Diamond Head Inn

If you read the reviews, they are very polarizing. Either you love it or you hate it. I used to love the Diamondhead Inn. In fact, that was my hotel of choice. But this last experience was AWFUL. I've stayed at the DiamondHead Inn throughout the last decade with family and with friends. It's gone downhill FAST. It is right on the beach but THAT IS IT. This place has suddenly gotten the attitude of "you're on the beach - what the hell else do you want?" That's fine if you're the Pacific View Motel, who used to charge $50 for no frills. But Pacific View never says they are anything but a Motel 6 on the beach. DiamondHead positions themselves as a lot nicer than that charges WAY too much for staying in a very crappy hotel with idiot staff members. Read my below experience from 10/12-10/16: - They lost my reservation but mysteriously found it a day later. They checked me into the crappiest (I assume it's the crappiest - if not, they're REALLY in trouble) room of 111. - No A/C. No ocean breeze unless you're in Room 201/202. The rest of the rooms are hot and humid. Not a lot of screens on the windows, so if you have kids, you can either choose to be hot or choose to leave the windows open and let one of the beach bums crawl in and spoon with you or your kids. - Room 111 has the view of (1) broken down ice machines out the front window (2) old lumber piled up out the living room window and (3) a dumpster about 4 feet outside the bedroom and bathroom window. - Idiot DiamondHead maintenance guy threw bricks and other loud noisy stuff in the steel dumpster (remember, the one 4 feet from our bedroom headboard) for 20 minutes at 8am on Sunday morning. Ghetto wake-up call. - 22 Rooms. 5 hotel reserved parking spaces. Do the math. I parked anywhere from 3 blocks to 6 blocks away every time. - Suites that say "sleeps 4" will only sleep 2 unless the other two are used to sleeping on a sofa bed that I assume was used at Guantanamo Bay. My two kids chose to sleep on something more comfy - the ground. - The DH Inn maintenance guy and his idiot housekeeping coworker saw me come out of hotel with my luggage cart piled high. Since I had to haul it all 4 blocks to my car, I had to cross Diamond Avenue. I hit a pothole and my stuff exploded all over in the street - about 10-15 feet away from them. Idiot DH employees, knowing I was a guest, just stood and watched me take four trips from the middle of the road to the sidewalk. They never even CONSIDERED helping a guest. - I told the General Manager (Mr. Silver) about my experience and he responded with a "sorry we'll do better next time". Not good enough - I had to push him to refund me 1 out of 4 nights but I should have been refunded my entire $572. My bank account still doesn't show the refund of one night and that was promised a few days ago. I have no bone to pick and I'm not overly picky. I'll eat a cold steak if it means not rocking the boat. In fact both my wife and I are former hotel employees so if anything, we're too lenient. We knew this wasn't the Hilton. In fact, their biggest defense on other review sites is similar to that. I wasn't expecting the Hilton - but I also wasn't expecting by far the worst hotel stay I've had in 25 years and probably 1000 trips. They couldn't have made it a worse experience if they tried. HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HORRIBLE. Regardless of the ones who dare to write bad reviews, they'll ALWAYS sell out because they're on the beach. They know it. That arrogance shows. But eventually their clientele will only be the rubbery 22 year olds with no cash who wouldn't mind sleeping in the hostel on Mission or a tent in the sand. Try the Best Western Blue Seas. It's comparable in price and you'll always have parking on site, air conditioning and a staff that aren't a bunch of idiots (sorry, but two of them earned that title).

Unique Quality: Overpriced for what you get because you don't get a lot. There are better values like the Best Western Blue Seas, which is also right on the beach, closer to restaurants and they don't seem to have the "You're on the beach so what the hell else do you want?" attitude that the Diamondhead Inn has suddenly acquired.

Directions: North Pacific Beach on the water.

The Diamond Head Inn is a small motel just across the boardwalk from the beach in Pacific Beach.

I haven't stayed there, but a VT Member asked that I check it out for him so I went. It seems it might have once been a group of small apartments built just across the Boardwalk from the beach in Pacific Beach. It's an older building, but seems to be kept up well and offers, what I consider the bare-bone basic amenities.

However, both the one room suite and the two room suite includes a kitchen, equipt with the essentials.

The rooms have been renovated recently and seem pretty nice, though on the small side.

Unique Quality: The real value of this motel is that it is one of the least expensive in the area, especially if the rates are found on the Internet and Jjm Silver, the manager seems to be accommodatiing and ready to help when needed..

Parking is at a premium in the area but there is a bus stop just up the street on Mission Boulevard. So it would be a good location when relying on public transportation.

The VT Member was quite pleased with his stay here and enjoyed the proximity to the Pacific Ocean . I will mention that Pacific Beach is the most popular beach in San Diego for tourists and residents alike, so consider this spot only if you are looking for a crowd and lots of beach fun and sometimes rowdiness, which tends to be so at most beaches at one time or another.

Directions: On Diamond Street west of Mission Boulevard and east of the beach