I was very happy with my recent stay at the Downtown Holiday in Express in San Diego. Most of the review I read ahead of time are very accurate. The hotel is clean, and in a safe area of town. I stayed there for five nights, and as a single, young female, never once felt unsafe. The staff was always very friendly and helpful. The breakfast buffet was wonderful with an option that should suit almost anyone. The elevator is very slow as previously discussed, but I never had any issues with waiting for extreme amounts of time and was never made late by that fact. I did not deal with the parking and relied on the hotel shuttle to get from the airport and public transportation/ walking to see the sights. The trolley and city busline are approximately 5-6 blocks (5-10 minute walk) away and very low priced with the multiple day passes available (4 days for $15). I would definitely stay here again if I was to return to San Diego.

We stayed during July 2007. This Hotel is not the fanciest (you can tell the building is older, but it does look updated and remodeled inside) but I think it was a Great Value comparing to other Hotels in the area. I believe the parking was around $10 a night which beats the $25 (plus Tips everytime you get your car) a night across the street at the Sheraton! And although the parking garage is a bit small.... you can park your own car (unlike at the Sheraton!)

The staff was very nice and the room was very clean. There was internet acess available in the lobby or Free Wireless internet (we had no problem getting it in our room, but our room was on the same floor as the lobby so I am not sure if it is available in all rooms or not). The bathrooms aren't really big but are nice. The vanity has a granite countertop. In our room there was two full size (maybe queen) beds and a nice entertainment center and desk.

The location is perfect! Gaslamp Quarter is a short walk away. There are Tons of restaurants and a movie theatre there! Seaport Village isn't too far away either... along with the San Diego Zoo and Balboa Park! Seaworld is a short drive away as well! This is the perfect location to stay, in San Diego!

We stayed here for only one night since we didn't want to pay for the Hilton when we flew in so late. We got it for $70/night on Priceline. The parking deck is very poorly designed. You'll see all the scratches on the walls from cars hitting them. If you have a car bigger than a compact, don't bother coming here. You won't be able to maneuver.

The room iself is very average. Bathroom is tiny. It's a good place if you plan on sleeping and leaving first thing in the morning. Pool is decent size, but too cold to swim now. And if you're not used to hearing noise, you'll be up all night with the planes overhead. Didn't bother us, since we live in a city.

They have breakfast in the morning that consists of fruit, muffins, bread, cereals and other things like that. Nothing special. Overall, stay here if you just need a place to crash for the night. We spent the remainder of our time at the Hilton San Diego resort and loved it.

We stayed here 5 nights over Thanksgiving weekend in 2 rooms and really enjoyed it. The POSITIVES were much cheaper price than other hotels closer to the convention center or gaslamp (we paid about $116), free shuttle from airport, free breakfast, comfortable beds, nice balcony, clean rooms / lobby, happy hour Mon - Thurs 5-6:30 with complimentary soda, beer or wine and computers in the lobby that we used to check-in to our flight. The only NEGATIVE was that the hotel was a couple blocks outside of the gaslamp district. However, it was definitely walk-able, even for the non-exercisers in our group. The hotel is on a steep hill so when you are walking you should take the other elevator (walk outside away from the lobby) down to 6th street and then walk down 5th or 6th Street to get to the gaslamp/horton/
conv center. The hotel is also close to the Balboa park and I ran to the park and in the park every day. We even walked to the zoo - which was probably about a mile or 1.5 mile walk.

The hotel also offers a shuttle to/from airport, cruise ships, amtrak station, zoo and maybe other locations. We only used the shuttle to the airport - but probably. Shuttle was on-time and convevient for us but my sister said the shuttle was 15 min late for her and did stop at another hotel after they picked her up so make sure you have enough
time. (However, the airport was small and we needed only about 1/2 the
time we normally need at PHL or BWI).

Overall, I would recommend this hotel. I would stay here again but probably only if I couldn't find a comparable rate at one of the nicer
hotels closer to the gaslamp.