Huy T.
Yelp
Okay, I have to give my honest review of this hotel. First of all, I believe her name is Kioana, but she was super helpful and as an individual rating, she gets 6 out of 5 stars from me. She was incredible attentive and helpful and made my stay as pleasant as possible. After saying that, my stay here was incredibly inconvenient. First of all, downtown San Diego is super expensive. The Sofia hotel is located in a great location down town within walking distance to all the major attractions. There are convenient stores and a Ralph's grocery story within 5 minute walking distance and there are a few chain restaurants like Chipotle, Panera bread, and Starbucks very close by. Also, compared to other hotels nearby, this place is more affordable (like spending $200 a night compared to $300 a night for the weekend). Knowing that, understands that like any other major city, downtown has a lot of homeless around, and the Sofia hotel is no different. Anytime I left the hotel I was greeted by someone asking me for a dollar. The lobby has very nice decor, very vintage and cozy. I first stayed on the 5th floor. They have a water purifier so you can refill your water bottles which is super awesome and the water tasted fine. The hallways smells kind of weird, kind of like moldy carpet, but the room I was in was very clean and did not smell. The room was small but had everything I needed. The only complaint was the shower door did not close completely so after I showered I saw a lot of water on the bathroom floor (it will get worse BTW). My major problem here is the noise from other rooms. So I came to San Diego for a conference. After attending my conference I came to my room with my neighbor BLASTING the music so loud I could hear it from 100 feet in the hallway. It only got louder as I went to my room. I know it's downtown San Diego and people come here for different reasons but there was no way I could sleep with a rowdy party next door to me when I can easily hear their entire conversation and music. Like, it was so loud it was as if I was in the same room as them. It was loud, like you were in a club loud.
I went downstairs and asked for a room change which was done. The only problem was they moved me next to another super noisy neighbor. This guy was so drunk that he passed out with his TV on max volume. I could hear the TV so clearly that I had to tell the front desk if they could ask him to turn it down. I took a shower (about 15 minutes) and notice there was no change with the volume. I then went down and asked them to move me again. Remember, this is the SECOND time I have asked to be move because of a noise complaint. I even had a worker come to the room with me so they could hear the noise as evidence that my complaint was warranted. Just so you know, the second noise complaint was around 11pm, nobody could sleep through this and the employees all seemed super annoyed about my request.
What's funny is both rooms I was in were in the corners of the hallway. They knew they had to move me TWICE, which means that I had 3 rooms during my 2 days stay here. Why couldn't you put me in a room with an empty neighbor at that point. Also, in both floors I was on, the majority of the hallways were quiet, the only noise came at the CORNER ROOMS which they kept putting me in.
Each room was okay, but after each room, they kept getting worse and worse. The first room was the nicest. The shower door didn't close completely and water leaked to the bathroom floor but that was manageable. The second room they put me in DIDN't even have a shower door LOL. The third room also didn't have a shower door, and all the furniture was older and smaller. So each room got worse and worse.
Overall, this place is more affordable compared to other locations around the area but honestly, It was a TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE. The rooms are NOT sound proof. Like not even a little. The hallways smell bad. The rooms are okay but weirdly designed, like please put shower curtains in the room. I don't want to shower and try to use the toilet and have the floor super wet. I really really really wanted to like this place. The front desk worker Kioana was super nice, she remembered my name, and always greeted me nicely, but the inconvenience here and me having to move to 3 different rooms ruined my experience in San Diego. If you read this, please spend the extra money and stay at a different place.
***ALSO, THEY HAVE 2 ELEVATORS BUT 1 ELEVATOR IS BROKE, my stay was Halloween weekend 2022, hope it's fixed by. Ow. FROM REVIEWS I HAVE READ, THIS ELEVATOR HAS BEEN BROKEN FOR A WHILE.....LIKE, CAN YOU FIX IT BY NOW!????
***THE WI-FI is Free but also slow
***The A/C works fine...Came here during the Fall but like my room cold