More about Best Western Island Palms Hotel And Marina
Island Palms is A-OK!
by TripAdvisor Member samgraham
I just stayed in the Best Western Island Palms Hotel & Marina for six nights. It was a nice property. It is located on Shelter Island and there is lots os scenery to look at. If you're on the bay side, you get to see a constant flow of US NAVY ships meander by. I saw the USS Ronald Reagan carrier return from its deployment and saw the US Naval Hospital Ship Mercy leave for the middle east. On the other side the of the hotel you get to see the marina ... once again, it has some really nice views.
POSITIVES:
- Blue Wave Restaurant: This restaurant is one of the best hotel eating places I've ever gone to. You could eat here all week. Good food, good presentation and good help. I was impressed.
- Staff: For the most part, the staff was wonderful and plentiful. These folks take care of business.
- Location: Pretty beyond pretty
- Bathroom supplies: Lots of supplies. One of the best!
- Coffee Bar: Fully stocked. Impressive.
NEGATIVES:
Rooms: A little old, could probably be a little bigger for the price. The bed in my room, Room 158, wasn't all that comfortable. The room needed painting ... may have started and didn't finish. Couldn't tell.
While not a cheap place to stay, the hotel is a nice place to stay. If the beds were a little more comfortable, this would really be a restful place to stay.
All in all, this is an above average property. I recommend you stay here for a night just for the scenery.
Great Deal
by A TripAdvisor Member
We went here for Spring Break from WA state. The hotel was great, it was not a huge room, but very comfortable and CLEAN! What we liked best about this hotel is that it was very quiet and you had an amazing view of the harbor. We drove to "hotel circle" and we were so happy that we did not stay there because it was surrounded by freeway and no view. I would stay here again in a heartbeat. It is a great deal and close to everything. We loved it!
Comfortable Escape
by TripAdvisor Member SueD_MA
This hotel turned out to be much better than I expected, because of the 2 star rating. IMO, it ought to have 3 stars. We had a marina suite for 3 nights which was comfortable and a quiet. The room was clean; the view was tropical. The kitchen had everything we needed to make breakfast or snacks. Our teen complained that the sofa bed was noisy and needed updating. But that was our only room complaint.
The pool was well positioned to receive the sun all afternoon, but had plenty of shade spots if desired. It was heated and the hot tub was pure heaven. Both were very clean.
The restaurant had a good selection and the quality of food was very good.
The location was good - close enough to the attractions (with a car), but separate enough to be peaceful.
One of the best features of this hotel was the staff. Everyone was smiling, knowledgeable and responsive.
I would stay at this hotel again.
Nice relaxing location, very friendly and helpful front-desk staff
by A TripAdvisor Member
If you're looking for good value on a medium budget in a great location , this is deffinitely the place to stay. With the marina on one side and bay on the other the whole island has such a relaxed up-market feel. If you enjoy an early morning or evening walk or jog along the waterfront you will love this. The pool is nice and clean, and relaxing in the spa overlooking the marina at night is a real treat. The front-desk staff were very friendly; no request is too much. Once we had checked into our room - the manager called personally to introduce himself and say that we could contact him if there were any problems or if we needed anything during our stay - we have never had that sort of service in any hotel before - and many of those cost much more than the Island Palms.
The room was a little on the small side for the four of us, but the bathroom was big with quality fittings. The room lacked the ubiquitous 'big chain' feel -which was nice.
One complaint we had was the service in the restauarant - this was slow, disorganised and not too friendly - so we ate elsewhere after that (there are good restaurants in easy walking distance). Maybe it was just a bad day.
The rate was $109 - why pay more? We would deffinitely stay here again.
nice place
by A TripAdvisor Member
We were upgraded to a 'marina view' upon check-in. Parking was tight. The restaurant is a little pricey, but the food was great. The rooms have obviously been renovated, but definitely on a budget. The toilet's power flush was way too noisy and the shower's bathtub faucet kept running while the shower was going. My wife gave up on the shower and just had a bath. Without the marina view it would have been overpriced, even for Shelter Island/ Harbor Island area. The duck families running around were cute.
Great Location for a Family Vacation
by TripAdvisor Member jmk1985
OK Folks, Like the title says this is a great place for a family vacation. Our room #130 opened right at the gate to the pool. The room as everyone has stated could be a little larger, but it was clean. Rooms cleaned every AM. Pool towels available at the front desk. A very friendly helpful desk staff. The location could not have been any better. A short 10 minute drive down North Harbor Drive to all of the downtown attractions. (Don't miss the Harbor Tour or the USS Midway!) The views of the bay and harbor were awesome. If you do only one thing in San Diego, drive out to Cabrillo National Monument and watch the sunset, it is truly breathtaking!!!
