Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines

This place is strong, especially for folks in town for UCSD events, like we were. The facilities are a little on the dated side, but that means little given the location, pool area, customer service & food. My family was here for 4 days while my daughter was attending UCSD orientation and we really, really enjoyed ourselves. The food at the hotel restaurant was top notch (expensive, but dee-​lish-​us!), the hot tub & pool (towel service & right off Torrey Pines CC golf course) were perfect, the employees all over the place were sincerely focused on guest experience and the location of this hotel, and its views over the golf course and of the sunset, is … simply perfect. Would stay here again in a heartbeat.

The room was okay, but the hidden «Resort Fee» charges and «Parking» charges were excessive and a surprise charge when we were checking out. The total for those charges for a two day stay were $ 106.62 that was not disclosed up front. We signed up for a $ 153.81 per room and ended up paying $ 207.12 per night with all the hidden fees. Very deceptive. Also, when we checked in they gave us a complementary coupon for a free appetizer in their Hotel Restaurant. When we went to order our dinner we were told that the coupon was only good at the bar, not the dinning room which was 20′ away from the bar. They wouldn’t honor the coupon. Definitely will never return to this Hotel.

Recently spent two nights at the Hilton in Torrey Pines, CA with my wife to celebrate our 17^th wedding anniversary. This place is very nice and high end. We booked a room over looking the court yard with a window that opened so we could experience the golf course and ocean view and leave the window open to experience the ocean breeze which was very nice. However, on the first night a dog’s barking echoing through the court yard kept us awake as we were trying to fall asleep at about midnight. There was also a strong smell of someone smoking weed coming through the window. I called the front desk to ask them if they could do something about the dog and they said they would send a security guard out to walk the property to try and find what balcony the dog was on. Then we heard someone shout out SHUT YOUR F… ING DOG UP! The barking continued for at least another hour. Needless to say this is not something you would expect at a high end hotel on the Torrey Pines golf course. Dog barking, someone shouting/​cussing, marijuana smell in the middle of the night… not at all what I was expecting to experience at the Hilton in a nice area like Torrey Pines/​La Jolla.
Also, at check out my bill was $ 561.50 on a printed receipt. However, the next day a charge showed up on my credit card for $ 705. I had to spend about 30 minutes on the phone being transferred around to resolve this issue that is still not resolved to my satisfaction. They gave a complicated explanation about the hotel charging my card an extra $ 100 per night in case I spent money on «incidentals.» I spent a total of $ 8.00 on «incidentals» and I have no idea why they could not have handled this at check out. They said the extra charges on my card «should» fall if in a few days. Just one more thing to follow up and check in a few days.
I was not going to complain about the barking dog and weed smell, but now that I had to spend a great amount of time resolving the charges to my credit card I am mentioning.
When you stay at a hotel that charges $ 250+ per night you do not expect these types of issues and poor customer service.

I guess I didn’t do a thorough enough job researching hotel options in La Jolla, because I was quite disappointed with the location of the hotel. While it does have an ocean view from the pool (and maybe other spots in the hotel/​resort), it doesn’t scream resort. The hotel is located near university and medical research buildings associated with Scripps. From the street side, the neighborhood is really boring. It is relatively close to the Torrey Pines State Reserve (about a two mile walk) and is a bit farther from the beach access. There is also a dearth of restaurants close by. Most of the spots that came up were obviously there to serve the medical students and staff. The next time we go to La Jolla, I would definitely prefer a hotel nearer to the Cove, which is a much more quaint and picturesque area. The good restaurants we chose to visit were all in the Cove area.
Maybe I’m just not a resort person, but for the price of the room, I didn’t really feel like we got much. The resort fee (an additional $ 27 a day) gets you:
Access to the tennis and basketball courts
Pool and jacuzzi (what hotel doesn’t have these?
On-​site fitness center
Access to a larger fitness center close by
Wifi (again, most hotels offer free in-​room wifi)
Two bottles of water per day
The pool and spa area were nice enough, but could have been better. Plus, a $ 29 per day parking fee is tacked on to the room charges. While we were there, the jacuzzi was broken, which sucked.
The good:
Customer service– upon reporting the jacuzzi, we were offered vouchers for the breakfast buffet. They were delivered to our room along with a hand-​written note, which was a very nice gesture. The other staff we encountered were all equally friendly and polite.
The room was spacious and well decorated in a modern style with a little balcony. I particularly liked the large bathroom and shower. Everything seemed very clean and up-​to-​date (except the hair dryer, which looked like it had seen better days).
All in all though, I’d prefer to spend less on a room and potentially take a decrease in «luxury» for a hotel in a better area.

