Holiday Inn Express San Diego South – Chula Vista

Hotel is located in a «not so pleasant» part of town, but the hotel was not bad. Staff was friendly and rooms were clean. Good for weekend warriors, but families and people looking for a «couple’s retreat» need to look elsewhere.

I’ve checked in in the mornings and it was ok, the guy staff who is regularly there has been super friendly. However around dinnertime I try to check in (after a really tired full work day Saturday) with my friend’s ID (that she gave me because she was grabbing dinner somewhere else) and this front desk lady with glasses on acts like an immigration official and looks at me like I am committing some serious visa fraud, and asks so many questions to try not to check me into the hotel, wow I almost felt like I was getting inspected at the border of the U.S. Look, this is Holiday Inn and not your fucking border, and I am not trying to enter anywhere illegally, I am just trying to check into a fucking inn I prepaid for. The front desk lady was second-​guessing my intentions all the way and treated me as if I was lying to her and acted as if the friend will not arrive… She even called my friend and asked «someone else has been trying to check in» as if I was committing fraud… HOW RUDE!!! Even after my friend confirmed that I can check in, she would just leave me waiting in the lobby rather than giving me the room.
I understand that there may be some rules, and I can imagine that maybe in this kind of shady neighborhood you see a lot of sketchy or illegal people. But I also think that this is a fucking Inn not the American border so people should be more flexible and nice. If you are serving customers then you make your own judgment and your own discretion about what is most appropriate in that particular situation. Anyone who sees me in this kind of neighborhood should be able to tell that I am a traveling professional or student and I am not trying to do anything sketchy.
I am already extremely exhausted by all the frequent travel and extreme workloads and everything, but I was holding it really well with amazing willpower and soooo ready to get some rest at this budget inn until this retarded immigration official kicks me in the butt to tell me that Holiday Inn will be my official pain in the ass finale of the Saturday. Never using this hotel again, and oh I will also make sure to file complaints about this incident anywhere and everywhere possible.
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I am updating my review in reaction to the comment below. You contacted the registered friend, and my registered friend picked up the phone and said I could check in. Even after that, you did not amend the situation nor believe me nor apolgize to me, and waited for that friend to arrive, when you could have quickly apologize and let me check in. Even after the friend got here, you did not even say a single sorry for assuming I lied about the friend coming.
Now I am even more offended by the reponse because first you are misleading here that the registered friend did not let the hotel know that I would be checking in. In fact, she did when you called her.
Also you said that I am unprofessional or rude, but I don’t see why you are making this point when I already made it clear that I was maltreated in an unprofessional and RUDE way, in the first place. I don’t know why you would believe you deserve sooo much respect from me when your employees are rude to me in the first place?
You also said she was just doing her job but I know that her job is NOT to treat me rude and mean and assume I should leave premises but to offer to call the manager (MY idea, and manager never appeared) or the friend (this was also MY idea, she didn’t even offer that this was an option, she just implied I cannot check in and leave the premises). Never gave me any option or anything that can be done, she just says «we can’t check you in,» and it would have made everything right if she came up with any ideas of making it possible for her to let me check in rather than just refusing any option whatsoever. I even offered to present the friend’s credit card but wouldn’t take it.
Before you told me that my friend could have called, I didn’t even know that was an option and it would have been great if the front desk lady let me know of this option, then I would have asked my friend to call and verify (which my friend did, but the desk lady did not believe lol, she said something like, there is no way of knowing that it is her, and someone could be calling fake just to check me in. This is outright telling in my face that you think Im trying to lie, and I don’t intend to be professional to you if you assume I am fraud when I am not.

Stayed for a night with kids. Reserved the small 2 bed with small living area suite. Upon check the day front desk person great very cheerfully and professional. The room wasn’t completely ready as I arrived about 2:15 but they hustled and finished prepping room quickly and the house keepers were very accommodating. The girls did crafts and we had to borrow scissors, again no problem from staff. The next morning I was going to the free breakfast (continental style) and the same gentleman greetes me as I passed by. I was most impressed that he remembered my name. I too be honest and say I was concerned about the location but this staff eased all my concerns away. The room was clean, building is taken care of, pool area was nice. Definitely recommend!

Good sized room with pillows that actually support your head. The hot tub was also bigger than most other hotels. It’s also nicer and newer than some of the other Holiday Inn Express we’ve stayed at.

Exactly what you’d expect from a holiday inn express.
Clean rooms, comfy beds with different pillows to choose from, and free breakfast.
The area isn’t the best for walking around at night but if you have a car it shouldn’t be a problem.
A few standouts this trip… I booked the wrong type of room for our 3 night stay and although it was 100% my fault, Fred at the front desk really went out of his way to help us and correct my mistake. He was friendly, efficient, and employees like him make me want to continue coming to HIE.
Also of note, the breakfast area was packed. This is the only HIE I have been to where the ladies working the breakfast noticed limited seating, and asked the front desk clerk to open the conference room, which we did. It was fantastic– gave us lots of room and breakfast was much more enjoyable.
Kudos to the employees at this HIE.
We will return.

