Palihotel San Diego

Full disclosure I booked this hotel through Hotwire. I was on a business trip and wanted to stay near the convention center. I paid over $260 a night which isn’t necessarily that expensive for downtown San Diego. The walk to the convention center was not bad at all 8 to 10 minutes at most. Where the hotel is located is not in the best area. There was actually a hustler store down the street. The room itself was fairly nice but very small. I expected that with a boutique hotel. The restaurant attached the hotel was decent. My overall experience was not great. The air conditioner did not work. The TV did not work. The room was extremely loud. They actually included two sets of earplugs because of the noise. Street noise I can deal with however there is a rooftop bar on the hotel and they play music all night long that you can hear if you’re staying in the 10th floor. The last night I stayed there they had a party with a DJ and it was extremely loud. Pay the extra cash and stay in a hotel closer to the convention center.

Worst Hotel Accomodation I ever had! Not recommendable! Permanent noise from ventilation system nearby. No solution given. Bad internet. Bad TV set up. Extremely small rooms. No desk. 'Open closet' No space to put clothes in. Bad and old elevator!

What this spot offers aesthetically, it lacks in functionality. I wanted to love the vintage vibes, and there were some really cute aspects, but the reality of the stay kept bringing the fantasy crashing down. First off, I would NEVER stay in the Gaslamp unless I had to (and we had to), so I was really on a mission to find a fun hotel that would make up for it. I live in Oakland so I'm used to noise and commotion but the vibes in the Gaslamp are truly darksided. I was thankful to be within walking distance of some other cute neighborhoods, but the streets directly outside were pretty stressful. The room itself was adorable. The bed was comfy, the shower was huge, and there was a fully stocked mini fridge (which is rare for hotels at this price point), but the walls were thin. We had very noisy neighbors who were fighting on and off for two nights in a row, and when I called the front desk for assistance there was no one there. We could also hear every car and motorcycle that drove by throughout the night. The windows all faced a walled-in courtyard so there was hardly any natural light in the room, and they could not be opened which caused a big air flow problem. It got stuffy and damp in there almost immediately. We also had a lot of trouble using their vintage elevator. It was a huge pain to get our bags in and out with the folding gate and heavy swinging door. Once in the elevator, it would often start up again before we could open the door, or skip our floor completely. We could also hear the gate crashing from our room every time someone came in or out, which disturbed our sleep. We opted to use the stairs for most of our stay because we were only on the 5th floor, but this is something guests should definitely be aware of before booking since it's an 11 story building. Definitely not accessible.