I just arrived in San Diego to attend my daughters College graduation from UCSD. I booked a room at the St. James Hotel.RAMADA Hotwire called this a 3 ½ star hotel. That’s a real joke. They should be embarrasssed. Doesn’t anyone go out and look at these ratings. I don’t mind older well maintained hotels, but this one doesn’t even have a newer elevator. Getting in the elevator with my suitcase was even hard . The elevator is about 6 foot long and 3 feet wide and has a metal gate that you have to hold open while you try and wrestle with your bag and then shut thoroughly. That’s a real joke. The stairs were no better, two people could not walk up the stairs together. I get in after traveling from JFK to San Diego and it’s now 2:00 a.m EST (okay only 11:00 p.m PT.) My daughters are with me. I booked a room with 2 beds, only one bed available and then I go and look at the room. Three of us couldn't even stand in the room. (Room 818) This was a 10 x 10 room with a bathroom that was 3 feet wide by 8 foot long. Three of us couldn't even stand in the room. While two of us were in the room, my other daughter had to stand out in the hallway,from the entrance door to the bed was less then 4 feet. From the end of the bed to the bathroom is 2-3 feet. And lets give you the bathroom the sink is at one end and the shower at the other with a door entrance in-between. If you leave the bathroom door open, you don’t know there’s a shower there. (BTW, thanks to cells phones, I took pictures) There were noisy parties going on in the rooms on both sides of me. Heard from the valet that this is a party hotel frequented by the Marines. BTW, parking is $10.00 if you park in the lot next door, but if the hotel parks you in the same lot it's $20.00. I had no place to even put my suitcase in the room (couldn't even lie it down and open it up). I’ve had Master Bedroom closets bigger then this room. I guess they expected me to share a bed with my adult children. The hotel staff don't care. They tell you that it’s each persons preference in hotels. Why not, they use Hotwire as a way to shake down their guests traveling to San Diego They had no other room (according to them). I wound up leaving and going to my other daughters condo. Now the kids got to sleep on the couch and I’m out $352.00 dollars. I had booked for two nights and I didn’t even stay for one. They also make you sign a waiver before you even check in saying that you are aware that this is in a party district and it could be noisy. I expected noise from the street not from the guestrooms with all night parties. When they handed me the note, I asked if I could cancel my reservation then, and they told me since I had booked through Hotwire, they wouldn't refund me anything. Hotwire setting me up in a hotel that should be down on their list as a 1 star. I trusted their ratings, and this should not be rated the way it is. So here's to three strikes and an out.. Didn't get the room I booked, wound up in a closet with a queen bed, wound up with noisy parties on both sides of me. Wound up not even staying in the hotel and out $352.00.
And no one answers the phone at hotwire so they'll be no satisfaction there either. This is only the second time I've been in CA but this will keep me away longer.
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