GREAT HOTEL, GREAT PRICE, GREAT LOCATION!!
In real estate it's all about location, location, location. This Hyatt hotel has that plus a lot more!!

The Story

We took the kids to San Diego this March for their spring vacation, as they had never been there yet. They are getting older (teens) and we won't have them much longer....San Diego was on the list of places we wanted to take them and thought spring break would be a great time. My husband LOVES sailing and scuba diving, so we decided we needed to stay at a nice four-star hotel that was right on the water and had a marina associated with it. After searching lots of travel websites, we got a feel for the price range this would be in, so I decided to pick a few hotels and see what the best deal I could find was. Surprisingly, I found that you can get better internet deals when going directly to the hotel website, than you can if you go to a travel site (i.e., Travelocity, Expedia, Hotels.com, etc.) You can probably get a better deal on Priceline or Hotwire; however, we wouldn't have been able to pick the specifics we needed so decided to go this route.

I found a great deal at the Hyatt.com site, which we snatched up. We paid $215/night for a suite that was right on the marina. It also included a full breakfast for two each day we stayed and parking (which is normally $10/night).

The First Impression

After getting our rental car, we followed the directions to the hotel and found it very easily. It is located about 2-5 minutes away from Sea World right on Mission Bay. As we pulled up, the outside of the hotel looked older, but certainly not in disrepair. The lobby was very nice as were the front desk employees. We checked in and went to our room/suite. There is a main tower that houses the basic rooms and the suites are located in a separate three story building.

We were on the second story. When you walk into the room, the living area has a sofa sleeper, chair, table with chairs, armoire, and tv. The bathroom is located in the "breezeway" area, along with a wet bar, vanity, and closet. The master bedroom is located with the water view and had a king size bed, armoire and chest of drawers, fridge, sitting area w/chair, and a balcony with two chairs. We spent many mornings drinking coffee and admiring the view from the balcony. The bathroom was sort of dark and needed a facelift, but other than that, the room was great!

DINING

There are two facilities on-site that serve meals and one bar. We only visited the cafe for our free breakfasts. The breakfasts were very hearty and filling. The food was excellent and the service was great as well. They also offered a breakfast buffet. Prices for the breakfasts were spendy as hotels are...they ranged from $10-$15 per person, but we were lucky and had them free, so we didn't need to worry about that. Lunches on the menu were about the same price range and dinner prices were about double. The Islandia Grill, which we never went to, served seafood/steak type meals and prices ranged from $25-$40 per person...hence the reason why we didn't eat there.

THE AMENITIES

The hotel has several nice features including a fitness center, a massage therapy area, pool, koi pond, water fountain, and beautiful grounds. We used the fitness center and walked around on the beautiful grounds, but it was too cold for the pool. The fitness center is really small, but functional. It had two treadmills, two bikes, two elliptical stryders, and several weight machines. If we didn't go early in the morning, the cardio machines were usually in use. I don't know what the rest of the day was like, because we were on the go after about 9 a.m.

LOCATION

As mentioned earlier, it is in a great location. We visited Sea World, The Zoo, Mission/Pacific Beach, Fashion Valley Mall, Point Loma Park, La Jolla, Carlsbad, and Old Town, and never got lost. The hotel is centrally located to both I5 and I8, so it was SUPER EASY to get around!

MY HUMBLE OPINION

I would recommend this hotel to anyone who is looking for a relaxing time. It is a great value and serves up a nicer hotel, for a great price. It probably wouldn't be the greatest choice for people who expect 5-star quality and are super picky, just because of the age of the hotel, but it is really nice! A great family spot where you can spread out and have a stress free vacation!


Recommended: Yes