Hilton San Diego Airport/Harbor Island

good view

1.The front desk lady at this hotel truly gave me a rude awakening. When I first arrived and queued up to check in, there was a white customer ahead of me, so I waited patiently behind them. After a while, the white customer gathered their belongings and stepped aside, leaving the front desk lady free to assist. I hadn’t overheard where their conversation was when I walked in, but since the conversation seemed to have paused and the white customer had stepped away, I assumed they were finished. I stepped forward and told her I’d like to check in. To my shock, the front desk lady reacted as if I had personally insulted her. Her face twisted with fury, and she angrily shouted at me, "Didn’t you see that the white customer was here first?" Her outburst was so dramatic that it even startled the white customer and the other guests checking in nearby. Embarrassed, I quickly apologized, thinking perhaps she simply had a bad temper. She didn’t even give me a chance to explain—though frankly, no explanation should have been necessary. This was clearly a misunderstanding, as I had already been waiting in line for a while and she was fully aware of it. What surprised me even more was how drastically her attitude changed when I was assisted by another staff member. Her tone when addressing white customers immediately softened—she was suddenly gentle, polite, and even laughing with them. I don’t think this behavior is normal, especially considering that this lady herself is a minority. Moreover, none of the hotel staff made any effort to de-escalate the situation or explain anything to me. I’ve stayed at Hilton hotels in seven different countries, and this is the first time I’ve encountered such unreasonable hostility from one minority toward another, paired with such a lack of even basic courtesy to strangers. What’s worse, this whole situation was rooted in a misunderstanding between me and the white customer, but her impatience and anger escalated it unnecessarily. I don’t believe her anger was truly about me "cutting in line", because I had already been waiting and only stepped forward after the white customer stepped aside, and it made our eyes contact. Her anger seemed to stem from her instinct to defend her white customers, even though the white customer, like me, hadn’t even had a chance to speak a single word. 2.By the way, the hotel said that there is an airport shuttle bus, but I waited for dozens of shuttle buses at the airport for an hour, and I didn't see any Hilton cars, and there was no exclusive hotel guide or sign, and no one answered the phone for consultation. Naturally, when checking in, no one told me how to take the bus - the location of this hotel is so weird that although it looks very close to the airport, there is actually no public transportation other than the shuttle bus that allows you to get to the airport except walking for 2 miles.

I love the hotel. The view from my room was spectacular, the service was awesome. However, the restaurant was closed and the bar seemed to be short-staffed. Other than that everything was amazing.