We booked this hotel through priceline and was happy to get a 3 star hotel. When we arrived, the things we noticed were:

Location: Good- close to airport. Hotel has free shuttle; however since we arrived at midnight, the shuttle was not available to pick us up. good seafood places around there.
Price: Ok- no real perks
Distance from lobby - our room was a bit far from the lobby. A little bit of inconvenience to walk to get info and the free morning coffees. or the internet access
Parking ; $8 a night
We had kids with stroller, so make sure u get a room on the 1st level so u don't have to drag luggage and stroller up a flight of stairs.

would i stay again? most likely not

Humphrey's is a very good hotel to stay while visiting San Diego. I would say it's a 3-star hotel and the grounds and pool are very good.
The real benefit is that Shelter Island is a terrific location to get
everywhere in SD by car.
Rooms
They have Jr Suites and Marina Suites that are ideal for families (large with kithchenettes and refrigerators) that can easily accomodate 5-6. And they will bring in a cot or blow-up mattress too. The rooms are clean although dated. Because the rooms are dated,
this hotel gets some bad reviews. We liked how the bathroom sink was outside the bathroom and the set-up of the room was spacious and terrific. The mattresses could use an update. I'd recommend staying on the second floor as you will get nice views of either the marina or harbor.

Concierge
The hotel concierge is wonderful (you won't find better than Donna in the area) and she saved us lots of money and time. If you stay here call her in advance and she'll really help you. She used to be the concierge at the Catamaran and she said she likes the Shelter Island location better to get around San Diego which we agree with.

Pool
The pool is large and a good one for kids and families. No frills to it (like a water slide) but it's a big pool with a hot tub located about 20 yards away so the kids and adults will like it. Also have a ping pong table and a little putting green which the kids got full use of.

Shelter Island Location
We can't recommend staying in this area enough. After being there for
a week and doing everything in San Diego we love this location. 5-10 mins to downtown. 10 mins to the zoo. 15 to Sea World. 20 to La Jolla
(if you take I-5). 10 to Old Town. And beautiful views of the harbor and marinas all around. If you are a boat enthusiast stay here and your mouth will drop when you see all the yachts and sail boats around this peninsula. Nice place to walk or run in the morning if you like that (very safe) and you can also use Humphrey's bikes too. Also lots of good restaurants within 3-5 mins by car and a few that you can walk to. We liked Pizza Nova (inexpensive), Point Loma Seafood (inexpensive) and the restaurant at the hotel. They do charge $8 for parking every day which is less than most of the SD hotels. We found that most of the hotels charge for parking (consider it just another SD tax I guess).

Don't stay here if you want a brand new room, and you are super picky
about having a perfect room. Stay here if you are a family looking for a larger clean room and you are on the go and want to see San Diego. We really enjoyed staying at Humphrey's because the pool was great, our room (a Jr Suite) was large enough for our family of 5, the concierge was way above average and the location was the best place to stay if you want to do it all in SD. Some of the posters that complain about the rooms are spoiled and stay in 5 star hotels all the time. If you are a AAA member you can save too.

We were there a week and they had 3 weddings on the grounds there. The grounds are full of flora and flowers and very pretty.

Also check the concert schedule if you are coming between May and Sept as they have outdoor concerts. For some that might attract you and for others you might not want to be there during a concert because of the noise.

By the way - the restaurant is fantastic. One of our best meals in San Diego. I would call it upscale casual. Everything melted in our mouths and we are picky about food. A little expensive but well worth it and we hear the Sunday Brunch is terrific. This restaurant overlooks the marina - nice.

Finally, lots of Europeans seem to be attracted to this hotel which we liked.

Overall we liked Humphrey's for a family on the go that also enjoys coming back for a nice swim. We'd stay there again.

We booked a six night nonrefundable stay at Humphrey's based on the number of supportive and good reviews from other travelers. BUT NOW we will advise our friends and relatives to stay away. The pluses were that the grounds were very nice and the front desk staff was helpful. But if you don't spend your time in the lobby or in the gardens, this is not the hotel for you.

The room was a 40 year old nightmare. The pillows were 1/2 the size of standard size ones and without much stuffing. Even with 3 of them together, it didn't help much. The mattress was abysmally hard. The bed linens were sparse and the wall paper (especially in the bathroom) looked the 40 years old. In addition, the room was very dark, especially in the bathroom. (This is not a place where you want dark lighting). Finally, this hotel was supposed to be a 3 star hotel. There is no way that this hotel room made even a 2 and 1/2 star rating. It's just not that good.

hate to say it but this place does not live up to the reviews on tripadvisor. I always use this sight and have never been let down before. First of all I can't believe no one has mentioned the paper thin walls!! they were so thin I could here the person next door pee!! every morning at 5:30 on the dot! yikes!! the saff was disinterested. acted as if they were doing you a favor. the room was old. the shower moldy and every time I turned on the sink the cold water handle came off in my hand. which I would screw back on until the next time. this place is more of motel. Because it is so close to the airport people come and go at all hours. and because the walls were so thin you think they are coming in your room at 4 am. twice I thought this was happening and I'm a heavy sleeper.I could go on and on but I think I made my point. This hotel is really only a good Idea for families with small children who really don't get much sleep any way. If you want to relax and sleep in and have a drink by the pool and feel rested after a vacation don't book here!