My wife and two children stayed at the Inn at the Park. The room is more like an apartment. There is an eat in kitchen, living room area with a very large couch that had double pull-out twin beds, and a separate bedroom with a king bed.

Everything was brand new as the room was recently renovated. (1/2 the hotel was still being renovated, scheduled to complete in October. We were the room closest to the renovations and it was fine.)

The rooms were very, very large and very clean. The staff at the desk was very friendly and accommodating.

The hotel location was perfect for us. Across the street is Balboa Park and literally a large playground which was AWESOME for our two young daughters. Just north of the playground is the free tram stop to go to all the museams, science museum, and the zoo. The tram itself is somewhat entertaining for our kids 8 and under... There were two coffee shops within 2 blocks - Bassam and Extraordinary Desserts. If Bassam hasn't opened yet, keep walking to Extraordinary desserts.

If you walk north on 5th street (behind hotel), you walk into Hillcrest where there are LOADS of restaurants and bars.

The airport was a breeze to get to, no interstate. Take 6th down to Laurel and down the hill to the airport. 10 - 15 minutes.

We looked at lots of suite hotels so we can have a room while our kids sleep and this one was priced competitively. Then we got there and it was huge and so close to everything, everyone was nice. The complimentary rooftop breakfast is also nice. Bagels, english muffins, yogurt, fruit, etc.

So for a family with kids, this place rocked.

Stayed here for 2 nights June 12-13, 2012 on a prepaid room 2 nights approx $150 per night through their website. Yes it's a step back in time but has class and style which modern hotels will never have.

Pluses:
-Location - Easy 10 minutes walk to Hillcrest - many cafes, restaurants bars. Also 5 minutes down 5th avenue to "Bertrand at Mister A's" on top of the Financial centre building. A must do for afternoon cocktails/beers/nibbles with amazing views of bay and airport.
-Staff - Can't do enough for you. Recommended brunch at "Hash House a gogo" which is a 5 minutes walk (and an incredible experience never to be forgotten - google it !). Staff called cabs the minute we started asking for one.
-Free breakfast on the roof

Room for improvement:
- Very slow elevator
-Wireless internet coverage and speed
-Renovation of rooms proceeding too slowly. Stayed in an unrenovated room which was fine for the price but not for everyone.

Arrived to stay for 2 nights at $249/night only to discover no air-conditioning! Staff couldn't have been nicer or tried to be more accommodating - I just would have never booked this hotel if I had known in advance of no air-conditioning. They did put an additional fan in our room, just wasn't enough so we had to sleep with windows open which was a night mare full of unbelievable noise. I called front desk because we were not able to connect to their free wi-fi as advertised, and they told us that they would try to reboot their system or that we could try to use it in the lobby where it might work. To us, that just wasn't very convenient. Also, because of having to keep the windows open -- there was an issue in the bathroom -- window only opened from bottom up and when you sit on the toilet -- your rear end is right smack in the window! That part was really amazing. I spoke with the guest relations manager in the morning and he kindly agreed to let us check out which we did. The staff was extremely helpful, friendly, etc. in every way possible. I think once the rennovation is completed in this hotel it would would be a delightful place to stay. The location is perfect, staff was very accommodating, bartender made the best cosmopolitan I ever had, very charming hotel. Just maybe not so great during July with no air. Would definitely consider another time.