The Dana on Mission Bay

I held an event here from January 11 – 14 2016 and it was amazing… The staff made sure everything went so well I cannot thank everyone at The Dana enough for their professionalism and kindness. Best ever! Thank you all very very much

We loved this hotel. Beds were comfy, décor was nice, views were breathtaking, and pools were heated. It was a great weekend getaway!

We had our wedding this past November and it was an absolute dream! The weekend was magical and all of our guests who flew in from all over the country had the greatest time. Adrienne, the Catering director, is amazing and so easy to work with! She was always available to answer all my questions. I highly suggest picking the Marina Lawn for the ceremony as they have put a ton of work into making it look beautiful. But it also is a «blank canvas» which allows brides to have fun and choose décor for the rustic brown arch and garden. For the reception we decided to drape all the walls and it looks gorgeous against the floor to ceiling windows The Dana has in the ballroom.
I highly recommend The Dana! It was fun to have all of our guests in one spot to hang out before the wedding, during the wedding and the Sunday brunch after!

This is a glorified Motel. Rooms are totally run down; the head board on our bed was broken so every time we moved it would bang on the wall. Half the electrical sockets were not working. The bathtub was broken. There is the room rate and then when you check in we had a $ 27 resort fee for things that come standard at most hotels. I would not stay here again.

We were looking forward to having our entire wedding here at The Dana, but then we noticed that they support Sea World (stay and holiday packages) so we will never patronize this business.

Checked in today and received a free upgrade. Unilocal has the dog thing wrong though– they are totally pet friendly! They even gave us a bag full of goodies for our dog! Awesome location and friendly service!

I don’t have much to say, other than this is in my top 5 favorite places to stay EVER. Yes… that’s a pretty hefty statement to make. I stand by it wholly though.
Usually when I’m staying at a beach — and especially a destination beach like sunny San Diego — I look for waterfront. I want to be a few steps away from the beach at all times, even if it’s just for the view. However, although the Dana isn’t against the shoreline, it does boast beautiful Marina & garden views that completely make me forget that I even desired a fancy room looking over the waves. The vibe of this hotel is tropical and laid back, with birds of paradise plants all over the property and beachy, tropical colors surrounding you. The rooms are laid back and pretty, with beachy colors and light wood accents that give it a Hawaiian feel. The standard rooms — even the ones without a view (you can choose when you make the reservation) — are really nice. However, the suites are breathtaking all around. Pretty pricy, but for a very clear reason. There are two pools on site, one of them being a tiki themed pool nestled away in the palm trees. It doubles as an area to show kids movies on weekend nights. I would most definitely coin this as a family hotel.
The restaurant — The Firefly — on site is wonderful. Open all day, I’ve had something from each meal of the day and they’ve all been really good.
We had our wedding at this hotel because we loved it so much from previous stays. It was not only a beautiful backdrop and location, but the staff was helpful beyond measure in both the planning process and on the day of the event.
I can’t say enough great things about this hotel. No doubt it’ll be our choice for honeymoon stays for years to come, and undoubtedly our #1 choice in general when traveling to the beachfront of San Diego.

Stay here. The Dana is a wonderful, clean hotel with a resort feel. There are two lovely pools and hot tubs. One of the pools is bayside, next to the restaurant/​bar with food and drink service. The other pool has a tiki bar and shows movies to children at night on the big screen.
The rooms are clean, and the bed are comfy. There’s a laundry available on site.
My son and I stayed here for almost 3 weeks. They helped me find the best rate and were so courteous. I cannot say enough about the facilities, staff, and surroundings. Great place for families, and a shuttle will take you to Sea World. Nothing better in SD.

Bums ALL over at night near the docks.
Room service horrible not once did they put a brand new roll of toilet paper in our room. Tourist fees and tax witch were not disclosed. This place is nice just lacks couple things. And def not kid friendly. They should prolly have security present at night to make the homeless people stay away

Good location but not a good value.
The room was nicely decorated, but it’s really just a dressed up motel room. Lots of activity the two days we were there — walked thru one wedding and a business event. I didn’t hear noise from the adjacent rooms, but there is a lot of road noise and the building does shake on the 2^nd floor when someone walks outside. Many additional fees.
My $ 139 wedding rate plus $ 20 a day for parking plus a required $ 14 a day resort fee (which gets you access to the pools and fitness center, wifi, free coffee from 5am to 7am, and maybe a copy of USA today) plus taxes left me paying $ 190 a night. I didn’t think it was worth it. Save yourself so money and park on the street right outside the hotel.

We stayed here for 3 nights (¹⁰⁄₁₅ — ¹⁰⁄₁₈). The room was rather small and situated near the road so you could hear everything. The building we were in would shake every time someone opened their room door. That led to very little sleep over the course of 3 nights.
The other issue we had was that our room got cleaned only 1x during our stay and we found ants all over the bathroom on our last night. The bathroom had signs of mold. For the $ we paid, I felt it was well overpriced, and the daily resort fee provided for things that most hotels provide for free now.
The staff at checkout was not very interested in hearing how the stay was even though they have a satisfaction guarantee. I would recommend looking elsewhere to stay in Mission Bay (like the Hyatt across the road).

