We just came back from our San Diego vacation and the whole experience was wonderful. We stayed at The Dana for 8 nights in a bay view room in the newer section. We had room service and ate at both onsite restaurants. We also used both pools and had a couple of housekeeping special requests. I would like to say that our experience was GREAT and The Dana exceeded our expectations. The service was above par. Everyone was very accommodating and helpful. I had asked for more paper towels in my room and for my bed to be changed because my young son had an accident. For both requests I received a follow-up call that the request was being taken care of and by the time we came back from seeing one of the many great attractions in San Diego the request was fulfilled with a message on our room phone that the request was completed. Our room was spotless when we got back at the end of each day. The food was great at all locations. The pools were both enjoyable. You could see fireworks from Sea World at night by the bayside pool. The tropical pool had a good-sized shallow area (3') that my young kids enjoyed. All the staff we had contact with was friendly and professional. In fact it was a gentleman that brought our room service to us one night that told us about the Sea World fireworks. I would highly recommend both San Diego and this hotel for a very enjoyable family vacation.

We are a family of four who spent three days at the Dana from July 23-26, 2008. After reading reviews, we opted for one of the newer rooms and selected a premium bay view: WORTH IT! Great view of Mission Bay from our room and balcony, boats gliding along all day long. The infinity pool was beautiful. Service from the Firefly Restaurant was excellent. The waitresses were top notch and the breakfasts were very good.
Reasonable prices, too. Would definitely return.

Staying at the Dana for a weekend in San Diego is quite the comforting experience. We had a downstairs room (with patio) in the Tropical Pool section. The Dana offered an atmosphere that you felt like you were in Hawaii. The room with Queen Size beds was clean and came with a large plasma television, refrigerator, and microwave. We enjoyed the pool and there was even an events coordinator throwing in pool toys for all the kids. Make sure you take the opportunity to rent bicycles to take a ride to Mission Beach and around the bay; it’s well worth it. The staff and accommodations is exactly what you need for a weekend get-away in San Diego. I recommend this hotel for couples, children, and people of all ages.

Our family of four stayed here for two nights in July 2008. Based on other TripAdvisor reviews, we made sure we were on the newer side of the hotel. The room was huge and had an upscale feel, and the view of the bay was very nice. There is a nice walking/jogging path right along the edge of the water. The bathroom was roomy, but it could have used an exhaust fan to clear out the humidity after showers.

One selling point we were excited about was the hotel's free shuttle to Sea World. However, it turns out there are three fixed departure times in the morning and three fixed pickup times in the evening. This does not allow flexible coming and going from the park as we had hoped. We tried taking the shuttle the first day, but the shuttle back to the hotel was over an hour late. The next day we drove ourselves to Sea World and paid the $12 parking fee. That night when we arrived back at the hotel, the "reserved" parking area near our room was full! Oh, did I mention this hotel charges guests $12 a day for parking?

Another irritation: when we needed someone to reset the room safe so we could lock up our valuables while at Sea World, it took three phone calls and almost an hour of our valuable vacation time for someone to finally show up.

Overall, I think this is a nice property and location, but the staff needs to refocus their efforts on customer service if they want to become a great facility. For this price, I expect to be "wowed", and that didn't happen at the Dana.