Sheraton Carlsbad Resort and Spa – Carlsbad, CA

The Sheraton Carlsbad Resort
5480 Grand Pacific Drive 
Carlsbad, CA 92008 US 

By: Dave Grossman, HotelMagician.com
September 2008

The Sheraton Carlsbad resort is a new ( 2008 ) Sheraton that is very comfortable, very friendly, and, realistically, more of a convention hotel with a big pool, a spa, and a (single) tennis court than it is a “resort”.

I should clarify.  My overall impression of this hotel was a good one.
Really exceptional service was the norm and, being new, was of course in good condition.  But I didn’t feel like I was really at a “resort” like I typically would imagine the term “resort” to mean. And this hotel does charge a “resort fee” of $10 a night which, in my opinion, is just an extra room rate fee since they aren’t covering what you often see covered in a resort fee – such as beach access.

Still, in fairness, people aren’t likely to head to the Sheraton Carlsbad for a week long vacation. It serves two groups for the most part: business travelers – specifically those attending conventions there – and families in town for Legoland where they are staying 1-2 nights. The park has a direct entrance to Legoland so if that is your destination, it’s not a bad choice.

The club lounge (if you pay for the club floor or get upgraded via your Starwood status) is very nice with friendly attendants, though while it does offer food, the selection is limited. The only hot item at breakfast is eggs (no bacon or sausage, etc. – just two warmers with the same scrambled eggs.
There is also a variety of ceral and pastries with coffee, milk, and juice.

At night, they have complimentary wine and beer along with one appetizer (again, two warming stations, but just one “choice” of items. A second warm option would improve this lounge a lot, in my opinion.

There is a full service restaurant on the property but we did not have a chance to try it on this occasion.

In short, if you are in the area, you can hardly go wrong with the Sheraton.
While the architecture is nothing to write home about, it is a perfectly nice hotel if the Carlsbad, California surrounding area is your destination.
-DG