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Located on the scenic waterfront of Harbor Island, just minutes from downtown San Diego and San Diego International Airport/Lindbergh Field, the only thing the hotel overlooks is the marina. With 211 guest rooms, we are able to meet the needs of all travelers, families and groups at Hilton San Diego Airport/Harbor Island. Offering a resort-like setting with spectacular views and friendly service, we are in an unbeatable location with easy access to freeways and southern California's most popular destinations: SeaWorld, Balboa Park, world famous San Diego Zoo and San Diego Gaslamp Quarter. Our well-appointed guest rooms feature Hilton Serenity beds with down duvets and have balconies overlooking the bay, marina and San Diego skyline. Other amenities include premium bath products, WiFi, on command television and entertainment with video check-out, and a copy of USA Today each weekday morning.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
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The Hilton San Diego Airport/Harbor Island hotel offers a mixed bag, according to guest feedback. While the harbor views and convenient location near dining and downtown are frequently praised, some travelers feel the hotel is somewhat dated and isolated.
Guest experiences with room quality also vary, with compliments for comfort and criticism regarding outdatedness and sporadic cleanliness issues. The hotel's cleanliness generally receives high marks, as do the friendly service and amenities, but opinions on value and the need for renovations are divided among visitors.
Location
Convenient
Atmosphere
Outdated
Rooms
Dated
Value
Reasonable
Cleanliness
Mixed
Service
Inconsistent
Amenities
Top-notch
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This is by far my favorite hotel to stay at anywhere! The views are beautiful from any angle of the hotel, but I especially love the East side because you can see the city skyline and the planes coming and going, which I love as an avgeek. But the harbor views are top notch. The city, beautiful water, the navy operations are so cool. Harbor Island is super chill and quiet, you can walk around and enjoy the water front. My stay started with the night manager, Tricia, upgrading our room to a harbor view superior room, which was amazing. So thank you very much Tricia! The pool area is quiet and beautiful. Panorama restaurant is great too. We started everyday with breakfast, had the 3 best servers you could ever have, Brian, Nea, and M&M. They all are amazing. Panorama is lucky to have them. The food was great, super high quality and worth the money. Presentation of the food was excellent. This is the only hotel we've ever stayed at in SD, and it will be the only one we stay at in the future as well. Thank you Hilton Harbor Island, we will be back!
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Date of stay: August 2024Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Stay on harbor side for best views
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.
Response from Tom Guieb, Owner at Hilton San Diego Airport/Harbor Island
Responded 14 Sept 2024
Joe V, thank you for the wonderful review. We agree, we have the best views in town. Whether you are facing the harbor, downtown skyline or the marina, we have great views no matter what direction you are facing. Thank you for the kind words regarding our staff members. I will be sure to share your comments with Tricia, Brian, Nea and M&M. I know they will be pleased to see their names were mentioned in such a nice review.
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Traveled here for (1) night for a concert. Wanted a close to airport property as our daughter had to catch a flight the next day. This is simply a great smaller / older (not in a bad way at all) Hilton that will remind you of traveling of years past. I messaged the property prior to arrival requesting a room with a nice view on an upper floor. The reply was instant, and we were treated to a room with a view of both the harbor and the marina on the 7th floor. Check-in was a breeze and parking is available very close to the front door. All San Deigo hotels charge for parking, and parking here is $35/day and a barging compared to the $65 rates charged downtown. The lobby is small, but the staff was warm and welcoming. with an offer to assist us with our luggage. Our room was as promised, very clean with 2 queen beds. The bathrooms are very small, as again, this is an older property. The room floors due to the layout of the hotel provide easy access to elevators, so not much walking needed here. The hotel's restaurant is really what shines here. The staff is welcoming and very attentive. The food, especially the order off the menu breakfast is simply outstanding. No mediocre buffet here. Our stay was brief, however, we travel to San Diego monthly and can't wait to come back. This property is a breath of fresh air from the hustle, bustle and expense of staying 1 mile away in downtown.
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Date of stay: May 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled with family
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.
A lot to digest? Read an AI-generated summary of recent traveller reviews.
