Redemption

The standard room rate at Hilton San Diego Bayfront is 60,000 points a night, nothing more to say there.

Come to think of it, back in the day I thought Hilton points were the most worthless currency around, but after Marriott and IHG started their evil dynamic-pricing redemption schemes, Hilton has somehow become useful again... use it while you can and cherish it!

Los Angeles - San Diego

As a train fan, Chestnut obviously chose rail for the LA-to-SD segment. Even more extreme, Chestnut gave up the direct Amtrak train and instead went with a Metrolink + Coaster transfer at Oceanside. The reason, of course, is the old motto from the Haizi rail network——Proud of a reasonable transfer, ashamed of a one-ticket direct ride!

Because the transfer at Oceanside left more than an hour to kill, we went over to the pier for a look.

When it was almost time, we went back to the station and saw an Amtrak Pacific Surfliner depart. But that wasn't our train today.

We needed the Coaster train on the left. The fare to SD Santa Fe Depot is seven dollars.

At San Diego Santa Fe Depot, we transferred to the trolley to check in.

Check-in

By then we could already see the Hilton San Diego Bayfront building, southeast of the Convention Center.

Take the elevator; the lobby is on the second floor. Once you get there, it has a strong purple vibe!

This... these days, anything can happen...

Got the key card, as usual, a shot for the record!

The front desk gave us two water vouchers, good for two bottles of premium water!

Premium water in a metal bottle.

Up the elevator we go!

The room looks like this:

Cast a YouTube video to the TV, watch some train videos, and pretend we're at a Hilton in China [manual doge]

The view outside looks like this—you can see the SD Trolley maintenance yard. A rail-view room is pretty great for a train fan!

Dinner

Since we were going to the Padres game that night, we decided to fill up first before heading out. Chestnut was still a Hilton Silver member through an AMEX no-annual-fee card, so there wasn't much of a dining benefit.

Still, the hotel gave us $15.00 + $16.16 in small credit, and we paid a little extra ourselves to have dinner at the restaurant downstairs.

Chicago Cubs vs San Diego Padres

After dinner, we headed to Petco Park to watch the Padres.

McDonald's ad — if the Padres win, there are fries the next day.

Before the game started, they invited a bunch of kids to sing [Smile]

The starting pitcher was Yu Darvish, and he pitched very well that day, allowing no runs.

Thanks to Tatis Jr.'s great performance, the Padres blanked the Cubs 6-0!

PS: Of course, the Padres lost the game the next day to the Cubs, but that had nothing to do with us—we won the game we watched!

The fireworks show after the game!

Night

On the way out, I snapped a shot of Hilton San Diego Bayfront at night.

Petco Park at night.

The Hilton parking garage at night.

Back at the hotel, I took another shot of the view outside the window—the San Diego Trolley yard at night!

The Next Day

After an uneventful night’s sleep, it was the next day. Let’s take a look at Petco Park outside the window.

I went out for a walk and ran into a train passing in front of Petco Park.

I wandered over to the hostel I had stayed at before, HI San Diego Downtown.

Seven years had passed in the blink of an eye—it felt like a completely different era!

I ordered some food at the nearby Rustic Root and had brunch.

After eating, I headed to SD’s transit hub, the 12th & Imperial station, to wait for the famous Route 901 and go explore Coronado Island!

After an uneventful ride, we got to the island and took a look at the red house I had visited at Christmas.

Wow, time really flies—half a year had already passed since that Christmas trip here!

The legendary red house: Hotel del Coronado experience — Chestnut Christmas trip, Part 2

By the time I’d had enough of wandering around, I decided to head back to the hotel, pick up my luggage, and go to the station for the train back to LA.

But SD’s Route 901 has always had this problem—its timetable is fairly reliable going onto the island, but on the way back there’s basically no way to catch it, so I decided to just take Lyft back to the hotel!

Bye-bye!

On the way to the station, I saw this at the entrance to the Convention Center—the legendary “iron tree blooming.”

First, the male cycad’s pollen cone.

Then the female cycad’s large seed cone and fruit.

Return Trip

I went to the Gaslamp Quarter station and took the Green Line to SD Santa Fe Depot.

First, I took the Coaster train.

We passed San Diego Airport.

Sorrento Valley.

After Sorrento, the train runs north along the coast, where you can see large stretches of wetlands.

The old station building in Encinitas is now a coffee shop.

We ran into Route 101, a bus operated by the same company, NCTD. Its route is pretty similar too (Route 101 runs from UCSD to Oceanside), so of course we had to have a race!

No surprise, we won by a landslide. Of course, the price was also a landslide win (Coaster train US$7.0 vs. Route 101 bus US$2.5).

This is Alila; for a detailed review, see — Independence Day getaway: Alila Marea Beach Resort Encinitas experience.

After an uneventful ride, we arrived at Oceanside station and got off!

Same as always—since there’s a one-and-a-half-hour gap between the Coaster and the Metrolink transfer, I decided to go to Jersey Mike’s and get a sub for dinner.

After eating, it was about time. When I got to Oceanside station, I found that our Metrolink train had already been pushed up to the platform.

Boarded the train for the final leg: Oceanside–LA Union Station!

Not long after boarding, we departed. First up was this sight—the abandoned fountain of human energy, the former site of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.

San Clemente Pier.

Angel Stadium in Anaheim, except there was no game that day!

Fullerton.

As we got closer to Los Angeles, we spotted this railroad bridge—nothing particularly special otherwise, but I have to give the "PhD" graffiti a thumbs-up!

Summary

Pros: Hilton San Diego Bayfront has already become something of a San Diego landmark. It’s very close to the Convention Center and Petco Park, so if you’re coming here for a conference or to watch the Padres play, this should be one of the better choices. It’s also easy to reach via a train + subway/public transit combination.

Cons: Expensive! It’s 60,000 points per night, and it doesn’t have much character (it’s neither a historic building nor a resort)... and it seems to have gone up again recently, to 65,000. Talk about kicking someone when they’re down—it’s just getting worse and worse. Still, considering that this Hilton’s weekend cash rates often reach $450-$500, you can get about 0.7-0.75 cents of value from each Hilton point, so it’s still pretty much a no-brainer to book it with your eyes closed!