Ocean Pearl Spa — Hotel in Carlsbad

I had high hopes for Ocean Pearl Spa, but overall, it was disappointing and absolutely not worth the high price. While the steam room was very steamy and the environment was clean and well-maintained, the overall experience did not match the cost.

The exfoliation service with Emily was decent, but still not worth what I paid. The scalp therapy treatment was the most relaxing service I received during my visit, and at only $30, it was the one part of the experience that was worth the money. The massage, however, was a disaster. I booked a hot stone massage, but Skylor informed me that she couldn’t do it because she lacked insurance, which was incredibly unprofessional. On top of that, she was lazy, constantly talking, and didn’t seem to know what she was doing. Instead of focusing on an actual massage, she spent 5-10 minutes just pulling and wringing my hair, which was bizarre and didn’t feel relaxing at all. I ended up cutting the session short because it was so bad, something I’ve never done before. To make things worse, she had bad breath, which made the experience even more uncomfortable.

The massage itself was ineffective and sloppy. The scrub I had beforehand felt more like a proper massage than the actual one—the pressure was weak, and the technique was all over the place. For over $200, I expected much better.

Beyond the massage issues, there were several other problems. The shower water wouldn’t warm up, making it uncomfortable to rinse off. The scheduling process was frustrating—they canceled my nail service at the last minute despite me booking it over two weeks in advance. At $75 for a pedicure, I expected much better service.

To add to the inconvenience, parking is a bit of a walk, which isn’t ideal when trying to have a relaxing spa day. Overall, the only redeeming qualities were the steam room and cleanliness, but they don’t...

Had a fantastic experience with my sisters at the Ocean Pearl Spa! After reading some of the reviews from the last year I was very nervous about coming in. But we made reservations for 4 people, for a total of 3 massages and 2 facials. From check in to check out, we had a flawless experience. The entire staff was attentive and provided excellent service. We spent the first part of the day in the resort pool area, it was beautiful and clean. 30 minutes before our service we came back in to the spa to shower in the Vitamin C infused shower heads. And we enjoyed the sauna as well. Then we waited in the lounge area, drank some tea and fruit infused water. They also provided snacks and a dessert tray. We also all received a complimentary glass of champagne. My sisters reported their massages hitting the right spots, the masseuses gave them excellent treatments. One of the nice perks was the massage table adjusted in the chest area for those of us with a larger chest. I’ve never experienced that before! Two of us received facials with Ashley and we appreciated the facial massage that she included. Relaxed my face and felt so comfortable. We forget how much tension we can hold in our faces! I’ve experienced many spas over the years and this place really hit the mark. Don’t be fooled by some of these reviews. Go in with good intentions and good things will...

The facility and property are spectacular, my therapist, Ariel, was amazing, one of the best I've ever experienced. I didn't give the entire experience five stars because I bought the "locals special", a 50 minute service with lunch. I had previously had the identical service with my sister who comes from Florida and we enjoy our "sister" time. This time, however, the experience was different...instead of going to the restaurant to enjoy our lunch, a brown bag was delivered with our lunch in plastic containers and our wine in plastic cups. We were so disappointed, we were so relaxed from the wonderful massages and then our expectation was diminished with the bag lunch, plastic utensils and cups. We asked where we were to have the lunch and they said we could sit by the pool or on the patio (it was cold and windy) and although they offered to put on the heaters, it just was a big letdown. If this were explained when the appointments were booked, we would have only booked the spa treatment and marched over to the restaurant afterwards The way it's being done now is awkward and ruins the whole point of the relaxation therapy. It would be nice if they would revert to the original way...