Carlsbad: GPP vs Marbrisa?

[ALF_ENG]

Re: San Diego resorts

Hi.

I stayed at Seapointe and have to say it was one of the worst HGVC-affiliated experiences I've had. Poor service, crappy room (location, furnishings, smell), HORRIFIC parking & elevator situation, paper-thin walls (loud, can't sleep), and the worst kind of fold-out couch beds money can buy at a ghetto garage sale.

IMHO: Definitely go with the newer, HGVC owned & operated property. That's what I'm doing this very weekend, so it's not idle advice. I'll let ya know how it turns out.

The one thing I will say about Seapointe is the location is awesome -- right across the street from the ocean. Can't beat that. Well, unless you use HHONORS points to stay at the Hilton Garden Inn just down the road...

ALF

 

[Amy]

Thanks for the info, Amy: Is Liberty Station a safe area?

I can only assume it is fine; at least no better/worst than staying downtown SD. When I initially looked into the area, I relied on Flyer Talk folks (on the Hhonors board) who recommended that Homewood Suites. It has other good reviews online. On this last trip to SD, we went to the Liberty Station area for dinner one night (at a small hidden and yummy Japanese restaurant). It was dark so all I can say is it looked not much different than rest of that busy part of town. Maybe someone else can comment on this -- start a different thread so folks know you are asking about Liberty Station or check out the Flyer Talk forum.

 

[Amy]

Hi.

I stayed at Seapointe and have to say it was one of the worst HGVC-affiliated experiences I've had. Poor service, crappy room (location, furnishings, smell), HORRIFIC parking & elevator situation, paper-thin walls (loud, can't sleep), and the worst kind of fold-out couch beds money can buy at a ghetto garage sale.

IMHO: Definitely go with the newer, HGVC owned & operated property. That's what I'm doing this very weekend, so it's not idle advice. I'll let ya know how it turns out.

The one thing I will say about Seapointe is the location is awesome -- right across the street from the ocean. Can't beat that. Well, unless you use HHONORS points to stay at the Hilton Garden Inn just down the road...

ALF

Ouch, that sounds like a terrible experience. We had fine service -- broken lightbulb outside the unit did take two calls but A/C/Heat thermostat issue followed up promptly. And we never had any issues with the elevator or parking (and the resort was fully booked during our stay). We also luckily didn't hear any noise from the next unit (and they had at least one young kid) or smell anything bad.

I agree the sofa bed was not that good; you sink down to the spring as soon as you sit down. However, when horizontal, it was tolerable for me with no back aches the next morning (but I'm not that big). The quality of the sofabed is similar to some the blah ones I've slept on at some Hilton hotels. And yes, the furnishings don't compare with the ones at the HGVCs we've stayed at. The furnishings are dated and reminds me of the ones at the Carlsbad Inn before that resort's recent renovation. I guess for us, the location often makes up for less than stellar furnishings if I encounter no other issues. And we didn't encounter the other negatives ALF experienced.

The week before we stayed at the DVC Grand Californian and that was wonderful -- great design, much higher end on everything and fabulous location. But our cost for the DVC stay was significantly higher than our cost for the CS stay. As I stated before, our week at Seapointe was good, too. We adjusted our expectation (lower in advance) and experienced no unusual problems. The grounds are well kept, the kids enjoyed playing fooseball, DH enjoyed the nice exercise facilities, and we found the workers friendly.

Disclaimer: I own a float week at CS and this was our first visit/stay there (via RCI exchange).

 

[chriskre]

We have lived in Carlsbad for 12 years now. Yes, we do get 3-4 days of fog some years, but I wouldn't classify our town as 'foggy'. Overcast, yes -- many days outside of July-September.

Well lucky me, I was there for those four days and it was fog til 11 am everyday.

 

[Cathyb]

If it makes you feel better...

Well lucky me, I was there for those four days and it was fog til 11 am everyday.

We were in Florida in May a few years back and it rained every day at noon-ish and very high humidity. Sorry about your experience. This year it is really crazy -- we had 72 degrees early this week; normally 65-ish.

 

[rebel]

Everyone has thier own opnion so here is mine. A couple of years ago we had a reservation at Seapointe. When we showed up it looked nice but they screwed it up and had no rooms. They sent us to the Carlsbad Inn. Boy it was a dump. Old dark rooms with old furnishings. We went to Marbrisa to see if there was anything they could do. They were great. They could only give us a studio the first night but then got us a one bedroom for the rest of our stay. Yes it is still in the building stag. But I would take it over any of the other places in Carlsbad becaue it new and has the HGVC standards.

 

[chriskre]

Carlsbad Inn appears to have been remodeled recently cause it certainly wasn't dumpy anymore.