Courtyard San Diego Gaslamp/Convention Center

Very tiny rooms. Paper thin walls. Lower floor windows look out at a stucco wall. There are much nicer accommodations for the money in the neighborhood. Stay elsewhere. Felt like I was in a small crate all weekend. And I have priority status. Would hate to see the room that they assign to a regular schlub.

Courtyard Gaslamp is one of Downtown SD’s newest hotels and is the Courtyard Marriott closest to the SD Convention Center. I first heard about it as the host of the rooftop bar «The Nolen», and after a good night of fun and drinks with another Unilocaler, suggested to the No1DP this hotel as our next hotel to explore. He agreed.
LOCATION/​CHECK-​IN: The hotel used to be an abandoned building up until its resurrection as a hotel. It is right across the street from Omnia and adjacent to jsix. The biggest perk is the walking distance to the Convention Center and the rest of the Gaslamp. Staff were quite ready to help with bags as both of us checked in separately.
Valet parking is going to cost a pretty penny, $ 40/​night with in and out privileges.
ROOM: In exchange for prime location space you’re trading off some of the room amenities, namely size. The biggest room is less than 300 square feet with guest rooms about 200 square feet. No1DP equates that to a standard business hotel in Tokyo. We barely had enough room to store our bags, much less move around the hotel.
Being right across from the Omnia it was really hard for the No1DP to get any sleep. Earplugs won’t do the trick either. You can hear the music from the club when it’s open and when it was closed for the night he can hear the valet yell at each other and at the drunk clubgoers. This is also the main reason why the No1DP will consider other hotels.
At least the room has the two standard amenities I always desire in a room: free wifi and outlets near the side tables closest to the bed.
BATHROOM: A small standard bathroom. The big perk is that the standard bathroom amenities use Paul Mitchell products. I recognize the shampoo as it’s the same shampoo that I use for my hair.
ROOFTOP BAR: The main reason for even stopping by the hotel is its rooftop bar the Nolen, which I cover in a separate review (
). The views are excellent no matter what time you go. Those firepits really do come in handy when you’re sitting here in the middle of December. You can see the roof of the Omnia as well as a good portion of Gaslamp activity. Unlike the rooms where you need key card access, going straight to the Nolen doesn’t require a keycard. I think it also has its own separate elevator.
Though the No1DP and I had better nights in other hotels, we would still recommend this hotel as its location is a steal (especially for Comic-​Con goers) and as a decent stay should you ever have one too many drinks at the Nolen or any other Gaslamp restaurants/​bars.

Brand new property with enthusiastic and talented staff, gorgeous 270° views of San Diego, and comfortably situated in the heart of the Gaslamp. And our home away from home for three nights and four days.
Surprisingly, given the narrow footprint this 14-​story hotel occupies, we never felt cramped. The builder and designer maximized space and we used every square inch. The view made the room seem bigger as we could see all the way out to Pt. Loma, and more intimate as we watched the Gaslamp wake up each morning and really come alive every night.
Once settled, everyday was a new adventure. Seven blocks in every direction was something fun… walk to the Embarcadero and Seaport Village; drop in for a beverage at all manner of bar, dive, brewery, or pub; pool and ping pong tables; dueling pianos; fine dining or burgers smothered in nacho cheese.
Whenever we came back to the hotel the staff was welcoming and friendly. The customer service was impeccable… each associate from literal top to bottom went above beyond (Kevin, Gabe, Humberto, Rose, George, Ian, Josh, Brooklyn, Marisa, and pretty much everyone who crossed our path)! In addition to providing for our every comfort they cheerfully shared their Thanksgiving weekend with us! We look forward to our next stay!

This place is horrible. I came to stay here for a bachelorette party with 7 other girls. We booked our rooms 2 plus months ago and when we arrived we only had one room to go to. With that being said they crammed us 8 girls into a room that was made for two people max. The room design leaves no room to unpack and really settle in.
We got phone calls through the evening from the reception area saying we were too loud. I understand that but at the same time you shoved eight girls that were here to celebrate into a room, what did you expect? Silence? I find it ridiculous.
The staff was horrible. They had no ‘manager’ on site the whole time we were there. The only ‘manager’ they had was a bar manager & she was rude & didn’t really seem to know anything. Horrible.
I would never stay here again!

