Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego Review

First off, it was a huge coincidence that I ended up here. Once again, work brought me here. Actually rushed me here from another project in Los Angeles. Therefore I had to drive down here which took forever with all the traffic on a Friday afternoon. During late evening hours as I was just getting off work, I checked for hotels in the region. Of course, I had to open the Hyatt app first and see what’s available. I found the Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego. Perfect, I thought. I immediately called the Hyatt hotline to make a reservation and to apply my suite upgrade award as well. This was the perfect timing to use it, as my suite upgrade award was about to expire at the end of February. As I talked to the agent on the phone, she was able to confirm that I can use the suit upgrade award and I finalized my reservation. Totally excited about that, I pulled Google Maps up to have me navigated to the hotel. It was dark already when I got to the hotel and Google Maps told me to drive into a side street, rather than making a U-turn to the entrance of the hotel.

Location

The Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego is located in the Marina District of Downtown San Diego. It is one of three hotels located on the waterfront. Adjacent to the hotel is the Seaport Village, a great place for shopping and dining along the San Diego Waterfront. As part of your destination fee, you get a VIP Shopping Pass for the Seaport Village. Just across the street from the hotel at the corner of Harbor Drive and Market Street is a stop for the San Diego Trolley. The trolleys are a convenient way to explore San Diego. Buy a Day-Pass and enjoy unlimited rides for one day. Besides all the dining options in-house and at the Seaport Village, you also have the Cheesecake Factory right next door. Many of the waterfront attractions are just a short walk away. Other close-by destinations include the San Diego Convention Center, Petco Park, and Gaslamp Quarter District.

The Manchester Grand Hyatt is also the biggest hotel with the largest conference facilities in and around San Diego. With just over 1600 rooms, it is bigger than the neighboring San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina. The hotel really lives up to its name – Grand!

Also, the name “Manchester” in the hotel name might be confusing. It has nothing to do with the city of Manchester in the UK. It is the name of the developer who originally built the place and part of the agreement was to keep the name “Manchester”. A little FYI, just in case.

Getting there from San Diego International Airport

The easiest and most convenient ways to get there, are taxis and rideshare services. If you want to use public transportation, you can use bus route 992. Take the bus to the station at Broadway and Kettner Blvd. This is the so-called America Plaza. Don’t forget to pull the line in the bus when the station gets announces as otherwise, the bus might not stop there.

From there walk across the street and go to the Santa Fe Depot. Take the Green Line Trolley and get off at the first stop which is Seaport Village. From there you can already see the hotel across the street.

To enter either the bus or trolley, you need to have a ticket. The bus only accepts cash. There is a ticket vending machine inside the baggage claim area of each terminal. There you can buy a single bus ticket and you would need to buy the ticket for the San Diego Trolley at the Santa Fe Depot. To make your journey easier consider buying a “Compass Card” which you can pre-load with money and then just tap it inside the bus and at designated validators at the Santa Fe Depot, before entering the train. The card costs you $2. If you plan to use public transport again that same day, consider buying a day pass, which is only $6 (+ $2 for the Compass Card). The bus ride and Trolley ride are $2.50 each. I really recommend you to with the Compass Card. I bought a day ticket, which is good for an unlimited amount of rides within the same calendar day. Alternatively, you can use the Compass Cloud app which is available for Android and iOS.

Check-In

After finding the actual entrance of the hotel I stopped right there and was greeted by a valet. I let him know that I will be checking in and that I will need assistance with luggage, while also doing self-parking. He brought over a luggage cart, which we loaded up with all my bags from the car. He noted down my last name and told me to park in the self-parking garage right next to the hotel.

I had to park all the way at the top, as I wanted to get a spot close to the elevator to go back down to the lobby. From the elevator, it’s a short walk before you get into the grand lobby. I estimate it to be about three stories tall. The whole lobby just underwent renovation not too long ago. In the middle of the lobby is the front desk. I joined the line for elite guests and had only one person in front of me which was almost done by the time I arrived.

