Highly Recommended!

My husband & I spent a weekend here in a King Suite when we moved our daughter down to SDSU. Since we were staying on Reward Points I can't speak to the price of the room but I can say this: our suite was terrific; the location was to-die-for (just a block from the Gaslamp Quarter) and the hotel was beautiful! We were fascinated by the history of the building and absolutely loved the architecture. We would definitely stay here again and would highly recommend it to anybody.

Good location, rooms aren't the fanciest

This hotel was alright, the decor could be updated and the room was pretty small, but that doesn't bother me b/c I don't travel to look at a hotel room. The service was good and the valets were cute! The lobby is very pretty, but the rooms are only okay and could be updated. The walls are pretty thin and you hear everything in the hallway. The views out the window are awful (like a roof with plastic all over it- totally trashy!) I didn't eat at the restaurant and they have free internet in the rooms and a computer for use in the lobby. The location is good, only 2 blocks from the gaslamp area which is full of great restaurants and shops etc. I would stay there again, but compared to the Marriott Marina for about the same price I would select the Marriott.

A top notch Courtyard in a perfect location in a great city

My wife and I love San Diego and we always stay here at the Courtyard or at the Westin (Horton Plaza) just down the street. Both hotels are perfect for their locale, as they're in the heart of the Gaslamp District. In case you don't know, the Gaslamp is a series of bars, eating establishments, and dance clubs that make the downtown area thrive. Typically, these places are noisy and crowded, but what do you expect in a downtown setting that caters to the 'younger' set? I'm in my mid-30's and find the 'buzz' fun and a bit out of my normal life. As for the hotel, it's a great location (an old bank turned into a hotel). The rooms are typical Courtyard fare- nothing fancy, usually clean and 'standard'. Buffets are buffets- mass food in mass quantity. If you don't like paying $10, order a meal that you really want for $15- spring for the extra $$- you're already paying $150 a night for the location!

Valet is a necessary evil, as again, YOU'RE DOWNTOWN in a major city. You can walk to all the bars, to the stadium, and you're minutes away from the Zoo, SeaWorld, Old Town, etc. It's $20 for the valet, and they run their butts off as often as you need your car.

In all, the service is 'fine', the hotel is a typical Courtyard, but the location is great, and who doesn't like walking out to 75 degrees and sunny virtually every day?

Excellent location!

Hotel is very conveniently located in downtown San Diego, within blocks of PetCo Park and shopping. Helpful valet parking is pricey, but tipping is not encouraged. Only drawback was the room size, which was the smallest that I have stayed in. But the rooms are clean and the view is pretty good. One should not miss out on the historical aspects of the hotel, including the vault. No pool, but spa in basement was great.

Good Hotel, Good Location!

I Booked 2 rooms for 2 nites July 2004. Hotel lobby very nice, lots of marble from old bank days, very nice feel to the place. Front desk employees very friendly and helpful- one room was supposed to have a roll-a-way bed, but it had none and none were left. Although they were completely booked, they found a room w/ a pullout sofa; problem solved! AND- they did it with a smile and a helpful attitude. The rooms vary in size from a little small( the room w/ the sofa) to average/ a little above average ( my room w/ a kind bed, comfortable chair, writing desk and amoire. Bed was sufficient- a little firm for my taste but pillows were soft and fluffy. I didn't notice the noise some other reviews mentioned, but my room was at rear of hotel. Great location at top of Gaslamp district means lots of dining and nitelife options, and Horton Plaza is 1 block away for shopping. All in all, a good choice in my opinion. BE sure to check out the vault in the basement!!

Sleepless Nights from Nightclub Noise

The room was fine until about 11pm on Friday and Saturday nights. Apparently a very popular (and unmarked) nightclub is located directly across the street, and kept me awake all night with loud music and drunken shouting even though my room was on an upper floor.

Good value for an older hotel

This hotel has a lot of charm. It is an old bank that was renovated beautifully. The rooms are on the older side and a little bit small.

