Can you park on the street? Is there a charge for alcoholic beverages in the lounge?

Pleasant Surprises
 

I checked in on the last Friday in January for a one-night stay. Upgraded two days in advance to a club level room in the executive building. This was a large, nicely decorated and furnished room with a kitchenette. There were no signs of wear or tear anywhere. After checking in, I was advised I could park my car right in front of the executive building, which I did.

The room was on the first floor, with a sliding glass door to a private patio, enclosed with a three-foot wall containing a gate to the beautiful garden area.

Check-in was a breeze. I was offered access to the club lounge even though it has no food service on weekends (I never went in). I was given a $12.50 breakfast voucher which was enough for any hot breakfast entree and a beverage. I had an excellent breakfast sandwich and a Diet Pepsi, which the voucher covered in full. I was also given a 50% discount for lunch or dinner in Humphrey's restaurant next to the lobby. I enjoyed a delicious filet mignon burger with fries and fresh fruit garnish and a Diet Pepsi which, after the discount, was $15 with tip. The burger tasted even better at half off of the menu price.

Front desk staff and restaurant personnel were all friendly and efficient as was a porter I met upon arrival as I wandered from the parking lot into the garden while looking for the lobby. I asked the gentleman how to find the lobby. Rather than just point me in the right direction, he actually walked me within steps of the front door. From his accented English, I suspected that he might not be fluent in the language. In response to my question, he simply replied, "lobby"? Even if that was the only word of my question that he understood, he escorted me directly to the right location rather than just shrugging or pointing. I appreciated his attitude and customer service.

This was my first stay at the Sheraton La Jolla and will not be my last.

I will be going there next week; I hope my stay is as excellent as yours!!

Good Luck
 

Let them know that you're a Platinum-in-Training. ;)

there is some street parking available.

I just returned from a stay here. My experience was almost identical to the one that Bl1KITW had, except we did not go take advantage of the 50% off offer.

With the lounge closed on the weekend, we got coupons for two drinks and an appetizer for each person at the bar. The kids each got coupons for non-alcoholic drinks and an appy too. The drinks were prompt, the food was excellent and the prices for our additional drinks (burp) were reasonable. A gin & tonic was $4.

There is some limited street parking that was available on the weekend though it could be a long walk for some to their rooms, particularly to the rooms at the back of the hotel near the club lounge. The parking charge is $10/night incl tx. We will use th street next time. I recall that there is a street parking restriction from 8-4 but none after that, or on weekends.

There was "just" a continental breakfast at the lounge during the week but it was good quality stuff. Lots of fruit, juices, coffee, cereals, etc. The concierge was also most helpful.

We would definitely stay here again.

well, I'm sad to report that my stay wasn't excellent. It wasn't horrible by any means, but not excellent either.

The one thing that bothered me a lot was when I checked in I (very nicely) asked if they had availability for a club room. The front desk clerk must not have been trained in savvy communications as he told me "no, we are only required to give club rooms to platinums, and since you are only a gold member you cannot be upgraded to the club level."

Of course, not easily deterred I tried to finagle a bit more, but he said the same thing. Then I said "so you're telling me that this hotel's philosolphy is to do the bare minimum for your SPG members?" and he responded that yes, that is the way the hotel operates :td:

I might also note that there were maybe 20 cars in total at the property. It was empty. I only saw three other people there during my entire 4 days there.

I can certainly understand if the club rooms were sold out, but this property was empty. I may be a little nutty, but MY philosophy is to under promise and over deliver. Apparently at this location the philosophy is just do the bare minimum.

BTW, I wasn't offended that I wasn't upgraded. I was offended at the communication. The clerk could have simply said "Mrs. carsonheim, we're glad you're staying with us. Unfortunately the club rooms are not available but we have upgraded you to a lovely newly-remodeled room in our executive building. It's really a very comfortable room with x-y-z features. I hope you'll enjoy it!"

Simalar experience with front desk staff. No smile, not much class. This is La Jolla, man, and this is a Sheraton. Sure, it's not in the quaint villiage of LJ but it is LJ nevertheless and I expected more.

Did not enjoy the parking lot view nor being put on that side of the building, given there were 15 cars in the entire place and other rooms were available.

This is more like an off-brand Sheraton, a business Holiday Inn. Parking at a Residence-Inn-like place costing $10 was also a route.

I did like the bar though. WiFi was free, too.

This place needs an attitude change, free parking, free breakfast, and super low rates to be "worth it".

Disappointed with Sheraton La Jolla as a business traveler
 

I stayed here this week as part of mattress run for the 1 free resort night promo during a business trip, and was really disappointed. It's pretty sad as I am trying to stay with SPG instead of Marriott and go to this area frequently for work but this is the only SPG in the area.

