Returned from a long weekend in San Diego and stayed at the Dana. I booked through Expedia with a rental car from Advantage. First bit of advice - do not book through Advantage! They were without a doubt the worst rental car agency I've encountered. Review your bill carefully, they like to charge you for gas upfront and another daily "service rate" (kind of like a AAA service). There is nothing in writing that these fees would be refunded (as the clerk stated) posted in their office or on the charge slip. The clerk offered to hand write on the charge slip that I would be refunded if I filled up the gas tank upon return of the car. I challenged both fees and made them take them off - which I'm happy to say he did. Bad start to my trip though.

Now onto the Dana. Absolute difference in level of service upon arrival. The best part of the stay at the Dana was the personnel. Everyone I encountered was marvelous, starting with the crew at check in. The level of professionalism, mixed with a personal touch was much appreciated at all venues - both restuarants, gift shop, concierge and several desk clerks. That said, the rooms unfortunately did not live up to my expectations. The carpets were well worn with "huge" spots. The bathroom just okay. Beds also just ok. The grounds were "cute" - birds of paradise plants everywhere making the facility look a bit tropical. Location to seaworld obviously a positive, but my trip did not involve visiting the park. I chose the Dana based upon price, location to airport and a view of their site which gave me an impression of a nicer facility than it was. All in all - 2 out of three not bad.

The hotel was wonderful to stay at, restaurants a great, poor water pressure in some rooms.

We had a great time at Dana Mission Bay. The Hotel was nice. The beach is about 4 blocks away. There or no malls around the area. You have to catch a cab downtown or to the Mall and it's about $12.00. Th Hotel has two sides one side is curb side entrance to your room, no veiw of the ocean and no view of the boats. The other side is were you want to be. It cost more to have a view of the ocean this we did'nt know. We went threw a travel agency. The hotel is nice two pools, good food and nice people.

Do not use their website as your best guage! While the photographs are beautiful and the propoerty in general is, the photos only show 1/2 of the rooms...only the most elegant. Obvious marketing stuff, but deceiving. We booked flight, hotel, car and activities through Expedia...that part was flawless. Great location for SeaWorld, Mission Beach and driving north on the 101.

What the Dana doesn't tell/show you is that the majority of their rooms are based on a two-story, ugly brown, motel style. The rooms are quite small, the walls are paper thin and the front windows all face a parking lot...definitely not mentioned on the website or by registration staff. The rooms were musty(maybe because of the sea air) and dank.

We did love the pool and marina areas and the Firefly bar was very cool as well. The wait staff was excellent here and the drinks were very reasonably priced. Only pool complaint was that there were no towels for 3+ hours and after many calls by many patrons, the requests were still ignored.

The only way we would stay here again would be to register for one of the suite rooms.