The agent started my check-in process and she let me know that I will be in a signature suite, which I got by using my suite upgrade award. I asked if there are any suites available facing the waterfront and she had to look for a few seconds but was able to find me one. Unfortunately not as high up as I anticipated, but still better than nothing. She made two sets of room keys for me. One set for the living space and one set for the bedroom. More about it below. Besides my room keys, she also handed me a small envelope with all the amenities and vouchers which come with the Destination Fee.

Yes, this hotel comes with the ugly and dirty destination fee which is $35 USD + tax per night. I hate resort fees, destination fees, location fees, or whatever they call it these days. It’s basically a way to “rip-off” hotel guests as it looks like you get a “cheap” room but have to pay these fees on top of it. Luckily, for me as a World of Hyatt Globalist, the destination fee is waived. You can read up here what’s included in the destination fee. Actually, the amenities here are actually useful. At some other hotels, these fees include everything you usually get anyway like free Wi-Fi, access to the fitness center,…

Make sure you check the link above about all the available perks of the Destination Fee. The page lists a free one-hour harbor tour for which I had no coupon in my little package. I called the front desk and they told me to just swing by there to pick one up. Seems like they don’t want to give the coupon out too easily. The 1-hour harbor tour has a value of $28 by itself. You can pick between the North or South Harbor Tour or pay $5 extra at the ticket booth of the cruise line to get an upgrade to the 2-hour Full Bay Tour.

Besides the envelope with the amenities of the destination fee, I also received a map of Downtown San Diego, a map of the hotel (yes, it is really that big, that you need a map), and a letter with the opening hours of the Grand Club.

From the front desk, I walked over to the bell desk to get my luggage up to my room. The bell desk is to the right of the front desk, just in front of the elevator to the Seaport Tower.

Be aware that each of the towers has two sets of elevators. In my tower, the Harbor Tower, one set was for floors 29 – 40 and the other set of elevators are for 1-28. I didn’t realize that right away as I just followed the bellman. If you have ever been to Las Vegas, you might be familiar with this kind of elevator setup. This also means that you have to take two elevator rides to get to the Grand Club if you are staying somewhere between 1-28.

Signature Suite, One King Bed (Room 833 & 831 in the Harbor Tower)

The suite consists of a 700 sq ft living space (Room 833) and a connected 340 sq ft Standard King Room (Room 831). There is also the option to have a different Standard King Room connected to the living space or actually have two Standard King Rooms connected.

All together the suite has 3 entrances. There are 2 entrances in the living room and one to the King Room. My bellman was kind enough to help me out and unlock the connecting door from room 831 while I was unlocking the one in room 833.

Living Space

As mentioned, the living space has two entrances. One is the main entrance which has the guest bathroom right next to the entrance door before you enter the actual living space. The guest bathroom comes with a shower/tub combination and a nice and large vanity. Opposite of the bathroom is a wall closet.

The second entrance is more of a “butler entrance” as it drops you straight out in the small kitchenette of the room. Inside the kitchenette are a wine cooler, small sink, microwave, and plenty of storage space.

In front of the kitchenette, in the main living space, is a dining table with high chairs. Around the table are eight high chairs. The dining area takes up one-half of the living space.

The other half comes with an L-shaped sofa. One side of the sofa faces out of the window, while the other once faces the dining area of the room. Behind the sofa, towards the main entrance of the living space is a small table with a telephone, alarm clock, and power outlet. The sofa can also be transformed into a bed.

There are two huge windows in the living space. One on either side of the room. The wall between the two windows comes with a mounted TV screen. In front of the TV are a large cocktail table and two chairs. These two chairs have a great view of the TV.

You can fold the TV out and angle it either towards the sofa or the dining table. However, only a few spots on the sofa have a good view of the TV. It’s a bit of an odd placement. I rather watch TV while sitting or laying on the sofa than sitting in chairs. The chairs don’t feel comfortable enough to watch a full movie in them. Don’t worry, there is also a TV in the bedroom.

