Our family, (my husband and I, plus our four children aged 8, 10, 12 & 14) stayed in the Residence Inn San Diego Mission Valley in mid-December 2007. The hotel is clean,comfortable and fully suited to longer stays for families with laundry, pool and BBQ facilities. Upon arrival, we were upgraded by the manager to a two bedroom suite, at no extra charge. Our excessive amounts of luggage were not regarded as a problem (ski gear etc), nothing was too much trouble for the friendly staff. The buffet breakfast was probably one of the best that I saw in our 7 weeks travelling in the US and Canada...and on the Thursday night of our stay, a buffet dinner and wine tasting was included for FREE. The hotel is well-located, very close to Sea World and SD Zoo. San Diego is a great city and the SD Residence Inn ensured that we will have fond memories of our time there for a long time to come.

Not sure what folks are expecting this Residence Inn to be - the Ritz Carlton it ain't! And it ain't being sold as one! I have stayed at A LOT of Marriots, Courtyards and Residence Inns - Heck! I've done over 50 nights this year itself in Marriott hotels - and it's only August! This one is by far the best Residence Inn I've ever stayed at. Yes, if you're looking for a 'kidless' please, this isn't it. However, given that hotels in the vicinity are catering largely to SeaWorld crowds, this place clearly has it right. The entire entrance area, dining area, pool, are all brightly decorated, very well maintained, etc. While the breakfast is the regular Residence Inn stuff, the rooms are well appointed - and clean. I've stayed at full service Marriott Resorts that had worse appointed rooms. While some may find the fact that the hotel is a little removed from the main road is a bit of a pain, we actually is nice - an extra 50-75 yards from the main road isn't going to kill you - yes, even at $4/gallon of gas!!! Check in process and staff are polite, helpful and prompt.

Anyways, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this hotel - especially those with kids. If you're looking for peace and quiet, look elsewhere.

This is a VERY kid-friendly hotel. Tons of kids everywhere which is OK but our room could have been cleaner, some staff seemed very grumpy and the parking is murder. Parking spaces (parking is $10/day) are very small and fill up quickly.
We mentioned our concerns to the Asst. Manager and he was very gracious but of all the Residence Inn's my family and I have stayed in, this was the least-enjoyable.

My wife and I and two toddlers (2 and 4) stayed here on an extended weekend for a family event and Seaworld-Legoland trip. Although the place shows up on the map as being right off the freeway, it's actually well back from the freeway up a long driveway. and we didn;t notice any traffic noise at all. On the other side of the freeway is a nice mall and bunch of eating places and stores which is very convenient for quick and easy meals and other stuff. (We loved Rubio's.) Seaworld was a quick drive over with Legoland being more of a trek.

Parking is gated and wasn;t much of a problem. We always found a place to park near the rear door close to our room but the spaces can get tight for full sized SUVs.

The property was well maintained and felt safe day and night. Our kids LOVED the pool and we ended up using it every day. They had inflatable loungers to float on and some pool toys lying around for the kids to play with. They also have a small 1ft deep pool for the little ones. The pool got busy but never felt crowded.

The breakfast was great with rotating pancakes/waffles/french toast along with usual eggs, meat, toast etc. Stuffing ourselves everyday before our long days at the Parks was really convenient, saving time and money. Staff also walked around and give drinks in sippy cups to all the kids, which was a nice treat. They do stop the breakfast for 15 minutes to re-stock everything but it didn;t seem to bother anyone. Seating fills up as the morning goes on but seemed like everyone was able to find a place. We sat outside the last two days which actually seemed nicer. One morning one of the maintenance staff saw our two little ones finishing up breakfast outside and gave each of them a little stuffed sea animal, just because. Who else does that?

Between the full breakfast, the pool, the great location, the suite, the friendly staff and the well maintained property, i can;t ask for much else. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!