The Spa at Rancho Bernardo Inn — Local services in San Diego

I am filing a formal complaint against Arlene K. for her targeted mistreatment and shameful customer service.

I arrived with my friend that was 38 weeks pregnant. We had our hands full and were making our way down to the cabana with balloons and other favors, I was carrying for 2x people given her condition. We were met at the top of the stairs (near the spa reception) by friends who gave me a key card to unload our belongings at the cabana.

I made my way down and set up, greeted friends, and was simply settling in. It was around noon at this time and my service was at 3 p.m. so I was in no particular rush to check in and was simply greeting friends upon my arrival and putting things down. I might have been there a little over 5 minutes and Arlene came up to our cabana, looked at me, and pointed asking if I had a spa service scheduled. No hi, hello, welcome. Among several friends, clearly was directing her question to me. I said yes, I do. She then asked if I was the one who just left my car in valet because they were trying to get ahold of me. I said yes. She then told me, (not asked) to check in at the reception.

I put my things down to go meet her and said, I had every intention of checking in and that I had only just arrived. I said that I was with my pregnant friend with full hands so I prioritized getting her and our things settled first (the walk from the parking lot is a bit of a distance so, at 38 weeks pregnant, you can imagine she was ready to sit). There was no empathy at all and her cold reaction was that it "only takes 2 minutes to do.' When I said that there was no signage posted and that this as a requirement was unclear, she responded "I'm glad this is cleared up now then" in a very rude condescending tone. I was shocked, I had no response.

Having spent over $230 for food and my spa service alone, I am just shocked by the lack of welcoming, genuine care and customer service and clear lack of empathy, particularly given the circumstance of helping my pregnant friend. Collectively, we spent over $2,400 on services and for a high-end place like the RB Inn, I would expect so much better.

My friends who witnessed Arlene's approach at our cabana towards me went to the spa reception and shared that this was rude and unacceptable. Several friends complained about this.

Also to my surprise and confusion, Arlene did not say anything to my pregnant friend that was with me about checking in. I found out from 2 others that were in our cabana, that they had also not checked in at the front desk and had been there for about an hour. The difference between me and them is that they are white and I am not.

Valarie and Margo at the front desk were not responsive to my or my friends' mention of this experience and I learned it's because Arlene is their boss. They themselves were not warm and I am thinking their defensiveness is fear of having to deal with Arlene or repercussions if this complaint was communicated through them. I asked for your information as I understand you're Arlene's boss.

It's important to me that this gets addressed with Arlene, it is unacceptable that someone in her position is treating guests so poorly. Other staff observe this and will also do the same and this creates a toxic culture. The services we had and food and beverage were excellent, it is a shame the Director and receptionists at the spa itself do not represent...

Spent yesterday at the Spa with 4 friends in celebration of a birthday. We wanted to treat the birthday girl, a hard-working mama, to a day of relaxation and luxury. Unfortunately, a particular instance of poor communication and inadequate service kinda put a damper on our day.

The good: We booked massage/facial/lunch packages, and started out our day with amazing treatments (facials, massage, & a manicure). All of our services and the lovely people who took care of us were wonderful. If this review were on the treatment alone, it would have been five stars, but...

The bad: In a euforia after our treatments, we headed to the pool to continue lounging and eager for a bite to eat. We placed our lunch order with the bartender/server and continued to enjoy each others company. It was a Sunday about midday and the pool area was not too busy, yet after a half hour the food had not come out yet. When the server brought us a round of drinks she mentioned it should be up any minute.

The ugly: After another 30 minutes, I walked over to the bar to let her know an ENTIRE HOUR had passed since we ordered our food. She let me know that they share the kitchen with the restaurant, and were running a bit behind that day. After another 20 minutes, the food finally came out, yet after all that waiting what we were served was COLD, SOGGY, and had probably been sitting for who knows how long.

We asked to speak to a manager, who apologized for the wait and offered to remake the food, but we were hungry and grumpy at that point, and needed to get going shortly. They did remove the cost of the food from our bill, but I think after such a negative experience where most of our day was spent waiting for cold lunch, simply not charging for sub-par food was bare minimum. 3 of us work or have worked in hospitality, and are very understanding of delays. But there was really no effort made to communicate with us, and no small gestures of consideration made as a result of the delay.

Maybe only regulars and specific guests are deserving of the impeccable standard of service and quality this place is supposedly renowned for. I wouldn’t waste my time or money here again, despite the...

Majority of the stars are for my masseuse, who was absolutely wonderful and gave me a great massage. This place looks and feels very exclusive, if that's your thing, it isn't mine. The person I interacted with and who checked me in was uptight and didn't make me feel welcome. She was transactional, matter of fact, and swift with her to-do list. She quickly showed me around prior to my massage, but didn't give me any information on what I should do or wear prior to my service. For instance, she told me the lockers had robes inside, but didn't tell me if I needed to wear one on my way to my massage or after. Consequently, since this was my first time, I was the only person wearing clothes in the waiting room, while everyone else was wearing robes. I also felt uncomfortable as other women in there stared at me and that made me feel out of place. Also, the pool tables has scan codes to upload the drinks and food menu on your phone; however, there's no indication on how to order: phone call? Text message? Whistle? There were no servers around or anyone who introduced themselves as a server, so... maybe I missed it? Needless to say, I left kinda confused and a bit stressed, honestly... For the money I paid, the customer service definitely lacked and I don't think...