Golden West Hotel, San Diego

I wrote a mixed review, good and bad, about the old Golden Beast...eh Golden West..2 years ago. Stayed there 2 nights last June, just getting around to writing this latest review! Good news is-I survived! Lol! Little has changed. The Staff found a "stiff" in the toilet one morning. Still, "on the throne", the guy O.D.d (overdosed, on heroin), still had the needle in his arm! As Robert Duvall would say, "Nothing like the smell of Napalm in the morning...or dead guys." Makes for great conversation over the breakfast table, downstairs. "Weekend at Bernie's!" I got a better room, this time, but an old naked guy, paced the hallways, looking for his lost onion soup, the first night. A bit strange! Another guy, who looked like Rick Perry, the Texas governor, tried to sell be burial insurance, in the morning. Nope! I took a rain check. That familiar smell, "Essence of Old Geezer", permeated the hallways! Nothing like the smell of, Old Age, to get you moving in the morning! 2 senior citizens were squabbling about who won the 1947 World Series, downstairs. I missed THAT World Series-wasn't BORN, yet! A wino clubbed a homeless bum over the head, just outside, next to the bar, with a beer bottle! "This Bud's for YOU!", he shouted! Perhaps it was an ad they were filming, but, no cameras around. Finally, Duane the janitor had quit, and Gary, the maintainance man was retiring. His reward is-he gets to STAY at Golden West, FREE, till he dies. OUCH!! Which, might be sooner than he planned! It is a crazy place, and. ....the signpost up ahead,... STILL reads....the Twilight Zone! Stay,,,at your own RISK!!! LOL!

ROACHES,BEDBUGS, DINGY,& DIRTY BATHROOMS.....DESK CLERKS..INCLUDING THE SO CALLED "SECURITY GUARDS...EX FELONS. MOST OF THE GUESTS THAT HAVE ROOMS THERE ARE FELONS OR MENTAL CASES PUT THERE BY THE CITY.....THERE ARE MANY OTHER LOW COST BUT FARE MORE DECENT PLACES TO STAY DOWNTOWN THAN THE GWH .......MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICE AND STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE.

I stayed coz it was handy to downtown, Horton Plaza, and Convention Center, etc. I liked the cheap,affordable prices. I did not like the tiny rooms, the shared toilets/showers! It is your very BASIC hotel. The old Army style single bed, the old wash basin in the 8X8 ft. room, the musty smell, the horse blanket @ the foot of the bed; all made me feel depressed! There is a "strangeness" to the old place. I swear I saw ELVIS, there! You almost expect Rod Serling from the old "Twilight Zone" to walk up and do the 'Intro' to the old TV show! If you can handle some of the 'homeless" -looking types who hang about, and if you can upgrade your room to a private bath...then..the signpost up ahead reads.."the Golden West"! Go for IT!

Is the golden west haunted? Some might say so. The Grim Reaper comes calling more often than not. Staring up at the ceiling I often listened to the pipes shake, the vent fans moan, and watch the light gently flicker. The ghostly hallway is dimly lit as I walk to the bathroom down the hall. I pass by rooms where it sounds as though a mad man rants while slapping himself. Another room a blind man sings at 1:00 a.m. While on the toilet I watch roaches congregate on a pipe leading tyhrough the wall and think to myself, yet another night at the Goden West!

some guy kept asking for money till he got some. moved away with the hotel owing me three weeks rent. man next door noisy all night. no bugs or roaches. satellite hookup in the rooms. no comfy chair.shared toilets is not a good idea. management spooky. several vending. the heart of downtown. major grocery one block away. pvt showers available.

What a JOKE! This place is interesting from the outside - apparent charm, "old style" interior lobby, sweeping stairs up to floors... Then it ends--the attendant staff are rude, smelly and look and act like the hotel occupants. Forget friendliness, helpfull information or clean linens.. This hotel runs a dismal latter-day city-fed insanity asylum! After paying 45$+ for a one night stay I was treated to loud music through paper thin walls, communal bathrooms with toilets filled to the brim with the "resident's" waste (!) and, to top it all off, I had to deal with a drunken old man with makeup on his face talking about twirly-whirly boys. Do yourself a favor and go elsewhere!

ok so i live in north county and frequent downtown sd often. The golden west hotel has so many people going in and out of it i had no idea it was a hotel!! there were so many homeless people going back and forth that i had to come home and google this place. now im just warning any outsiders, this is not a hotel it really is a halfway house. there are much better places in sd...

Staff- rude, crude attitude Rooms- roaches, bedbugs, other assorted creeping creatures will keep you company during your stay. Staff- now you see them, now you don't. Food service--potato chip machine. Most "guests" are mental patients who get funneled there by the county social services agency for long-term stays, because the county mental hospital is at capacity.

Anyone who is visiting San Diego, please read this. I understand that you may not know where to stay, and anywhere in the Gaslamp Quarter sounds promising. Please take my word as a San Diegan who has seen this "hotel" up close-- it is repulsive. While standing outside waiting in line for the bar next store I found myself asking if this was a homeless shelter, as homeless people filtered in and out, and lurked around the lobby with their grocery carts, bags and garbage. At any given time there are a handful of homeless people in the lobby. It is disgusting, most certainly infested, and I wouldn't wish a night in this place on my worst enemy.

the place is old. the staff is crabby. the other guests occuping this establishment are classic. High praise goes to my man Steve at the front desk,and Nick the best staff in town. Rude on! you cant pay for this kind of bizarre entertainment. I hope no one wants to stay there that way I can always get a room. you want mundane, try the best western.