Brad H.
Yelp
Here's a WARNING to our Encinitas community to avoid this "hotel", the Encinitan (formerly Best Western).
My wife and I were very excited to stay here for our anniversary in December, 2023. We were excited to enjoy an ocean view, and we were happy to get the best ocean view they had. After checking in, we immediately noticed a "strange", stuffy smell in the room, so we opened the balcony door to air it out and left the door open while we went out to dinner. After returning, we still noticed it, and decided to watch a movie and see if it would go away. Well, about 45 minutes later, this smell began to noticably effect our throats and we both started feeling a headache. Finally I went to the front desk to inform them we couldn't stay here in this room any longer, and the woman (initially very kind and later terribly rude) offered me another room to check out to see if it would work. Exact same smell- really chemical and now it was clear it was toxic. We packed our bag and told the front desk the problem, saying they must be aware of it. The woman didn't respond and looked very embarassed- clearly this was typical.
I expressed our disappointment that we had to leave (at 11pm on our anniversary), and firmly requested they credit back my credit card in full. She gave me the card of the General Manager Vijay Daya. I have left messages by phone and email to have my charge of over $200 credited back-- and Vijay has never bothered to respond, and the charge has remained (it's now been 5 weeks). Additionally, our headaches and soar throat lasted throughout much of the next day.
Now I need to go through the aggravation and time to dispute this charge with my credit card company.
So although an ocean view hotel is rare and enticing, please save yourselves the horrible experience we suffered through (and are still dealing with).
My wife and I both own wellness centers in Encinitas and both rely on referrals and building a great reputation in serving our community, and this way of doing business is so sad and unfortunate. This Encinitan Hotel needs to shut down, fix the chemical, toxic problem and then try again,
Brad H