Upfront, if you pay attention, you know this is not going to be the Ritz or a big-city Westin, but it's a bargain. 500 West is an historic remodeled version of an Armed Services (residential) YMCA built in 1924. It still has a YMCA and a nice cafe attached. The lobby is lovely, with many old features of decoration still present. Large sepia photos of the hotel in 1920s adorn lobby walls, and the staff is impeccably polite and attentive. WARNING: shared bath facilities (I'll describe below) are not for everyone, and some rooms here face to the street, which means street noise at certain times of day. Total about 225 rooms. Windows open but there's no A/C, not usually an issue in San Diego. If you are coming on Amtrak, shopping or going to the ballet or opera and desire a very central location near Gaslamp and excellent public transport, this is perfect as long as you are OK with the bath setup.
LOVED: (a) central location: a block from Amtrak, a few blocks from Horton Plaza and from the Civic Center, and the trolley; (b) quick check in; (c) very numerous bathrooms, some with shower and some without, accessed by room key, privacy assured by deadbolting from inside. I found the bathrooms well-stocked with face cloths and toilet paper, and always available (d) excellent price, I paid $49+ tax for a single 5/4/08; there's a really nasty, smelly Super8 not far away for which you will pay $80 or more (e) free wireless. The old building lobby is graceful and has preserved many original features. The rooms are tiny, like New York hotel rooms, and the bedding spare but comfortable. In my room there was no chair, so I pulled out the desk drawer and parked my laptop open in the drawer, and sat on the end of the bed. There was a micro-fridge under the desk.
POTENTIALLY IRRITATING: (a) no drinking cups; (b) bathrooms grouped by 4s in several locations on each floor [if you need to get up at night to use the bathroom, take a container to use in the room or take pajamas--the shared bathrooms would irritate some but worked for me]; (b) two PAY computers off lobby, irritant to pay 70 cents for two minutes in a credit card transaction to print a paper airline boarding pass (c) slow drain in one shower room, which could have irritated a user just after me; (d) some guests left deadbolt on bathroom shot out, so the door remained unlocked and accessible to anyone who cares to use it, which could include passersby or homeless; this is a guest-education and security issue. Only closing the door secures it, then requiring a room key to enter. (e) There's no A/C, not usually a problem in San Diego. There's a tiny ceiling fan and I opened the window, but doing so exposes you to some street noise. Ask for a room that faces the interior court, not a street (f) all the surrounding areas are home to homeless, who seem to appear everywhere, sometimes drunk or acting strangely but not panhandling aggressively as in San Francisco.
When you check in, the staff makes sure (by asking you) that you understand and are OK with the shared-bath, hostel-type concept. It's also made very clear on the hotel's web site.