Fairmont Grand Del Mar

Beautiful hotel . So relaxing never had to leave the property . The staff were excellent!! Nok at the front desk went above and beyond to help. Juan and Brent in valet were so sweet and helpful. Ignacio at the restaurant was wonderful. We asked for him every time we went to eat . We spent the day at the pool and I did not get names but the bar staff was great .

We just checked in today with our two kids ages 5 and 3.5. The property is massive and the grounds are well kept. The equestrian center is phenomenal - Carmen is a great instructor and our kids and myself had a great experience riding horses. The hotel itself is dated. When we checked into the room it had a very unpleasant stench, reminiscent of a funeral home. The wallpaper is peeling off the walls and the carpet is coming apart from the hard flooring edges. When we were by the pool twice in one day the service was inconsistent. We couldn’t find a pool attendant to help with chair setup, so we did it ourselves. Not a big deal…if we weren’t paying $1k per night. Also ordered food which was not great. I ordered a hot honey chicken sandwich that was neither hot - spicy or temperature wise. The cheddar cheese slice was still cold and slapped on as an after thought. We were just at a comparable 5-star resort in Ojai that blows this place out of the water. I’d say this hotel overall is not a 5 star hotel…and quite overpriced for the accommodations and service.

This hotel couldn't have been any better than it was while celebrating a family birthday. The rooms are spacious and luxurious, the staff are so welcoming and accomodating, especially Christian and the vistas are more than we imagined. We only spent 4 days but we will return as soon as possible. Very beautiful and relaxing. Food was excellent, property beyond beautiful.

My husband booked this hotel through our Chase bank rewards for our Anniversary. The hotel grounds and room were lovely. But the restaurant, bar and food were a 1/10! It’s unbelievable that for such an expensive hotel that they have audacity to serve sub par very expensive food! Our dinner besides the bread were inedible! I was expecting a Michelin star chef style meal for such a hotel. It was worse than a Dennys! We had some tiny croquettes in the bar and they were cold crunchy and $22. Drinks overpriced. They serve tiny cans of beer for $11! No draught beers. My husbands $80 filet had been sliced into pieces like a carvery and raw with an inedible sour sauce. My chicken was overcooked like rubber sticking to my teeth and the fries were tasteless and cost extra! The breakfast was a whole other event, only a handful of inattentive staff. No servers ever came over to ask if we were doing ok. The breakfast itself was a 2/10. Served with tiny round hard sausages that needed a steak knife to cut into and you couldn’t chew them. Plus bitter coffee. The kicker though was the spa! I booked a facial and looking at their offerings a 90 minute facial was $398. Pretty expensive for a facial but it was an anniversary gift. So went, had it done. It was a 4/10, nothing special to be honest. I go to pay and the woman that works on the desk in the spa was totally inept! I don’t think I have ever met anyone so confused my a simple task and took an hour to do something. She knew absolutely nothing about any of the service or products and kept making phone calls to the staff to ask things like what hand cream they used! She was unemployable and it was like a comedy sketch! After my facial, she passed me the bill to sign and said “gratuity has been added, so you don’t need to worry about it” when I looked at the presented bill she not only added a 30% $89 gratuity but had added an extra $130 onto the facial! So I was presented an almost $600 bill! I do believe this hotel is on a rip off scam to its guests like others have stated in previous reviews on here! I could not believe it! I said to her first of all I had no extras added to my service and she said well it says “starts at” next to the cost of the facial! So I said yes that’s if you add extra things surely? I didn’t! So then she said well the thing is the prices are different at different times of the day and days of the week! So I replied “that is ludicrous and it doesn’t say that, nor was I informed that if I came at 2pm not 10am that the price would be $130 more! And I want the tip taking to 15% which was still over a $50 tip may I add! The staff are earning more in tips than a doctor earns! Finally as if it couldn’t get worse, try getting valet to bring your car! Expect over an hours wait as they have one girl on the desk plus three runners. Oh as a last kicker $70 in valet fee! Needless to say we won’t ever be visiting this hotel ever again. They ruined our wedding anniversary and I will be writing to Chase to tell them their luxury hotel choices need evaluation! I’ve stayed in many top hotels in the world and trust me this isn’t one of them. If they gave me a free weekend, I wouldn’t go!

Amazing property and service. We came here on a family vacation. From the start the service was first class. The deluxe room is large with a European style bathroom. The service was detail oriented like keeping your coffee machine full of water. The staff was authentic and very accommodating. The room did not have a microwave but the offered to bring one. Location is also great. It is a short drive to La Jolla, the zoo, and airport. The only drawback was limited hours for drinks and food at the bar.