Fairmont Grand Del Mar — Hotel in San Diego

We have been staying at the GDM in the past when the property was first owned by Papa Doug before it was sold to the Fairmont. We used to come yearly until Covid hit then we took a hiatus. We have returned to our Xanadu, The Grand Del Mar, after 5 years to celebrate our son’s 30th birthday and my wedding anniversary of 38 years. There is no better place than the GDM for such special occasions.

Some of the management key people are still very present at the property but many of the familiar faces that have been at the GDM for years are no longer present except for Bryan Duncan and Nick who are not at the Golf clubhouse restaurant. These 2 gentlemen welcomed us back like family and extended such hospitality and generosity to us. We thank Bryan D and Nick for their hard work and outstanding customer service! Other shout outs go to other wonderful staff at the property who went over and beyond to get to know us and to hep us—Liz in the gift shop; Eve at the Relaxation pool; Mia, archery instructor; and Lauren at the horse stable. Lastly, the housekeeping staff that cleaned our room during our stay (June 3 to 7) is outstanding…paying attention to every little detail in the room. Bravo to all these awesome people at GDM!

The management should also be recognized for their awesome leadership and for ensuring their loyal guests are valued and appreciated. They are extremely accommodating and they always manage to make us feel like VIPs. We appreciate and thank Mr. Hussein and Ms. Cortese very much in helping us with our reservation in ensuring our stay was nothing short of perfection. Recognizing loyal guests is so important in this economy and Mr. Hussein and Ms. Cortese out did themselves. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to them both!

The property is still gorgeous as ever, our usual room is in better shape than before with an even larger screen tv. Our room had no wear and tear and everything was like brand new when we first stayed in it when the property first opened. It is truly impressive to be able to keep every inch of the property so immaculate and well kept.

The spa adult pool is lovely as before with new lounger cushions and umbrellas. I love the thick lounger cushions so it is really comfortable. Their tiles by the pool are always cool to the feet even when it is 40 degrees out which is so lovely. The bottom of your feet will never be burnt. One of the changes we did notice is that the water temperature is much cooler during our stay in early June and there are no more sunscreen or magazines. Luckily we did bring our own sunscreen but it was a nice touch to have bottles of it at the pool for those guests that may have forgotten theirs.

The one thing that I did miss most during this stay is the early morning coffee urn by the front desk for early risers like a few of us who needed a java jolt before starting off our day. We now need to wait until the coffee shop is open at 6am. There is a Nespresso machine and kettle in the room but the Nespresso can be noisy especially at 5am when the family is still deep in their sleep.

The menu offerings at the coffee shop has also changed ….now it is more of a grab and go type whereas before they had lovely soups like lobster bisque even and great salads. There were some lovely looking desserts like the chocolate rocher which i will try for sure.

It is so nice to see the Fairmont doing so much work to the property…there is now a “Grand Social” on the weekends at the front of the property; the man made sandy beach by the family pool now has been replaced by a games area with artificial turf and lovely ornamental grasses. It also looks like they are building a stage like structure there as well.

We like to thank the wonderful staff and management for providing us another exceptional stay at the Grand Del Mar. You provided us with such joy and happiness during our stay celebrating our son's 30th birthday and our 38th wedding anniversary. It is truly our Xanadu and we will...

While the resort itself is beautiful, our overall experience did not meet expectations.

The issues began with our room. Although the property was stunning for the holidays, the room itself was disappointing. There was a large crack in the ceiling, spills on the drapes, a non-functional bedside lamp, a broken charging dock, and a loose drain plug that made the bathtub unusable. Additionally, we experienced delays in receiving service. We had to call the bellman twice—initially with no estimated time of arrival, and when they did not show up within 10-15 minutes, we called again. This delay impacted our schedule, as we were heading to a soccer tournament.

The outdoor Christmas event, while visually lovely, was poorly organized. There were no clear signs for ordering food or drinks, and the food was left uncovered in open containers, making it seem unsanitary. The disorganized setup, with items scattered around and trash left on the bar top, detracted from the overall experience. Bartenders had to walk to the far end of the event to retrieve alcoholic beverages, which caused significant delays. Ultimately, we decided to leave the property for food and drinks. This level of disarray is unacceptable for a five-diamond resort. Additionally, the food area was poorly maintained, with flies present, and there was a noticeable lack of staff to assist guests.

