Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa

For a highly rated resort, the service was not impressive or genuinely warm. There was only one restaurant open and it was more like a cocktails place. You are stuck for food choices if you have no car staying at this place as there is no room service. Although they offered shuttle pickups after dropoff at La Jolla town centre restaurants, one time I waited in the windy cold for an hour but no one turned up and did not inform the restaurant from where I called, that they were not turning up. I was told later when I got back (by Uber) after giving up on the shuttle, that the driver had gone off for his break, then he should have informed me or the restaurant but didn't bother. Estancia should also instruct their Security officer that its not right for them to enter a guest's room even if they helped open the door (at that time the keycard access system was being changed for all rooms and my keycard did not work) to check a guest's passport, but that they can wait outside the room. It did not occur to me then to check if that was security as they did not have a badge/pass to indicate so. This place is more like a convention hotel for companies rather than a charming experience that I had expected it to be.

This is by far the worst wedding vendor I've work with while planning my wedding. I'm planning my wedding in San Diego from NYC and chose Estancia as my hotel for out of town guests. BIG Mistake!!! I was initially going to hold two events here during my wedding weekend but they are being held at another hotel because of the poor service. Initially the venue was beautiful with such a luxurious pool & spa. The group sales manager was responsive until the contract for the room block was signed and then it began to take a long time to return emails or phone calls. The Group event manager John never said congratulations or made me feel special. I know this property holds a lot of events but I seriously felt like a number and super unimportant. The group rate sounded like a good deal when we initially spoke. John from Estancia told me the rate was about $50 less per night than they charge in July. But my guests easily found the same room online for $50-80 per night below the contracted rate so they booked online and did not use my room block link. The room block was suppose to be a better deal for a large group. However, Estancia has a clause that if guests aren't booking rooms at the hotel the bride can be held financially responsible. My guests booked rooms at the hotel be did it not at my contracted rate since it was higher than their advertised price online. The group sales manager called me to talk about how very few of the rooms had been booked for my block. I told him that guests were booking online to get a better deal. I asked to have the online rate matched. He threatened to sue me per the contract unless guests booked under my block. Apparently it's in the contract that the Hotel Estancia's revenue goals are not met then the bride & groom will be presented with a bill that if they don't pay they will immediately be sued even if the rooms are rented by other guests or if guests of the wedding make reservations outside the hotel block. How rude! I tried to get someone else or a manager of this manager but no one would help me. I called several times for a few weeks. I tried the front desk and the 800 number but kept getting this same guy John so I basically gave up and moved on with the event planning. I thought the group rate was supposed to be a discount compared to what guests can book themselves. at least that's what they told me when speaking with group sales initially. It seems like Estancia is going to meet their revenue goals for my wedding so good for them but it's really been at my expense. Several awesome friends were nice enough to cxl online reservations and move to my room block so we would meet the minimum to not get sued by the Estancia because the revenue requirements for the room block are not met. But this was really embarrassing to have to tell my wedding guests that we would be sued they didn't change their reservations to pay more per nigh!!! About a month later, I asked if we could get group transporting to the wedding venue and the group sales wrote an excruciatingly long winded email that basically said they don't do group transportation to weddings. Which is odd because when we toured the property they showed us a Mercedes Van for group transportation to events.... This time I absolutely lost it with them and was really fed up. I talked to a friend who suggested that I call Bacarra. So I called the sister resort and told them what was going on and asked for help getting ahold of someone else with Estancia. Got the Hotel GM's email & number and they finally agreed to use the Van to take guests to the wedding. They are still not very responsive and seem to be grudgingly polite with me. IThe sales manager of managers Brad seems to be somewhat easier to deal with and he did say congratulations which was very refreshing. However, we are still technically under the required number of rooms for our event. The Estancia agreed to allow a couple guests to be listed under our reservation even though they booked outside of our wedding block. I've asked for updated reports again to prove we are now at the contracted number of rooms but they are very unresponsive. I'm trying to document everything as they already verbally threatened me with legal action. I really hope this all works itself out and that we have a reasonable solution to all this. Initially I wanted to have my spa day before the wedding and post wedding brunch with Estancia as well as my welcome party. But due to the problems with communication I moved forward with other event spaces. You guys have a beautiful property. I wish the communication was warmer and that brides were treated with greater care & kindness by your team. I have written 3 emails and made several calls to the hotels General Manager, Mairead Hennessy about this and have received no response from her. I still don't have updated reports from the hotel to prove that we are meeting The Estancia's revenue goals for our room block even though I have reached out extensively for several days. I called 7 times yesterday and sent many emails to the group sales team. My wedding date is less than 2 weeks away and this is so unbelievable.

This is a wonderful property that is really a 4 ½ to 5 star experience held back by front desk staffing issues (never enough and under trained) and housekeeping hiccups (it is a very, very clean property but the use of cleaning agents seems excessive at times and as is the case with most other competitors,,language barriers exist). Certainly the price paid to stay here is fair (even after $25 resort fee and $30 valet parking -- almost all nearby properties charge the same). Although there are no ocean views, almost every room has an enchanting view or balcony overlooking a courtyard, pool or interesting passageway. The pool area is on the smaller side by cool music, lots of comfortable lounge chairs and better than average pool food make you want to stay longer. The outdoor spa tub at the pool is clean, properly charged and heated and extraordinarily relaxing. Full SPA is available poolside but the onsite fitness area is too small for a property of this size. Every room comes with a free and very decent bottle of California is wine. I really enjoy staying at this hotel.

I loved this place the moment I drove in the drive. It has a warm feel and the staff was excellent. We enjoyed our stay so much we are coming back next month for our anniversary! It's laid back yet very elegant. You can't beat the room prices either. Food was excellent but pricey. It was well worth every moment and penny spent!

Ideal La Jolla location. California Spanish feel. Beautiful landscaped grounds. Hotel offers convenient transport down to the nearby La Jolla Village. Nice staff, quick to respond. On Premise Restaurant and spa.