Great for Business Traveler
Written: Aug 19 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Beautiful, classic hotel. Friendly staff, Wyndham "By Request" program
Cons: Elevators, windows give away hotel's age.
The Bottom Line: Great hotel for the business traveler.
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| dkarmol's Full Review: U. S. Grant |
The U.S. Grant is an old hotel, with a glorious history. It is located right across the street from the wonderful Gaslight district, so you can spend the night in the nightclubs there, and walk home without a problem. Parking is very convenient, and the staff is friendly.
The rooms are the old, high-ceilinged type, with big, functional windows to allow in that beautiful San Diego weather. For most of my stay, I turned off the air-conditioning and opened the windows!
One of the best features of this Wyndham (and I assume others in the chain) is the company's "By Request" program. Once you register, for free, you are then entitled to a number of amenities on each stay. My favorites: a free, high-speed internet connection, and a welcoming beverage and snack of your choice.
With many hotels adding nickel and dime charges to pad the nightly bill, it is refreshing to see one chain actually provide something quite useful for free. A high speed internet connection is very helpful, and to get it free is a real plus. Even high-end hotels often charge extra for this feature, and some have developed the idea of providing the first few minutes free, then clobbering you with a substantial per-minute charge once the first ten or thirty minutes are over.
Likewise, how nice to be greeted by a chilled beverage (wine beer, soda or water) and snack (fruit plate, cookies or another choice or two) This is also in contrast to the unfortunate trend of placing bottled water in convenient places in the room, with a tag attached noting that the charge for opening the bottle is 4 or 5 dollars! (If you like paying $4 for water, the hotel has those in the room, too!)
They also had a workout room, which although a bit shabby, had a lot of equipment, and was free of charge.
I was impressed also by the restaurants at the hotel, where the food was good and the service quite attentive.
I was in San Diego for a convention at the Convention center, which was about six blocks away. While not across the street, the walk was pleasant in San Diego. And because the hotel is some distance from the Center, the rates were far less than at Convention Center hotels.
Wyndham is trying to woo the business traveler, and they are likely to succeed if the U.S Grant is an indication of their plan.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
dkarmol
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Member: Dave Karmol
Location: Great Falls, Virginia
Reviews written: 127
Trusted by: 21 members
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