James Luckard

Nope, it's a new and separate hotel. The owners of the property, which already has a Sheraton and a Hilton Grand Vacations, are building a Westin behind the Sheraton, on a currently empty plot:

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/...near-legoland/

I tagged the site of the Westin on Wikimapia, you can see it here:

http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=33...07817&z=17&m=b

EDIT - 12/31/22
I was wrong, in the end. More detailed description below.

mackenzie77

Stayed here in January. Pretty mixed feelings. My view of the visit depends on what I particular aspect I remember.

-They wouldn't waive the resort fee for me at the desk. Called in later and tha employee waived it for me.
-We were upgraded to a 'suite'. Like above, it was more like a slightly bigger room. I'm more bugged by the way they name designate their rooms than I would have been if I hadn't received this 'upgrade'.
-I agree about the front desk staff. They weren't super helpful though I don't know if that was because they were young or because they were understaffed. I didn't see anyone at the concierge desk most of the times I passed.
-The grounds and pool are nice enough, the gym was fine though they definitely need more benches in there.
-I was pleased with the service in the restaurant. One server (I believe her name was Teresa) was just awesome. The best interaction I've had with a server in a long time while staying in a SW hotel.
-Upon checkout, saw that we got meals charged to our room that weren't ours. That took nearly an hour to resolve. I could have left but I was heading back overseas and wasn't confident at all that they would take care of it.
-Wanted to print my itineraries and whatnot on my way out.....oh, all the lobby printers were offline.
-Valets and porters were good fellas. Polite, pleasant, fast.

So yes, a mixed visit. Some things were definitely annoying but I guess the other parts helped balance things out so that I would still consider staying there again.

faithful

Stayed recently on SPG Nights and Flights and was pleased with the stay.

Got upgraded to top floor with ocean view (the ocean is in the distance) and enjoyed the stay very much. ^

It's a nice resort and conveniently located. The grounds are well kept, and the people were pleasant and helpful.
The restaurant has great options and the Tapas Night was definitely worth a try.

I would definitely come back and have recommended the hotel to others.

9volt

Anyone stay here recently? Family and I are looking to stay here for our trip to Legoland, and I was wondering Plats are allowed to take the breakfast amenity in the restaurant. If not, how's the breakfast in the lounge? Any hot items? Or the usual breads and pastries, fruits, and coffee/tea?

anothertraveller12

There wasn't a lounge anymore when I stayed there a couple of months ago, I think it's been gone for a while.

Per faithful's experience above, I had a very similar experience. Convenient location, nice enough hotel and rooms, got a bump in room category as a Gold. The private entrance to Legoland is outstanding.

sylaw72

hi, does anyone have any recent experience with late checkout request?
being this is a resort, it's not guaranteed (?)
if there is availability, do they still allow for it.

thanks

mackenzie77

YMMV. Couldn't confirm at check-in but called their house line on my 2nd day and the associate confirmed my 3pm request.

9volt

Just completed a 2 night award stay here, 8/30 - 9/1. 10k points per night.

Booked a standard king room and was upgraded to a Marbrisa suite at check-in. Had a view of the hills and ocean off in the distance. Suite was a decent size. Had a sofa bed in the living room, a 4 chair dining table, and a separate bedroom with door (not just a partition). Only 1 sink in the bathroom though.

Requested late check out and was offered 1pm, so I took it. Didn't really need 4pm checkout anyway. Took the breakfast benefit as my platinum amentity which gave us a credit of $32.40... I think? Wife and I couldn't really figure out our bill but basically our breakfasts were covered plus some of the tax. We ended up having to pay for our coffees plus gratuity.

The private Legoland entrance is about a 5 minute walk from the lobby, or faster if you can catch a golf cart. We didn't use the pool or gym, as we were in Legoland all day each day. You can see the Westin under construction next door, but we didn't hear any construction noise from our room.

Resort fee was $16 per day and parking was $12 per day. Upon check out, I asked if the resort fee could be waived as a Platinum member. Receptionist said she would waive it as a one time courtesy.

All in all, I'm very pleased with my stay and would have no qualms about staying here again. Although, if we go back to Legoland, I'd want to try the new Westin.

theranj

Was here from August 1 - August 3 with a family of 4.

We booked a basic room and got upgraded to a suite (no view) thru our Amex Platinum / Starwoods Gold membership...I'd say room was $30 / night more than what we booked. Also received a $15 drink credit upon check-in and a free dessert each night.

The hotel / pool were great, and Legoland private entrance was nice as well, if we ever go to Carlsbad again would not hesitate to stay here

ducky9

azmojo

Nevermind.

azmojo

Thought I would complete a review since there's not a lot of details about recent stays on here. We arrived on a Monday, checking in for 2 nights to enjoy Legoland with 2 4-year olds.

Check-in was smooth but unless I pre-empted the agent before she had the chance to say or ask, I had to inquire about all of my elite benefits as a Platinum Elite leading me to think that they don't value their elites too much. First I asked if there was an upgrade available since we could really use the space of a larger room or suite. I don't think she would have checked had I not asked. She checked and said no, they were quite busy (although I never really saw too much activity around the hotel to back this up, not that that necessarily means anything). I've seen other comments here that upgrades at this hotel are hard to get. I always wonder if I get screwed on upgrades as I expect that even if I'm just getting a standard room at least it would have a view or something, but no, my room was 2nd floor in the rear of the hotel with a view of the embankment behind the hotel. Not a huge deal, I just would think that as Platinum Elite I would default to the other side of the hotel with the better view.

