Balboa Bay Resort

I was attending a business seminar and had heard about how wonderful the resort was but it far exceeded my expectations. All of the staff I came into contact with were warm, friendly, and genuine in their greetings and service! The room was spacious, luxurious, and had a beautiful balcony which I enjoyed being able to step outside to check on the weather without having to leave my room. The room service was professional, friendly, and delicious. How lovely to be served breakfast in your room and have it be hot, tasty, and prompt! Both employees who manned the front desk were very friendly and quickly took care of my checking in/out and questions. I especially loved having my room tidied up during the day and the turndown service in the evening made me feel like a million! (wish I had that at home!!) I was traveling solo and felt very safe at the hotel. I never gave my safety a thought until just now! I loved the old world elegance of the hotel; not a stark new building but it had the underlying sense of knowing it was truly exceptional without being snooty.

The property is stunning and the staff is very courteous and highly professional, but the experience is undercut by excessive mandatory surcharges. While the hotel promotes the $45 resort voucher as a benefit because it can be used as a dining credit, the addition of the Resort Fee (and Resort Fee Tax) and Tourism Marketing Fees more than offsets that value. These cumulative add-ons significantly inflate the final bill, making the pricing feel deceptive despite the high quality of the grounds and service.

Balboa Bay Resort is a very nice hotel on the water . The rooms were pretty average but nice bathrooms. Our room was over some generator so the room floors vibrated . The restaurant had great service and pretty clean flavorful dishes . We particularly liked the tuna poke bowl and the steak salad . For breakfast - the protein açaí shake and the avocado toast hit the spot . For swimmers - the pool is one of the best for hotels . A 25 meter length pool - very rare for hotels and lane lines . I loved it . The fitness room is under renovation so it the space isn’t so great . The front desk, I would say may need a little more training in customer service . However / the concierge team was amazing .

I called the hotel to ask if they could match a deal I found on Expedia. The representative told me they couldn't and suggested it would be better to book directly with them. When I said I would just book through Expedia instead, she simply said "okay" and made no effort to retain my business. I've stayed at this hotel before and even booked a beachfront room, so this was disappointing. To make matters worse, she then quoted me a price that was higher than what was listed on the hotel's own website. Overall, the interaction made me feel like they didn't care about returning guests or customer service.

I love this resort. It’s sooo beautiful and all of the staff are so friendly. I highly recommend their restaurant A & O as well.