Standard King Bedroom

The bedroom has its own door from which you can access it as well as its own set of room keys. This bedroom is a standard bedroom of the hotel and if you don’t book a suite, you might just get that room, without the option to unlock the connecting door from the living space side.

When you walk into the Bedroom from the hotel hallway, you have a wall closet to your right. It comes with the usual amenities like a luggage stand, iron, ironing board, Pajama, in-room safe, and additional sheets. These are the same amenities as in the wall closet in the living space. Only this one also has extra pillows.

Directly opposite the closet is the bathroom. It’s the same size as the one in the living space but this one comes with a walk-in shower instead of a shower-tub combination. It also has the same corner-lid vanity and a toilet.

The King bed is located off to left, against the wall. On either side of the bed are nightstands with light with an integrated power outlet. Each of the nightstands offers additional storage space.

Directly opposite the bed is a flat-screen TV and below it is a closet. On top of the closet, you find the coffee maker with all the necessities. The closet has three drawers on one side while the other half houses a refrigerator.

Right next to the closet is a rather small office desk. Both, the closet and the office desk, have a tempered glass top. The tempered glass looks really nice but you will have issues getting your mouse to work on them. Luckily, I always carry a mouse pad.

Following the closet and work desk is a small seating bench. The best use of this one is for your luggage, as it is not very comfortable and also in a weird spot. However, it comes with an integrated drawer for more storage.

The bedroom has one large window and right in front of it, is a small sofa facing inwards. As the room is only on the 8th floor, it’s probably better to face it inwards, as the views are not that good from here. The small sofa comes with a small laptop stand you can move around.

Next to the window is another lamp as well as the controls for the air conditioning unit. There are two phones in the bedroom. One of the phones is on the work desk and another one is on one of the nightstands.

The Room Key Dilemma

So we know, there are two sets of room keys. One set opens the doors of the living space and the other set opens the door to the bedroom. Now the keys for the living space are also programmed to get me in and out of the parking garage. However, to be able to get up to the Grand Club, as you have to use your room key to activate the elevator, I have to use the keys from the bedroom.

Public Areas

The first thing everyone will notice is the huge lobby. It’s just gigantic and beautiful. There are is a seating area at the left end of the lobby right under a big TV screen. It’s worth watching the TV as they show cool and amazing places you should visit which are recommended by the hotel staff. Opposite the big TV screen is a Hertz rental car counter. The opening times seem to be rather limited, as I don’t always saw an agent there.

All of the other amenities are on the ground floor of the harbor tower. When you walk down the hallway you can find a huge gift shop with all kinds of stuff, a FedEx store, and it looks like there was an art gallery that seems to be closed now.

Overall there are four floors of ballrooms and meeting spaces. Everything from small to big to huge. Seems like the hotel wants to compete with the nearby convention center, which is just about a block away from the hotel.

The fourth floor allows access to the rooftop of the building connecting both towers. This rooftop deck houses a pool with lots of pool loungers and cabanas all over the place. The pool actually feels a little bit small for the available area. This is a great place to hang out for the whole family. On either side of the deck, towards the waterfront are whirlpools. In between the two whirlpools is a firepit, perfect for roasting s’mores. There is plenty of seating around the firepit. This area offers a great view of the whole bay and the sunset.

Directly opposite of it, at the city end of the deck is a playground. Lots of games for the kiddies and seating for the parents. It also has its own water dispenser.

Access the Seaside Tower from the pool deck on the fourth floor to get to the 24-hour fitness center. Oh boy, this fitness center is huge. It has all kinds of equipment and a row of treadmills. I am sure you can find the right stuff here for your workout. It’s rare to see a hotel fitness center of such size and with so much equipment.

