The Andaz San Diego opened in 2010 in a building that first opened as a hotel in 1914. With 159 rooms, it is a nice size property.
I booked two nights in December 2025. I booked through Prive (Hyatt’s travel agent program) that includes breakfast and a $100 resort credit when booking a two night stay. I believe typically it is a $50 credit but it seems like they had a promotion going on. The rate was $228/night after taxes and destination fee. I added a Guest of Honor certificate to avoid paying the $35/night destination fee; and ended up paying $178/night all in.
The property is a Category 5, meaning that an award night costs between 17,000 and 23,000 World of Hyatt points. This seems a little steep considering the nightly cash rate, but perhaps you could get some good value with points during busy seasons.
Location
The Andaz San Diego is located on the north end of the Gaslamp Quarter; technically in the East Village of Downtown. It is a 10 minute drive from the airport and within walking distance of the convention center and Petco Park.
Like so many downtowns in the USA, San Diego feels a bit dodgy at the moment. There is a homeless shelter across the street from the Andaz going out at night you’ll see a mix of people going to the bars in the Gaslamp.
If you prefer to avoid that, you could stay at the huge Manchester Grand Hyatt closer to the convention center and on the bay. And for more of a resort/beach scene, there are plenty of options away from downtown and in the surrounding area like the Alila and Mission Pacific up north.
Check In
I arrived on Christmas around 7:30pm. There was one employee working the front desk and there was a large group checking in to multiple rooms ahead of me. It took me about 15 minutes to get checked in. The employee seemed overwhelmed and didn’t know about how to confirm my resort credit and asked me to come back to the front desk the following day to confirm. Being understaffed was a theme throughout my stay. I’m not sure if it is because it was around Christmas or if that is standard for the property.
I booked a Queen Room, the lowest level at the property. I was upgraded to a King Deluxe Room. I did check ahead and it looked like the suites were sold out.
When I got to my room there were no bottles of water so I headed back downstairs to pick mine up. I was given two Path bottles that can be refilled at the water stations on each floor.
Room
I was assigned room 422. All of the rooms either look out at the street/surrounding buildings or inside to a courtyard. I was happy that my room was an exterior view, even if there isn’t much of a view.
The Deluxe King is on the small size, so I can only imagine the other class of rooms are tiny. As you enter, the closet is on the left and the bathroom is on the right.
The room is a bit wider than the King bed. There is a pull out couch at the foot of the bed with a coffee table.
One each side of the bed is a table and lamp. There are outlets built into the lamp and the clock radio has two USB-A ports. There is an accent light built into the bed headboard. A white noise machine is provided to block out the street noise.
The bed and couch face a wall mounted TV and desk space. There wasn’t a spot to put luggage, so I used the space under the TV.
The bath/shower is essentially in the middle of the room and is open to the bed area with a large glass window. There is a curtain you can draw for privacy.
The windows to the outside have three sets of curtains. A roller shade, a sheer curtain, and a black out curtain. I found that it did a good job of blocking out the light.
Back towards the door is a Keurig coffee set up, empty fridge, and a safe.
Unlike other Andaz properties, there is not a complimentary mini bar. I don’t know if that is a change that all Andaz properties are making or if this is an outlier. They do offer complimentary wine and beer in the lobby in the evening, so my guess is that is how they get around offering items in the room.
Overall the room feels comfortable though a bit dated (it is 16 years old). There was a minor refresh in 2017 – new carpet, mattresses, some furniture. Everything is in fairly good shape and working order.
Bathroom
There is no door that separates the bathroom from the rest of the room, so do not expect privacy (if the full display shower wasn’t evidence enough). The bath/shower is on one side and the single sink is opposite. The toilet (that can be closed off with a frosted glass door) is at the end of the bathroom.
The shower has a single hand held shower head. The bath products are “Lather” branded and felt luxurious. The pump on the conditioner didn’t work making it impossible to access.
It took a long time for the water in the sink to warm up. The shower water was much quicker to warm up — I’m guessing they must be on different water lines.
Housekeeping didn’t come until after 3pm. I also ordered some of the “Hyatt Has It” items and they were not delivered until I called down to remind them about it.
Dining
Breakfast is a la cart and served at the roof top restaurant. There was only one person working when I arrived, however, they called up two additional staff. The next day (Saturday) there were more staff working and the service was quick.
There is a good size menu with typical breakfast items.
My first day I had The Frenchie omelette with added avocado and seasonal fruit and an orange juice. It was very good, but came out to over $60 (covered by my breakfast benefit). The next day I had the Mexican chocolate French Toast with berries which was equally delicious.
I had dinner at the rooftop bar to use my $100 credit. The food was mediocre; unless you have a credit or want to eat at the pool, I’d skip it.
Pool & Gym
Both the pool and gym are also on the roof top level. The pool is heated and has a couple of cabanas (for rent), as well as lounge chairs, around the edge. It is fun to be above the street and see the surrounding buildings. There is no hot tub.
Even though it was December, there were a number of people using the pool when I visited in the afternoon.
The gym is standard for a hotel property of this size.
Overall
With the rates I paid ($161 + tax, waived destination fee), I think the Andaz San Diego offers a good value if you need to be in the city. It is a more boutique property than the Manchester Grand Hyatt. But if you don’t need to be in the city, there are many better Hyatt options within a 30-45 minute drive north.
I think the minor issues I encountered were because the property is understaffed, possibly because it was around the Christmas holiday. My stay wasn’t bad by any means, but the Andaz San Diego didn’t wow me in the same way that other Andaz properties have.
To read some of my reviews of other Andaz properties, check out my Hotel Review page.
Have you visited the Andaz San Diego? What was your impression?