Other than that, I have no complaints. It is in a good location, and clean.

Not bad, but not worth the price

The service at the hotel was uneven (sometimes good, but not great; other times poor but not horrible), one minute a person would be cold and/or snappy, the next they would be helpful and almost friendly, I say "almost" because no one really seemed to enjoy their job (well, who does?) and it showed...to me this is a big no-no when dealing with the public. When checking in on a Thursday, my wife asked if there were corner room available (hoping for a nice view of San Diego) - without even looking the woman said coldly, "No, they are all booked." We found it hard to believe that with 14 floors not one corner room was available on a Thursday. We were annoyed that she didn't even pretend to look - her answer sounded like a standard pat answer.It got worse; we were assigned a room on the 2nd floor and were appalled to find our window was completely blocked by an AC unit surrounded by a metal fence only 3 ft. away (AT ALL COSTS AVOID ROOM 222). We called down and spoke with the same woman who checked us in and politely told her of our displeasure with the window view. She said to sit tight and she would see what she could do. We waited for 30 min. and heard nothing from her. My wife then went down to speak to her directly my wife is a very sweet and nice person, and that must have helped, because she came back with a new set of keys to a room with a view of the harbor. We still wonder why we were assigned a room they have to know is horrible when a clearly better one was available.The rooms were nice, but not great. They were large and roomy but sparsely furnished. The mattress was too hard for our tastes, especially considering that for about roughly the same price we could have stayed at hotels with luxurious pillow-top mattresses, but since we have had mostly good luck with Courtyard in the past, we chose them (well think twice next time).The Gaslamp Quarter's nightlife is primarily suited for the twenty-something set - especially those who love dancing. It also appeared to be a popular bacherlorette party location. Because it is such a party area, parking is at a premium. The hotel valet was $19 per day and there is no self park, which I found disappointing, but unlimited in/outs were allowed. One thing, be sure to call down for your car in advance.The breakfast buffet was disappointing and in keeping with the theme, was expensive for what you got. Our first night, Thursday, we asked the front desk when the buffet ended, and the man on duty told us 11 AM. We slept in Friday and went down at 10:30 AM, but saw no buffet? We asked the girl at the front desk where it was and she said very coldly and without any interest in us that it ended at 10 AM. We then said we were told it was open until 11 AM and she said only on weekends without even a second thought or sorry. I know there wasnt much she could do, but she could have at least apologized or at the very least been friendly. We then asked if there were any other options for breakfast, and she was kind enough to recommend the Sixth Street Bistro which served a very nice breakfast until 11 AM. The next day, Saturday, we tried the buffet and were under whelmed, it was $9.00 per person but the quality was sub-standard fast food drive-through would have been an improvement. The eggs were rubbery; bacon and sausage were cold and soggy. HOWEVER, the wait staff WAS very friendly.Overall, I would say if you just want a place to crash after partying in the Gaslamp Quarter, this hotel should suit your needs fine, but if you want a really nice room at roughly the same price, there are better options.P.S. - If you are in the area it is worth checking the hotel out just to see the old bank vault in the basement ("SAFE DEPOSIT" floor).

Great character (and a good location)

Stayed at this Courtyard for 4 night in June 03 - very impressed with the renovation. The hotel has a nice atmosphere; they really retained the last century bank feel (and we love staying in places that have unique character). It is centrally located, although we recommend requesting a higher floor as the gaslamp district bars can get loud esp. on weekend nights. We were high up and it was not a problem. Rooms are typical Courtyard rooms and we had enough space to store our bikes without problem. There are some good deals for this property on line.

We certainly felt we got our moneys worth and would recommend it.

Great Hotel

This was a great hotel. The staff was friendly and fast. Rooms were clean. Really enjoyed how they left so much of the bank fixtures. Be sure and see the vault conference room! Good location to zoo, theaters, and mall.