Walk back inside the harbor tower towards the escalator, bypassing the elevators. Follow the signs here to get to the sports court. Yeah, unbelievable but there is a rooftop sports court at the Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego. Three fields are available for different games, which are basketball, volleyball (unfortunately no sand), and tennis. At the very end is the Rooftop Cinema Club. They weren’t showing anything during my stay. Check their website for showtimes and tickets. Usage of the sports court including the required equipment is complimentary and part of your destination fee. The sport courts remind me of the Grand Hyatt in Hong Kong which also had rooftop tennis courts and a driving range.

Let’s go down one floor to the third floor of the hotel. You can take the elevator but it’s much easier to use the escalator from the fourth floor. If you go down on the escalator you will see the entrance to the Marylin Monroe Spa to your left. You also get one 10% discount for any service at the spa per stay with your destination fee.

However, before you reach the spa, take the first door on your right and you will get to another rooftop pool. This is the adult pool. There are also plenty of pool loungers all around the pool and a few cabanas at the hotel side of the pool. From this deck, you also get a view of the bay and it is the same pool I can see from my suite. This pool is long and rectangular and designed to swim laps. At the end of the pool deck is another but smaller whirlpool.

Dining

The Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego has it all. There are plenty of restaurants and bars at the hotel. There is even a Pool Bar & Grill that is open from Memorial Day through Labor Day (noon–5:00 p.m.).

Sally’s Fish House & Bar

Sally’s Fish House & Bar is located right next to the boardwalk at the back of the Harbor Tower. From here you are overlooking the marina and they have a patio that allows dogs. They even have a special menu just for dogs. Sally’s offers SoCal-inspired dishes, sushi, and carefully selected California wines and craft cocktails.

The rest of the dining spaces are inside one of the towers. Let’s start with the one on the ground floor.

Seaside Tower

Brew30

Brew30 is located on the lobby level of the Seaside Tower. This place is basically a “tour” of the San Diego craft beer scene as they have 30 tabs with rotating selections from local breweries and distilleries. They also serve the usual bar food.

MARKET | ONE is the 24-hour marketplace of the hotel. They serve on the go-snacks besides beverages, and Starbucks coffee and espresso. There are some tables across the hallway from the marketplace if you want to have a quick bite right there. Perfect if you are in a rush or the breakfast restaurant is not open yet. It is located right next to Brew30.

Harbor Tower

The Landing

The Landing is located on the lobby level of the Harbor Tower and right next to the lobby itself. It feels like an upscale sports bar with all the TV screens. They were even showing the Superbowl here. The landing offers a distinct selection of hard to find whiskeys, bourbons, and more.

Seaview Breakfast Buffet Restaurant

The Seaview Breakfast Buffet Restaurant is located at the end of the hallway of the Harbor Tower just before the exit doors at the back towards the Seaport Village. It’s open for breakfast and the full buffet costs a whopping $28 per person. Luckily kids under the age of 12 eat free per paying adult. On the other side, they offer a huge selection of whatever you would expect for breakfast and of course, you can eat as much as you want.

Update: 

I revisited the hotel in July of 2021 as it re-opened during the pandemic. The Grand Club closed early 2020 when the pandemic started and wasn’t opened yet. The free breakfast for Globalists changed a few times and now Globalists get their free breakfast during the week at Sally’s and on Saturday & Sunday at Seaview.

One of the best parts of the breakfast buffet is the made-to-order omelet station. Get a fresh omelte prepared right in front of you.

Now to the highlight of the Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego. This place is worth visiting even if you don’t stay at the hotel. Why? Well, the name of this place tells you everything you need to know.

Top of the Hyatt

Top of the Hyatt is located on the 40th floor of the Harbor Tower. It takes up about half of the top floor of the hotel at the harbor side. Sip a cocktail in this sky lounge while you enjoy the breathtaking views. Watch the sunset through the floor-to-ceiling windows. They open daily at 3 p.m. and are open until 1:30 a.m. every day.