A really nice hotel on the golf course at Torrey Pines. It could definitely use a few improvements, but also has a lot to offer…
Things I like:
+ It definitely feels like a luxury resort
+ The pool and hot tub area, along with a patio and fire pits, are nicely placed at the center of the hotel, facing the golf course, looking over the bluff
+ The room is really nice, air conditioning works well, and the one I was in had a nice view of the pool area
+ Staff is super friendly and helpful
+ I didn’t get to eat at the restaurant (let the other members of my party use the free breakfast), but I was told it was great for both breakfast and dinner.
Things I didn’t like:
— When you stay somewhere so expensive, it really sucks to get hit with a $ 30/​day parking fee on top of your room rate (note: you can get some free street parking across the road…)
— Shower didn’t drain well – major pet peeve of mine
— The place is a maze and it’s not easy to get from 1 place to another (recommend trying to get a room on floors 1 or 3 based on ease of getting around)
— Couldn’t get my check out time later than 1pm (wanted 1:30 or 2pm) without paying a fee. I understand the reason for this, but it was a super bummer and I can’t imagine they had that many people coming in Sunday night (though it’s a big conference center, so maybe a lot of business people stay there…)

Nice hotel /​resort but utterly lacking in customer service and pointless resort fees that are irrelevant to Hilton Honors members (like free wifi). Hotel is also a bit of a ghost town. Will only return if need to do so.

Not worth the money. Hotel is at beautiful location but the service, room, amenities are 2 star hotel at best. I had problems in the room, parking, receipt printing. Overall terrible experience, will not return!

Rat in the hallway
Had us running down the hallway hoping it doesn’t get in our room.
Then had to check the room to make sure he didn’t have a little friend with him. Security tried to get him but he sprinted down the hallway and who knows what happened next. Hope they caught him.

Overall good but the WiFi was horrible. If you are here conducting business and need good reliable fast WiFi this is not the place for you.
The gym was full of the inferior Precor brand machines, much less desirable than the Life Fitness brand. The elliptical machine was very awkward and definitely not ergonomic to your body. Free weights were very very limited.
The ground floor which has room numbers in the 1000s is dark even when all lights are on in your guest room. I had room 1071. There was no towel rack at the sink and the towel rack for the bath towels was out of reach when I was finished with a shower since the sliding door of the shower was the farthest from the towel rack which was not properly planned.

I stayed here for one night, visiting SD for a friends’ baby shower.
While I didn’t make use of the scenic Golf course or ate at the restaurant, I enjoyed my time at the Hilton. Mostly because I got a good deal (regular room prices are ~$ 200).
The rooms are decently sized, have comfortable beds, a/​c, balcony, a lounge chair and a long desk. The bathroom is very modern, and comes with a bath tub.
It’s a little bit dark in the rooms though, but I like the size and the comfort.
I didn’t really like the $ 30 per night for parking, even for paying hotel guests. If this fee would be waived I’d surely book again here.