There were, however, a few positive aspects during our stay. The arrival process was seamless, from the guard gate to the bellman, and the front desk agent who walked us to the elevators. The bartenders were friendly, and the staff at Cent-ani were exceptional, going above and beyond to help us stay within our Food & Beverage credit. The bartender at the clubhouse was also wonderful and demonstrated service fitting for a five-diamond resort.

Unfortunately, despite addressing these issues during check-out and showing photos of the room’s condition, we received no apology, acknowledgment, or even a simple thank you for our stay. As hospitality professionals ourselves, this lack of response was especially disappointing. We had hoped for an experience that matched the reputation of your hotel, but instead, the service fell short of expectations for a five-diamond resort.

Additionally, there was confusion with charges on our debit card. The front desk agent agreed to remove a charge for an unauthorized tip back to the room, as we had paid tips in cash, and also removed valet charges. He mentioned a manager would reach out to discuss the issues, but we never heard from anyone. Despite multiple follow-up calls on 12/10 and 12/18, and an email sent after our phone conversation on 12/18, providing a receipt from Cent-ani showing our total was under the Food & Beverage credit and should have been covered, along with the bank charge details, the issue remains unresolved. We are still waiting for an explanation regarding the unexplained charge on our account after receiving our final bill at check-out.

As hospitality professionals with 17 years of experience, we are particularly disappointed by this stay. Unless the hotel addresses these concerns, we do not foresee returning. We had hoped for a high-quality experience that reflected the reputation of your hotel and the standards of a five-diamond resort, but instead, we feel the overall service and room conditions fell short of...

The Fairmont Grand Del Mar says it is a five start hotel, some argue that it maybe the best hotel in California.

I booked two rooms for eight nights, first room was for myself and my wife, second room was for three adult members accompanying us. Disappointingly, the hotel makes no effort to provide neighbouring rooms to parties travelling together, despite our request.

First room allocation, on the ground floor, had, at least, three separate piles of dog excrement on the grass directly next to our patio, which I encountered whilst barefoot. Please note - guests are expected to walk across grassed areas to get to the pools, so these areas should be clean. The hotel acknowledged that the rooms were used by pet owners. Since, a few members of our party have an allergy to pet dander the hotel moved us to rooms on the second floor.

The hotel management appear to lack attention to detail. In the room for three we paid for an extra rollaway bed, but only two set with two cups and two glasses, etc, not three of each. After moving us one of the rooms had significant brown stains on the carpets, which I had to request to be cleaned. On the second morning there was no hot water to the bathroom shower and faucets (only tepid) to either of the two rooms, this problem was resolved in the afternoon.

The balcony on one room was tiny, two feet wide with two chairs and a table, the balcony on the second room was even narrower, according to housekeeping, too narrow for a table and chairs, so no way of sitting outside. How an architect can design a hotel balcony with insufficient space to sit outside is anybody’s guess. The family pool at 3pm on Saturday was under resourced and there were insufficient deck chairs for us. The electronics in the room are iPhone 3 generation, so all completely out of date at the time of writing. The hotel is in need of a significant update.

The Fairmont Grand Del Mar is remote from decent local eating options and they charge a fortune to eat in the hotel. For goodness sakes, $41 per person, plus tax and tip, for a fried breakfast. Since there is nothing to eat locally they know they can get away with the prices. Personally, I like eating at least breakfast in a resort hotel whilst figuring out what to do for the day, but I am not paying almost $300 for my family of five for breakfast, so our day started off with a drive in heavy traffic.

The hotel is, at least, 20 minutes from the closest interesting location (Del Mar, Torrey Pines), the traffic to San Diego is heavy and the journey a long one. The Fairmont runs a complimentary shuttle bus to local beaches, it was very popular, so much so that it was fully booked on many of the days of our stay.

The hotel staff appear to be courteous and polite. I have stayed in many three to five star hotels (including other Fairmonts) and I would say, in my opinion, that the Fairmont Del Mar sits in the middle of the three star range, apart from the prices it charges that is. I rate the Fairmont Grand Del Mar 2/5 ( for reference - I rate the Fairmont Kea Lani Maui as 5/5 ).

The hotel maybe okay if you have a passion for golf,...