Hotel Spotlight: US Grant Hotel - San Diego, California - A Starwood Luxury Collection Property

The Grant Grill - Seating Area off of the Bar

Hotel Spotlight: US Grant Hotel - San Diego, California

I recently had the wonderful pleasure of staying at the US Grant Hotel in San Diego, California. The hospitality exhibited from the moment I checked in, until I checked out was exemplary. It didn't matter if it was the Manager on Duty, a Valet, or any other individuals who worked there, all of the employees were courteous, polite, and seemed to enjoy their job - even if that wasn't the case, they didn't let any guests feel any differently.

If you like a hotel that has that Old World Charm of understated elegance, then you will definitely enjoy staying at the US Grant Hotel. While it's not a budget hotel, it is definitely worth the price to stay there. The rooms are well appointed, clean (barring some windowsills that were a bit dusty) and intimate. It wasn't the largest room I've ever stayed in, but it was cozy, intimate and I slept like a baby every night. I will add that I stayed in a street side room, so it was a bit more noise than probably would have been in an interior room, but that was ok, since I was on a higher floor, the noise was not overwhelming at all.

The artwork was exquisite. I felt like I was in Paris, because everywhere I looked there were eclectic pieces of art disbursed throughout the property - bronze sculptures, unique paintings and elaborate chandeliers.

The pros about staying at the US Grant Hotel were:

• Close to the airport
  
• Within 10-15 minutes to any of the attractions (Sea World, the Zoo, etc)
  
• Close proximity to any ships departing from San Diego for cruises
  
• Walking distance to great restaurants, House of Blues, Croce's restaurant and many new bars and clubs
  
• Intimate rooms with exceptional customer service
  
• Nice "Happy Hour" at the Grant Grill - located off of the lobby area
  
• Inexpensive and short cab rides to a majority of locales outside of the downtown area
  
• Shopping, shopping, and more shopping were just steps away from the hotel (directly across the street)

Some cons of staying (fortunately, not that many):

• There was a fee to use the internet in your room; however, if you worked in the lobby area it was free of charge
  
• My drivers who would come to pick me up or drop me off had a problem figuring out which entrance to go too, and since I wasn't certain, I ended up walking around the entire building on numerous occasions looking for my transportation
  
• The neighborhood is definitely sketchy. There were obviously tourist around, but there was an enormous amount of (seemingly) homeless people in the surrounding area by the hotel - most were relatively harmless, just asking for money or usually just carrying on conversations with themselves

This picture was taken in my room. It's a headboard that is made of cloth and then painted with black, depicting these unusual characters. I loved it!

This divine, bronze sculpture was located off of the 4th floor elevator area. The chandelier is not given any justice in this photo. It sparkled like a million stars.

*photos taken by That Chick Té of the US Grant Hotel, San Diego, CA

(http://www.chicksthattrip.com/)