Great location on the beach, but not the cleanest hotel
There are pros and cons to this hotel, but I have to start off by warning fellow Tripadvisors that this hotel has a sign in its front lobby saying something like this: "Love us on Tripadvisor and get $75 off your next stay." This makes me wonder if the Tripadvisor ratings are superficially inflated and not quite accurate. I am a little surprised that this hotel currently has a 4 1/2 out of 5 star rating on here. 
Anyways, on to the review. To start with the positives, this hotel has a great location just steps from the beach. It's not the cleanest, prettiest beach in the world. But it is a pretty good beach with fun waves to play in, surf in, or boogie/body board in. There are also restaurants, shops, and bars on the same street as the hotel which was really convenient. But beware that this is not a typical touristy neighborhood; it has a "hippie" vibe and you will probably see a few homeless people in the area (we did). Sunset Cliffs Park is just minutes away (by car), and that's a really pretty place to visit, especially at sunset. We also found that this hotel had a great location for all the other places we wanted to go in San Diego. It's only 15 min from the downtown area (i.e. Petco Park, Balboa Park, etc.) and one of the marinas we were going to, and 20 min or so from La Jolla. 
The hotel has free parking and free WiFi (we never used the WiFI, so can't comment on that). I did notice that at night there were sometimes only a few spots left in the lot, so hopefully they never run out (they allow other people to park there for a fee). The courtyard area is pretty and a nice place to sit, and we had a balcony with table and chairs (I think all rooms have this, but we had upgraded to partial ocean view which I'd say was worth it).
However, I'm not sure if the positives outweigh the negatives. The service wasn't top-notch; we arrived about 30 min before check-in time and asked about getting into our room early. We were told our room was ready, but once we got all our luggage and headed up, we found that the maid was still in our room cleaning. So we had to stand there and wait with all our bags. I totally understand not having our room ready since we got there early, but I wish they would have just told us it wasn't ready yet. 
And the room was not the cleanest. I am big on clean, so this made me feel uncomfortable. The white door had dirty smudges on it, making it look gross, and we found a hair in the sink, in the shower, and on one of our washcloths. This might seem nitpicky to others, but this really grosses me out. The room was also not in the best repair; the paint behind the sink was was all messed up, like they'd changed the sink but hadn't repainted, or the paint is just wearing off badly. And beware that the bathroom is tiny! You almost have to sit a little sideways on the toilet since the sink is in your face, and there is no counter space in the bathroom at all - just a sink. And be aware that there is no pool (which isn't a huge deal, since the ocean is literally steps away).
I don't think that we would ever stay here again. I think for those that are a little less picky about cleanliness and roominess and want a good location, this is the hotel for them.