Beach Village at The Del, LXR Hotels & Resorts

We had such a tremendous honeymoon here. The personal care was amazing, and upgrading from the small room we first booked was worth it. We ended up in a gorgeous one-bedroom with a kitchenette, big soaking tub, and patio. Our little chihuahua loved it. We could hear the ocean as we slept, ate at Nobu every day, and had the most wonderful time. It was a personal trip, but I'll also be writing a travel article for WHIRL Magazine soon. This is a special place, and I highly recommend it.

The beach is closed for half the year due to pollution, something their promotion of the Del on the Pacific never tells you. Parking is a disgrace at a minimum of $59 a night for guests. Our stay at Beach Village at The Del was disappointing in plenty of other ways, too. We didn't get access to our expensive room until 7pm on the first night, and housekeeping came each morning at 8:30. They never made up the room once in five days because we weren't going to get up just to accommodate them. What quality summer holiday hotel sends housekeeping at 8:30 every morning? The worst part was an additional, unauthorized $2,500 taken from my account for our five-night stay. They promised to return the overcharge within seven business days. What a joke.

Our daughter Athena set up a little shop selling shells and rocks right outside our room, just for fun. We mentioned it casually to the Concierge Team, then Alyssa, Alex, Sasha, Laura, and Will all came by and bought things with real money. They didn't need to do that, but their smiles and kind words made Athena feel like a real entrepreneur, and made her day and ours. The team has been quick to answer our texts when we've needed anything, and this was such a thoughtful, personal gesture. We're still enjoying our stay, but their kindness has already made this one of our most special trips. That's the kind of hospitality that makes a vacation unforgettable.

The location is great, the hotel is beautiful, and the service was wonderful, but moving rooms twice on a short trip wasn't what I expect from this brand. We stayed Tuesday through Saturday in February, and I really wanted to love the place after good experiences at other LXR hotels. On the first night, the sofa bed smelled unmistakably of vomit, like someone had wiped it quickly and shut it away. The front desk was nice and moved us next door. On our last night, we found two fairly large spiders in the room. Finding two in half an hour left me worried there were more crawling around, so we changed rooms again. A few smaller things also took away from the hotel's shine. The villa gate wasn't working, and we told the front desk. The breakfast buffet was pretty bad, especially the hot food, though the coffee and pastries were great. I'm not sure we'll return. As a Diamond member familiar with Hilton's different tiers, I was disappointed.