W IS HIP AND PERSONABLE.

Byline: Eric Noland Travel Editor

SAN DIEGO - On a towering wall behind the lobby bar, a collage of video screens presents the image of a blue sky with gently moving white clouds. While surveying that scene, you might feel you're on a sailboat, gliding out the mouth of San Diego Bay.

It's only one example of how the W San Diego Hotel integrates smoothly with its environment.

For many of the hotels in the W chain (there are 17 in the U.S.), the decor is casually hip to the point of being drab - olive green, ocher, cream and the ubiquitous black. But in San Diego, the W has generous splashes of blue, with oceans of white in the guest rooms, from the window blinds to the bathroom tile. It all combines for a distinctly nautical feel; fitting, since this 2-year-old downtown hotel is less than a half-mile from the waterfront.

The hotel stands apart from its W brethren in another important way, too: friendliness.

I'd never been a fan of this chain, having encountered heavy doses of smug attitude in other W hotels (notably San Francisco and Honolulu). It was almost as if the employees were oh-so-impressed with themselves because they were working here rather than at the Marriott.

The W San Diego provided a refreshing exception to the rule.

Staffers were so cheerful and helpful that when we checked in, no fewer than three employees offered their first names and said to call them personally if we needed anything. Our bellman even wrote his name and extension on a Post-it note and stuck it to our phone.

This continued throughout our three-day stay - friendly parking valets, front desk personnel, housekeepers. Even the guy at the velvet rope who turned us away from the popular Beach Bar on a Saturday night was at least nice about it.

The W is in a prime location, convenient to Uptown, Old Town, the waterfront and the Gaslamp Quarter. And it's only about a three-block walk from Amtrak's Santa Fe Depot, if you want to leave your car at home.

We found the appointments in our guest room to be of highest quality: Aveda bath products, plush towels, high-thread-count sheets, a goose down duvet. Maintaining that San Diego orientation, there was even a cushion on the bed in the shape and colors of a beach ball.

Techies will also appreciate broadband and wireless Internet access, wireless keyboard, 27-inch TV, cordless phone and top-end stereo system.

The public rooms and services at this hotel conform to the standard of the W chain - that is, they seem to be conceived by young adults who remember being dragged by their parents to stuffy, tradition-steeped hotels.

The front doormen don't wear colorful livery and furry hats; they're in stylish black trench coats, with walkie-talkie headsets. Inside, you'll be hard-pressed to find a tie, on either guests or the black-and-blue-clad staffers. There are no confusing French words like concierge; that desk is called ``Whatever, Whenever.'' Instead of a do-not-disturb sign, you get one that says ``Dreaming.''

The lobby isn't called the lobby. It's the Living Room, and appears to be designed by a kid who just moved out for the first time. There are plush couches crowded with throw pillows; low coffee tables holding stylized boards of chess and checkers; spotlight illumination that is atrocious for reading a newspaper - which nobody seems to do in the morning - but ideal for perusing the screen of a cell phone or laptop; and thumping electronica dance music pouring from the sound system at all hours.

(I can personally attest that the music begins at 6:30 a.m., when bottomless urns of complimentary coffee are set out on the bar. I'd rather sit for brain surgery without anesthesia than listen to any more of that music.)

The W has established considerable cache with San Diego's youthful night crawlers. On a Saturday night, its lobby bar was shoulder-to-shoulder, with a line snaking onto the sidewalk. Guests had to show room keys to get in the front door.

We were intrigued by descriptions of the Beach Bar, an open-air gathering spot on a third-floor rooftop, with a fire pit and an expanse of sand that is heated from beneath. But at the velvet rope, a security guard told us we'd have to go down to the lobby and wait in a long line for admittance.

Again, at least he was gracious and apologetic.

--The W San Diego is at 421 W. B St. Published room rates from $189 to $379. [phone]; www.whotels.com/sandiego.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) The lobby of the W San Diego Hotel is all style and flair, with comfortable chairs arranged for conversation or the playing of stylized board games.

(2) Towering ceilings, stylish decor and a well-stocked bar characterize the lobby of the W San Diego Hotel - although they don't call it the lobby; it's the Living Room.

Eric Noland/Travel Editor