Do you want bed bugs? So disappointed and disgusted!
My family and I have been coming here years… things have seriously changed. The problem is management and the housekeepers. Rooms aren’t that clean once you start looking around. I’m not a picky person. I’m happy with a decent room but I’m not ok with a dirty room and on our last visit we found a bedbug. We stayed in room 312! We had to leave a day early, I was offered another room I declined and they took off $ 40 off the night we stayed. I did not make a huge deal… and I could of but I’ve learn nothing gets fixed with getting angry or being rude. I tried to review on their hotel website and it was rejected… umm I wonder why?!? Now I really wonder how many reviews they reject from disappointed hotel visitors. If you’re going to stay here be careful you may just be taking little friends with you home aka bed bugs! I’ll never return to this hotel with dishonest employees who reject honest reviews. Shame on you!

I had the opportunity to work in San Diego these last few days and budget being the reigning factor in picking this hotel, I have to say that driving up to it, I was pre-​judging based on the surroundings and the people walking around the street… looking a little ghetto.
But boy was I glad to be wrong. The EXPERIENCE was a very pleasant and good one. Everything from Staff (Carlos) to the cleaning staff was very helpful, nice and accomodating. My room was done very nicely every time I got back. I bought a bottle of wine for a night cap, I didn’t have a wine opener and one of the staff whom I mentioned it to in the elevator actually went out of here way to find me one and deliver it to my room. I will say it again, very very happy. I. usually stay at marriotts. All I can say is they better watch out if the Holiday Inn’s are all like this. Oh, BTW, there internet is super fast and free! Marriott charges extra for higher speed.

The last thing you want to see after a long day of traveling is a sign that says we’ll be back in five minutes. Unacceptable for a major hotel chain. Serious points off especially for a frequent business traveler I would not recommend this hotel.

This hotel is affordable, clean, and has a super friendly staff! Stayed here on a short overnight trip to San Diego and was pleasantly surprised with the accommodations. The hotel has free parking, free wifi, and a complementary breakfast. It is a five minute walk to the «trolley» which can take you into San Diego (we went to the Gaslamp and Seaport Village and cost $ 7 r/​t!) or to Tijuana. Didn’t get in the pool at all; the hot tub was relaxing, but a little cooler than I expected. Will definitely stay here again. It is a great option when you’re looking to stay in/​around SD– a lot less expensive than many of the other places you’ll see! Surrounding neighborhood seemed safe and there are a couple of late night fast food chain places around. Will definitely be back!

We had a great experience, location was easy to get to from highway. The staff was extremely nice, rooms were clean. I accidentally left my iPad in the room, the cleaning lady turned it in (thank you so much) to the manager Carlos Cortez who was kind enough to call me and let me know. Unfortunately I was already 3 hours away, but he offered to mail it to me and 4 days later I received it back! He went above and beyond his duties and am truly grateful to know there are still good people in this world!

So the hotel is nice, clean and quiet. On our arrival, they gave us a room that was stuffy and smelled like smoke. However, we notified the staff and they quickly gave us another room that smelled better. The staff is great and they will go the extra mile!
The breakfast was satisfying and it is what you expect from a complimentary breakfast.
Our only concern was the bed and pillow. The bed was extremely hard and the pillows were not comfortable. My husband and I had backaches and headaches due to us not getting a good sleep in that bed.
Overall, our hotel room experience was okay. The fact that we didn’t rest good due to the bed is our reason for the 3 stars.

Nice quiet hotel, about par with all HIE’s except the rooms are a bit smaller then the past HIE’s we have stayed in.
Good location to trolley station and several good eating options. Short drive to many area attractions.
The best part however was being greeted by Carlos when we checked in. His wonderful smile and exceptional customer service and attitude just lit up the room and made us feel so welcome. He also gave us great restaurant recommendations that were spot on.

Stayed here during my road trip over the Memorial Day weekend.
First thing first.
To:
All those who have served in service/​military. Both; who are currently living & those who have passed on.
Thank you
The staff is awesome! If you ever stay here and you ask for something, they’ll go an extra mile to fulfill your request. Terrific! The room was clean and their breakfast is what you’d expect to find in a «complimentary» breakfast. But hey, it’s free so no complains there. They didn’t have a waffle machine or a pancake machine, which was odd.
The pool in the back of the hotel was actually clean with a few people cooling off during the hot temps. A hotel with clean pool is always a plus in my view. The location is right off the freeway. If you do stay here, you’ll be glad that you don’t have to do further into the town to find your hotel. You can expect to get on the freeway within 3 minutes!
Surely on my next visit to San Diego area, I’ll stay here because I like the location. No. It’s because it is next to Yum Yum Donuts!

I chose this hotel based on the fact that it was a short walk from the E street trolley station and that I had an appointment at the DMV in Chula Vista in morning. I arrived at the hotel around 5pm and was pleasantly surprised to find a very modern and new looking hotel among the other hotels in the area. I was warmly greeted by the front desk and was told that they appreciated my being a Priority member. The room was good sized, bed comfortable, flat screen TV, outlets to recharge and even had a refrigerator and microwave. I went down to pool for a quick swim and found that it had a rare deep end. There were towels available as well. In the morning I went down to have complementary breakfast. The dining room had plenty of space, there was an assortment of cold and hot items and drinks.
Pros: Right off the highway and easy public transportation. Clean and modern with very friendly and helpful staff.
Cons: Price. Other hotels in area are half the cost, but in fairness to hotel, you pay for what you get and the cost of staying here is justified.
Room Tip: Ask for rooms above 2^nd floor.