Everything about hotel was fine except for the pool area. If you're from Northern Europe you like to relax by a pool when the sun is shining. But at Solomar there are only 8 sun loungers, not nearly enough for a large hotel. While we were there a company held a meeting in pool area, we were on vacation trying to forget about work and some lady was in tears at this meeting over a grievance she had at work. I feel it's more of a business hotel than a holiday resort. Otherwise the hotel was excellent in a great location.

The Hotel Solarmar is a lovely boutique hotel with great aesthetics & very clean. We stayed for 6 nights, in early June and the location was perfect! We are pretty independent tourists, I had planned most of our activities before we arrived; but Timin, their Concierge, was great by pointing out the various places throughout the Gaslamp District to be sure to check out during our stay. And he gave us a real variety, not just several places all doing the same thing.

If you plan on visiting La Jolla, we cannot recommend ENOUGH, "LaJolla Kayak" (with the blue awnings, on the 2 opposite corners of Ave. de la Playa). The staff will seriously go out of their way for you. Most of their Guides have lived their whole lives in La Jolla, & they care a lot about the area, so they make the tours educational and great! Kevin & I cannot thank Mike and Dre enough for everything. If you go anywhere else, you just might be crazy... :)

Favorite bike & kayak tours: La Jolla Kayak, for sure!!
Favorite restaurant: Panevino
Favorite breakfast: Cafe 222
Best beer selection: The Yard House
Best fish tacos: Kotija Jr. (Encinitas)
Favorite baseball: The Storm (Lake Elsinore)
Biggest disappointment: Taka Sushi
Favorite Cabbie: Tres McFadden

We recently stayed at the Hotel Solamar for 7 nights.

The Bad

Noise can be a challenge if you are sensitive or a light sleeper.
$30 a day for valet. Parking in general.
Condescending/ indifferent responses to 2 of our housekeeping requests.
Getting used to the funky (cool) sink so that you do not splash (especially for my height challenged spouse) water all over.
Rude Drunks. J-bar (j-six) is a fun place for the guests and locals. Some of them migrate to hotel lobby and may inconvience/hassle hotel guests.
Honor bar did not leave any space for anything else.

The Good

Fun place. Funky styling. Cool Lighting. Great location.
Exceptional response time to all housekeeping requests/issues.
J-bar
Courteous friendly staff that greeted us every time we came or left, sometimes by name. Doors were always opened for everyone.
Excellent check- in and check out. Free upgrade!
Comfortable beds and great linens.



We arrived early (noon) and were pleasantly surprised that we were promptly checked-in. We had asked the valet to leave our car out of the way while we checked to see if we could check-in. When we went to get our car, it was gone (put in the garage), and we had no claim ticket, so we had to wait until the guy that we left the keys with returned. The valet area is small so I understood.

We booked through Priceline, so we unsure what kind of room we would receive. We were given a standard room on the 5th floor with a king bed and a standard tub. The room was very similar to the pictures that we saw online, except for the decorative (polka dot) mini-comforter. We called the front desk to ask for the comforter, thinner pillows, a fan, and to fix the TV (awful picture on all channels). Within 2 minutes a technician was there for the TV. We left the room to check out the pool area. When we returned in a few minutes everything we asked for was taken care of. This was the theme throughout our stay. The only speed bump was on one day after a very late night we slept in until 1, and left our room at 2. I saw the maid 2 doors down so I assumed that we would be ok. We got back at 2am to find that our room was not cleaned. I called the front desk and I got the condescending/indifferent person. The maid was at my room in 2 minutes to clean the room, but I just asked for towels, as we were very tired and still needed to shower. The maid was very pleasant and offered to clean the room. I declined as I heard her radio say that she was needed to clean another room.

The area around the hotel is an active entertainment area. There is activity everywhere and lots of people. You can park 2 blocks down from the hotel for $16 a day or less (no in and out privileges). During the day parking can be had for $1 hour. There was a situation where I dropped my wife off at the hotel and went to park. She called me and said that some drunk was hassling her in the lobby. I raced back ready to confront the drunk and was immediately approached by security and asked for my room key. I presented it and explained why I was hyped. He explained that they had dealt with the several disruptive individuals and apologized. He asked if there was anything that they could do to compensate us for our trouble. We declined. He apologized again for stopping a guest. I stated that I had no issues with him for doing his job.

Bottom line. Great stay! We would definitely like to stay here again!

My husband and I stayed at this hotel to celebrate his birthday along with our anniversary. The place was perfect. Very clean, very modern, great location, wonderful service, cool/young vibe. The rooms were very clean with a nice hip decor. Our window looked over to Petco Park, and we even walked over and watched the team practice on opening day. The rooftop pool was great even though we didn't really get to take a dip because the weather was a bit chilly. Although I must say they didn't have too many lounge chairs so I'm assuming if you don't get there early enough to get a spot then you're out of luck. They had a great poolside party one of the afternoons with a DJ and a large young crowd of partiers. We loved it and had a great time... But I'm pretty sure it must have been very loud for the rooms that were overlooking the pool. So I probably wouldn't recommend this hotel for older guests who are looking to relax. The location is also very central. It's a few blocks from the heart of gaslamp district and walking distance to Seaport village, the marina, convention center, and LOTS of great restaurants and bars nearby. We can't wait to go back!