Not too bad.
by A TripAdvisor Member
We stayed herre for 3 nights and it was fine. It was not the resort style that it had been advertised as on Travelocity, but it is a fine property. It's very obviously an older hotel that's been renovated and there is nothing special about the rooms.
We were upgraded to a marina room on check-in but had requested a bay view, based on the ads we read saying that you'd have a terrific view of the channel watching the big ships go by. We were glad to have had the chage, because on arriving realized the bay rooms would have just had a view of the parking lot.
The room itself was very basic - bed, armoire, bathroom. Really all you'd need, but pretty small. And not much better than your standard hotel chain. Our only complaint was that we could never get it cool enough. It was warm the week we were there and the a/c just wasn't up to the challenge. To their credit, the service person from the hotel worked really, really hard to try to get it fixed and even offered to install a new one.
The two points that make this hotel above average are the staff and the location. The staff is EXTREMELY friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. Every question we had was answered quickly and correctly, every need we had was met. They really make the stay worthwhile. (However, skip the restaurant completely -- service is slow, food is mediocre, it's just not worth it).
The location is ideal - we were 10-15 minutes from Sea World (which was on our list of things to do), maybe 30 from Coronado, and within a quick drive from everywhere else. Shelter Island is lovely and the marina behind the hotel makes it somewhat more exclusive and quiet than others. On the weekends, some of the larger hotels along there have concerts and you can hear them over the water -- and it makes parking tight -- but it was not too much of a drawback.
We'd consider staying again, but we'd really have to debate whether the mediocre, bland room was outweighed by the rest of the amenities.
Properly themed resort for the area
by A TripAdvisor Member
My wife and I are both 27 years old and travel to the San Diego at least once a month from Tarzana. We stayed at the BW Island Palms on September 9-11, 2005 and were pleasantly surprised with how clean and well maintained this property is. The front-desk service was very friendly and were upgraded from a "Bay View" to a "Marina View" room for no additional charge and without even asking (Don't expect this regularly, though)....We were upgraded as the hotel overbooked the "Cheaper," Bay View rooms. I would recommend paying the extra $ to stay in a marina view room as the rooms literally step out on to the marina. The bay view rooms don't offer much of a view if you are on the first floor, as the bay is obstructed by the hotels parking lot. In the morning, we had several ducks at our front door waiting to be fed, which was kind of different, but fun at the same time. We had dinner and breakfast in the hotels restaurant. Both meals were adequate and satisfying. There was only one other couple in the restaurant which made the atmosphere a bit more romantic. The only thing that killed a romantic dinner was the banquet hall directly below the restaurant that was having a wedding reception, that was so blaring so loud, you couldn't enjoy the smooth jazz that was playing in the restaurant, as it was being drowned out by the Village People. Our room was 2 buildings down from the on-site banquet hall, and on the first night, could hear the loud, drunk people spilling out of the banquet hall on to the marina, loitering in front of our room after midnight. The service in the restaurant was very, verrrrrrrrrry slow, but our waiter/waitress were not rude, just mostly non-existent.....I'm not sure where they were going, considering both visits to the restaurant, the place was virtually empty. Here are the pro's and con's about our visit:
Pro's:
- Great views all-around
- Location (on the marina)
- Laid-back atmosphere
- Themed hotel (Googie-Polynesian exterior from the 50-60's) with lit tiki torches
- Free bike rental
- Friendly front desk
- Free in-room internet
- Refrigerator
- Nighttime security visibly present
Con's:
- Loud parties both nights from the banquet hall
- Parking in the evening on the weekends is hard to find, (Everyone from Humphrey's parks there for concerts).
- The pool was cold all three days.
- "Bay View" rooms are a view of the parking lot if on the 1st floor.
All-in-all, we were very satisfied with our stay. This joint is laid-back and not overly-swanky with tackiness, the decor fits just right with the architecture of the property. I would definitely stay here again.
Nice location
by TripAdvisor Member cbdbtravel
My husband and I stayed here for 3 days in late September. We loved the location on Shelter Island with the marinas and yacht clubs close by. Could rate the area as "excellent" but had to rate the room as "average" at the cost of $161 plus tax per night (through Best Western web site). We requested marina view--and the view was great, but the room itself was very dark--along with the furniture and furnishings. It did, however, have a nicely remodeled bath with lots of light--and was clean. (AAA tour book showed the room to be more bright and cheerful.) The restaurant and bar (Blue Wave) served wonderful food--with great atmosphere--and faced the marina. Wait staff was very prompt, courteous and friendly. Island Palms was definitely accessible to the airport and downtown. San Diego Trolley tour bus also stopped here, which was convenient. It's a good place to walk and enjoy the activities on the bay.
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