Cardiff by the Sea Lodge — Attraction in Encinitas

I wanted to love this place, but it’s lacking… The rooms are not well-equipped for the price point. There is not enough storage for contents of luggage (nothing in the room, but a rack for hanging clothes and a single drawer in the bathroom). I thought the “ocean view” room would be like the one pictured on their website. It wasn’t. It was small and the “ocean view” was a tiny slit of the ocean that was visible between businesses and street lights. There is no microwave or coffee maker in the room. There is a tiny fridge. There is a coffee maker in the lobby, but not time efficient or convenient, especially when there is a line etc. The bed is very comfortable. If you like firmer pillows, you won’t like the ones provided. The rooftop “lounge” is not welcoming or comfortable. I don’t foresee anyone “lounging there”. View is nice, but can only be enjoyed by standing up there. Meh. They provide muffins and juice in the mornings, but the muffins are cold (remember the lack of microwave I pointed out above), and the juice is the pressed green juice that tastes like grass.

The location of the hotel (and I use this term loosely, as it’s more like a remodeled MOTEL since the rooms open to the exterior), is excellent. The location is close to the water, activities, walking trails, shopping, and dining.

The service and staff are excellent…no negatives there.

Parking is offered with their parking garage at a $20/night rate…worth it. Otherwise, good luck finding street parking.

Considering the price point in relation to the negatives, unfortunately, I would not...

Our stay was a nightmare. We have my mom living with us and this was the first time in 3 years we got away. I looked for days for the right place to stay and feel in love with the Southwest room here, had a fireplace and would be perfect for our get away. It said it would be $200 a night but we felt we would do it because of the fireplace and being near the ocean. When we arrived we were taken to a room that was aweful, I explained that we booked the sw room and she said it was taken as was all other premium rooms. Our room overlooked business roofs. I asked if we could get the other room the next night and she said it was booked. Heart broke and left with no options we stayed. After she left us I dicovered a ordor in the room and the longer I stayed the sicker I got. We opened the windows as far as possible and requested extra blankets. The next morning we again asked for a different room and were told none available. Around 5:00 I called the desk and asked if they had any rooms available for the night, he said they did. I then asked for the SW room and he said yes it was open and go for 179. I thanked him and said I would call back. I then called as me and asked to be moved for our last night and he said no. I feel they miss represented their rooms on the internet, they were not honest and had no compassion for our situation, I would not stay here and would not recommend it, also the breakfast is aweful, basically coffee and...

My husband and I just returned from staying there for a week. We spent most of the days one room and the last couple days in another.

The good: Location! Amazing! Can walk right to the beach.Walking distance to lots of yummy restaurants and bars.

Staff: Very friendly, helpful and knowledgeable.

Roof top gas fire pit and various areas to hang out with excellent view. What fun! The jacuzzi was kind of old and small, but it was nice.

Clean rooms with lots of windows, both rooms had wonderful ocean view. Nicely decorated. I didn't mind the old style tube tv in the first room LOL. Breakfast stuff, so-so.

The not so good: As other reviews have stated, it's old. And while it will be renovated in 2017, I still will share how it is as of now. The toilet in our first room had very little flushing power and the staff said that's because of the plumbing below (roots in the pipes?) and couldn't be fixed. Second room toilet was fine. Portable, noisy A/C. Old mattress where you sink into the middle.

No pool, but hey, the ocean is right there (but it was cold).

Here's the unusual part - which I don't think is related to it being old. There are no doors on the bathrooms! And it doesn't look like there ever were. It's kind of weird to have no privacy when you're on the toilet LOL. Just a weird set up.

The good definitely outweighed the not so good. We enjoyed our stay very much. Thanks to the hard working staff there! You are...