Carte Hotel San Diego Downtown, Curio Collection By Hilton

“Awesome stay at Cartè!”

My stay at Cartè was magnificent. The staff were friendly and engaging. The rooms were nice and clean, the food was great, and the rooftop bar was the highlight. Isabel at the front desk was amazing. She was in-training but I couldn’t tell. I booked a room for training with my job and extra day… more

My stay at Cartè was magnificent. The staff were friendly and engaging. The rooms were nice and clean, the food was great, and the rooftop bar was the highlight. Isabel at the front desk was amazing. She was in-training but I couldn’t tell. I booked a room for training with my job and extra days for leisure. She made sure I had the same room for both check-in’s so I didn’t have to pack and unpack. Isabel bright smile and attention was awesome. Isabel you rock 🤘.

less

“Our stay at Carte Hotel”

Incredible hotel, food, and staff ! Hats off to Jordan who couldn’t have been kinder or more helpful!

“A Decent Basecamp, Not a Destination”

This Curio property lives up to the standard in some important ways, but also falls short in others. Overall, I found it to be a very average stay...a hotel that wasn't unpleasant to stay at, but one in which I wouldn't go out of my way to stay at again. I'll try to be level headed in my revie… more

This Curio property lives up to the standard in some important ways, but also falls short in others. Overall, I found it to be a very average stay...a hotel that wasn't unpleasant to stay at, but one in which I wouldn't go out of my way to stay at again. I'll try to be level headed in my review, in order to be of maximum usefulness to future travelers. Let's get the obvious out of the way, and the complaint that seems to come up the most in previous reviews. Parking is, in fact, valet only, and very expensive ($70/night). If you look around at other downtown hotels, you'll find very similar parking rates per night. That's the San Diego market. That can be easily mitigated by using an app like SpotHero. We found a rate, within 2 blocks, for the entire week at about the same cost as one night of valet at the hotel. Our first night we were arriving late, and I used the valet to ease the check in process, so having the option is nice. The other big online complaint is the price of the food at the restaurant. I tend to agree with the assessment here. Food is very high for the quality ($7 black coffee, $18 stack of pancakes) and seems to be management's attempt to turn a profit despite the $15 destination credit everyone gets (which can ONLY be used at the restaurant) and the up to $30 Gold and Diamond member credits ($15/ per person, up to 2 people, that can be used at the restaurant or the snack shop). I'll only mention this one, because it's been discussed at length and more eloquently elsewhere, that I find it endlessly frustrating that some of these hotels join a loyalty system in order to benefit from the consumers who are loyal to that hotel system, but have no intention of offering any real value to those consumers. This hotel is the epitome of that philosophy. The property itself is nice. The lobby is open and inviting. There are some nice features that add interest, like the leaves from Balboa Park that are imprinted in the patio outside the front doors. The restaurant space, also on the first floor, is bright from the numerous windows that look out onto the street. I used points to stay on an upper floor, 2 queens. Despite there being a slightly larger corner room available for our entire stay at the time of check in, this upgrade was not offered (again, don't expect much in the way of status benefits here, that's not the vibe). I was traveling with my two 11 year olds for five nights, and the room was plenty comfortable for us. It's wasn't particularly large, but the space was used well, with coffee maker (KCups), refrigerator, and safe. There were a few signs of wear and tear, but nothing that was egregious. And the bathroom was fantastic.... definitely larger than many downtown hotel rooms, with a glass enclosed shower that felt high end. It was great to have extra space in the bathroom, especially with an 11 year old girl that brought her entire skin care regimen! The hotel is also in a great location, only a few blocks from Little Italy and the Embarcadero. It was great to be able to leave in the morning and be within a few minutes walk of numerous restaurants and the waterfront. There is also a gym attached to the hotel, and a full sized, class-providing one at that. It's a major selling point, and for good reason. If you want to maintain a workout on your trip, this hotel delivers. Unfortunately, I was traveling with little ones, and the gym only allowes adults 18 and older to work out, which makes sense considering the membership clientele, but something to take note of. There is also a pool on the fourth floor, although this was closed most of the week we were there. This was not posted on the website, and so was disappointing to discover upon arriving. I informed the manager who reached out via text midweek, Jordan, that it felt like a bit of a scam to sell rooms without notifying potential customers of a significant closure. After some initial corporate speak (Anything we can do to Make It Right at this moment?), he responded back in a very human and friendly way, explaining way it had not been posted on the website. I appreciated that bit of real connection, especially since so many of my other interactions felt like I was nothing but a dollar. The pool actually opened the last day we were there, and it was very nice. My kids and I had fun splashing around and playing Marco Polo, which was easy because the entire pool is fairly shallow. There is also a very large hot tub, as well. I loved the fact the housekeeping showed up daily, and did a really nice job of cleaning our room. The counter to that, though, was the overall cheap feel of many of the in room amenities, like the toilet paper and bath towels, both of which are most accurately described as rough and thin. Upon checkout, the very neutral front desk young lady asked if she should send the bill via email. She seemed slightly perturbed when I asked to have it printed, and more so when I pointed out that I was charged the destination fee despite having paid for our stay with points (one of the last true Hilton Diamond benefits left is not having to pay the resort/destination fee when using points). She argued for a minute, then finally concurred that the charge should be removed. There was not even the faintest hint of an apology to be given, which is fine.... just disappointing. I don't need a hotel to kiss my feet as a loyalty member, but the small niceties go a long way to make a member feel special. Whether that's acknowledging a customer's loyalty to the brand at check-in (which also wasn't done here) or apologizing for an inconvenience, those are the small details that can change a guests experience and star rating. To sum up, Carte Hotel San Diego Downtown is entirely average. The structure is nice, the location great, and the gym fantastic. The obvious attempts at gaining Hilton business without providing any real value and the lack of a strong customer centric culture set it back considerably. The name Carte, I believe, is meant to convey the sense of having a passport to explore the surrounding neighborhood, and I would suggest that's the best way to use this hotel.... as a place to spend minimal time, with minimal expectations.

less