Traveled to SD on business and stayed at the Westgate. My first and lasting impression is that the rooms are HUGE! They really are!

Checked in late, but had no problems. There was an issue with my phone, but they sent someone up to fix it right away and never had another issue with it. They don't have free internet, but they have a cable you buy from the mini bar for $10 and then you're set for the duration of your stay. Better than some hotels that charge $9.95 a day. Turn down service every night, and they play soft music on your TV. Ordered room service one morning, and they were very fast and food was good.

The decor has a little over-the-top Versailles feel to it, but it's not that bad. I had to laugh at one of the reviews below. The elevators ARE really slow. The foyer thing to the rooms is a little odd too, although I’ve seen it in other older hotels before. The annoying thing about the foyer setup is that you can hear the doors pretty loudly when you enter and leave your room. Luckily I had quiet neighbors.

The hotel is right next to Horton Plaza, at the top of the Gaslamp. You’re a short walk from all the restaurants and bars. What you are not close to is the convention center, however, the trolley stops right behind the hotel. It runs every 15 minutes to the convention center and costs $1.25. It is by far the easiest and fastest way to get down there.

Overall, it’s a nice hotel for the price. It might not be the hippest, newest hotel but it doesn’t need to be when you have all the great bars/restaurants so close in the Gaslamp. You get an enormous room and good service for the same or less than most hotels in downtown SD. I would stay there again.

After 4 nights at the Hotel Del at Coronado Island we moved to the Westgate on June 5th so that we could se a little of downtown and see Cats at the Civic Center.
This is exactly what I had in mind. The valet unloaded our car and directed us into an elegant lobby. We were early for check in (only 1:00) but we walked up to the desk and were treated kindly and immediately. Our questions were answered and we were given our keys. They have keys here not those plastic cards.

We we got to the 14th floor, we were met minutes later by the bell who unloaded our bags. We left a short while later to walk across the street to the Horton plaza to do some shopping.

Upon our return a few hours later the bell returned with a box made of chocolate containing truffles and a bottle of sparkling lemonade with a card wishing us a nice night out.

The beds were nice and a full wall of windows looked out on the NBC building and downtown. In the distance we could see the bridge and ocean on the horizon.

That night we walked to the civic center which was just on the other side of the hotel. We also did some late night adventuring on the gaslamp. It was a bit brash outside but very nice to be able to walk home.
Overall perfect location downtown.

I (along with my significant other) spent 2 nights at this property to attend a wedding beginning of April 2008. If you walk in here expecting a 5 star property like a Four Seasons or some of the 5 star Hyatt's you will be disappointed as this hotel is:

In terms of decor, amenities and general facilities: At best a 4 star (Correctly reflected on Expedia star rating for this hotel)
In terms of management, service and attendance: At best a high end 3 star.

I will try to get in to the guts of stuff:

Location
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This hotel is located in an area bordering the Gaslamp District so you will find a lot of nice restaurants to eat at. It's also very convenient to get to from the 5 freeway. We didn't go out much so I won't comment much here.

Overall I give Westgate a 4 out of 5 here.

Lobby & General Hotel Areas:
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The designers aimed to go for the "antique" look throughout the hotel including old looking yellowish lighting pretty much all over the place. This means without a powerful external flash most cameras will have a problem with white balance and pictures WILL come out yellowish. The sofas in the lobby need replacement as they are not in the best shape specially if you are trying to sell your hotel as a 5 star property!
The one time I needed to use the Business center at around 11 AM on a Saturday it was closed with a "Will Be Back" sign for 12:30 PM! The Elevators must be the S..L..O..W..E..S..T I've ever encountered in any hotels! While there is enough of them (or so it appears) for some odd reason the wait is sometimes longer than (gasp!) 10 minutes! (I kid you not!)

Overall I give Westgate a 3 out of 5 here.

