My colleague and I stayed at the W last week and had a great stay. Beyond the hotel being trendy and centrally located, the service was great - especially Dawn Evans. She was so warm and friendly. Both mornings at breakfast she checked in on me to ensure I had everything I needed. Her fun and welcoming demeanor made my stay that much more enjoyable.

I booked a table for a breakfast meeting, however when I got there the restaurant was under construction! The staff gave me a suite with the extra room for my meeting, they truly bent over backwards. i am going back there next week, the vibe is quite cool, but not quite the same as some of the other Ws I have stayed at. But then again its one of the best values Ws you will find.

We stayed here for our summer holiday in June 2010 and were very excited... What a let down it became.

We arrived at around 10 in the evening after almost a day of travelling from the UK (Transfered in NY) to be told that they didn't have a room for us as they had overbooked for the San Diego Marathon that was taking place the next day! We were offered a room a few blocks away at the West In which we declined as we had made our 7 night reservation months in advance and just wanted to get settled in the room we had paid for! After 10mins of faffing on his computer he eventually decided that a room had suddenly become available and gave us our key - no apology and no help with bags.

Although the room was very nice we were disappointed with its location. It's a walk to the seafront and The Seaport Village even though it's advertised as being in the heart of the action!
The Karl Strauss brewery next door is a must though! Great food and friendly atmosphere! The world cup was on at the time and we exchanged friendly banter with the young batman! Take your ID though if you want to taste the beer - they ask everyone!

The overall experience was ok. Small swimming pool - looks bigger on pictures! We had a lovely room service meal one evening but that's about it!
The impression of this hotel is that it's trying to be something it is not with it's trendy decor and night club appearance which is ruined by its awful service and pretentious attitude.

On checkout we waited at reception for 30 minutes - no one came! My partner went back up to the room and called down to reception and like magic a man appeared out of the back and answered whilst also managing to finish his conversation on his blackberry! When we asked for a taxi to the airport he just told us to go and wait round the side and one would appear - eventually!

We shall return to sunny San Diego but will not be staying here!!

This is quite a nice comfortable hotel, but it lacks the Wow factor that you usually expect from a W. Apart from the lobby music and quirky W collateral in the rooms, you could be staying at any hotel chain really. The rooms are nice but not spectacular, the bath towels are awful for a hotel of this standard. Most staff were pleasant and friendly, although you got the feeling there weren’t enough reception staff so the service was a little hit and miss. The location is close to downtown, the gas lamp quarter etc, but it’s a bit of a no man’s land surrounded by vacant blocks and office buildings. Definitely not up to the W standard I’ve experienced before.