Hotel Solamar San Diego

I stayed three nights in this hotel. The stuff is great, very helphul especially Shawn the supervisior at the fron desk. The rooms are of a great size and the internet is free which is kind of special for any 4 stars hotels. The location is great and you can walk to the gas lamp area where all the shopping/restaurants are located.

The only negative point was the noise in the morning where some construction around the hotel was going on.

I recommend this hotel to anyone who is visiting San Diego!

Arrived on a Monday night, no problems with valet parking, bottle of wine ready in the bedroom, where we could see into Petco Park and watch Padres Rockies game whilst sipping and getting ready to hit the Gaslamp quarter, where dining was cheap, but excellent, drinking was fun - if a little too copious, and finished the night in a Cuban Cigar Bar- great if you like a smoke whilst imbibing. The bathroom was excellent, the mini-bar well-stocked. OK, the pool is small as is the conditioning suite, but go during the week and avoid crowds. Only problem was that in the evenings, the J-bar was taken over by corporate drones who acted snobby, but we ignored them, tipped the waiters and sat and drank whilst overlooking the downtown area. The security staff were great, and very discreet. Left on Thursday for Mexico, but hangovers prevented this, didn't think tequilia and tacos were a good idea, so we returned to L.A. for a day rest before heading up to Santa Barbara next day. Well worth every penny.

This is a great hotel if you are a 20 something Yuppie who loves to party and pretend like you really have a lot of money to impress your friends. The staff is brain dead and doesn't have a clue about service. We first arrived and it was like they never checked anyone in before. It took over a half hour! They didn't have our room ready at 4:30 pm and we ended up getting a room that didn't work for us. It took them about 1 hour to finally get our luggage up to our room and almost six hours to get a roll-a-way bed up to our room. The TV only worked on about 3 channels and the hotel is extremely noisy. All you hear is drunken people partying in the hallways all night long. You hear parties on the street, in the pool area, everywhere. Oh yea - I love dogs - but not near my hotel room. Especially when they start to bark! I guess the dogs are left in the rooms while their owners go out and party all night long.

The rooms are small and the fitness center and pool are even smaller. The fitness center holds about 2-3 people and the pool is more like a wading pool for small kids, though it is filled with drunken young adults, (if that is what you want to consider them) who wanted to see how much they could drink and how many people they could fit in the drinking pool during happy hour. There was no whirlpool and the bar area was way under staffed. I asked for a beer and it took over 1/2 hour to get it. The waiter boasted that during happy hour beers were only $4. Wow - what a deal I thought. The service was rude and I couldn't stand to be in this area any longer so I left.

The only way to park is via Valet which will cost you $30 per night. Let's see - I'm staying 4 nights so that's only $120 bucks - another great deal!

For a hotel this expensive you would expect a whole lot more. It is close to the ball park and the gas lamp district if that is what you are into. It's crowded noisy and annoying. The valet parking area only has room for about two cars so - you will have to practice your driving skills just to get in.

I guess I don't get all the rave reviews on this place. Let's see - if you like really really expensive hotel rates, loud noisy parties, bad service, expensive parking fees, and few amenities, then you will really dig this hotel.

For me - I'll spend my hard earned money on a hotel that has decent rates, service, and has some peace and quiet.

I just completed a 2 night stay at the Solomar and I couldn't be happier!

I'll start with the staff. They were all very friendly, helpful and actually seemed to take pride in their jobs! This started the moment we exited our cab (Even though we arrived prior to 8:00 am., check in is at 3:00 pm.) with the doorman and continued with every employee we encountered for the duration of our stay. The people at the front desk were all very friendly and helpful with local info. When I requested a coffee maker from housekeeping it arrived at our door (with a smile) in about 5 minutes.

The room's decor was very relaxing and had everything I needed from internet access to one of the most comfortable beds I've ever had in a hotel. In fact, it was comfortable to the point that I'll be replacing my own bed within the month. The linens were all of superior quality and seemed to be almost new. In the cleanliness department the only fault I could find would be the windows (This is nit picking as I have been told it had recently rained), other than that the place was immaculate to the point that there weren't even any watermarks in the tub, sink or on any of the fixtures.

The other two things I'd like to cover is the location (perfect!) and the construction noise. In short, there wasn't any even though there were three active construction sites visible within a couple of blocks of my room (520). When I had the window closed the outside world just seemed to disappear.

I will definitively be visiting this property again.

The location of the hotel was great and within walking distance of clubs and restaurants. It had a very modern feel to the lobby and the rooms. The hotel personnel was professional and very nice.

This hotel made me feel comfortable: They welcomed us as returning guests of Kimpton Management. They made sure we were aware of what the hotel offered. They hosted a complimentary wine hour each day.