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Comic Con Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina Review
Anyone that has ever been to Comic Con in San Diego can attest that it is CRAY on CRAY on CRAY. For those of you who haven’t been, it is incredible. Even if you aren’t that into comics or superhero movies, you would have a blast. The entire area surrounding the convention center and the gaslamp district are completely transformed into Comic Con heaven. Big bucks are spent turning areas into The Walking Dead Zombie Walks, Halo shoot outs, or Jurassic Park experiences . It’s pretty amazing to just walk around, grab a bite or a beer, and see the spectacle. While I’m not going to get too much into the actual festivities of Comic Con I thought it’d be very helpful to people to know just what’s like staying smack in the middle of it at The Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina.
The Deets:
- When : July 2016
- Where: Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina
- Room: Harbor View Room
- Category: 8 – 40,000 points per night ( this was a paid stay tho)
- Loyalty: Marriott Rewards
- Elite Status: Silver
- Elite Benefits: Free high-speed internet
This is the street view from just outside the hotel. You don’t so much as pick a destination, but rather, move wherever the people are flowing.
The Location
San Diego Comic Con is virtually connected to the Marriott Marquis San Diego. While you can’t internally walk from one to the other, there are pathways that make this THE hotel to stay at during Comic Con. If you geek out on this stuff, I’d also recommend checking out the Hard Rock and get a pool view room, The EW comic con party is held there on the final night and you’d have a bird’s eye view of the festivities. It is THE party of the weekend for celeb sighting.
Back to the Marriott Marquis.
It’s a convention hotel FOR SURE: a large, well staffed, ready to accommodate the masses, oiled beast of a hotel that I think does a great job at full capacity. The Marriott Marquis is right on the harbor and the rear facing rooms offer great views of the water and Coronado island. It’s also walking distance from water view restaurants and the gaslamp district.
The Hotel common areas:
This is what a fully booked out convention hotel looks like. It also is at capacity for its meeting rooms: Throughout the hotel there are meet and greets, panels, and Comic Con festivities going 24/7.
The pool and gym
If you’re looking for some peace and quiet, a little R&R if you will, this is not your place. But, then again, WHY would you be in San Diego over Comic Con? This is a place where you come to let your FREAK FLAG FLY! I, personally, love it. I love seeing people absolutely GEEEEEEK out – you know like traveling with a Stuffed Monkey – on things they love. The vibe down here during Comic Con is electric and that is felt throughout this hotel. Especially at the pool and sometimes even in the gym.
A little aside: I tried to take pics with as few people in them. Honestly, I don’t think people would have really cared because people come to Comic Con to make a splash, but I still didn’t want to put people on blast who didn’t really want to be.
They also have massage booths set up all around the pool during certain times. I had obligations that made photographing the stations impossible, but it’s something to keep in mind if you end up in the area.
The gym is one of the nicest hotel gyms around. They have yoga/spinning classes throughout the day, tons of cardio equipment, free weights, machines, and new age workout equipment. It’s legit.
The room: Harbor View King
The room is a very standard, but nice, classic and up to date Marriott room. With the blinds closed you could be basically anywhere in the world, and this is something Marriott prides itself on. This is the 4th straight year I’ve stayed at this hotel during Comic Con and I happened to LOVE the harbor view. The only room notes I’d give is to request either a corner room in Tower 2, or a Harbor View in Tower 1. Tower 1 has balconies in every room. It’s pretty awesome really, and tower 2 only gives its corner harbor view rooms balconies. While these balconies aren’t HUGE, nor do they make or break the stay (because honestly most of your time will be out and about), they are a great way to enjoy the weather away from the masses. In the 4 years I’ve been coming to Comic Con, the weather has been ideal every day of every stay.
Overall:
If you’re looking to be SMACK in the middle of Comic Con I would highly recommend this hotel. Like I said earlier, I’ve stayed here 4 times, and have never been disappointed. Some things to consider though…
- The Hotel will be at capacity – don’t plan on getting anything fast
- The elevators are over worked – so plan accordingly. It’s at capacity so they are in constant use.
- It will be crazy – It’s Comic Con…if you think you’ll get otherwise, elsewhere, good luck to you.
- You will pay through the nose for everything – It’s Comic Con
- It will be noisy – It’s Comic Con
- If you want a slightly milder experience…maybe try the Grand Hyatt ( which I’ve stayed in when it’s not Comic Con and loved – great club lounge) or The US Grant
- If you want to get even crazier – try the Hard Rock or Loews. Loews overlooks Petco park which hosts nightly parties that go on verrrrrry late.
There is this kinda stuff ALLLLLLLLL OVER!
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Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.