Stayed at the Dana on the deluxe side the last week of August it was a perfect last family trip. Everyone was very helpful and nice. The kids enjoyed the pools. The restaurant we ate at most nights for dinner was delicious
We will be back thank you for a great time

Guess what? This place is great. We got a suite on the bayside our first night through the app Hotel Tonite. Great price, insanely great room. Overlooked the bay, super comfortable bed, lovely décor, torkin’ AC. The second night we got a room in the older part, the 800 building, more expensive and not as nice, but they were sold out. We did not want to leave, so we didn’t care. The grounds are lovely; the food at the firefly restaurant is delicious; and the big pool is really nice. You should know that I am a native San Diegan; know good food; and have high expectations when staying at a hotel. So believe me when I say that this is a nice set-​up. Clean rooms, great location, nice staff. Do it. PS. I almost didn’t want to Unilocal the Dana as to keep it a secret. :)). You’re welcome.

We did a stay-​cation here and really enjoyed it. The hotel has a Hawaiian flair to it with koi ponds, torches, and even some parrots on hand. The place is a little dated, but we had a great view and balcony from our room. The pool is very comfortable — we had no problem getting seats — with a bar if you want to imbibe. We ate at the restaurant right along the bay and that was also good.
You really can’t beat the location. You’re right on Mission Bay and steps to paddle boarding, kayaking, or just lounging. And you’re right across the street and a block away from the Pacific ocean and the beach there. Plus you’re also walking distance to all of Pacific Beach’s restaurants and bars. Have fun!

I thought that this hotel was beautiful and very well kept. My husband and I spent the weekend here for our anniversary and loves the beautiful room and the view. The shuttle to Sea World made it so much easier than driving there and the drivers were so friendly. The front desk staff made check in easy and answered all our questions.
If we were ever in that part of town again we would stay here and recommend it to our friends and family.

4.5 stars !!! Beautiful grounds, right next to the boat ramp! Beautiful view of the boats and harbor. The rooms did look older on the outside, but the inside is completely renovated and new. The rooms are a bit small, but still can move around it w/​o problem. Our room had a mini-​fridge (which was adequate enough for the food I brought along), microwave and there is a coffeemaker and hair dryer. There is NO elevator, and you have to carry your stuff to the 2^nd floor. The stairs are WELL lit and the stair handles are very sturdy and welded down for safety.
We stayed here for Comic con and I have to say, we hardly heard any noise at night. We did NOT hear any noise from the rooms next to us (they must have spent money upgrading the walls or insulation). Honeybuns slept well, and that says something.
The bed was comfortable, the shower had great pressure, parking was easy, The only CON was that the housekeeping forgot to replace the styrofoam hot cups for our entire stay. It’s annoying when you want a hot beverage (I brought tea bags) and not having any cups to use! Since I had brought along travel mugs, we were OK. I didn’t want to have to call housekeeping at 10pm for cups (please fix this!). We’d definitely stay here again if we’re in town.

Great family hotel located on Mission Bay. Easy access to the beach, Sea World and downtown. (And really easy access to the freeways that take you everywhere else). Mission Bay is right there and a short walk will get you to the ocean. Nice clean rooms, two pools (plus hot tub), nice staff.
We stayed here for four nights, spent our day out on the town and then had a late night swim to finish out our days. While we didn’t have a lot of needs from the staff because we lived here for quite some time, when we did need the staff they were very helpful. Once to help us with our keys which somehow stopped working after the kids took them to the pool (imagine that) and then again to help print out our boarding passes.
They’ve got a restaurant on-​site, rentals for bikes, boats, etc., shuttle to Sea World, etc. Full service.
This is an older hotel and while they have done a nice job maintaining the property, it’s still a little tired. I booked this place because based on reviews and price it was the best deal for our needs. I would definitely stay here again.

Beautiful grounds and awesome location. Yes, the rooms are older but renovated.
Yes, most rooms are adjacent to a pool, but the noise of kids having fun at the pool by another reviewer neglected to mention how awesome both pools are, clean and warm. Noise is part of the deal. Not to mention Jet noise pollution. I’m more bothered by that.
It’s not cheap. $ 20 per day for parking and a $ 14 resort fee is gouging. That ought to be included. The restaurants like Firefly are great but a family of 4 will spend over $ 100.
it’s nice but a five requires disclosure of all fees in advance of purchase.
Otherwise Dana would be a 5 star. We might be back. But the Dana myst not care about Social Media so two stars

Awesome location
They offer coupons for tons of places to visit and things to do
Free shuttle to seaworld
Pool next to the Marina
Lounge outside of their restaurant with fire pits is amazing!
Only bad thing! rooms are old! the restroom door was uneven and broken, could see water pipes from underneath the sink.

In February, I had a four night staycation with my family at The Dana, situated on Mission Bay. I reckon we’re quite different from the average guest because we know the area so well. We arrived early (before noon) and I would’ve been more than happy to just chill at the pool, but upon check-​in the receptionist informed us they already had a room ready. So the stay got off on the right foot :) Of course this is no guarantee and YMMV, but this shows The Dana staff try to accommodate you.
The room was solid and views to Mission Bay fabulous, despite the fact we were in the older, less modern part of The Dana. As far as facilities, we tried the hotel restaurant a few times (in another review) and really enjoyed it. My family and I spent most of our time at the pools and hot tubs.
A lot of the reviews complain about the resort fee. First of all, you should know and budget for it going in if you read the terms of your booking. Second, this is the beach — almost all quality hotels in the area do it so unfortunately it’s to be expected. Third, at least you get something valuable for the resort fee here — we used both the WiFi and restaurant discounts. Fourth, the resort fee was literally half of what other hotels in the area charge. So get over the resort fee — if you don’t like it, pack up your stuff and head over to Hotel Circle.
All in all, we had a great stay at The Dana and will absolutely return here. Friendly staff, great location, and a lot of value for your money. I can’t name one unpleasant experience in the stay so 5* from me.