Condition One

This is a nice family resort. Not so great for business travelers. I successfully applied a Suite Night Award to my reservation, and was upgraded to an Executive Suite. A few days prior to arrival, I received an email asking me for my estimated time of arrival, and whether I had any special requests. It’s a nice touch that’s not seen in US hotels. I emailed back with my arrival time, and requested a quiet room as I was there on business. I got a suite overlooking the pool filled with screaming kids. Great execution there!

The Executive Suite is in the corner, and the bathroom is not attached to the bedroom, which is weird. Rooms weren’t conducive for business travelers. There wasn’t a laptop safe, I had to move my desk a few inches to reach electrical outlets, and the building is wood framed so you can hear thuds from people walking above you. Lots of hallway noise enters your room as well.

The property is well maintained though, and the staff are exceedingly friendly and helpful. They remembered my name throughout my visit. The gym is large, with a good selection of equipment. Platinums get the $14 resort fee waived. Nobody at the front desk (I asked three people) knew what the Platinum Breakfast amenity was. Just that you get something for free, and I’d have to inquire at the restaurant to see what it includes. The answer was the full hot breakfast buffet or anything I’d like off the menu.

I was given a “late” check-out of 12:30pm due to being in a Suite. In the end, this is a nice resort geared towards families. If you’re looking to get work done, look elsewhere.

megalab

Just got back from a 2 nt stay. Our company has an office nearby and this is our preferred hotel; we had a team meeting in the Conference Center and I was pleased with the catering (the restaurant food was also very good) and having a nice sunny patio in front to enjoy the beautiful weather in between sessions. There were a couple of other company meetings going on and the standard folding wall dividing the Sunset room was not very soundproof.

The lounge is still corporate rate only; in all my stays I've never seen any children in there. Food was standard Club Lounge and good quality.

Someone asked about upgrades based on SET rates; I've never gotten a Plat suite upgrade there, but even my non-SPG colleagues get the same or better (e.g. higher floor) Deluxe Coastal upgrade I always get. Regardless, the rooms are nice and spacious enough.

Service has always been friendly and competent. We're always surprised they don't have anyone taking refreshment orders by the pool, even though there is a large surfboard for a menu right next to the tables (placed in a bed of sand; fun touch).

There are shower rooms by the pool, a feature I always like, and the towels are plush. The pool was warm and pleasant, the hot tub even warmer and more pleasant, as long as you don't mind small planes buzzing overhead every once in awhile (I didn't).

I agree it is one of the nicer Sheratons in US, though I wouldn't go out of my way to stay there if I didn't have work nearby.

Fizzer

We have a short stay planned in May. I saw some years ago that the Resort Fee was waived for Platinums. Does anyone have recent knowledge of whether that's still the case? If not what is the alternative amenity offered?
Thanks

megalab

The resort fee was waived for me in Feb, but I can't say if that was because I was Plat or my SET rate. The FDC said it was because I was Plat, but I believe my non-SPG colleagues also had it waived.

Fizzer

Thanks

Fizzer

Have just returned from a weekend stay. There was no sign of a resort fee or discussion of one at the desk. We were upgraded from the entry level room we booked to a huge suite on the second floor ( no SNA used).The room and facilities were very nice. There was a littlecorridor noise and running feet upstairs as there were a lot of kids there, being so close to LEGOLAND. However, as most were young kids it quietened down rather early.

The restaurant and bar were very nice.

There is a Lounge but we never got to see it. It is labelled the Grand Pacific Suite and was directly below our room, so I'm guessing it was of a similar size. The Lounge is only open Monday - Thursday evening for Happy Hour, and Monday to Friday breakfast. As we slept in the first day after a very late arrival we missed breakfast.

Strangely I was not told this when I clearly selected points instead of breakfast. I had originally thought that there was no lounge so said I'd take pointe "because you have no lounge" . " But we do "I was told, so selected the points. Strange he wouldn't have mentioned that it wouldn't be open but it was a minor inconvenience only and we got it switched back to the Breakfast Amenity.

One word of caution if you do select breakfast in the restaurant. You receive a credit of up to $15 pp or the "Continental Breakfast" . That is actually an item on the menu whereby you can select from pastries, yoghurt etc and the server will bring them to you. Or you do what I did the first morning and go to the buffet, carefully select cold items only, only to find that the buffet is $22 and now the coffee and juice were extras and not included. IIRC it was $28 for the same items I would have got for $15 if I'd ordered off the menu. No big thing and not, IMO, worth arguing about, but it was confusing and I mention it as a heads up only.

ken98230

We had a recent stay last week for one night. Paid resort fee and parking, I think the total was $27. We were on an award stay and were given a room in a building a long way from the pool. Didn't really matter as it was a one night stay on points. Very convenient for going to Legoland with its own entrance. If you are going to Legoland you can park in the lot accross the street from the main lobby. The further you are down the hill the closer you are to the Legoland entrance. Just make sure that you have a room key with you as they will ask for it to let you use the entrance.

Nice resort and the proximity to Legoland was nice since that was the point of our being there. Room was very standard and certainly up to Sheraton standards. Buildings were all very nice and new and appeared well maintained.

davidw70

It seems this hotel is going to become a Westin. The SPG new hotels list now has "The Westin Carlsbad Resort & Spa - Opening April, 2018" - the address on the mobile version of the SPG site is the same as the Sheraton.

badm96

Based on a recent experience:
- Resort fee is no longer waived for Platinums. They said that it is a new policy started in 2015, although, some corporate rates might waive the resort fee.
- The SNA upgrade is a joke. I was given an over-sized king (corner) room. Not a suite by any stretch of the imagination. I refused to accept it so the hotel gave me a connected room for free. I am not sure if this works for everyone because I had to open an inquiry with SPG to get them to respond.
- Management of the hotel, particularly, at the front desk seems to be young and inexperienced. Not something you would expect paying $200/night.
- On the positive side: the pool and Gym are very good and the breakfast platinum amenity is well worth it.

Flews

The only way you can get an SNA approved is to select the one(s) you want. So how can you complain about receiving what you selected?

Cheers,

badm96

Because the room I received was labeled as a suite online but told by the front desk that it wasn't.

LovetoTravel83

Was it the Studio Suite?

badm96

Corner Studio Suite. 698 sq ft / 65 m². Front desk said that it wasn't much bigger than a regular room 436-488 sq ft / 41-45 m². Upon examining the suite, I found it no where close to 698 sq ft.

LovetoTravel83

What I know is that the corner rooms at this hotel is a the corner studio suite. They don't have corner rooms.

If that is the case, a studio suite is considered to be a one large room suite. Was the connected room given the exact size of the corner room?

badm96

1) The corner room is larger than a regular room but it is not 698 sq ft.
2) The guy who checked me in said that it wouldn't fit a sofa bed for my child and that I should opt for a regular 2 queen beds despite my SNA upgrade.
3) Refusing to believe him, I went on to check both rooms and found that he was right

The hotel system is lying on two fronts: one for calling the corner room a suite, when it doesn't have a separate living area, extra furniture or anything that would qualify it as such. Second for stating it to be 698 sq ft when it is no where near that.