Recently during a visit to San Diego; I stayed at the Baymount hotel. We had booked the room months prior using the Wyndham Rewards site when we heard of the possibilities of San Diego Comic-Con doing a show over Thanksgiving weekend and were able to find a reasonable rate.
The hotel is located about a 24-minute walk from the Convention Center and looked like it would be a reasonably priced locale with good amenities. I called a few weeks prior to my trip and was given helpful responses to my questions which set a positive tone for the visit.
I arrived a few hours before check-in so I could see about doing my check-in paperwork early and perhaps leaving my bags and was curtly told by an inattentive clerk that it would cost $25.00 if I wanted to check in early. Being tired from my long drive I was willing to pay this to go to my room even though my original plan was simply to do the paperwork ahead of time.
I was then told there was no reservation for me. I provided my name and an alternate spelling and again was told there was no reservation to which I replied by showing the e-mail confirmation. Yet again I was told there was no reservation and I suggested typing in the confirmation number. Once that was accomplished I was told that they found it without any apology for the confusion.
I was then informed that it would be $19.00 a day for parking which was not disclosed when I booked the room as I had been under the impression that parking was free. My room was clean and offered a comfy and sizeable bed, a desk, and television with numerous channels as well as a fridge, microwave, and safe.
The only real issues were a door lock that required repeated attempts with a keycard and a big shove to open and close as well as a worn area of the carpet and areas of the flood that depressed when stepped upon.
The bathroom was a shock as it featured an oversized counter and a toilet that literally faced the wall to the point where my knees touched the wall when I sat upon it. The edge of the counter also poked into my side which clearly made things interesting. The shower was more of a large square than a tub and while the pressure was fine; there were repeated vibrations of significance at random times likely from other people using theirs at the same time.
The WI-Fi in the room was ok for e-mail and general browsing but would lose connection at various times and made something as simple as uploading a small video clip impossible. That being said my phone reception was fine and allowed me to stay connected.
Breakfast the next morning was a bit of an adventure as while the times listed a 6:30 AM start time; it was actually 7:00 AM. Upon arriving I was greeted with an unmasked guest coughing away without covering his mouth near the coffee machine and combined with the juice dispenser not working gave me amble reason to avoid that corner of the room. Offerings of cereal, fruit, instant oatmeal, yogurt, and bread were available and I took some bread and toppings to eat up in my room.
After a full day covering and speaking at the convention, I took advantage of a Convenience store across from the hotel when the vending machine was not working and also found some food options a short walk away to avoid food delivery.
On the morning of check out, I noticed that I had no towels as the Maid service had taken the ones from the prior day without replacing them. I had to call down to the lobby and wait for new ones to be left outside the door.
The hotel has a small parking lot with a garage around the side and I had been able to find a space near my room. Sadly this turned out to be an issue as there was a Disabled spot behind my car which a large vehicle had used and since they had parked half their vehicle length over the line space; I was unable to back up.
The office was unattended so I had to wait for staff to return and locate the owner of the vehicle so they could back up and properly park and allow me to leave.
Wyndham has a range of hotels such as Days Inn, Super 8, Travelodge, and La Quinta amongst their inventory so from time to time we have stayed at some. What we have found has often been a prime example of you getting what you pay for as while the rooms are basic rooms, the amenities, service, and decore is lacking. On a whim I looked up what was available on Orbitz and found numerous options offering better amenities within a $30.00 a night price range once parking was factored in and had I known about the parking charge; I would have booked another option.
While the location was fine as was the room; the lack of amenities and service did not justify the price.
