Standard King at Westin Gaslamp Quarter San Diego

The Westin brand of hotels is in the process of rolling out new designs within its hotels that feature a warmer neutral decor, more space for guests within the rooms and incorporate a variety of eco-friendly/sustainable materials.

As part of a $25-million transformation that is scheduled to be completed in 2012, the Westin Gaslamp Quarter in San Diego is among the first to debut the new room designs. They were available for guests just in time for some of the city’s biggest summer conventions like Comic Con and BlogHer ’11.

Among the changes are multi-fuctional furniture like benches that can also serve as a luggage rack, yet slide under a table below the TV when not in use. The armoire and dresser have been replaced by shelving in the closet to free up floor space (and let’s face it, a lot of people never have enough hanging clothes when they travel to justify big closets anyways).

In the bathroom, the mirror is framed with a strip of frosted lights on every side, providing a more even lighting source than the usual row of vanity lights that sit above most hotel room mirrors.

A Renovated Bathroom at Westin Gaslamp Quarter San Diego

The whole idea is that the rooms reflect the company’s new slogan of “A Better You” and are more soothing and welcoming to the guest. I haven’t had a chance to check out the rooms personally, but I do have friends that stayed at the hotel during Comic Con and they said they liked the new design. They also liked that the hotel was within walking distance of the convention center, as well as area restaurants like House of Blues and the Yard House.

A word of warning – the renovation is still on-going in the public areas through 2011. But if you want to check out the new Westin rooms here, rack rates start around $180-$200.

Be sure to check the “hotel offers” page, where there are plenty of specials and packages that bring down the rate, including end of summer discounts for California residents and AAA members that offer rates as low as $99 a night for non-weekend stays.

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Westin Gaslamp Quarter
910 Broadway Circle
San Diego, CA 92101
Phone: 619-239-2200
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[Images courtesy Westin Gaslamp Quarter]