MarBrisa Carlsbad Resort — Hotel in Carlsbad

We stayed at the MarBrisa property in Carlsbad, which has three connected resorts (Hilton, Sheraton, and Westin). Overall, it’s a family-friendly place with lots of perks, though each side has its own feel.

MarBrisa Hilton The Hilton side has spacious rooms, but the layout is awkward. Our suite had a queen bed and loveseat, yet very limited storage—only small drawers in the nightstands and TV stand, plus a half-blocked closet. The bathroom design wasn’t ideal either, with towel racks placed inside the shower and very little counter space. Still, the staff were friendly, there are two nice pools and three jacuzzis (one reserved for owners), and shuttles run 9 a.m.–9 p.m. across the large campus. Families will love the daily activities and the private Legoland entrance. It’s also dog-friendly, with good walking areas. Downsides: very large spiders around campus, and the city itself isn’t walkable—you’ll need a car or rideshare to explore beyond the property.

MarBrisa Sheraton The Sheraton side felt a bit quieter, with a smaller pool area located right across from 7 Mile Kitchen & Grab and Go. Staff were just as friendly, and the same shuttles and family activities are available. Great dog walking paths, but again—lots of spiders outdoors and limited walkability outside the resort.

MarBrisa Westin The Westin offered a more updated feel with a good 24-hour gym (which we had entirely to ourselves every time, even late at night). There’s one pool and one jacuzzi here, plus elevators with keypad room access (though they didn’t actually function during our stay—you could just press the floor button and go). Like the Hilton and Sheraton, it’s family-oriented, has daily activities, and is dog-friendly with access to Legoland.

7 Mile Kitchen & Grab and Go Important note: Google Maps incorrectly lists 7 Mile Kitchen as permanently closed. It is very much open, with excellent service and food. We visited the Grab and Go every morning on our dog walks (6:30–6:50 a.m.) for coffee. Staff were quick and kind, though prices were a bit high (about $7.76 for a medium). We tried caramel macchiato, white chocolate mocha, dirty chai, iced coffee, and regular coffee—all consistently well made. On our last day, we had breakfast at 7 Mile Kitchen. The Breakfast Sandwich with potatoes was outstanding—huge, shareable, with fluffy eggs, thick turkey, fresh avocado and tomato, and perfectly melted cheese. Potatoes were just average, but the sandwich and service made up for it. Staff went above and beyond, even doting on my service dog, and got us in and out quickly before our flight.

Overall MarBrisa is a great family-friendly resort with multiple pools, daily activities, dog-friendly walking areas, and unbeatable convenience for Legoland visitors. Each side (Hilton, Sheraton, Westin) has its own strengths—Hilton for larger suites, Sheraton for quieter poolside stays, and Westin for the gym. The property is best enjoyed with a car or rideshare, since Carlsbad itself isn’t walkable beyond the resort. And don’t miss 7 Mile Kitchen—it’s open, it’s good, and it ended up being one of our favorite meals...

A perfect stay at Marbrisa!!!! We stayed this time for 16 days!!!! I have a few shout outs so this review may be lengthy. First of all Kevin at the front desk is awesome!!! He always greets us like family and makes us feel right at home. He is friendly and caring and even remembers our name!! We saw Chris at check in and he was doing a great job with crowd control, we were checking in on the fourth of July, which is their biggest check in day and although we had to wait a little longer than normal....we loved our room. It was sparkling clean as always and was perfect. The live music around the firepit by the pool is awesome. Chris Torres is great and we see him multiple times every time that we stay there. We also saw The Johnson Brothers last time and they were great as well. I love that Marbrisa has so much live music poolside!!! |Well we made it difficult on the staff this time since we had three reservations over our 16 days there and even had a 4th reservation for family for a few nights. Megan and Maya and Chris did an amazing job of keeping us in our same room over the course of our 16 days. We had a one bedroom unit and it was nice not to have to move three times. They even got our second reservation in the same building so our family was near us. Thank you all for making it happen!!! We were able to enjoy Coffee with the managers twice during our 16 day stay and we love hearing what other owners have to say about the property and HGVC in general. We also learn something new every time that we make it to one of these meetings. They always seem to have new info or nuggets of info about the property. one last shout out for Sarah, one morning when we saw her at the coffee meet and greet with the owners, we spoke with her about our mid week cleaning hadn’t happened, well she got it taken care of that day and we went about our day. Later that evening when we were headed up from the bbq we saw her assisting the housekeeping staff that night!!! That girl has a heck of a work ethic. || We have always enjoyed the property even before we got to know the wonderful staff. However, since getting to know Megan and Kevin and Chris, and Sarah and Dave and now Maya, our vacation experiences have completely changed at Marbrisa. It has become our favorite place to vacation, even more so than our ocean front property on Maui. We feel so at home there and the amazing staff are the folks responsible for that. So I just wanted to thank you!!!| We just really wanted to reach out and let you know how much we treasure our time there and how much we appreciate the staff at Marbrisa. I just cant recommend this resort enough!!! I think we have stayed here close to 20 times now and its soooooo refreshing to see the same faces every time that we return. Bravo to Megan and her staff!!!||Sincerely|Troy and...

1st Hilton Grand Vacation stay.. the resort itself is beautiful. We stayed in The Cove on the ground floor across from the pool.. the pool area is amazing, my daughter absolutely loved it. 2 pools, hot tubs, bar/food with under cover seating area, fire pit. The main pool has a slide, hammocks, outdoor games; pool, Ping-pong, connect 4, etc.. absolutely loved it. There is a trolley (fun little ride) that will take you to The Point where another pool is (not as fun as The Cove pool though) and they have an art room.. they have scheduled crafts but you can also walk in at any time. My 9 yr old loved it, we went twice and stayed a good hour & half during our 5 day stay. There's a hiking trail but I didn't get a chance to walk it. Every staff I spoke with throughout our stay was super helpful and kind.. there was no pressure to do a Grand Timeshare tour, we were only asked at check-in. (and no, we did Not book as a timeshare screening). The free washer/dryer was a huge plus after the beach. Now here's my 2 major complaints.. We had a connecting room and the walls are extremely thin.. we could hear everything & every conversation the people next door had, the kids constantly banging & playing. It was Extremely loud.. they literally could have been in the room with us.. come 10:45 pm I was not happy with the room and noise carrying level. 2nd complaint was the queen bed. We had a Cove studio with 1 queen. My daughter ended up sleeping on the pull-out couch.. the queen bed had a very pronounced indent in it; literally could roll off the bed to the right if you laid in the middle.. definitely not the quality of bed I am used too with the Hilton brand. Overall I will stay here again when In Cali; the location, Cove pool & art room cannot be beat, but I will request a room that has no connecting doors next trip and see if that makes a difference with the noise levels. As far as the bed.. I am hoping I just got unlucky this time and they are making mattress changes soon. Hilton...