Reviews

Comic Con Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina Review

a tall building with cartoon characters on the side

We may receive a commission when you use our links. Monkey Miles is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com and CardRatings. This relationship may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. Monkey Miles is also a Senior Advisor to Bilt Rewards. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.


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

Marriott Marquis San Diego - 34 of 38

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.

Marriott Marquis San Diego - 16 of 38
Marina Kitchen – great food and beer
Marriott Marquis San Diego - 19 of 38
hallway connecting south and north tower
Marriott Marquis San Diego - 18 of 38
light crowd around starbucks
Marriott Marquis San Diego - 17 of 38
the emptiest you will see the exchange

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.

Marriott Marquis San Diego - 28 of 38
the quietest the pool was the whole time
Marriott Marquis San Diego - 31 of 38
chairs from one of the events

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.

Marriott Marquis San Diego - 30 of 38
pool bar

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.

Marriott Marquis San Diego - 21 of 38
zumba classes
Marriott Marquis San Diego - 24 of 38
towels, fruit, and headphones are complimentary
Marriott Marquis San Diego - 26 of 38
machines
Marriott Marquis San Diego - 25 of 38
cardio and machines
Marriott Marquis San Diego - 23 of 38
great view for a workout
Marriott Marquis San Diego - 27 of 38
spin room/yoga studio

The room: Harbor View King

Marriott Marquis San Diego - 14 of 38
LURVED this view

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.

Marriott Marquis San Diego - 13 of 38
19th floor
Marriott Marquis San Diego - 2 of 38
nice king room
Marriott Marquis San Diego - 3 of 38
flat screen
Marriott Marquis San Diego - 4 of 38
AV strip
Marriott Marquis San Diego - 10 of 38
comic con keys
Marriott Marquis San Diego - 6 of 38
pull out small couch
Marriott Marquis San Diego - 11 of 38
storage
Marriott Marquis San Diego - 12 of 38
coffee
Marriott Marquis San Diego - 8 of 38
bathroom – no bathtub
Marriott Marquis San Diego - 9 of 38
standard marriott products

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…

  1. The Hotel will be at capacity – don’t plan on getting anything fast
  2. The elevators are over worked – so plan accordingly. It’s at capacity so they are in constant use.
  3. It will be crazy – It’s Comic Con…if you think you’ll get otherwise, elsewhere, good luck to you.
  4. You will pay through the nose for everything – It’s Comic Con
  5. It will be noisy – It’s Comic Con
  6. 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
  7. 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!

Marriott Marquis San Diego - 38 of 38

Interested in getting all up in the Comic Con action at the Marriott Marquis San Diego? We Appreciate you using our Affiliate links 🙂

Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

a blue credit card with lines and symbols

Learn More

 Affiliate link 

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card


4.8
4.8/5
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is a great starter card that earns Premium Ultimate Rewards that can be transferred into over a dozen partners many of which are US based including Hyatt, Southwest, United, IHG, and Marriott.

Welcome Offer

60k Points after $4k spend in 3 months

Annual Fee

$95

Points Earned

Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards

  • 3x on dining
    •  including eligible delivery services for takeout
  • 3x on select streaming services
  • 3x on online grocery purchases
    • (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
  • 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel Portal
  • 2x on all other travel
  • $50 Annual Credit on hotel stays purchased via Chase Travel
    • The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
  • 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 Portal and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including primary rental car insurance, purchase protections, etc.
  • Points are transferrable to 13 Ultimate Rewards partners
  • Redeem in the Chase Travel center for 1.25 cents per point
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
    • Primary rental car coverage is my favorite

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.

4 Comments

  • Jimmy July 24, 2018

    Any insight on when you booked the room? How far in advance?

  • Kay August 10, 2016

    Hey Miles, another fun post! I just read this article about an emotional support monkey getting loose on a plane and was wondering if it was you: ????

    http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/airport-official-says-monkey-flight-was-certified-service-animal

    • Miles August 10, 2016

      Thanks Kay! hahaha not this is NOT Miles…but I may have to write an article about this

      • Kay August 10, 2016

        So glad to hear -whew! Make sure you have Miles certified to fly as an “emotional support” companion! You never know what you may run into! Ha ha!

Leave a Reply to Kay Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.