We started our trip to San Diego at this hotel, mostly because the company my husband works for was paying for us to be at a conference there. It was absolutely beautiful, though.
First, the details:
Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego
1 Market Place
San Diego, California, 92101
(619) 232-1234
Check-In: 4pm / Check-Out: 11am
Valet Parking: $49 / Self-Parking: $35
This is considered a luxery hotel and surprisingly had complimentary wifi and 24-hour texting service.
Amenities: bathrobes and slippers available upon request, microwave ($20/stay) /refrigerator ($25/stay) /rollaway bed ($20/night) available upon request, hair dryer, coffeemaker
Hotel Activities:
Iconic, Marilyn Monroe Spa
Cabana Rentals (2 pools: 1 family and 1 adults only, hot tub)
Rooftop Cinema Club at Grand Hyatt (Doors open at 6:30 to enjoy the beautiful views, each person gets a personal set of wireless headphones, comfy deckchairs for one or love seats for two, blankets are available from the box office, bottomless popcorn, candy, full food menu, and drinks)
Fire pits for roasting s’mores and a children’s outdoor play area
Food:
Sally’s Fish House & Bar
Lunch is 11:30a-3p / Light Bite Menu is 3p-5p / Dinner is 5p-9:30p
For Kids: chicken tenders, filet mignon, pasta, and more at $12 per item
Plenty of seafood, but plenty that isn’t as well
Lunch is $18-$25/entree while Dinner is closer to $40/entree
Top of the Hyatt
Sky lounge 40 stories up with floor to ceiling windows
Open 3p-1:30a
Small shareables and desserts are available
Brew30
Selections from local breweries and distilleries with burgers ($14-$18) and salads on the menu
Open 11a-11p, daily (happy hour is 3p-6p)
Seaview Breakfast Buffet Restaurant
Fresh scrambles, made-to-order omelets, waffles, pastries, and other favorites
$28/Grand Breakfast Buffet or $21/Continental Buffet (Complimentary for children under 12 per paying adult)
M-F 6:30a-11a / Sa & Su 6:30a-11:30a
Market One
On-the-go meals and snacks (deli-fresh sandwiches, ready-made salads, pastries, and Starbucks coffee)
Open 24 hours
GrandEats
Room service
Breakfast: 6a-11a / Dinner: 5p-11p
Our experience:
We were able to check in right away when we got there. The guy at the front desk was very friendly and switched our room from a King bed to 2 Queen beds on a high floor. We were super excited to see what kind of view we would receive since we were located right on the bay.
We walked into our room and were greeted with a nice, clean room. It didn’t feel huge, but it also didn’t feel cramped. There was a nice huge window on the far side of the room with a table and two chairs in front of it. We immediately set everything down to look at what kind of view we had. It was amazing! We could see the city to the left, but we could also see the bay to the right. It was great and we spent some time taking pictures.
For the most part, our stay was pleasant. We had a couple issues with only having scalding hot water in our shower, but maintenance came to fix it pretty quickly. I had also forgotten a couple items at home (like a hairbrush). I called down to the front desk, and within 30 minutes, someone brought me the items I had requested. Now, that's service!
On our second day there, we headed down to the pool on the 3rd floor. We had a great time looking at the backyard play area. There was corn hole, giant connect four, Foosball, and ping pong. Then, we found a chair to put our stuff on. The pool itself is heated to 80 degrees all year round so it didn’t feel cold inside the pool, but if you kept your head out for too long, you did get quite chilly (in early October). Overall, we had a great time. We really enjoyed everything the hotel had to offer.
Our only slightly negative experience came at the one restaurant we decided to eat at on property.
When we got there, they said it would be a 25 minute wait to sit outside and I feel like, why are paying more to eat at a restaurant on the water if you can’t sit outside? So we waited for about half an hour. I’m not really sure why we waited though. There were so many tables empty, and while I understand that a lot of people had reservations, the people that were there when we got there were gone by 7, when all the people with the reservations came. It was annoying and we almost left, but they called us just as we were getting ready to leave.
We were seated and decided to just order a couple things because I wasn’t that hungry. However, we still ordered way too much food. Tom and I got some crab cakes to share for our appetizer. It came out fairly quickly, but our waiter was so distracted by other people (mainly his boss) that he didn’t come over to take our order until we were already done eating our crab cakes. That was annoying and when we were waiting for our food, I was so tired! I just wanted to go to sleep and it was taking so long to get our food. Eventually, it did come though. Owen ordered chicken strips and fries. He didn’t end up eating very much of it. I ordered a cup of clam chowder. It was pretty good, but I just wasn’t hungry. Tom got a new york strip with chimichurri on top. He seemed to like it, but it was a little under what he usually enjoys. He ordered it medium-rare and it was definitely more rare than anything else. He couldn’t finish his meal either, so we got a box for it. I hate having leftovers on vacation. We never eat them! But Tom didn’t want them to go to waste. Especially since we payed $120 (including tip) for our food.