Below is my experience:
- I could see the hotel off La Jolla Village Dr and I-5 but couldn't find entrance at first; finally had to plug in address into phone GPS to get into the back entrance. I must have been tired after a long day so I will chalk it up to my error.
- The park, haul luggage to the check in desk, and then haul luggage back to car, and drive to the building your assigned room is in was a total turn off for me as business traveler. I guess if you are a 2nd time+ visitor and know the drill it's okay as you don't haul your luggage with you.
- I got Bldg E, the SPG Elite bldg but my SPG GLD upgrade was a room facing I-5 including the noise of the highway. Thanks for the upgrade! Luckily they changed rooms (thankfully in the same building)
- Buildings are 2-3 story spread around a courtyard; great if you are at a resort not my preference on business trip.
- I also noticed some rooms have exterior door way access (maybe that's my imagination) but the exterior doorway access to rooms was a turn off...very motel like feel.
- Wi Fi was free which is nice
- Room inside was fine (if you don't get the ones with the noise of the highway).
- Checking out, no print out of your receipt under the door per their policy; if you want paper you have to walk over to the desk to pick it up. They e-mail it to you later but I'd like to get paper in hand and throw in into the expense report envelope for later instead of looking for it on multiple e-mail accounts (must be my 20th century habit).
- Checked out; she took my keys but didn't give me the parking validation card so I wasted another 10 mins trying to figure out how the parking gate and then walking back to the lobby.

In general very much a motel feel for the price. My corporate rate at the Hyatt is lower (and it's much nicer hotel even on the inside). I guess it is either back to the Marriott La Jolla for consistency or starting off with Hyatt for that northern San Diego stays going forward.

:td: Sheraton La Jolla

Should be the Sheraton 4 Points La Jolla
 

This hotel simply isn't up to par - it needs a complete remake, and it needs new management: the current management simply doesn't care enough about the property.

Examples:
- Hauling bags 200 yards across a poorly paved parking lot is not a great way to start a stay.
- at check-in, I'm told "we only got your reservation today, so we couldn't give you any kind of upgrade". Which is fine, except that I made the reservatoin on line, via SPG.com, a week earlier. That's ok too - upgrades aren't a big deal on a one night business trip - but the lie isn't pretty.
- I check into room 1xx which is exactly what I booked, except that the doors in the hall all have steel bars at the bottom of the doors and the hallway looks like a prison corridor. It's lit pretty much like a prison too.
- room is ok, except that I learn why there are steel bars at the bottom of the door: you can hear right through them, and the bars close what would otherwise be about a half inch gap at the bottom of the door.
- go to the bar about 6:00pm and there is live entertainment - really! There are about 20 oldsters listening to a singer and a keyboard player - the youngest was 80plus, and she was the singer -and only one bartender. Which meant it took about 10 minutes to get a beer.
- later that evening, I called to request a wake-up call and it took NINE minutes for the operator to answer. When the operator/front desk person finally answered, I said I couldn't believe how long it had taken to answer the phone and he said "too bad". He was, of course, right.
- Checking out the following morning, I noticed another nicety: the entry to the building leads right into a high power transformer that sits right in between the main building and the first guest building. It isn't screened, not even by bushes. Classless, to say the least.
- at checkout, the front desk person asked me how my stay was, so I told her the truth: "it was only ok". She nodded, and said "we need a lot of improvements around here - we hear it all the time".

I won't be staying here again. Bad hotel, bad value.

My wife and I got a suite on a Monday for 7k. It was a two queen with a kitchenette, free waters, and microwaveable popcorn.

Opted for the free drink at the bar as spg gold along with some bacon fries. Food and drink was fine. Bar is a little dark and the wooden rails were a little sticky. Not a great experience for dining nor drinking, but was okay.

The staff is also okay. Our receptionist was thoughtful, but it was a mixed bag with the other staff. After staying at a few Sheratons, the expectation is better than four point and less than westin.

Any recent stays at this property? Thanks.

Also looking for any recent updates since the 2012 reviews suggest hotel was declining in service.

Specifically looking for feedback on plat treatment/upgrades.

Thanks!

Sheraton La Jolla, CA (San Diego) [Master Thread]
 

Stayed last week as a Plat. I would consider this more of a biz hotel than a family spot. Next to the highway. Yes, an ok pool. But doesn't really feel like a holiday place. No Plat upgrade. And bar closed at 11pm and there was nothing to eat or drink there after 11pm.

Also, poor Internet service.

A fine place. But nothing special.

That pretty much matches what I was expecting, with the helpful additional info of no food/drink past 11. Gonna stay at one of the two FS Marriotts instead.

Thanks