This is a brand new hotel, close to Petco park but not the same Marriott that gives you the ballpark view. But I didn’t mind that it didn’t have a fancy view — it has an AMAZING rooftop bar (The Nolen — which is on what would be the 12^th floor, so plenty high) and everyone on staff was extremely nice and accommodating. It was pouring rain, but the moment I pulled up to the valet (and yes, they do charge the $ 40 valet per day like many of the other hotels in the area), Kevin was ready with an umbrella and a luggage cart. He even brought it all the way up to my room for me. Then later at The Nolen, Michelle was awesome in recommending food and drink — which were both delicious (and the fire pit with a twilight view of the city was perfectly relaxing. The hotel itself is in a perfect location if you want to go walking the Gaslamp District with all of its great restaurants.
The room itself was a bit small. It was just me, but even a couple probably wouldn’t mind the standard room. I wouldn’t recommend it for a group or a couple with kids (I’m not sure if the other rooms with multiple beds are bigger), or if you are staying for longer than a week and have more luggage. The design of the hotel and rooms are definitely modern, though. The bathroom is still a good size, and it had a walk-​in shower. The only complaint I have about room design itself is that the bathroom didn’t have any real counter space for toiletries, and the «closet» space is extremely limited.
Later in my stay, Ever (like «ForEVER», haha) at the front desk asked how things were going and I did point out a few very minor things (that honestly didn’t bother me that much, but since they just opened I wanted to give them visibility to any kinks to help the next person) — one of the bedside lamps was out, my door seemed to get a bit jammed and I wasn’t sure if my room was cooling all the way (it was set at 66 when I arrived, which would have been pretty cold but I never had to change it). He genuinely apologized and let me know that I could have breakfast at The Bistro the following morning and he wouldn’t have it charged to my room (which he totally didn’t have to do).
The next morning I went up to The Bistro and the chef and another guy greeted me immediately. They asked what I was in the mood for (it didn’t look like they had a breakfast menu displayed) and proceeded to offer me options to customize my breakfast for me. I sat down and they made the Pumpkin Spice Starbucks I ordered, which typically at a hotel ends up being way different, but it was delicious! He even gave it to me with the portable top off so I could see the little ripple design he made in the foam. Unfortunately I didn’t get these guys’ names :(. The one who made my coffee did mention he was helping out with the opening and was actually from Indiana.
Finally, when I went to check out later the woman at the front desk also made sure everything was ok with my stay. I told her how awesome everyone had been and while I was waiting for valet to pull up my car, we made small talk and she helped me plan the rest of my morning based on when I had to be back to the airport. I unfortunately didn’t catch her name either :(.
I would absolutely love to stay at this hotel again. The location, the staff, and the amenities (bar and breakfast) were absolutely worth it, and if they keep up this level of service I have no doubt they will work out any of their opening kinks and be a really competitive hotel in this area. Thank you to everyone who made my stay great!

So we stayed at this hotel this past weekend. The customer service was great. Staff was very friendly with any of our needs.
Just a few minor things that were annoying but not life changing. I went to the roof top bar to order food (jerk chicken quesadilla was AMAZING) I asked the server if they had ranch, he came back and said they ran out of ranch. The don’t get deliveries until Monday. That was a bummer.
The next morning my girlfriend and I went to go have breakfast at the bistro. Food was simple yet effective. In the drink section we saw that they had 2 small pints of milk. We grabbed them. While waiting for our breakfast I noticed that the milks were expired on ¹¹⁄₀₅ (today was ¹¹⁄₀₈). I asked to change the milks and they said they ran out and don’t get deliveries until Monday.
Wish the hotel would’ve been fully stocked with everything they need. Especially since they just opened a few weeks ago. I would still recommend this place. I would definitely stay here again.

My hubby and I decided to take an after dinner walk and came upon The Nolen located at the rooftop of the Courtyard San Diego Gaslamp. What am amazing view! The service was excellent, my bartender Ian went out of his way to create the perfect drink for me. The menu has a plain daiquiri however I wanted strawberry. Ian said he would check downstairs in the hotel and see if they had any well they did not however they had blackberries. Ian created the perfect blackberry daiquiri for me.
The Nolen has only been open for 4 – 5 days now however this is going to be one of my favorite HH/​After Dinner spots. I highly recommend The Nolen.

We are long time Marriott reward members so we are very familiar with the Marriott brand hotels. This is a redesigned Marriott and I have never stayed at a property with this room design. I did not find it a convenient design and I found myself wondering if the designer would like it if he/​she had to spend a few nights here with a week’s worth of clothes and a garment bag. The room is smaller than any other Courtyard and we had three in a room with two queen beds. There was no space to unpack clothing except for some space for hanging items and a few small shelf areas; one shelf under a wall mounted bedside table and two cubbies above the hanging space. The bathroom is large with a nicely tiled shower with glass door. There is a double towel bar and two hooks and a narrow ledge behind the sink that extends along the bak of the toilet. There is not ample space for toiletry items unless they are unpacked. My husband had his toiletry bag on one hook and mine was on the second hook. When I showered I had to set my clothes on the floor.
The location of the hotel worked fine for us. We did not have a car and there were plenty of places within walking distance. We ate a breakfast on the second floor and the menu is the same as at other Courtyard Hotels. I do like their food. It is not stellar but it is good with healthy options. The space is small but very nice and the server went out of his way to be helpful to us as did all other staff members during our stay. The hotel just opened on October 22 so it is clean. The décor is minimalistic and the only color is on the walls, everything else is beige or white.
In summary, the hotel staff was very good. The room was small and lacking convenient space to settle in. The décor is nice, especially if you enjoy a more monochromatic color scheme and a minimalist look. If I return to San Diego I would try to stay at another Marriott property with a different room design. I hope they don’t change all of the Courtyards to this room design.