The San Diego Marriott Gaslamp Quarter: a great place to stay and eat – February 2014
The San Diego Marriott Gaslamp Quarter, located in San Diego, California’s famous Gaslamp District, is the perfect place to stay when visiting downtown San Diego. It is the closest hotel to to Petco Park, where the San Diego Padres play baseball and where the public enjoys access to a grassy park that is open during nongame hours.
Better yet, guests of the San Diego Marriott Gaslamp Quarter have a bird’s eye view of the stadium’s field from the hotel’s awardwinning ALTITUDE Sky Lounge (also the West Coast’s highest open air rooftop lounge), perched atop the hotel’s rooftop.
Staying at the San Diego Marriott Gaslamp Quarter will place visitors just a few blocks away from the San Diego Convention Center, Horton Plaza shopping center and the well known dining and nightlife scene created by the Gaslamp District’s restaurants, pubs, clubs, bars, movie theaters and shops. The hotel staff is very helpful and welcoming while the amenities are outstanding. Rooms are spacious and equipped with flat screen televisions, comfortable beds and appealing decor. A nice fitness center and adjacent business center are complimentary to guests of the hotel.
The hotel’s main restaurant is Soleil @K, and dinner here is fantastic. Offering fresh seafood, steaks, appetizers and more, Soleil @K is definitely worth a visit. I had the Opah from the Hawaiian Islands; it tasted great and was prepared to perfection (Interestingly enough, I’d just come back from a feature in Hawaii and couldn’t even find Opah while there). The restaurant’s unique shrimp flatbread is not to miss, and I recommend ordering one of the specialty cocktails or wines to accompany your meal. Service was outstanding. We highly recommend Soleil @k and would definitely come back.
The San Diego Marriott Gaslamp Quarter’s breakfast, also served at Soleil @k, was wonderful. My tip: don’t miss the all you can eat buffet for $19 per person, which comes with a selection of hot items like omelettes, pancakes, French toast and oatmeal. Some of the à la carte items are just a few dollars less, but with the buffet you also get access to fresh fruits, muffins, yogurt and more. If your hotel room happens to be on the VIP floors take note that they serve breakfast here too, though the menu is a bit more limited to items like scrambled eggs, bacon, toast and yogurt but all in all still very nice.
The place that you must check out during your stay is ALTITUDE Sky Lounge, the hotel’s rooftop bar, called simply “Altitude” by the locals. The lounge oversees the city from 22 stories up, so you can imagine that the views of downtown San Diego and the San Diego Bay are incredible while you sip on drinks, listen to music and mingle with friends.
Following several months of anticipation, in December 2013 ALTITUDE Sky Lounge expanded to include a completely new area within the rooftop bar named City Sights. With the opening of City Sights, ALTITUDE Sky Lounge now boasts nearly 360degree views from its lofty location, making it an even more impressive social scene for tourists as well as the large amount of locals who also frequent the lounge. The new City Sights area features a glasswalled balcony, and it is the only indoor area to be found within the mostlyopenair ALTITUDE Sky Lounge.
Modern furniture and eyecatching light displays round out the design while high top communal tables placed around the bar and on the balcony invite guests to mix and socialize as they make themost of their stay at this San Diego hotel.
The San Diego Marriott Gaslamp Quarter is located at 660 K Street, San Diego, Calif. 92101 and may be reached via telephone at (619) 6960234. More at
www.sandiegogaslamphotel.com
