Twelve Senses Retreat - Encinitas Bed & Breakfast — Hotel in Encinitas

I'm not one to usually leave reviews but felt it was necessary after my experience at Twelve Senses because I feel like I was truly bamboozled...

I was really looking forward to the "retreat" and staying somewhere relaxing and peaceful after a long injury recovery, enough so that I splurged to treat myself to six days there. Unfortunately (similarly to another review I've only found recently) it was less than peaceful and there was nothing about it that was a "retreat"... I too left with more stress than when I came to the property.

I was never given any information as to how to book any services and found upon arrival that those services (or "classes") are preformed in a garage. While the images portrayed a relaxing hammock on the deck of my room, the reality was that my room overlooked the neighbors house, a High School and a busy high traffic street. Night one included the noise of the neighbor kids jumping on the trampoline (I love kids but there was nothing disclosed about the noice I might be experiencing). The next few nights always consisted of sports games and announcers at the High School across the street. There was nothing restful or peaceful about the location...

The room has a clothing rack with 6 hangers but nowhere for you to unpack, set your things, or even settle into the space. The walls are thin, so you hear the other residents and people coming up and down the stairs right outside of your room, or even conversations at times. As a previous review mentioned, you won't get housekeeping without texting to ask for it (which I agree is a bit crazy given the price). While the rooms are cute and well done (for the most part), the house overall is more of a bnb and not worth even close to the price being charged. It would be fine for one night but I wouldn't recommend anything longer than that...

Parking for vehicles is limited and there aren't reserved spots for guests, so it's a bit of a free for all. The second to last day my car was blocked in by another resident because there weren't enough spots. It just seemed like it was one thing after another...

It was an unbelievably disappointing experience that left me feeling a large amount of money was wasted and that changed the course of my entire trip. I truly hope that this review can be helpful, or a warning to others who are considering it because I cannot stress enough how different the images and descriptions differ from the place (and experience) in real life and how much it is NOT worth the price.

That said, Anke was great in trying to accommodate my dietary restrictions, which was SO appreciated. She also worked with me (a bit) to release me from my last two days of my stay but I was really hopeful I'd be able to get a refund for more than that, so that I could move to a place that was as it's advertised. While I understand having cancelation policies, there was no way for me to know any of the above prior to showing up at the property (and by then the cancelation date had already passed). Unfortunately I still ended up wasting quite a bit of money and getting an experience that was beyond...

My husband and I were really looking forward to our stay. We had both been working nonstop leading up to the trip and couldn’t wait for our much needed staycation. Our experience at Twelve Senses turned out to be more stressful than relaxing.

Even though we had made the reservation a month in advance and called ahead to let them know we were bringing our ESA dog, when we arrived, it seemed that they hadn’t prepared for our stay. There weren’t any towels in the room and the dog treats and bowls we had read about other guests receiving came later. We didn’t mind waiting but it seemed odd that it was a surprise to the staff.

We had also booked a couples massage with Eliane and received a confirmation from her. I even sent her an email one day prior to our appointment to remind her. Come time for our massage, they said they didn’t have it scheduled. We ended up canceling our plans for the rest of the evening and waiting two hours for Eliane to come. Anke did her best to accommodate for the disappointing mix up and provided some cocktails and snacks while we waited.

When Eliane finally started my massage, she was not prepared. She got frustrated trying to get her music to work on the Bluetooth speaker and then decided to play it on her phone. But she had ads in between the songs, so every time I tried to fall into a state of relaxation, I was jarred by some ad for Ziprecruiter. She spent a lot of time fussing with the music so my massage was largely interrupted. Both my husband and I paid for custom massages to target specific areas and felt that she didn’t really address our needs. Her treatment was more focused on the rubbing a lot of scented oils on the body rather than working on the muscles.

The two breakfasts we had looked delicious and inviting but sadly, one day we found a worm in the fruit salad and the other, the eggs were served to us raw. We tried to be understanding again and asked if we could put it back in the oven for longer. They resolved the issue quickly, but again, it was yet another distressing experience.

While the rooms are designed beautifully and the concept is great, the location of the hotel is set next to a house of young adults who blast music and party hard. Luckily, they shut things down at 10pm, but if you are looking for a peaceful staycation retreat, I would not recommend this place.

Anke is a great host who did make effort to improve our experience. Unfortunately, we did not get the relaxing staycation we had saved up for. We left that weekend with more stress...

I’m genuinely surprised this property is rated as a 4-star hotel. While it has some positive aspects, such as being clean and having breakfast served on time, there are several things future guests should be aware of. • The walls are very thin, and you can easily hear conversations and movement from other rooms and downstairs. • Parking is limited, and the room itself is quite small. The table provided is also too small to be functional. • The shower area has no door, so water tends to spill out onto the room floor. • The view is of a neighboring house, a school, and currently, there’s construction involving solar panels nearby, which adds to the street and neighborhood noise. • There is no TV in the room, and all four rooms share one iron and ironing board, which felt a bit inconvenient. The property is essentially a converted house with four rooms and a garage, not located near the beach or in a green area. It doesn’t quite match the expectations of a 4-star hotel—3 stars or less would be more accurate, in my opinion. I had booked for three nights but had to leave after one due to an emergency. When I requested a refund for the remaining two nights, the owner initially refused, even though the cancellation policy on Booking.com wasn’t clear. It took a long and difficult call with Booking.com to resolve the issue and secure a refund. The owner was polite at first, but during our departure, she seemed upset and only offered a brief “hi.” While I respect her and appreciate the breakfast and cleanliness, I believe it’s important to share an honest review for future travelers. In summary: It’s okay for a one-night stay, but I wouldn’t recommend it for longer visits, especially at the current...