Pam’s conference last week was hosted at the Hilton Bayfront San Diego, right along the ocean. It’s a beautiful hotel, with wide open spaces and its own Starbucks, which is always busy busy busy. We were on the 14th floor.

We came to San Diego a couple days early, so we could take in SeaWorld and the San Diego Zoo. We spent two nights in a Holiday Inn Express. How does the HI Express compare to the Hilton? The rooms in both were the same size, with the same basic ingredients–beds, work table, comfy chair in the corner, free wi-fi, standard bathroom. Beyond that:

Cost
Hi Express: $110 a night.
Hilton: $259 a night.

Bed
HI Express: Asked for a king bed and got it.
Hilton: Asked for a king bed, but got bumped to two doubles.

Amenities
HI Express: a refrigerator, microwave, and safe.
Hilton: a safe and a nice metal ice bucket (dispenser down the hall).

Breakfast
HI Express: complimentary hot breakfast.
Hilton: on your own.

Newspaper
HI Express: free USA Today.
Hilton: USA delivered to your room each morning, but they charge you 75 cents.

Bathroom
HI Express: good shower, good linens, free hygiene products.
Hilton: very good shower, very big and soft towels, free designer hygiene products.

Water
HI Express: Two complimentary bottles of water.
Hilton: Water bottles available in the room for $4.25 each.

So all things considered, the edge goes to…well, those WERE pretty nice towels at the Hilton.