Room was great and location but the two stars came from the lack of customer service at the restaurant within the hotel … & honestly me and friends were not impressed with the food or drinks there … Truly disappointment being that the hotel & grounds are so beautiful!!! Each time bad hostess at the front of the house & first day no one there at all
To seat… We had to stand around forever. Also
literally waitstaff will disappear forever and it’s weird because both times we tried them out it was not packed or even busy … I want to make it clear front desk, hotel room and so
On we’re great

Two words sum up my stay: Resort Fee. Or as they called it on the website when I booked it: mandatory charge – but more about that in a minute. I’m no stranger to these fees and have paid them at myriad resorts around the world. And I’m used to being nicked at luxury properties — part of the game. But this place isn’t Trump Doral or the Four Seasons. It’s a decent hotel offering cut-​rate rooms to the local businesses and discounted online fares. It’s not a resort – not even close. And while it’s a clean hotel, the rooms are small and unremarkable; on par with a Hampton Inn or Hilton.
Now let’s get back to the resort fee. These fees are a multibillion dollar earner for the hotel industry and this property has jumped firmly on the bandwagon. When I booked it, it indicated my fee was $ 5 (seriously) but when I checked in, that ballooned to +20 bucks. My gaster was flabbered and my aplomb went bomb. The desk clerk handed me a pre-​printed sheet to indicate what this shakedown included. Wi-​Fi (that is free at most hotels), a discount at shops selling inflated merchandise and «great sunsets». Seriously. I’m paying an up-​charge for the gift shop junk and a sunset.
Perhaps I should have looked more closely but I checked my confirmation email again. Added to a self-​parking fee that would pay off the national debt of Gabon and this hotel went from okay to no-​way. I dug in my heels, asked to speak to someone at decision level and refused to pay. The staff was prompt, courteous and waived the fee. They handled this really upset guest well. Kudos on that.
It’s a «good» hotel and gets the job done. But it’s not a four diamond property that can command the big parking and resort fee.

Although booking was terribly difficult, happy to be here.
All well except my first key not working.

The No1DP and I stayed here early October 2015 on the No1DP’s most recent trip to see me. I wanted the No1DP to see more of SD than just the downtown portion so I suggested basing a hotel in La Jolla, one of SD’s nicer areas and a convenient 5 – 10 minute drive to work.
PARKING: I used the garage, which amounted to a bit more than $ 20/​night. There’s plenty of parking and it’s less than a minute walk to the hotel. A separate garage key allows hotel guests in and out privileges.
CHECK-​IN: The No1DP had no problems booking the room. He also had no issues postponing his check-​in time by a day but putting my name down so I would be able to use the room as early as 8am.
ROOM: The room overlooks the golf course, which is an additional fee per night. Room itself is simple yet spacious.
The room package came with complimentary wifi. Because of this the No1DP did not need to be a hhonors member to get access to the wifi. It was a little confusing to get the wifi set up for use.
Bed/​mattress: 250 thread count. Was able to get a good nights sleep.
Lampposts have outlets that are convenient to charge electronics.
We requested housekeeping to come in one day but they did not arrive as scheduled to clean up the room.
BATHROOM: Small standard bathroom. There was no problem getting the water to heat up quickly. Standard bathroom amenities.
DINING: The grill was kind enough to open the bar long enough to serve me a mimosa. Mimosa itself was average and overpriced.
Took advantage of their in-​room dining by getting a breakfast consisting of fruit and yogurt. They had a good amount of fruits for the dish and made for a fresh yet fulfilling breakfast.
The No1DP’s main complaint was that since this hotel is far from the happening spots of SD he’ll stay in hotels near downtown in the future but I wouldn’t mind coming back here to stay especially as it’s near where I work. If anything my most favorite part about my stay was my drastically short commute time.

Pros:
— Great view
— OK location, near golf course, but far walk to beach
Cons:
— they nickel and dime you for everything. Wifi, water, parking, every time you move, they are charging you some damn fee. I am Hilton Honors with alot of points. Even coffee in the lobby… you think it’s comp’ed… nope… you have to buy a cup at the coffee bar to then pour yourself from a carafe !!!
Summary:
Never staying here again. Going back to Estancia, which is more expensive, but has free valet, free water, free TV, free air, free coffee in the morning, it’s just all included.

