La Valencia Hotel

Visited June 2017 as a couple (mid-twenties), Vintage Ocean room #1115, booked through budget online travel-agency. The room: clean, compact but big enough to move around. It really does have a vintage feel to it, without feeling old. Our room was on a corner and had two walls with windows. Listed as an ocean view online, but much more city view than ocean. The east facing wall was 100% city-view, and the south facing wall allowed a peek of ocean, but a lot of city. We didn't spend a ton of time in the room, but it wasn't a huge problem. We would've liked a balcony, but didn't want to spend the money. Conveniently, there was a sort of shared balcony at the end of the hall that had a table and a couple chairs. Got our ocean view fix there for no extra cost. It would have been nice to take breakfast out there one day, but I'll get to that below. Housekeeping and turn-down service were perfect. The Pool: Get there sort of early to guarantee a chair, maybe by 10 or so. It can be a little tricky to get two chairs together if you wait too late in the day. The chairs themselves are very comfortable. Apparently the pool is heated, but it didn't seem all that warm. Clean water, certainly no complaints. There is a hot tub, didn't try it out but it's in kind of a secluded area of the pool area which seemed nice. Towels provided, plenty of umbrellas, and nearby restrooms. There's also a full bar at the pool. I cannot stress this enough: the pool staff was awesome. Very attentive, friendly, helpful moving chairs or umbrellas if asked, and overall very personable. The staff in general was good, the pool guy was downright perfect. We dedicated most of a day just to relaxing at the pool and drinking. Got sunburned. Worth it. Kevin was the freaking man, and I got a little disappointed that he had the day off our last day there. Staff: Valets were great, front desk was courteous and quick, housekeeping worked like ninjas. Nothing negative to say about anyone we dealt with at any point. When the concierge is away, the front desk takes over. My wife got a late night cheesecake craving, so I approached him with that. He knew right off the bat which places were still open and within walking distance, then started pulling up their menus online to make sure. We got a delicious dessert at a nearby restaurant thanks to his quick work. Value: Room itself was a good value. You could probably find a cheaper AirBnB or maybe a cheaper hotel closer to San Diego, but you're not going to get the same level of service and comfort that you'll get at La V. We are not rich people and we've never stayed at a luxury 5-star resort. We fly coach, take one vacation every few years because that's how long it takes to save up for it. La V was perfect for making us feel luxurious, accommodated, and serviced while still being within our budget. Restaurant: We only had one meal at the hotel restaurant: breakfast on our last day. We had a more enjoyable meal at another nearby place, and we had a much worse meal somewhere else. Price was all similar. The service was good, ticket time was nothing unbearable, and the view is pretty fantastic if you're out on the balcony seating. We did not order any room service due to the automatic gratuity and the extra service/delivery charge. Looking back, I'd probably try dinner there one night. I'm sure it would be good. There was live music several of the nights we were there. Good crown turnout even during the week. We were never disturbed by (or even noticed) the noise. On arrival to San Diego, I called to see if an early check in was possible. They said "maybe" so we drove up there. Once we got to the desk (around noon), I was told that they could get me in a lower level room around one, or a top-floor room (as I requested) by four. I opted to wait for the top floor room. They were very accommodating, took our luggage, and provided pool keys so we could go get some sun. They took until almost exactly four to have the room ready. I DO NOT hold that against them. That's their listed check-in time and I was aware of that before we got there. They even offered the lower level room early. All good. Complaints: I try not to let this type of stuff get to me and let it affect my visit. I think I succeeded in that, but I feel that it's fair that people are aware of the issues I experienced. --When we got to our room, I found that the safe was present but completely missing the keypad. A phone call to the desk, maintenance was up and had it swapped out in less than an hour from the time of the call. A quick response was appreciated, but I seriously doubt that the last guest to check out of that room just happened to be the one to take the panel. --The fire alarm began sounding at around 8am our first morning for between twenty and thirty minutes. It was an extremely unpleasant way to start the day, and the only compensation offered from the hotel was a free beer at the pool (which only happened because I mentioned the alarm to one of the pool guys). I can understand the alarm going off. But it shouldn't take thirty minutes to determine if there is or is not a fire and silence an alarm system in 2017. --Valet parking is $30/day. That seemed crazier to me before I got to La Jolla. Turns out, they can charge that because parking is EXTREMELY limited in the city, and even if you find it, you won't be able to stay overnight. La Jolla is a mix of 2 minute, 3 minute, 20 minute, 1 and 2 hour parking zones. There is (what appears to be) a city-owned parking garage nearby, but it did not appear that they allowed overnight parking. Basically, if you have a car....you absolutely need to plan for $30/day. That said, the valets were friendly, the car was always ready to go if I called down in advance, and you can come and go as many times as you like. That said, I am not tipping a valet when I'm paying $30 to park. I'd happily park it myself across the street (where the valet parking lot is) and walk, but that isn't an option. --Honor bar with ludicrously priced snacks and alcohol. Small fridge in in the dresser (which I did not discover until the last day, to my own shame). --The elevator is just godawful. It's really bad. Possibly it is original to the building? A single elevator services eleven floors, including the lobby level, so it gets a lot of use. It is very small, very slow, and perhaps is one of the "dumbest" elevators I've ever used. It had a tendency to either skip your destination in order to pick up a different floor, or not come to your floor before going all the way back down. It was almost like the elevator would forget about you for several minutes, or just come whenever it got a chance. Also, after the first day's fire alarm, the elevator was out of commission until the late evening, possibly into the next morning. We made numerous trips up and down from the eleventh floor because the elevator took ages to arrive or was continuously packed full of other guests. I realize it would be costly and extremely inconvenient to improve, but at least make the stairway seem like you're not walking down a bare concrete maintenance corridor. --WiFi SUCKED. Unfortunately, my wife had some work she had to do (on vacation, sadly) and we were expecting usable WiFi. In the room and at the pool, the connection was slow, unreliable, and extremely frustrating. It seems that it's time for an equipment upgrade; usable WiFi should absolutely be a standard feature in a $350/night hotel. Doing work on vacation sucks, but not being able to get it done efficiently sucks more. Overall: I was really happy with the stay. The rest of the reviews here demonstrate that there is absolutely a good reason to stay at La V. If I were to visit La Jolla again, I would likely stay at La V and I'd recommend it to a friend. It can be pricey, but it's the California coast in a gorgeous city, everything is pricey. I highly recommend it and thoroughly enjoyed my stay.

