Setai San Diego

We had concerns with our first room so I called the front desk and talked to Tre. His attitude was great - offered to show us some other rooms. His great attitude, and positivity were greatly appreciated and really turned it all into a positive experience! The bartenders were also great - very knowledgeable and accommodating!

This place is beautiful and very clean. Unfortunately the staff was not interested in helping me with obtaining a lighter. I know it’s a smoke free facility I don’t need the Miranda rights read to me. I have been here 2 nights and I’ve seen 2 staff members acknowledge and smile at me. The others have a future in acting because their smiles and aoura are so fake. I did enjoy the room

I was really looking forward to staying here for 2 nights with my boyfriend for his 35th birthday. I got us a slight room upgrade so we could have a little balcony and everything, and we were really looking forward to it. Unfortunately, it ended up turning into one of the worst hotel stays I've ever had. There was no self-parking option since they are downtown so their valet is $70 a day. Yet, somehow, every day they were trying to take $150 dollars out of my bank account - without informing me - to the point that I ran out of money on the trip. We were charged 86 dollars for a Cafe bill when we NEVER went to the Cafe. And we constantly had AC problems during the SoCal heatwave which we asked them to fix twice but gave up after it remained unsolved the second time. When I saw I had been charged for a Cafe visit that we didn't actually have I mentioned it to the manager at checkout before we left. She said she would of course have to confirm. We left, and later I got an email that I had been credited back $20 of the $86 I had been charged for the cafe visit I never had. I called and got into it with the manager to the point where she actually yelled at me on the phone. Even if I had yelled at her - which I didn't, I'm a teacher I get yelled at by parents constantly I'm not about to do that to others - it's extremely unprofessional as a hotel manager to be yelling at guests on the phone when they are upset because you refuse to take away a charge that was not theirs to begin with. She said she would not give back any more money and that was that. So as it seems there isn't much else I can do, I unfortunately have to leave a bad review for what I had hoped was going to be an amazing hotel and visit to San Diego. I never got the other $68 dollars back from that cafe bill.

I would not recommend Alma San Diego based on my August 13–17 stay. Within the first couple of hours of arrival, I found blood-stained bedding in the room and had to call Guest Services to have it replaced. We also experienced ongoing hot-water issues, and maintenance came to the room. The air conditioning was also not functioning properly during the stay and had to be addressed. On top of that, one of the feather pillows came apart and left feathers throughout the room, and there was significant noise from a neighboring room while I was attending a professional conference that required early mornings. What was especially frustrating was the follow-up afterward. The Guest Services Manager contradicted herself in writing: she first acknowledged that maintenance had responded regarding the hot-water concern, then later stated that she could not locate records, service requests, or call logs related to the hot-water or air-conditioning issues. When I pointed this out, she then clarified that the hot-water issue had in fact been documented. I was also surprised by how little internal documentation the hotel appeared able to produce. Despite multiple issues being reported by phone and in person, including staff physically coming to the room, management stated that it could not locate relevant call logs, service requests, or records for several of the concerns. I was given no indication that they were able to verify staff entry into the room through security footage, access logs, or other internal documentation. If a guest reports an issue in person, it is apparently very difficult to later establish a paper trail unless the hotel itself creates one. The hotel ultimately refunded the destination fees, but declined further compensation for the room because the reservation was booked through a third party. They also cited the fact that I used the $20-per-day food credit associated with the destination fee, which I found irrelevant to the underlying cleanliness, maintenance, and service failures. The surrounding area was also a major negative for me. There were visibly unhoused individuals immediately around the hotel, and I did not feel comfortable walking around the area, particularly at night. For a property marketed at this level, the combination of blood-stained bedding, maintenance problems, noise, location concerns, inconsistent follow-up, and the apparent lack of reliable internal documentation was unacceptable. The way the complaint was handled afterward only made the experience worse.

This boutique hotel is a hidden gem. It is in walking distance to the Convention Center and the shoreline. One of the most pleasant portfolio rooms in which I have ever stayed. The breakfast was amazing and included as part of my Marriott status. Any asssitance needed was just a minute away.