We reserved a superior floor room for 5 nights. Of course the high floor requests also comes with a much higher room cost. We thought this would mean the 9th floor, but it includes the 8th floor where we were placed. That would probably be our only disappointment with our stay, especially when it appeared many the 9th floor rooms were available during our trip, aside from Friday/Saturday. Harbor views were great! The only downside to the hotel balcony is the lack of privacy, as the hotel shape means you are able to see all the other balconies. On the 8th floor the horizon is in perfect line with the railing when seated in the chairs, but sitting on a pillow helps to change that. We also had a room on the Marina side for our new Marine. He was on the 3rd floor and had views of both the marina and the harbor, while overlooking the pool and being able to see the sunsets - I was impressed by the views here, especially being lower cost “marina” views. (Rooms ending in single digits, ex 307) There were palm trees in his view, but likely not an issue on floors 6 or above. If you have a car, the parking is $25/day. We did not utilize the restaurant on site for breakfast as we had to leave early several of the mornings. A quick grab and go option would have been a great addition to have. There are quick, good delis within walking distance that we used the rest of our mornings. We did go to the lounge/restaurant 4 times while there for dinner. One night there was live music and we ended up not even going in as the music volume was similar to a loud bar/concert from the hallway. When there was no live music it was a great relaxing place and chat. The food was really good, the ribeye being one of the best we have had. The Cesar salads (with steak and salmon) were great. The burgers were large and perfect. The Miso Salmon is served on the medium rare side, FYI. We enjoyed trying several drink specials and most all would be recommended. We loved the location and would consider staying here again, though finding a place with breakfast included and/or more private balconies would sway us elsewhere.
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Review collected in partnership with Hilton Hotels & Resorts
Date of stay: November 2021
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
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.
Response from Tom Guieb, Guest Services / Front Office at Hilton San Diego Airport/Harbor Island
Responded 4 Dec 2021
Kara A, Thank you for your detailed review about your recent experience. We are delighted to know you enjoyed your culinary experience, our amazing views of the harbor and marina, and most of all our service from our team members. Please visit us again soon on your next visit to San Diego.
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We stayed here for one night for an early morning flight. Location is nice but that is about the only nice part. Rooms are very old and outdated, vanity in bathroom had lots of water damage. Mold in bathtub and toilet was dirty, cleaning staff does not do their job or at least on our room. This is not your typical Hilton property like I am used to.
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Date of stay: March 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled with family
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.
Response from Tom Guieb, Owner at Hilton San Diego Airport/Harbor Island
Responded 10 Aug 2024
U71589, Thank you for taking the time to review your experience with us. I am sorry about the condition of your room. On your next visit, ask the front desk agent about our renovated rooms. A few of the floors in our hotel have fully renovated bathrooms with all the modern amenities.
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I stayed at the Hilton San Diego Airport/Harbor Island from January 26 to January 30, and unfortunately, it was one of my worst hotel experiences ever.
From the start, the room was disappointing. The bathtub had visible cracks and was also plugged, causing water to accumulate every time I showered. This made the experience incredibly unpleasant and unhygienic. Additionally, the air conditioning barely worked, making it difficult to get a comfortable night’s sleep. Despite bringing these concerns to the attention of the staff, they were dismissive and showed little interest in resolving the issues.
For a Hilton property, I expected a much higher standard of maintenance and customer service. Unfortunately, this stay did not meet those expectations. Given the lack of care and attention to guest concerns, I do not plan on staying at this location again, and I would not recommend this hotel to anyone.
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Date of stay: January 2025
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled on business
Room Tip:Dont stay here
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.
I rarely write reviews but felt this one required documentation. I was here on an overnight stay for a morning flight. The shuttle was easy to order and timely, though the vehicle itself was noisy and needed maintenance. Or at least new shock absorbers. On arrival the staff was friendly. It went downhill from there.
The room itself was in need of updating. No USB outlets to be found. The fridge wasn’t working, so I called down to guest services to get it fixed. After a short wait maintenance arrrived, as expected it was a power issue, the power cord on the extension had been plugged into itself instead of the wall.
Once that was fixed, I ordered some room service. The selection was good, but it arrived on paper plates like out of a “to go” shop, not fitting the price I paid. Also I notice later that the amount charged for one item was more than the menu (which was an internet menu). It was only $2 difference so no biggie, but still annoying.
The bathroom was tiny, and it was set up in a way so that it was impossible to turn on the shower without getting a blast of cold water streaming down on you. The fun part was after taking a shower, I discovered that there were no bath towels in the room. I looked everywhere (dripping wet) and finally resorted to drying off with hand towels.
There were a bunch of other small issues (the doorstop to the bathroom was a rusty mess that looked like it had been installed 50 years ago), but the big ones really killed the experience.
On the bright side, all of the staff were extremely friendly.
This hotel needs an upgrade on both rooms and service (more than just a discussion with the Executive team which has been the response to some of the other critical reviews here).
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Date of stay: November 2023Trip type: Travelled solo
Room Tip:Set your expectations low. This is not a business class hotel.
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.
