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Reviewed 29 September 2012

I booked a stay here a few months back after retuning home from a deployment. The hotel does seem to be a bit outdated, but the room was very large and even had a jacuzzi!I I enjoyed my stay here quite a bit due to the decent price and the amazing location. It is right downtown in the village, close to all sorts of restaurants and bars. There are some nice art galleries around as well. The staff was very nice also. I dealt mainly with Jean and Amanda and both were very delightful and they even got rid of some trash from my truck that I didn't need anymore. So sweet! Anyways, 5 stars for the staff and location...dropped overall to 4 stars due to the hotels age and I would stay here again.

Room tip: The suites are nice and include a jacuzzi
Date of stay: July 2012
  • Trip type: Travelled as a couple
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1  Thank JeremyH580
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 25 September 2012

Stayed here for one night and it was in a perfect location for walking around La Jolla Village. The hotel itself reminded me of the 1940s and it was fine, but I found that our room felt kind of stuffy, even with the AC on, even though my husband said it felt fine (an older style AC unit). The hotel does not have a view or pool, but you can walk to the beach easily and there is a good sushi restaurant at the end of the street (Roppongi). The Manhattan restaurant in the hotel looked very nice too, but we didn't have time to try it. If you find a parking spot on the street after 6pm on Saturday, you can leave your car there all night and Sunday for free.

Date of stay: September 2012
  • Trip type: Travelled as a couple
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Thank MariaBCalifornia
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 17 September 2012

We originally booked this hotel as wedding guests. But the core wedding party moved to another hotel and upon notifying we are changing hotels I was shocked to find the usual attentive and courteous tone turned into unresponsive and rude attitudes.

They decided to charge me for a No Show even though I canceled well over a month beforehand. I thought it was just a mistake so I called the hotel and they claimed I never called. I read plenty of yelp reviews about faulty or missing reservations but I guess they are more than happy to take your money and claim their "system" shows nothing of a cancellation.

I emailed the hotel hoping to get my claim documented and it took seven days before Amanda Tan responded and said she couldn't help me because the computer said x y z . The arrogance is amazing since they take reservations over the phone and I definitely do not keep scraps of paper around. I should have never trusted the guy who took my cancellation who assured me nothing else was required.

Another seven days has passed and finally I get another cold email. She claims she was away and didn't get my email. I guess I can't expect a hotel that won't even send you a "welcome to your upcoming stay" email to have "out of office" auto-response. Kevin Swenink made no effort to explain his hotel's system failures or his staff's unresponsive service. He told me I was at fault for not keeping my cancellation code.

I hope my credit card company can sort this out. Don't forget to include a copy of your cell phone history that substantiates your call claim, receipt from the hotel you ended up staying in and a letter that explains the opportunity cost of their lost night of stay is a result of their system/staff and not of a misplaced cancellation code. For the action of a lost code itself would not result in an empty room if the human error had not allowed for the room to be booked out again.

Honestly I think you should be very careful with this hotel. Keep track of all numbers and confirm confirm confirm any changes. Also make sure to check the mattress edge for black residue along the seams.

Date of stay: August 2012
  • Trip type: Travelled with friends
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    • Service
5  Thank rongsx14
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
EmpressGM, General Manager at Empress Hotel La Jolla, responded to this reviewResponded 26 September 2012

Thank you for your comments. We regret that you feel this way even after all the efforts we have put forth to remedy the situation. Although you could not provide proof of a cancellation, we in good faith refunded half of your no-show fee and offered you a gift certificate to return to the hotel for a free night on us. However, you declined. We feel that if given the opportunity, we could have shown you the level of service we offer all our guests and you would have a very different opinion of our hotel.

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Reviewed 16 September 2012

Located in the heart of La Jolla Village and within walking distance of lots of restaurants, shops and entertainment. $150 a night for a deluxe king room, free breakfast ad free valet parking. The rooms were really nice and the staff was very friendly. Bed was turned down every night with a couple pieces of chocoloate on the pillow. Nice touch. They do have a restaurant. We didn't eat there, but they had live entertainment at night and that was a lot of fun. The only negative is that there isn't a pool. But who goes to La Jolla for the pools? La Jolla has beautiful beaches. Will definitely stay there again when we go back to La Jolla. We had a great meal and a beautiful view at the Crab Catcher.

Date of stay: September 2012
  • Trip type: Travelled as a couple
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Thank Bernie K
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed 5 September 2012

We were pleased with our stay at the Empress. An easy walk to the beach, lots of good restaurants, and easy access to all the attractions in San Diego and vacinity. Our favorite restaurant was The Cottage just one block away... we ate there most mornings for breakfast and it's excellent. There is breakfast at the hotel, but not great and we have some family members who are gluten-free which makes it a challenge. We were planning to stay 5 nights. Unfortunately, our youngest child had to be admitted to the hospital, forcing us to extend our stay. The hotel was excellent about letting us stay - they had rooms available, but they also made it possible for us to stay in the SAME room. That made a difficult time a bit less stressful!

Date of stay: July 2012
  • Trip type: Travelled with family
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Thank bestkids
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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