DoubleTree by Hilton San Diego - Del Mar

Makes me want to avoid Doubletree properties in the future if this is normal Starting this off with a comment: The staff on site was generally easy to deal with and were seemed a bit overwhelmed by a busy weekend, but the issue with this Hotel is that it's being mis-managed and I would guess at a level beyond what any on-site staff has control over. First - the website itself has a bit of bait and switch going on. If you book a King Bed Jr. Suite - the picture on the website clearly shows that it's has a separate bedroom. It was like that when I booked over a month again it's still like that today. REALY? I had a colleague tell me he fell for the same thing booking a suite thinking it had a separate room based on the website as well. They should fix this. Second- We are traveling for sports so we know that it's going to be a mess cause it's a big tournament. So we call in advance as we debate booking two rooms vs. getting a rollaway for our room as 1 night we will have 4 people instead of 2. We call 2 weeks before and are told - "Confirmed we will provide a rollaway". I'm partially suprised as they don't say "we can't confirm this until you get to the hotel". Which is fine and would have led us to book a 2nd room instead of the suite. But they said they "confirmed" a roll away will be provided. So the word "confirmed" means something else to them. Again something management should make sure is understood by all staff. Third - One of 2 elevators for the entire hotel (including the cleaning staff) was down. Okay, I get this. Happens. and very unfortunate on a busy weekend making catching an elevator a 5-10 min wait every time. A quick return to your room is no longer a nominal task. I get this happens and it was awful for the cleaning staff trying to do their job as they wait for elevators with their carts, just hoping for an elevator they can fit their cart into. This is part of hotel life - EXCEPT for the fact that I find out the elevator has been down for over 3 months. WTF. If you plan on being here for a busy event, might want to ask on booking if both elevators are working. This is inexcusable. Fourth - We purchased a stay that included breakfast. They provided us vouchers on check in. The last day we had an early game and just needed a yogurt and quick snacks for the kids. (YES, we booked the correct # of people for our room and was charged accordingly for the breakfast per person). Yet they had an issued with us getting these couple items instead of sitting for the entire buffet. Again makes just about zero sense. All and all just a completely frustrating stay. We usually stay at original starwood properties (Marriot now). I'm not sure if this is par for the course a Doubletree. But I get the feeling that the higher up manage of this hotel just don't care as they have a good location which will attract people to stay. But I personally would not want to return here until they figure this stuff out. I will also emphasize the staff on site were not difficult. but it does seem that the higher up management of this property just doesn't care.

Service was like a 2* I came here for a wedding and I am pretty annoyed. We actually had 5 rooms booked as a family. The hotel was ok. One elevator is a joke though. I don't care to walk up the stairs but they only have stairs on either side of the halls which was annoying. I had a king room with pullout for 4 people and they didn't provide any blankets or pillows. And I had all 4 on the reservation since I got the free breakfast rate. Which was a complete donkey show... The restaurant is decrepit. I got the rate with free breakfast thinking it would be convenient. First of all, two of the older ladies were complete witches. I was waiting for 5 minutes because my family had already eaten while I needed to do some work You need a host to seat and finally I asked if I needed to talk to someone and she snapped at me to hold on. She had passed by the podium a few times and didn't even acknowledge me or smile so how was I supposed to know? The second day we had 7 of us and 2 people showed up at the same time and the hostess put them on a big table area leaving us with a terrible seating arrangement. I guess they never played diner dash. I asked for a coffee and this other lady was sighed and said I just came by and asked. Well excuse me, maybe cause I was getting food at the buffet? Sorry for making you do work. Maybe just have it available since it's such a inconvenience. What kind of ridiculous service is this? Then to top it off she tried to charge me for tip twice, good thing I caught it, what a piece of work. The worst part of it all is, my kid was sick and I wanted to use a voucher to bring up a small plate and they refused. Basically just a couple pieces of bread, some fruit and oatmeal and juice, in exchange for a voucher. No meat, no eggs, and just 1 plate. They told me some bs about how we can't bring food up. Oh but room service is ok? As long as I pay more I guess! The plate of food was nowhere near the overcharge of $25 I'm sure there are some policies but they could have tried to accommodate in a different way. I'm only silver so I guess that's why. I know Marriott would have done what they can to accommodate. Never heard of a mid hotel that doesn't allow to-go plates. I highly recommend you check out other properties. There are a bunch and unless you love the cookies (which were warm!) I would go elsewhere.

Run down and bad service. Stayed two nights at this hotel. It was very run down. Our bathroom was dirty had hair in the tub, sink and on the floor. Broken floor tiles in the bathroom. Lights weren’t plugged in had to move furniture to get them working. Furniture was torn. One elevator was working so it took a while to use it. The fire alarm went off had to leave the hotel then it was turned off and we were able to go back in. No explanation was given. Four people were working the reservation desk and we were ignored. Wouldn’t stay here again.

