I found the Westgate online by accident...which was serendipitous. As it is not part of a chain, the property has its own website, but often does not appear in lists of hotels in downtown San Diego where it is located. Nor is it particularly visible from the street, where the entrance is recessed inside an arcade-like entrance, almost hidden by large urns of tropical plants. Given that the building, built in the 70s, has 19 stories of rooms, a large underground parking garage, a main-level floor of shops, and a second-floor ballroom, this is all the more unsusal.

The hotel is unique in other ways as well. Modeled after an anti-room in the Palace of Versailles, the lobby and adjoining rooms are decorated in a resplendent fashion reminiscent of the great halls of Europe: giant chandeliers, antique furniture uphostered with period tapestries, chinoiserie, grand mirrors and paintings...and huge displays for fresh-cut flowers arranged in over-sized bowls, urns and vases. Even more remarkable, there is no signage whatsoever: no post-card racks, no magazines, no tourist displays--indeed, nothing that would indicate that his is a hotel in a busy urban locale.

Check-in was fast, polite and professional. When I explained that I hoped for plenty of sunlight in my room, the young woman at the desk quietly up-graded me to a higher floor where she assured me there was lots of light and a view as well. Indeed, the room was lovely, once the bell-man ushered me through the small anti-chamber that disquised its entrance. He had appeared curbside when my taxi arrived from the airport, and had spirited my luggage to the row of elevators in the looby where he waited until I had received my key. After showing me around my spacious room, opening the heavy drapes to reveal the stunning view, he disappeared as unobtrusively as he a materialized--all the more astonishing given than he looked like a Thirties moviestar.

The room was large, with pale striped wallpaper, brocade drapery, reproduction Louis X1V furniture, fine bedding, and no artwork other than a gilded mirror. The bathroom, which consisted of two rooms, along with a large closet, almost formed its own "wing," with a long vanity and stool in front of the room-wide mirror. The WC included a sit-down shower large enough for two. The Gilchrist and Soames toiletries were in bottles twice the size of most hotel amenities, and they were replenished daily.

The hotel's turn-down service is excellent--which I found surprising, given that I don't particularly appreciate the ritual. My first night there, I went to bed early, and missed it. My second night, I came home to find the lights in the room dimmed, environmental sounds playing from the radio, the heavy damask quilt and throw pillows removed from the bed and piled neatly on a stool that must have been hidden in the closet, the bed "remade" with down duvet and three sheets, and two discreet chocolates adorning a breakfast menu on the coverlet. The effect was peaceful and relaxing, and most appreciated after a hectic day.

I have never stayed in hotel (and I have stayed in many) where I felt both valued and ignored...in just the right ways. From the moment I arrived, I felt so welcome that I considered myself priveleged; yet, simultaneoulsly, no one approached me during my stay, or interupted me when I worked in my room on the wireless internet, as I did two afternoons Housekeeping was immaculate, but invisible. On the one day when I stayed in all day to work, the head of housekeeping phoned me late in the afternoon to ask if I wanted my room cleaned, and to avail myself of the turn-down service. Somehow, she knew that I had been in my room all day, and had left me alone until she felt obliged to enquire about my wishes.

My wish is to be able to stay here again. The dining-room is one of the loveliest I have seen. The food, judging by the two breakfasts I enjoyed there, was original and delicious, the service, once again, impeccable. The small bar is elegant yet intimate...which perhaps summarizes my experience of the whole hotel, where I stayed for one week. How a property of this size manages to run a complicated facility with such attention to detail amazes me...and makes it very rare in my experience of American hotels. And I paid less than I would have if I had booked a Holiday Inn. Go figure.

My only quibble about my experience is entirely personal. The Saturday night that I visited the bar to listen to live music, almost everyone there was dressed in gowns and tuxedos ... attending the opera, no doubt, which is near-by, or the wedding reception that was being held on the third floor. These patrons all looked appropriately dressed for their surroundings. In my jeans and sweater, I felt so out-of-place that I left which, no doubt, was unecessary. But I wish I had brought some fancy clothes--which I will do next time I visit.

The Westgate is such a fine hotel that it qualifies as a destination in itself.