We stayed at this Residence Inn for 4 nights in March 2008. It was a great experience. It was so good, that we will continue to use Residence Inns, even though our experience at the Garden Gate/Anaheim Residence Inn later that week was awful.

The San Diego Central hotel was clean, the staff was extremely welcoming and pleasant, the environment was friendly and inviting. This despite the fact that the hotel was fully booked that week, including an entire soccer team of 10-year old boys.

We were in building 12, overlooking the Shriner parking lot. It was very quiet, we never heard a noise from either the outside or from the adjoining rooms or buildings. We did have a problem with our refrigerator. It was very noisy. We had to turn it off at night because it would have kept us awake. However, we made one complaint to the front desk and they immediately sent a maintenance person to fix the fridge. When we returned to our room that night, there was a message asking us if the problem was fixed and offering to switch our room if we were not satisfied. Since we were not planning on storing any food, turning the thing off worked just as well for us.

Speaking of food, the breakfast was very good. There was plenty of it (even with the millions of kids at the hotel) and of decent quality. There was adequate seating, as they had a second room they opened during peak times, and the patio was also available. During the evenings, there was beer and wine, and good amounts of hearty snacks. A popcorn machine and coffee carafes were available throughout the day.

The room (we had the penthouse) worked very well for our family of 4. The 2 kids got the master suite, and then my husband and I had the run of the rest of the place once they went to bed. It was set up like a townhouse, with an open loft area with a queen size bed and full bath. I appreciated that even the living room had blackout curtains so we could sleep later even in the open loft area.

The front desk was great. They had pre-printed cards with directions to every attraction we asked for, and restaurant recommendations in different areas. The pool was heated (almost to bath temps!), the laundry area was clean and convenient. 4 washers and 6 dryers. I suggest the front loading washer; you get a longer and better wash than the top-loaders.

The location of the hotel was convenient to highways, although it was not particularly scenic. It was about 10 - 15 mins. depending upon traffic to Balboa Park and downtown San Diego.

I highly recommend this hotel to all travelers (although we were a family on spring break, we also saw business travelers). It was a great value and a pleasant place to stay.

We just returned from a 3 night stay at this Residence Inn, San Diego Central. We were able to check in early which was so nice after a long drive. We were met with smiling faces at the front desk. We loved our penthouse suite!! The set up is perfect for our family of five. The two girls slept upstairs, our son on the foldout sofabed and my husband and I in the downstairs king bedroom. During the day, it was great to take a nap and have the kids upstairs watching tv. The furnishings were nice with granite marble countertops. Housekeeping supplied us with many towels and kept the room very clean. We really appreciated how warm the pool was. Alot of hotel pools are heated but not this warm. It was like warm bath water. On Thursday night, they had a complimentary BBQ which consisted of hamburgers, pasta, fresh fruit,chips, soda, brownies, etc. It was wonderful!! The grounds were very pretty and nicely kept. It was a short 10-15 minute drive to Sea World and was not so crowded as other closer hotels. We would definately stay again!

My family spent a week at the Residence Inn in a Penthouse Suite. We absolutely loved it. We put our children (8, 5, 2) in the King Bedroom which had its own bathroom. We were able to close their door and have the rest of the place to ourselves at night. Our room was an upstairs loft (queen) with another bathroom. We ended up making many of our meals in the kitchen and the maid service always loaded and unloaded our dishwasher for us. We ate a hot breakfast every morning in the lobby and felt they had a nice selection (waffles, bagels, eggs, muffins, etc) We also enjoyed the food and drinks in the lobby on the week nights. Despite the fact that it was only in the 60's out, the pool was so warm that we went in it every day. We had it to ourselves which the kids loved. When our kids saw the room, they said, "We rented a house??" to tell you how big it was. I can't think of any complaints. We actually liked the location. It was very easy to get on the freeway from there and only about 15 minutes to the zoo or the ocean.

I am fortunate to be able to use reward points for my stay but the hotel is situated 30 feet from an elevated train trestle and most of the rooms along the back of the hotel face the tracks. I wouldnt want to pay a dime for this place.

In addition the hotel is about 100 yards from runway most used for landings at the SD airport. The amenities are fine if you can get a room as far away from the train tracks as possible.

NOTE: All downtown hotels along the water have one side facing the trains. The passenger trains cease at 11pm but the freight trains run ALL NIGHT.