Holiday Inn San Diego Bayside I San Diego, California

Staying relevant in the highly competitive San Diego hospitality market requires sound investments and savvy marketing. Of course, a prime location helps, too. But location alone won’t keep a hotel’s rooms occupied.

Knowing this, executives at Bartell Hotels invested $13 million in the expansion of the Holiday Inn San Diego Bayside, a property that is ideally situated near the marinas and walkways of scenic San Diego Bay. The 44,000 ft² (4,088 m²) expansion, which was completed in 2013, added 57 new guest rooms and suites with bay and marina views.

The expansion features a new grand entrance with a Mediterranean garden, a 23 ft (7 m) sculpture and a 2,000 ft² (186 m²) lobby with 18 ft (5.5 m) teak ceilings. It’s so visually striking it regularly draws compliments on customer’s website reviews. However, those who planned the expansion knew that what hotel guests don’t notice during their stay is as important as what they do, specifically, the steady stream of traffic on North Harbor Drive and the airplanes landing and departing from San Diego International Airport, which is a 5-minute drive from the hotel.

A cool breeze from the bay may be welcomed by guests during the afternoon, but when it’s time to sleep, they want a more peaceful environment. The new rooms were equipped with REHAU System 4500 tilt-turn windows – 93 in all. The System 4500 line offers three-in-one window design versatility with fixed, inward-tilting and in-swing positions. In addition, these windows can be fabricated as hoppers or inward-opening or outward-opening casements, or combined into multiple-unit assemblies including bay, bow or specialty arch tops.

Rick Rounds, the architectural project manager for Joseph Wong Design Associates, the San Diego-based project architect, says the System 4500 windows boast an impressive sound transmission class (STC) rating of 38, more than enough to comply with acoustic requirements of STC 28 and 31, as well as energy efficiency requirements.

The tilt-turn style brings form and function that is ideally suited for such an idyllic setting. “They are a great unique feature to typical Holiday Inn hotels, upgraded to correspond with the fresh air and views from the San Diego Bay,” Rounds says.