The hotel was clean, had a nice pool and hot tub, was less expensive than comparable Hampton Inns, had friendly staff and good hot breakfast every morning. It is also 7 min from San Diego Zoo. The Zoo is amazing! Best thing we did in San Diego.
The rooms were small, the beds were comfortable but all other furniture in room and lobby was worn, broken in and tattered. It was all clean. I wasn't worried about cleanliness, they did a good job there.
Some non chain hotels adjacent to this property have been converted to public housing by the city to assist homeless people to find housing. Don't take my word for it, just do a quick google search. We did not know coming in.
I am convinced one erratic psychotic acting guest at this Hampton Inn was staying on a county waiver or something. I am honestly not sure. We had enough negative interactions with this guy that I didn't feel my 14 and 17 year old children could leave the hotel room unsupervised. The guy was disruptive in public areas to multiple guests on multiple consecutive days and staff seemed unable to rectify the situation. When I talked to the front desk about the guy being verbally aggressive and psychotic they talked to me about not discriminating. He and I were both Caucasian, just FYI. They were afraid I was asking them to discriminate against a man suffering from drug induced psychosis who was affecting my, and others', quality of stay.
All of the other guests were great, families on vacation, just like my own.
There is a large homeless population all around this neighborhood, the street is called (Hotel Circle). It is a circle of hotels around a large multi lane freeway. The freeways made access difficult and confusing and congregations of homeless people up and down the street. The police were out on the street in front of the hotel with lights on talking to someone or stopping some car at least once a day that I saw, and I was gone most of each day. 3 days in a row, check in, zoo day, check out (1 day early, I had to argue to avoid a $75 early check out fee).
3 stars for clean hotel, great service, good food, close to zoo, good pool deck.
I actively try to be polite and refrain from holding judgement of others. I want to feel safe while on vacation with wife and kids over a thousand miles from our home. I figure anyone reading this review needs to know the reality of this situation good and bad so they know what they are getting into.
As a large 46 y/o male nurse used to working ER, Psych and ICU I found myself afraid I might find myself in a situation where I would have to try to be dominant over someone just to keep my family safe. I am objective and not reactive and good at de escalating, I was amped up. We vacation all over the place, coast to coast, in lots of mid level condos and hotels, I almost never have this feeling while out and about. I do not enjoy it and it detracts from the quality of my experience.
Its a clean hotel with friendly service full of vacationing families, but there are some caveats. I'm not willing to compromise on safety. I don't want to feel like I have to stay amped up.
We like Hampton Inn over all. I think Hilton should consider just closing this one down. There are probably too many things working against this district in general.