I’ll start with some negative comments:
Other Unilocalers have complained about the parking. Indeed, it’s expensive (currently $ 26/​day). To get in and out, you need a key card with a magnetic stripe that’s different from your room key (which is a prox card). The card readers do not work well, so there’s often a backup to get in and out of the lot. The hotel could make a lot of people less grumpy by buying new proximity card readers for the parking lot. Meanwhile, the spaces in the lot are thin, and the cars that park there are not thin (lots of SUVs). As a result, there are often unoccupied spaces between two large vehicles. The spaces should be re-​striped.
The hotel’s WiFi is not free unless you’re an HH member. Joining is no big deal, so internet access could be viewed as free. But the connection is pretty slow (barely above 1Mbps) and the nominal price for non-​HH members is quite high.
I had the breakfast buffet each day during my stay. It’s the same every day — some variety would have been appreciated. None of the buffet components (scrambled eggs, potatoes, bacon,…) was of especially high quality. Fortunately, the coffee was pretty good. Also, the hot oatmeal (steel cut, but probably quick-​cooking) was edible and most welcome. As in many hotels, you can get the hot oatmeal as part of the «continental breakfast» (which of course is cheaper than the full buffet).
On the other hand, there’s a lot to like at this Hilton. The setting is drop-​dead gorgeous. My room was quiet (even though it was very close to an elevator), and everything inside the room seemed to function perfectly. The people who work at the hotel were friendly and accommodating.
The value that you perceive depends on what you pay. This is a large hotel with many rooms, so prices are likely all over the map. I got a good deal, as it happens, so my personal experience was at the four-​star level. My three-​star rating expresses my guess as to how things play out for most people.

Nope nope nope. Here now after a 5 ½ hour drive
A) tack on an additional $ 26 for parking. absolute crap. B) for a property this size, the ONE pool is unbelievably tiny. It’s smaller than my own pool. Not only is there nowhere to sit, I have been waiting for a clean towel for 30 minutes now. You are NOWHERE near the beach either. So we now are driving to the beach where we have to deal with parking. Unless you are golfing, there is no point to this place.

We had a staycation here last weekend. Weather was perfect!
We had a beautiful view of the golf coarse and a wedding.
room was big, shower was excellent (prefer baths but my husband loved the shower). Bed was really comfy. Heard no noises and staff was great.
This was a staycation, basically the first night we were fully away from our 10 month old son.
I’d recommend staying here.

The good:
Nice décor.
Great pool and jacuzzi
The bad:
1) It seems like they did a Mickey Mouse job when they remodeled. The outlets don’t really work and little things like the bathroom doorknob are broken (All our friends had the same problems)
2) Our fridge didn’t work so the Maintenon guy comes and says «it’s not a refrigerator, it’s a cooler. You see how it’s not 90 degrees». It was room temperature!!! All our food and medicine went bad and the hotel didn’t care.
3) The shower drain didn’t work
4) I don’t know how a 4 or 5 star hotel doesn’t have free wifi in the room. We are in 2015!

Stayed here for a weekend to attend a wedding at L’Auberge. Got a good rates after a few calls. Drove up and the bellman were very nice. Ana checked me in and was bubbly, friendly, and knowledgeable about every question I asked. She even provided additional i fo on hours and options that i had not considered but realized later i needed that info. She’s a gem!
I loved that the lobby was not carpeted; it was easy to roll my luggage.
The view from my room was amazing. Typical Hilton amenities. Terrible oval trash can. There are extra electrical outlets on the night stands.
Gym has the basic cardio stuff and high end. But the room itself is a bit depressing. Not laid out well at all. For example the ellipticals face a red wall. The big TV is behind you. Although there is a mirror to your right and the obstructed view of the pool to your left, if one other person is on another machine you cannot see anything.
Wake up calls in time. Taxi there when ordered (twice). I’d stay here again.