...the Pacific Fish Co. is horrible. Don't order the swordfish. It's so bland I didn't touch it again after 2 bites. The Fish Co. Bar isn't that bad but the restaurant...slow service and bland food. Not one person loved their meal out of a party of 20. Oh and there's a free breakfast buffet. Nothing to write home about. I usually just grab some OJ and muffins. I'd stay again but not for the food.

Great vacation!

from A TripAdvisor Member
We just returned from a fabulous vacation\cruise from San Diego. We spent a few days in San Diego before we left on our Mexican cruise. We had no idea what hotel to book, and because of the great reviews Embassy Suites had on tripadvisor.com, we decided to stay there. We couldn't of asked for a better hotel. They picked us up from the airport the minute we arrived, helped us with all of our luggage, and checked us in to a suite with a breath-taking view of the bay. The rooms were very spacious and clean, and very quiet. The best feature of the suite was that there were two vaniety mirrors, one in the bathroom, and one on the outside of the bathroom. This is important when you have four people trying to get ready every morning. The hotel was in walking distance of Sea Port Village, Horton Plaza, and the Gas Lamp District, all great places to visit with many restaurants and shopping to choose from. The hotel provided a cooked to order\express buffet breakfast every morning, which was included in the overnight stay. It was very convenient to wake up, get ready, have breakfast right there, and be on our way. The best suprise we had was the fireworks over the bay that we had a full view of from our suite at night, apparantly they are on display a couple times during the week. Checkout was very easy, and they even stored our luggage until it was time for them to transfer us over to the cruise terminal, again at no charge. We had a pleasant experience with Embassy Suites and would not even hesitate to stay there again. We highly reccomend a stay with them on any of your future vacations to San Diego.

Terrible!!! Will never stay in another hotel owned by Hilton!

from A TripAdvisor Member
Our room had sopping wet carpet so when you walked into the bathroom you slipped from wet shoes or feet. We changed rooms. During showering for dinner, the water was shut off with no warning. Their backup system did not work either. The jacuzzi downstairs was only luke-warm, it was being used by the kids as a wading pool. We wanted to plan New Year's Dinner ahead but the hotel told us there would be nothing different, no New Year's Menu, the usual menu in the restaurant, so we decided to spend the money elsewhere and plan on a regular dinner....went to the restaurant and it was a New Years Menu only for $69 or $79 per plate! Also, parking is $20 per night at the hotel. The only thing good about this hotel is that it is across the street from one of the finest restaurants in town, The Fish Market. We ate there! The Happy hour serves only well drinks. When my husband ordered a Jack Daniels and coke, she poured in the well liquor and said, this is all we have, it's free. When he began to say he was not sure...she said, "I'll drink it" and set it aside for herself! Also, how can it be free when the room is $269 per night and parking is $20 per night??? I am sure it is paid for. The room service is brought on a tray, not a roll-in table like a quality hotel....the dishes from whoever had the room before us was left outside the room and ours were added to it, never picked up during our 2-night stay. The floors were filthy with crackers, etc. in the elevators and sticky floors that your soles stuck to at the breakfast buffet. Hilton has ruined the Embassy Suites which used to be excellent.

Pros and Cons

from A TripAdvisor Member
Thanks to all for taking the time to write a review. Based on your feedback we decided to stay at the Embassy Suites from the 10th to the 14th of December. Here's the summary:

Pros: The hotel actually called me before we arrived to see if we had any special requests. I have been travelling on business for 10 years and this is the first time that this has happened. I suppose it didn't hurt that I am a Hilton Honors member. Although we arrived late the hotel had the room we booked and comped our cab fare. The room was clean, quiet, and well located. There were healthy alternatives at breakfast and the service was very fast. Very courteous gentleman at check in, altough service level from the staff was inconsistent.

Cons: There was spotty concierge service. It seemed like when we needed help (like a car rental) we were on our own. The temperature in the room varied about 10 degrees during the evening. The "balcony" is nothing more than a spot outside to stand, as there is not enough room for even a single chair.

I gave this hotel 4 stars as we got a great rate through their site. Had I paid top dollar I would have been disappointed.

Very nice get-away

from Guana-rocks
Just got back from a 4 night stay at this fabulous hotel. My husband was attending a conference, so we came in a few days early to see the sights. When we booked, we requested a bay-view room on a higher floor, and we received what we asked for - what a gorgeous view!! All kinds of boats from Kayaks to tugs to cruise ships and naval vessels. We also had a view of Seaport Village, which is a great place to shop. Made to order breakfast was served daily and was very good. They also offered free cocktails and snacks (popcorn, chips, etc) each afternoon, starting at 5:30. Both these events were served in the lobby, which is a courtyard with fountains, koi and turtles - very beautiful. You're a 5 minute walk to Gaslamp and the Trolley, 15 minute walk to the Conference centre, and 10 minute drive to the Airport. Great sushi and fresh Clam Chowder in the restaurant too. You will love this hotel!!

Great Place to Stay Pre-Cruise

from A TripAdvisor Member
We booked ES in SD for a pre-cruise stay May, 2004. We have stayed in Embassy Suites in the past and been pleased and this one was especially interesting because of its proximity to the Cruise Terminal downtown.

While ES provided a shuttle from the A/P (really quite close) I was told that they did not provide transportation to the pier (again, quite close). However, upon arriving at the hotel, I asked again if they could provide transport to the pier and they said they certainly could - they would take us and our luggage on one of their trips to the airport - and drop us at the pier on the way back to the hotel! What a great feature - and the driver was able to drive us inside the gate at the pier, thru security and delivered us right to a porter! And the driver was very friendly - as were all the people we were in contact with at the hote.

The breakfast and manager's reception were both outstanding. The only complaint = and it's not really a complaint = just a suggestion: they needed to provide chairs on the balcony (we had to carry the dining room chairs out to enjoy the view). And the rooms were a little dated - but very clean.

This hotel is conveniently located to Seaport Village (walking distance) and other attractions with great views of the Bay.

We will stay here again - and recommend this property to anyone visiting SD.

Top Local Tips for San Diego

Harbor Tours/Point Loma/Coronado Island/USS Midway We really enjoyed taking a harbor tour; It was very informative. If you take the last one of the day, you will be sailing back to dock at sunset which was enjoyable. We really enjoyed our stop at Point Loma and tidepooling there between 2 and 4 in the afternoon. It was worth the short trip there. Trolley tour is good to take early in your stay - helps you decide where you may want to spend more time later. Re: Coronado Island- Don't plan on walking to the Hotel Del from the ferry stop unless you have good walking shoes on. It is a bit of a hike. Plan on walking out on the beach when you get there though. USS Midway tour is very interesting, but somewhat strenuous.

Sea World Savings Show your Southwest Rapid Rewards card at the ticket counter for a 20% discount off tickets. Rapid Reward Cards are free at the Southwest Airlines site.

Great public transportation! Do use the train!

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Other names for Embassy Suites Hotel San Diego Bay Downtown

  • san diego embassy suites
  • embassy suites san diego
  • Address: 601 Pacific Highway - San Diego - California - 92101 - United States
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