Response from Tom Guieb, Owner at Hilton San Diego Airport/Harbor Island
Responded 27 Mar 2024
concrode75, Thank you for taking the time to share your review. While we are glad you enjoyed had a pleasant experience with our friendly staff, we are sorry that your stay was less than perfect. The experience you have described falls short of our expectations and we hope that you would give us another chance to show you a flawless experience at the Hilton San Diego Harbor Island.
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Still in this hotel. Room reeked of pot. Complained for two reasons to front desk. The first is we are allergic to smoke and the second is that we could be fined as noted in the pictures attached. My wife who made the reservation is a lifetime Hilton Diamond btw. Our room is on the 8th floor with a perfect view. Now what happened. Front desk person and her "witness" came up. We had both the balcony door and room door open to vent. She immediately declared that she smelled nothing, that we had been "upgraded", and that she would be sure we wouldn't be fined. She said that since we seemed unhappy we were free to leave or they could offer us a standard room on floor 1. The conversation went downhill from there! The net is we are still in the room. Enough pot was smoked in here to saturate the carpet and drapes but it appears most was on the balcony which Is still coated in ash. Really not sure what their angle is. Came into room with the attitude of "there is no problem" and apparently prefer guests to leave rather than help them. They did up the ante to the same first floor room with one free appetizer:)
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Date of stay: December 2021Trip type: Travelled with family
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.
Response from Tom Guieb, Guest Services / Front Office at Hilton San Diego Airport/Harbor Island
Responded 31 Jan 2022
Dear Tom F. Thank you for taking the time to review your stay with us. We take great pride in providing our guest with a relaxing stay but it does not sound like we achieved this during your stay. I hope that you will return to San Diego and give our hotel another opportunity to share with you the revitalizing experience that Hilton hotels are known for.
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This hotel spoiled me! Having a balcony with a beautiful view was such a luxury. The room was spacious with plenty of room to unpack and a nice desk to work. Room service was delicious with lots of healthy options (highly recommend the oatmeal). The location is a bit isolated but there are restaurants and delis walking distance and the marina is a great safe place to go for a run/walk. Finally, the staff went above and beyond when I had an issue with a package delivery. They were more than happy to help and I am forever grateful.
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Date of stay: May 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled on business
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.
Response from Tom Guieb, Owner at Hilton San Diego Airport/Harbor Island
Responded 10 Aug 2024
SassJane2020, Thank you for staying with us and for your amazing review! We are glad you enjoyed your balcony and our gorgeous views! Whether you were facing the San Diego Harbor with the downtown skyline or the side facing the Marina with views of the sailboats and yachts, all of our views are breathtaking. I we agree, we have the best staff. I am delighted to hear that they went above and beyond for you. Thank you again for the review and we hope to welcome you back soon.
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Our extended family stayed here while in San Diego for a wedding. The service at the hotel was amazing. Every staff person was helpful, friendly and professional. Our room was clean, comfortable, bright and welcoming. This hotel provides daily housekeeping, so we never had to go looking for towels or supplies. I really appreciated the attention to detail. We had good breakfasts in the restaurant and enjoyed a night in the bar. The hotel is very close to the airport and has a shuttle. The shuttle driver was as helpful as the rest of the staff. Tom Ham's Lighthouse is a quarter mile easy walkaway. It's a good restaurant for lunch and dinner and has a nice bar. I would recommend this hotel to couples, singles, and families. One of our group travelled with small children and made good use of the pool.
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Date of stay: March 2023
Value
Location
Service
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.
Last year when I was in this area I stayed at a different hotel nearby and did not have a great experience. This year I decided to try the Hilton. The experience here was night and day. Every employee I interacted with from the shuttle driver, front desk, and housecleaning was kind and helpful. Rooms cleaned well every day. Front desk was helpful when I needed paper plates and utensils. Highly recommend!
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Date of stay: June 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled on business
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.
Response from Tom Guieb, Guest Services / Front Office at Hilton San Diego Airport/Harbor Island
Responded 9 Oct 2023
Dear 969kalees, Thank you for staying with us and for sharing your experience. We appreciate your comments regarding our staff and their attentive hospitality. We are proud of our teams commitment to provide exceptional service and I will be sure to share your review with the them. Thank you for that 5 star review and we look forward to seeing you on your next trip to the area!
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There are more places to choose from in the San Diego area.
PRICE RANGE
$331 - $500 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
hilton san diego airport/harbor island hotel san diego, san diego hilton
LOCATION
United StatesCaliforniaSan Diego
NUMBER OF ROOMS
211
Prices are provided by our partners, and reflect total costs of the stay, including all taxes and fees known to our partners. Please see our partners for more details.
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