Hyatt Grand Club

The Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego also comes with a Grand Club. The club is located on the 33rd floor of the Harbor Tower and takes up basically the whole level. Half of it is the actual club space and the rest is staff and storage space. Having access to this club either through the right rate or being a World of Hyatt Globalist is one of the best benefits.

Inside you find plenty of seating, two workstations with a printer, a digital fireplace at the very end of the club space, next to the unisex restroom. It’s great to have a restroom in the lounge. Throughout the Grand Club, you can find interesting books and even some table games like a chessboard. From the west side of the building, you have a nice view of the harbor, the other hotel tower, and part of downtown. However, from the east side, you don’t get as much of a good view as there is some kind of a terrace here but not accessible for guests.

The Grand Club is huge, but I would recommend you to get here as early as possible for breakfast and the evening spread as it is not nearly big enough if you have a lot of people with access to this lounge. There is a very good breakfast selection with all the stuff you expect and of course salmon. I don’t know, but Hyatt got me hooked to have salmon for breakfast.

Throughout the day, you can find small snacks like cookies, nuts, and fruits in the Grand Club. Of course, the fridge is open to grab an ice-cold bottle of water or one of the many soft drinks. The coffee machine is also available all day long, which kept me going.

The evening spread is great here as well. Offerings include daily-changing “entree” items and a build-your-own salad bar. Not to forget, delicious desserts. Happy hour is during the first hour of the evening service during which all drinks like beer and wine are complimentary. After the first hour, it’s an honor bar and you can buy them for a small fee. Still a whole lot cheaper than at all the other bars and restaurants of the hotel.

Conclusion

What can I say? It was an amazing stay at a great hotel. The only real downside here is the elevator-hopping you have to do to get to the Grand Club or to the Top of the Hyatt. Of course, it depends on which floor and which tower you stay in. For me, it took four elevator rides to get from my room to the Grand Club for Breakfast and back. I know First World Problem! Speaking about elevators, during the week there was some kind of convention with 1500 people. This basically “shut down” the elevators. Imagine 1500 people trying to go to their room after the conference to freshen up, as they had after activities planned. This coincided with my late checkout at 4 p.m. and I had to wait over 15 minutes in front of an elevator to be able to go down. That was a first for me. I don’t say it will happen to you, but as they have such huge meeting spaces for big gatherings, this is definitely a problem.

Another benefit of your destination fee is the $10 Food and Beverage credit you get automatically every day, even when you don’t use it. This basically brings your destination fee down by $10.

In case you are a Globalist with World of Hyatt, the destination fee gets waived as a perk of your elite status. As I stayed here multiple times now, I had different situations happening to me. The first time I stayed at the Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego, I got told I can’t receive the $10 credit as I don’t pay a destination fee as a Globalist. I received all the other amenities of the destination fee like the free 1-hour bicycle rental or the one-time 1-hour kayak rental, harbor tour, and so on. I didn’t dispute that and just went with it. On my other stays at this property, I always got the destination fee waived but also received the credit. I think it was just a mistake of the agent. 

Theoretically, you should receive both, as it is a perk of your status that you don’t have to pay the destination fee and not courtesy of the hotel. 

Extra Tip

There is one thing you really have to watch out for. The destination fee and credits never got deducted automatically. I always had to talk to an agent to get them removed. During my visits in 2021at the Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego they also offered extra market credits for Globalist to use at Market One and Sally’s as the Grand Club was closed due to Covid-19 restrictions. These had to be manually removed as well. The easiest way to see your charges is in the World of Hyatt app. You can check them at any time and if needed talk to the front desk either in person or call them from your room.

I really liked the location of the Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego. Right next to Seaport Village, close to the San Diego Convention Center, easy access to public transportation, the proximity to Petco Park Stadium, and just all the other nearby sights.

The only downside of my stay was the rather low floor (8th floor) I was staying on. The views from the Top of the Hyatt are just breathtaking. Make sure you swing by there at least once. It’s a great place to watch the sunset.