My Fiance and I spent 3 days here during our 7 day California vacation and La Valencia Hotel was hands down the best part of our trip! The staff was superb and provided us with the best service we've ever experienced. Our room, the view, and the pool area was absolutely gorgeous and I guarantee you'll not be disappointed during your stay.

The La Valencia is a magical place. Pure paradise. It's looking over the cove of La Jolla so the view is spectacular. We woke up to the sounds of birds chirping and seals barking every morning. Our room was very roomy and comfortable. The restaurants and pool area are beautiful. The staff was all very accommodating and lovely. Can't go wrong with the convenience of the hotel being right in the middle of the beautiful town as well.

The hotel was very impressive on arrival. We had paid for a room with a balcony but were given one which did not have one. We both felt very uncomfortable in that room, difficult to describe. We changed the following day and moved into a bungalow which was stunning. No real gripes, front desk got the bill wrong at the end, repeatedly , which was a touch embarrassing, but a nice hotel in a classy town. If back in la jolla may go somewhere that doesn't take itself so seriously but not quite pull it off.

Although LaValencia is definitely a beautiful property in the perfect location, our expectation of a luxurious experience was not met due to a reservation switch that occurred at check-in. I had booked a king without an oceanview directly with the hotel. However, on arrival, we were assigned a vintage king with an "oceanview". We did not request an oceanview. We assumed that we were getting a comparable room to the one we booked but that the view was an upgrade. Not so. The vintage king rooms are very small with even smaller baths. In fact, the vintage kings are 250 square feet and the bathrooms, although updated, have a single sink, no vanity, no tub and a toilet squeezed in. The view is only visible if you stand by the window and look over the rooftops next door. Although we were disappointed with the room, we simply assumed that all of the rooms were small as this is an old property. We didn't realize that we had been switched to this smaller room until I finally rechecked my reservation and compared the room I had booked to the one we were assigned. In addition, for two of the nights, the rate for the room was less than what we were being charged. I spoke to the reservation clerk who agreed to give us a minor rate reduction( $25 for each night and she met the posted rate for the last night)and offered to move us for the last night. As we were only staying one more night, we opted not to move. I think the most unfortunate part of this was that we had truly been looking forward to a very special stay and this episode left us feeling very negatively about our experience. Because of this, I thought I should share my feelings with the manager and I had an excellent discussion with him. He was quite apologetic and indicated that the reservation clerk probably thought we would love an oceanview. I let him know that the same room switch was made to another guest who I had overheard complaining at the front desk. We both agreed that if such changes are being made, the guests should be adequately informed that the view would result in a much smaller room. Because of the genuine concern and frank discussion I had with the manager, I have been reluctant to write a negative review. However, I just want caution everyone to be sure they are assigned the room they booked and if they are dissatisfied, they should inform the front desk right away! This is such a special property, don't let an unpleasant experience ruin your stay.