Sam C.
Yelp
"The rotten bookends, The story of our stay with Shay."
We had a wonderful family trip to Legoland, but unfortunately the Hotel (mostly Shay) was the blemish on the trip, as she was our first and last interaction at the hotel.
Shay, The gremlin at the front desk, was incredibly unprofessional and rude. When I called in to see about an early check-in, as we arrived from our 7 hour drive to Carlsbad two hours before 4pm check in. She rudely said that they "don't do what you're asking, we dont do early check in".. We had a room reserved for two nights, which she verified, but would not check us in early.. which is news to me.. as I already paid for the room. Why I couldn't get a clean room for my family two hours early is beyond me. Check out is 11am, 3 hours should be sufficient time to clean a room. I just don't think Shay wanted to help us. We had to wander around the area for two hours and change our babies diapers in the back seat of car down the street in the parking lot of Starbucks as we waited for 4pm.
When we did arrive at the hotel, we were greeted by Krisna?, who was very helpful and took the time to explain how everything worked at the hotel, and where everything at the hotel was. The hotel was beautiful, the lobby was up-to-date and had plenty of places to relax and have a drink or watch the game. The pools and views are also lovely. The service staff was nice, as the Gentleman who brought towels and a pack-and-play to our room was also very courteous and greeted us every time with a smile. We were thankful for the pack and play with a 10m/o baby.
The Hotel is near conveniently next Legoland, so you're able to walk about a 1/4 of a mile to the Park. There is a gate that is open 2 hours after park closing. The hotel does charge $35 for parking, which was a surprise at the front desk, as it was nowhere in the reservation.
The bar food is pretty good, but it was overpriced ($19 for 6 chicken wings?), but you're forced to eat there because they hide an additional $25 fee a night , the $25 resort credit is good at the bar, Where they serve you Wine in a plastic cup and don't offer room service. Amenities you would expect from $300 a night. I could have stayed at Motel 6 and got the same amenities. The service at the bar was sub-par, the afternoon bartender didn't know how to make a Latte.
When checking out, we got Cray, I mean Shay again. She acted like we were bothering her from texting in her front office cave, and begrudgingly helped us check out. No smiles, no thank yous, no 'how was your stay', just unfriendly. When We asked for clarification on my receipt of charges, She huffed and puffed, and still didn't explain it well, saying "I'm not sure what you're not understanding". The receipt says my VISA Card * ($63.81) in the CREDIT column of the receipt, Balance $0. They charge you $200 when you walk in the door, so why am I only getting back $63.81? I didn't spend $136.19 .. Back and forth for about 1 minute with Shay trying to get clarification, and Shes getting more upset. I invited my Wife over to see if she can understand what the charges are, and my wife isn't understanding Shay either. I have a Finance Degree and 12 years of Banking experience... I'm not new to bank or credit card charges, Shay was not explaining it well. After I had to dumb it down for her and explain the math, she finally clarified it was a charge total, not a refund total, even though it's showed in the credit column on the receipt. She mumbled profanities under her breath and when I asked her for a card, she retreated to her cave and said she's no longer helping me.. I STAYED Here.. I'm a GUEST who dropped over $700, and this is how you treat your guests? Nobody else was there at 6AM to assist. Real professional SHAY.
Next time we travel to Legoland or to visit family in the area, we won't be staying here.