Rooms
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This is where the hotel actually did NOT fall too short. The rooms are generally of a very good size but the fake "antique" theme from the lobby and general areas continues here with similar yellowish lighting (albeit much more subdued) but the carpet needs a good cleaning as ours wasn't the cleanest. Also the design of the rooms here are such that they will open in to a foyer that you share with your neighboring room before reaching to a double door linking both rooms to the hallway. What does this mean? It means amongst shared access also shared noise from the next door room! Also, there is NO in room safe and NO coffee maker! Also the bathroom door knob while looking "antique" and nice falls short in ergonomics forcing us to use towels to avoid getting cut by the flawed design. The actual shower while looking all nice was:

A: Not very clean, signs of mold clearly present.
B: Not very easy to get in and out so be mindful as the tub has a long ledge.

Bed was comfortable enough but no match for the beds in lower star rated hotels like Sheraton or Marriott.

Overall considering they have just refurbished the rooms in 2007 I was not impressed at all.

Overall I give Westgate a 3 out of 5 here.

Service and Staff:
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This is where this property falls flat face down! Westgate, if you truly believe you're a 5 star (or even a 4 star) you NEED to get service right! This means you need to have your staff greet the guests at every occasion! You need to have staff who jump out of their way for a quest! You need to have staff who will proactively (and seamlessly) work together.

None of these were present in this hotel at our stay. While the staff are generally nice there is nothing that will again justify the rating. They will feel at home at a chain national 3 star anytime!
The exception was the Valet service which for $25 / Day (Ouch!) and as the sole option for parking wasn't too impressive but more attentive than some of the other staff we encountered.

I particularly had a very hard time with the check-in when I tried to switch my room and extend a day at the same time, it took me 10 minutes of explaining in very simple terms for them to finally figure what was it I wanted and even at that they could NOT meet my needs.

The concierge basically consists of a single person (who is very nice actually) so if you need service while she's on break or doing something then you're out of luck! This was the most understaffed concierge that I had seen at any higher end hotel.

Overall I give Westgate a 3 out of 5 here.

Restaurants and Quality of Food:
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I just had to comment here about the quality of the food. While we never attended the hotel's restaurant and couple of bars per se the food we received at the wedding (which WAS from the same kitchen as the hotel's restaurant) was just terrible!

Although the bride and the groom had spent a staggering amount of money, had I received that food in any other occasion it would go straight back to the kitchen! The steak I got was over cooked and very firm something like an Airline rubber chicken! The presentation was just awful with some artichoke's laying messy around the plate along with a couple of cut carrots. If this is what they serve in their restaurant (which I'm pretty sure is) I'd recommend to stay away and just spend time in one of the great eateries in the Gaslamp district within 10 minutes walk.

Overall I give Westgate a 1 out of 5 here.


I guess by now you know I'm not a big fan of Westgate Hotel in San Diego CA and I would NOT recommend it to any of my own friend's or family, specially for the prices they ask.

There are so many other options out there so unless you're drawn to fake antique look or yellowish lighting and are willing to put up with the deficiencies and specially willing to accept the fake 5 star rating then go right ahead, it is by no means a bad place to stay at, it's just not up to what it claims to be or the premium $ it charges for the privilege of letting you stay there.

One last thing I remembered to mention, I read their internal hotel magazine and I had a few remarks on that as well:

First of all Westgate, get a proper illustrator if you're serious about this! The layout and fonts are so amateurish it would hardly pass for a class magazine let alone the "Premier Magazine of Westgate Hotel".

Secondly, STOP plastering pictures of your owners, your owner's sons and daughters, your manager and your manager's wife! Pretty much %50 of the 10 or so pages magazine was dedicated to these pictures. I just do NOT find this is very professional.

To sum it all up:

This is NOT a 5 star hotel. Heck, it's not even a very good 4 star at that either! I would accept it if it was a 3.5 star and would do away with the pretence and I probably would have rated it high accordingly but what they really need is a Four Season's opening in the area, which is just inevitable as there are none in San Diego, and that would give the management here a much needed kick in the rear.

I went to the Westgate for 2 days in February for business. The room was very comfortable and the whole property very elegant. It was pretty easy walking distance to the water and to the Gaslamp district.
The only problem I had is that the outlet in the dressing area was not working and it was difficult blowdrying my hair next to the tv!