Review: Grand Hyatt San Diego
Hotel Overview:
The Grand Hyatt is located waterfront on San Diego Bay and is steps away from the San Diego Convention Center and Seaport Village. The location offers great access to the city’s finest dining, shopping and entertainment.
The Grand Hyatt is located waterfront on San Diego Bay and is steps away from the San Diego Convention Center and Seaport Village. The location offers great access to the city’s finest dining, shopping and entertainment.
The hotel is comprised of two towers, 33 and 40 stories high, making it the tallest waterfront hotel on the West Coast. It has 1,628 guest rooms, with most rooms offering nice water views.
The hotel has two pool decks, one for everyone to use and one for adults only. The main pool deck area, on the fourth floor, features a pool, fire pits, games area and views of San Diego Bay. There is a 24-hour gym featuring lots of nice equipment and two tennis courts, basketball court, shuffleboard and a volleyball court also available for your workout.
On-Site Dining Options:
There are lots of great dining options in San Diego, but I always like trying out the hotel dining options to see what they offer and sometimes prefer the convenience of it when traveling with kids.
The hotel is massive and walking into the lobby will make you think you've just walked into a Las Vegas style hotel. While the grand size of the hotel is likely more suited to cater to large meetings since it offers lots of meeting and event spaces, the hotel didn't seem overly crowded during our stay.
The hotel has two pool decks, one for everyone to use and one for adults only. The main pool deck area, on the fourth floor, features a pool, fire pits, games area and views of San Diego Bay. There is a 24-hour gym featuring lots of nice equipment and two tennis courts, basketball court, shuffleboard and a volleyball court also available for your workout.
Parking is available either through valet or you can self-park in the parking garage next door, which is a part of the overall hotel footprint. Valet parking is $47 per night and self-parking is $32 per night.
Check-in was straight-forward, with a separate line for Platinum/Diamond Members of the Hyatt Gold Passport Loyalty Program, which helped us avoid waiting in the other line. The check-in agent was friendly and offered lots of good information about nearby dining and things to-do.
For our Diamond welcome amenity, we had the option of selecting 1,000 points or a food/drink amenity. We chose the welcome amenity and selected fresh fruit and sparkling water, but other fancier options were available.
The hotel was sold-out the previous day and unfortunately for us our room wasn't ready until 6 pm, but the agent did give us cards to access to the Club Lounge on the 33rd floor. Being a Diamond member of the Hyatt Gold Passport loyalty program or getting a room on the Club Floor will get you a room on the upper floors of the building and access to all-day food and beverages at the Grand Club Lounge. You can enjoy great views along with daily breakfast, drinks throughout the day and evening hors de vours and dessert. When traveling with a family, having access to this benefit is a nice perk and can help save some money on food and drinks.
Check-in was straight-forward, with a separate line for Platinum/Diamond Members of the Hyatt Gold Passport Loyalty Program, which helped us avoid waiting in the other line. The check-in agent was friendly and offered lots of good information about nearby dining and things to-do.
For our Diamond welcome amenity, we had the option of selecting 1,000 points or a food/drink amenity. We chose the welcome amenity and selected fresh fruit and sparkling water, but other fancier options were available.
The hotel was sold-out the previous day and unfortunately for us our room wasn't ready until 6 pm, but the agent did give us cards to access to the Club Lounge on the 33rd floor. Being a Diamond member of the Hyatt Gold Passport loyalty program or getting a room on the Club Floor will get you a room on the upper floors of the building and access to all-day food and beverages at the Grand Club Lounge. You can enjoy great views along with daily breakfast, drinks throughout the day and evening hors de vours and dessert. When traveling with a family, having access to this benefit is a nice perk and can help save some money on food and drinks.
Since we were planning on being in San Diego for a few days, I figured this stay would be a good use of one of my Diamond suite upgrades. I was able to book a regular room utilizing a "Points+Cash" rate and then was able to apply a Diamond suite upgrade to that reservation at no additional cost.
I plan on detailing my experience with the Hyatt Gold Passport program, of which I am a big fan, but until then you can read more about the Hyatt loyalty program at their website.
On-Site Dining Options:
There are lots of great dining options in San Diego, but I always like trying out the hotel dining options to see what they offer and sometimes prefer the convenience of it when traveling with kids.
The Grand Hyatt offers a nice selection of on-site dining options and includes the following:
- Sally's Seafood on the Water
- Waterfront dining offering fresh seafood and sushi options
- Seaview Restaurant
- Offers an extensive breakfast buffet
- Redfield's Sports Bar
- Offers lunch, dinner, cocktails, beer and a great spot to catch a game
- Top of the Hyatt
- Located on the 40th floor of the Harbor Tower offering spectacular views, drinks and appetizers
- Ann-Marie's Coffee House
- Grab on-the-go breakfast, lunch and Starbucks coffee
- The Grand Lobby Bar
- Offers drinks, light fare, and live music
- Redfield's Deli
- Offers on-the-go options and Starbucks coffee
- Pool Bar & Grill
- Offered seasonally on the pool deck
My Experience:
There are tons of things to do and see in San Diego and for our most recent trip, we visited the San Diego Zoo, SeaWorld, Coronado Beach, Seaport Village and the Gaslamp District over a long weekend.
I previously wrote about visiting a few of the family friendly attractions in San Diego that you can read about here:
A Visitor's Guide to SeaWorld San Diego
Other great things to-do in San Diego include:
We tried to jam-pack as much as we could for the weekend and at the same time tried to schedule everything around nap times before our little one got too tired.
We had a nice stay at the Grand Hyatt San Diego and plan on coming back the next time we are in San Diego. The hotel is in a great location, offers good value, and nice on-site amenities.
If you're planning a trip to San Diego anytime soon, you can find the best deal, compare prices and read what other travelers have to say at TripAdvisor.
There are tons of things to do and see in San Diego and for our most recent trip, we visited the San Diego Zoo, SeaWorld, Coronado Beach, Seaport Village and the Gaslamp District over a long weekend.
I previously wrote about visiting a few of the family friendly attractions in San Diego that you can read about here:
A Visitor's Guide to SeaWorld San Diego
A Visitor's Guide to the San Diego Zoo
Other great things to-do in San Diego include:
- Visit Coronado and Coronado Beach
- Tour the USS Midway
- Visit the San Diego Zoo Safari Park
- Visit the Children's Museum
- Catch a game at Petco Park
- Visit the Scripps Aquarium
We had a nice stay at the Grand Hyatt San Diego and plan on coming back the next time we are in San Diego. The hotel is in a great location, offers good value, and nice on-site amenities.
If you're planning a trip to San Diego anytime soon, you can find the best deal, compare prices and read what other travelers have to say at TripAdvisor.
