For the first time, I got to travel out to the West Coast! I was so excited. The furthest I had ever traveled previously was Yellowstone National Park. Being a native east-coast kid, I was really looking forward to the west coast experience.
Once again, I had made arrangements at a Wyndham family hotel. My family are time-share owners through Wyndham and it makes traveling super easy and convenient. Speaking only on my behalf, it’s definitely been money well spent for my family.
We had a week at the Wyndham, flew out with Southwest (another first for me), and opted out of a rental car (solely using Uber/Lyft for transportation – another first). One of the main things that drew us to the Harbor Lights was its location. It sits right at the heart of the Gaslamp district in downtown San Diego, surrounded by bars, lounges, restaurants and performance venues. A lot of things were within walking distance; therefore justifying our decision to only use Uber & Lyft as our primary mode of transportation. It was also close to the ceremony and reception venues of our cousins wedding (El Cortez Hotel).
Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty!
Location:
911 Fifth Ave, San Diego, CA 92101
Phone & Website:
Ph: (619) 564-3500
Website: https://www.extraholidays.com/san-diego-california/wyndham-harbour-lights
Room Amenities:
The rooms were surprisingly basic. They still offer the high-quality, stylish furnishings you come to expect from Wyndham; but lack in anything unique. Most of the rooms are studio-style accomodations with an efficiency kitchen, and living room/dining room/bedroom combo with a separate bathroom. But hey, at least the toiletries were still complementary!
Resort Amenities & Facilities:
Again, I was surprised with how basic this hotel was by the other Wyndham locations I’ve visited. The hotel offered a fitness facility (which was super nice, by the way), a quaint dining area, concierge, housekeeping for an extra fee, complimentary WiFi, 24-hour front desk. They also offer valet-only parking for an additional fee of $36/night (YIKES!).
Rates:
Rates reasonably fall in line with other Wyndham hotel’s at around $170-260/night depending on when you stay.
Dining & Entertainment:
They do have a little dining (sitting?) area behind the front desk. It is a little odd, though, to be honest. There are no advertised menu’s or anything really for that sitting area; but we didn’t really ask questions. I didn’t come to San Diego to eat at the hotel. I digress… After we checked in, we met with the concierge and he mentioned that they have a family breakfast the following morning. Then he started asking about our age and income. . . UGH SALES PITCH. The ‘family breakfast’ was this hotel’s ploy to get you to buy into a timeshare and they reel you in with the promise of bacon, folks. These are mad times we live in.
Review & Rating:
I’ll cut to the chase. . . Normally, I rave about whatever Wyndham I’m staying at this time around; but in this case, I just can’t! From the moment we walked through the front door, it was just an odd experience. We didn’t have a bad experience, by any means; but it wasn’t good either. I didn’t even take any pictures because they were a little lack-luster. The hotel was clean but the staff was a little socially awkward and they didn’t have our room ready and had to put us in a different room.
Then right thereafter was the ‘family breakfast’ ordeal. Once we get up to our room, we opened the curtains only to see we have a fantastic view of the neighborhood Hustler Hollywood; which, for those of you who don’t know what that is, Hustler Hollywood is an adult store. ;-P
And on the night-stand… two pairs of ear plugs… for “city noise”. Which seemed silly to me as I live in Cleveland and have never noticed city noise (even gunshots and building demolitions) when I sleep; but I could see their usefulness for those who come to San Diego from quieter neighborhoods! Good thinking!
Since this wasn’t like a Wyndham Resort, so-to-speak, we didn’t really spend much time in the hotel. At all. We barely were there to sleep (spent the night at a family’s house outside of the city one or two nights). There was no reason to hang out in the room all day with all the sights, entertainment, and food so close by; but this hotel was a good home-base.
Seriously though, the location is PRIME at this hotel. Our Uber/Lyft rides, with the exception of to/from the airport, were never more than $12 and about half the time we walked where we needed to go. If you’re going to stay at Harbor Lights, do it for the location and nothing else because you’ll be in a prime location and you’ll only need a comfy place to rest your head at night. . . Assuming you rest at all in this hustling, bustling city!
The rating. . . drum roll. . .
Life of Travels 