Alila Marea Beach Resort Encinitas, a Hyatt Resort

Nice hotel and good location. The one pet peeve was the $50 daily resort fee and the $60 daily valet charge. Those charges are extraordinary and should be more apparent when you book the room. They added $110 to the daily rate. I felt like it was a bait and switch. We left the hotel disappointed.

This place is awesome! The property is stunning, the views are amazing, and the staff is superb! We enjoyed breakfast at VAGA and lunch/drinks at The Pocket while on property, everything was great.

We booked an ocean view room through Skylark. We were excited to find the hotel had upgraded us to an ocean view suite when we arrived! We enjoyed several meals at Vaga, the onsite restaurant, where the service was consistently good. Our complimentary breakfast was delicious and we had a variety of choices. Every staff member we encountered greeted us. The gym and pool were clean and stocked with towels. We found the bed and pillows to be very comfortable. We stayed over New Year’s Eve and didn’t hear any noise at midnight! We felt like the hotel staff really wanted us to enjoy our stay.

I had an amazing first experience thing at the Alila Marea. I did a business retreat to end the year. I wanted to give a shoutout to Ricky who was the great first impression at the resort working in valet. He went above and beyond to make sure I was welcome and gave great hospitality. I definitely am going to keep recommending this place and will definitely be back. They had a great coffee shop, restaurants, spa, gym and more.

Top notch location and views. The place to go to relax surrounded by beautiful scenery and friendly staff. The rainy end of the year did not dampen our stay and enhanced our relaxation with covered balconies to protect us from the wind and rain while enjoying reading our new books. All of the staff were great- from the front desk to the spa and those cleaning the rooms, to everyone in the restaurants, all were nice and accommodating. Our stay seemed to go by too quickly and Ricky, our valet sent us on our way and reinforced the friendliness that will remain our last thoughts of our great staycation.

We stayed one night at Alila Marea Encinitas using 35K Explorist points. The property is beautiful, quiet, and in a great coastal location, but the experience came with a few frustrations. To start though, a big thank you to Nico at the front desk, who was wonderful and truly helpful. The staff overall was very friendly. Also, a shout-out to the valet team, especially Ricky, who was fantastic, welcoming, efficient, and set a great tone from the moment we arrived. That said, avoid rooms 239 and 241. We were initially placed in room 239, which had no balcony, an odd layout with a big overhang, definitely not what you expect at this price point. When we asked to move rooms, we were told there were no complimentary Explorist upgrades, even though earlier that day I had seen balcony rooms listed at the same 35k points we originally booked at. We were able to move to a third-floor balcony room, but only after paying an additional $130, which felt unnecessarily nickel-and-dimey. The balcony room was lovely and much more in line with expectations for the hotel. Do know that standard rooms do not include bathtubs unless you book a suite or bigger room. The hotel is peaceful and the appetizers at the pool restaurant were very good. Moral of the story: book the exact room you want from the start. Explorist upgrades do not seem to happen here, even when rooms show available. Beautiful property and kind staff, but expectations around upgrades should be managed carefully.

Ricky was outstanding and put forth above and beyond effort. Extreme attention to detail, professionalism, speedy serive. This man deserves a promotion.

Ricky and the whole valet team were great. Quick service and very helpful, always had a smile and helped me when I needed something from my car.

This resort deserves a higher review score! Pros: the location and views from around the property can’t be beat. It’s dog friendly. And there’s plenty to do, including some great restaurants all within a couple miles (don’t miss Atelier Manna and Valentina). I usually loathe resort fees, but this one was actually worth it… there are e-bikes included (go 20mph with no peddling required) with no time limit and no fee. There are surfboards and wetsuits included, as well as beach chairs etc (too cold for us to use this time). My favorite inclusion- there’s a dry sauna and cold plunge on the pool deck (something you’d usually need a spa pass to use) plus pool and hot tub with amazing ocean views. On top of that, there’s included yoga and other activities, and the hotel will drive you, gratis, in the house car to dinner or whatever within a few miles (you’ve got to get home on your own). The room and bathroom were spacious and well appointed, although decor was somewhat minimalist. I loved the vibe but it might not be for everyone. Restaurants and bar looked nice but we didn’t try. Cons: parking onsite is $60 overnight. If it wasn’t rainy when we arrived, I probably would have found street parking and walked back. Otherwise (and this isn’t exactly a con but more of a fact), it’s a long walk from back to front of property, so don’t leave anything behind. Other notes: We stayed in the lowest rate room, which honestly has no view (it looks south into the neighborhood next door). There are only 6 of these rooms, and it would have been worth it to upgrade to the lagoon view. And almost all of the “lagoon view” rooms actually have an ocean view, albeit at an angle. IMO, the lagoon view room seems better than ocean view pool/ocean view, because ocean/pool view rooms are closer to the public walkway and less private. Altogether, we’ll definitely becoming back soon!