The Sofia Hotel

07/11/10

WORST HOTEL for Security and Service!!!

by cathais at Citysearch

The rooms are very small, but clean and updated. The service was horrible!! The BIGGEST issue is they let anyone in the hotel and there is no security. The hotel is across the street from the county jail and next to the Greyhound bus station. WORST HOTEL EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE!!!

• Pros: Nice for the value, updated rooms
• Cons: Lack of security and service

12/09/08

Romantic Rooms

by leepottery at Citysearch

Good service, and reasonable priced hotel rooms. We stayed for a few nights at the Sofia hotel on an anniversary and were pleased.

12/04/08

Not Recommended

by Dbglobal at Citysearch

I too stayed at this hotel. Rooms were extra small, as other reviewer pointed out the hotel is across the street from the City Jailhouse and right next door to a Greyhound Bus Station. Considering what they are charging for a room, I would not recommend this hotel. Many other better hotels to stay at downtown.

09/25/08

Teeniest room I've ever stayed in

by kira2 at Citysearch

My experiences of this hotel were so different from what other reviews led me to expect that I wonder if they were left by employees of the hotel. I travel a lot and stay at a variety of different hotels and this was one of my least favorites.

Location: it's 1 block from the San Diego county jail. You can google it to see for yourself how close it is. The people we saw milling around in the area were rather unsavory.

The room: At 5'6" and 130 I'm not a big person, but this room was too small for my husband and I. Even more so than many rooms I've had in Europe. Worse was that they put 2 double beds (which are the size smaller than a queen) in it. There was less than 12 inches between a bed and the wall, 2-3 feet between the beds, and about 2 feet between the other bed and wall. We had one of those racks that fits a suitcase and even if we'd had another for the 2nd suitcase there wouldn't have been anyplace to put it as there was barely enough space to walk around the foot of both beds without bumping into the desk, TV cabinet and closet.

We also found the shower cramped and agreed with another reviewer's comment that since there's no shower door the bathroom gets pretty wet during showers. The room WAS very pretty though, and the bed was comfortable if smaller than I would have liked. We strongly suggest getting a room with one bed if you decide to stay here.

The service was okay overall. The valets were very fast getting our car which mostly compensates for the desk staff at check-in who sent us on a wild goose chase looking for a late-night restaurant.

The Currant Brasserie in the lobby was pretty good, but the Sophia doesn't have room service.

Overall the Sofia has some nice features but I think we would have rather stayed in one of the big, chain hotels to save some money if we'd known what we know now.

• Pros: Chic decor, good restaurant
• Cons: Cramped rooms, seedy neighborhood near jail

07/25/08

Dying to go back!

by wellseverafter at Citysearch

My husband and I booked the Sofia Hotel last minute because we were spending a couple of days in San Diego. We didn't know what to expect before we got there, especially knowing it was downtown and seeing all kinds of interesting people hanging around. However, we were surprised and amazed at how nice the hotel was! The rooms are very, very tiny (probably because it is historic) but every detail is modern, quality, and beautiful. We stayed on the 7th floor and had a beautiful view of the city and the bay. We really wished we had more time there. Definitely check it out!

• Pros: The room was beautiful
• Cons: If you want wi-fi in your room, you have to pay extra