Grand Pacific Palisades

The staff made me feel welcome throughout my stay, and their presence in the garage, even after midnight when no other guests were around, helped me feel very safe. Naz was especially pleasant at check-in, which took under 10 minutes. They explained the resort layout clearly and marked my room on a map. My room was clean and fully stocked. It was right across from the elevator, so getting from the parking spot to my room took five minutes. I timed it! Parking was plentiful, likely because it wasn’t peak season, and I got a spot near the elevator, which made moving luggage and groceries easy. The elevator waits were quick, and both elevators smelled fresh every time. The only small drawback was basic cable with no streaming services. In the end, that helped me get a lot of work done. The stay was smooth and well run, and I’d absolutely come back.

Our two-bedroom unit had plenty of room for all six of us, and we had a full kitchen for cooking during our week there. The location was hard to beat, close to Legoland, Carlsbad Outlets, Costco, the flower fields, freeways, restaurants, and more. There were crafts and other activities to keep the little ones entertained. It worked out great for our family vacation.

Rose at the front desk really stood out. She was kind, helpful, always smiling, and went out of her way to make sure we had a good stay. The whole place felt welcoming and comfortable. The Grand Pacific Palisades was clean, nice, and extremely kid-friendly, which made the trip much easier for us as a family. We’d recommend it to families and would be happy to stay again.

Our second stay at the Hilton Grand Pacific was fine until we got a text the night before checkout asking us to bag the trash, put used towels in the shower or tub, and load the dishwasher. I found it insulting and felt disrespected, humiliated, and embarrassed. I’m an owner of my Hilton property, fully paid off, and had been trying to persuade my guests to sign up for the membership. After that message, there was no way I’d do that. My guests were taken aback too. In all my travels, I’ve never been asked to tidy or clean before leaving. I could understand that kind of request at an Airbnb, but from a “world class resort” it felt classless. I replied that I was on vacation and asked who had sent the message and why we were receiving it. I said I’d stayed in countless HGV guest rooms without getting a message like that, and that we try to leave our space better than we found it. I also explained that I’d stayed at this HGV location years ago and had a really bad experience, with numerous complaints that I tried to raise with management. Nobody called me back. I hadn’t wanted to come back, but it was the only place with vacancy. Back in December, we’d had the best experience up the street at the Marbrisa. I would have expected a message asking whether we’d enjoyed our stay and if they could assist us at checkout, then thanking us and saying they hoped to see us again soon. The text we got was nowhere near that. It’s hard to believe anyone thought it was acceptable to send to a paid guest.