Friday, October 2, 2009

W Hotel San Diego

Really, the stay would have been 4 stars had it not been for the horrible customer service I received over the phone prior to our arrival.

I had ordered a promo off RueLaLa.com for $179 for a one night stay and free upgrade to a Spectacular room along with 2 cocktails and $40 credit for breakfast. Sounds like a deal right? It was, but what a freakin hassle.

It was a pain in the ass to get a room for the dates that I wanted, and I finally had to pick a Thursday in September. I really wanted to go in August for my daughter's birthday weekend in SD, but the hotel was sold out. I picked another date, also sold out. WTF? Is everyone going to the W? Geez.

After settling on a date, I was all ready to go, but something came up and I had to reschedule my trip down. Called the W reservations and they told me to call the hotel directly. I did, and spoke to the front desk who transferred me to the reservation manager. I explained my situation to her and she said she could not change my date, and the time to cancel had passed. WTF. Straight up rude and a lie, by the way. I was looking at my confirmation email and it said "Cancel by 4:00 PM Hotel time 1 day(s) prior to avoid 1 Night penalty".

I was calling one day prior and it wasn't even noon yet. She gave me total attitude and said that it their policy was 2 days prior for my reservation. Now, I was getting pissed. I told her that the reservations guy had explained it all to me at the time of booking, etc.. She wouldn't listen. Told me to take it up with billing. And she wouldn't even transfer me! OMFG. Can you say horrible service?!

I called back and told the front desk I wanted to speak to the manager. Left them my number and 2 hours later, Jason called me. We spoke and he was nice, but said that there were no rooms available for the date that I wanted. At least he was willing to change it. But, whatever!

So, I was stuck. I had to go down to San Diego cuz I already paid for it and would be out $179 since the promo was non-refundable.

Anyway, the visit itself was nice. We had good service and everyone was pleasant.

view from our room on the 17th floor


the room


Got our free upgrade, 2 free cocktails and breakfast in bed.

The bartender at the lobby made our drinks so damn strong, it tasted like pure rubbing alcohol. Bleh.

Pool was tiny! There were like 5-6 lounge chairs by the pool. Not really a place to hang out all day. More like a chill for an hour or so pool.



Sandbar upstairs was cool. Great view of SD and it was different to be at a hotel bar and be sitting in a sandy area. Music was 80s and random songs.

My favorite part of the stay was breakfast in bed! Steak and eggs! Steak was huge and came with 3 eggs. I liked it alot, but couldn't finish it.

steak n eggs


Bf had the tofu scramble which I didn't try. I'm not much into healthy stuff. Hahah.. kidding. He said he liked it so that's good.



So, overall, a nice hotel to stay at. Close in proximity to the Gaslamp district.

Apparently, the room we stayed in would normally cost $500. Hmm.. really?

W San Diego
421 W B St
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 231-8220

2 comments:

Daniel S. said...

I'm shocked and disappointed that such a large and well-respected hotel gave you total BS with the change & cancellation policy. I sometimes wonder if these promos come with hidden strings attached, but then again it clearly said "1 day(s) prior" So WTH?!

Well, at least you got some good steak & eggs. I mean that steak looks good! BF's tofu scramble looks yummy too! Overly-strong drinks=sloppy bartender. Cool self-pic. And have a safe NY trip =).

Pandalicious said...

wow, thanks for reading my rant! haha.. yeah, she actually said to me that they "record all their phone convos". um ok? and? like she was gonna go back and find that phone convo i had with the first guy? OMFG.

thanks! leaving tmrw AM! WOOT WOOT.