Not What We Expected ! I will do my best to be fair in this review as overall, as it was a "mixed" experience. The most impressive thing about this location is its staff......really excellent. On site restaurant/bar staff as well as desk personnel were outstanding, friendly and accomodating. The downside is that, unfortunately, Hilton has allowed this location to deteriorate with respect to the building itself. Although the grounds, esp. the pool area are well kept and attractive, the rooms themselves are long overdue for a "refresh". Carpets and furniture are frayed, mattress quality is questionable, and other room and hotel maintenance conditions exist, the most notable one being that one of the two elevators in the hotel is out of service. This forces all of the guests, as well as maid service and other hotel personnel to be forced onto one elevator, along with their cleaning carts ! No service elevator exists. Oh, and did I mention the "pocket door" that one has to deal with the access the bathroom !......extremely heavy and difficult to operate. This ordeal leads to a bathroom that seriously needs a makeover to bring it in line with today's hotel guest's expectations. C'mon Hilton.....you can do better !

NEVER STAY HERE! UNSAFE!!!!! Doubletree gave my room to another guess that actually entered my room! First, let me say that I never write reviews but use them to help make my business travel plans. I booked a room for two nights and was given the option of checking in on my phone and selecting a room. When I attempted to get the digital room key, I was redirected to the front desk. No big deal, as this has happened before since I'm sure the room had not been turned over yet. They switched my room, again no big deal. When I got inside, the room was very warm and it appeared that the AC was not working. I turned it off and on figuring it was delayed, then went downstairs for dinner. Afterwards, I came back to the room and the AC was still not working. I called the front desk and was told someone would be there in 10 minutes. 45 minutes later, I called back and asked for another room. Once again they said someone would be at my room with a key to my new room. Another 40-45 minutes later, I packed up and headed downstairs. As luck would have it, as soon as the door opened to the lobby I received a digital key to the room next to the one I was just in. Back up to the 5th floor and into my new room. A/C worked, but no soap. I asked one of the Housekeepers for a bar of soap. She relayed that they've been out of soap for several days. Well, at least the AC worked and I could get by with using the shower gel, which I'm sure the rest of the guests had to do. The following day I left for some business meetings and returned to finish a project in my room. I placed the do not disturb sign on the door and left for dinner. I returned to the do not disturb sign missing and my digital key not working. Numerous calls the the front desk went unanswered, so back down the only operating elevator to the lobby. Upon being greeted, I noticed a set of keys with my room number on the key sleeve. I advised the front desk clerk that my digital key was no longer working and advised my room number. The look on the clerks face said it all. She then quickly handed me the keys that were next to her on the desk. "Here's you keys", with the explanation that they gave my room to someone else. Wait, what? You gave my room to someone else? Did you check me out of my room? What did you do with my personal belonging? The clerk responded, "We didn't move your stuff, don't worry, all they did was open the door and noticed that your computer and stuff were in the room. They left the room and came back here." I asked her how can you guarantee that my personal belongings are still there. "It's all there, they just came back down". Ok, how can you say all my items are there, if I can't tell you all my stuff is still there, since you canceled my digital key and gave my room to someone else. "Here's your keys". I asked her to tell me who is registered to that room. Of course she couldn't tell me since they removed me from the room. She asked, "whats your name"? No, you tell me what my name is, which she couldn't do. So, Doubletree was about to give my room to another person that they have no idea if I actually belong in that room or not? How about you tell what my name is then ask for ID to confirm before you hand out room keys. She went to get the manager, but came back 10 minutes later by herself. I reminder her that she went to get the manager so they can explain how they gave my room to someone else since she couldn't, and I have no guarantee that any of my items are still in the room and have not been stolen. Apparently the manager was too busy to talk to me. After the clerk told me numerous times she had no idea how this could have happened, she finally figured out to look at who was assigned to the room the night before. Then told me they gave the room to someone else since I was moved to a different room the night before. So, Doubletree moved my room and failed to make sure my reservation transferred correctly. Then, without cleaning the room gave it to a complete stranger that had full access to my room and all my personal belongings! Doubletree then gave room keys to me without checking my ID. Doubletree's incompetence is unbelievable. The fact that the manager refused to talk to me, and all my belongings could have been stolen is unacceptable. I could have been in the shower, changing, etc. What if my wife was in the room alone when they gave a stranger access to the room.... To add insult to injury, I was handed my room keys with 2 cookies. WOW is all I have to say. DO NOT STAY HERE! The staffs complete incompetence and managements refusal to address the situation makes anyone's stay UNSAFE!