Late checkout: Was not offered late CO at CI, but was given 4pm when I asked.

Lounge? No lounge. I was not offered points or breakfast as required by T&Cs. I wasn't 100% confident on this so I researched this later and at checkout I asked for points compensation. The agent didn't know anything about this so she referred me to follow up with managers later. I did when I got home and was even given extra points! Still though, I would have expected the staff to be used to handing out points since they don't have lounge. but clearly not very many are making requests.

Welcome gift? Again as I sensed she was about to wrap up I told her I wanted the breakfast for the welcome gift, otherwise I think she would have defaulted to points. Breakfast is actually a $15 credit (for each person (2)) for the restaurant. At the (Mile 7) restaurant there is no self-serve, so there is no way to avoid tipping and of course tax. There is a menu item called "continental breakfast" that is $15 which is what the amount is based on I presume. The restaurant prices are a bit high. On the breakfast menu, getting a side of 1 egg is $4. Also offensive is the statement on the menu, "In support of the California minimum wage law, 3% will be added to your bill." This may not be 100% accurate but pretty close. "In support of?" As if it's optional! How about some honesty: "In lieu of raising prices to comply with the new minimum wage laws we're tacking on a 3% surcharge?" Please don't pretend to be doing something noble.

Legoland: The private entrance to LL was completely worth it. It opens into the back of the park and we were able to get right into the submarine ride and dragon roller coaster before the masses came in from the front entrance. Was super nice not having to drive and just walking over to the park.

There is a $20 resort fee and $18 self parking fee even for Platinum Elites. They gave us a tag to put on our dashboard for parking; however, I don't think anyone ever checks as we forgot to put our tag in the window and nothing happened. There were plenty of parking spaces (hence my assessment about not being busy). I think you could lie about parking and get away without paying for parking. Not that I advocate such a thing, but if they are going to charge a resort fee AND for parking and they have plenty of parking... not sure why they have to charge more for it other than they can.

hindolio

Recent 2 night stay going to Legoland and I agree with the above sentiments from azmojo and duck9. The property is overall nice, better than a typical Sheraton from my limited experience with the brand. The room was clean, modern and functional, probably recently remodeled as there were numerous USB ports everywhere and good lighting. The bed was a little soft for my taste, though.

The private entrance is about a 6-10 minute walk from the lobby through a parking lot (shared by the Sheraton, Westin and Hilton properties) and a sloped walkway with a few stairs. If you dread the walk (especially with kids) after a long day, you should be able to park in that lot and closer to the lego entrance to make your walk shorter).

I will second the good pizza at Mile 7 Kitchen. As for the chicken wings, tomato soup, and pretty much any breakfast items, they were just okay. Platinum and above gets you the $15 credit at Mile 7 or the Westin Twenty/20 restaurant. The dessert card gets you only gelato at Sheraton, but any dessert at Westin.

Overall, service at either restaurant (during breakfast at Mile 7 or dinner at Twenty/20) was miserably slow while we dined. It felt like a lack of staff and/or kitchen issues as neither restaurant was especially busy.

The highlight for me at the Sheraton was the pool as mentioned above. It was crowded on a Sunday, but the pool was still big enough for infants and teens to have fun.

Can anyone confirm the Platinum Elite benefits at the Sheraton Carlsbad? I was only given a choice of the $15 daily breakfast credit or points as my welcome amenity. When I asked about breakfast since there is no lounge, I was told that they do not automatically offer breakfast since they are a resort property. Reading the Plat T&Cs, it seems this is not the case, though.

Out of my Element

Any recent stays? Spa caught our eye. Less interested in the Legoland connection but is this good for adults looking for a nice hotel, pool, and spa?

James Luckard

The news coverage was confusing back in 2016, when the Sheraton and Westin were being sorted out on the same property, and I posted information that proved to be incorrect in the end, so I wanted to provide a clear explanation.

It's most easily done using a map of the property:


This is the current 2022 layout.

The original Sheraton Hotel, opened in 2008, consisted of the purple guestroom building 2, the blue guestroom building 1, and the lobby building, with the numbers 16-23 on it.

The original plan for the Westin, announced in Dec 2015, was that it would be a small boutique hotel located in two new buildings - 71 guestrooms in building 3 and 36 timeshares in a V-shaped building behind it, not pictured on this map.

In the end, they went a different way, and converted almost the entire existing Sheraton into the Westin, as well as the eastern of the two new buildings. The V-shaped new building was made into part of the surrounding Mar Brisa timeshare resort.

One guestroom wing of the Sheraton, building 2, remained Sheraton-branded. They then built a brand-new second lobby building for the new Sheraton, numbered 6-11 on the map, a brand-new second pool complex for the Sheraton, numbered 12 and 13, and a new second guestroom wing for the Sheraton, 4 on the map.

The two hotels both opened in 2018, each containing portions of the 2008 hotel.

Hope that helps clarify what was the old Sheraton and how most of it ended up as the Westin.

It's made especially confusing because they tried to simplify it in all the press releases, like this one:

https://www.prweb.com/releases/2018/...eb15495950.htm

They all talk about the "brand new" Westin, when most of the Westin is actually the existing 2008 Sheraton structures. The fact that they actually slid the Sheraton business basically 1000 feet to the northwest into a largely new complex was too confusing to explain to people.