Four Seasons Residence Club Aviara North San Diego

Four Seasons Residence Club Aviara delivers the premium level of hospitality the brand is known for. Kaitlyn is a Four Seasons treasure! She ensured we were well cared for during our weekend Legoland getaway. She showed exceptional kindness and gave a goodie box with Legoland swag to my five year old. We had enjoyable meals in Seasons restaurant and I was thoroughly impressed by the thoughtfully attentive staff who greeted me by name and ensured my guests and I wanted for nothing. Aviara is an amazingly picturesque resort with peekaboo ocean views throughout. This was my first time staying at the Four Seasons as my previous stays here have been at Park Hyatt. If one is booking through American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts there are some things to be aware of: First of all, these are two bedroom units with a door separating the primary bedroom and ensuite bath from the rest of the unit. The primary bedroom has a separate entry door that allows the space to be marketed as a “studio” with a kitchenette when closed off from the rest of the unit, which is essentially a one bedroom condo that does have a full kitchen. What is called a "kitchenette" in the studio rooms is not a kitchenette at all... just a bar sink with a microwave and stocked with a few dishes but no bowls; no range; no toaster;  and no ice trays in the small dorm fridge. No laundry machines in the “studio” side either. A totally unworkable set up that makes it just another hotel room, rather than a typical residence club unit that would allow one to prepare meals.   Secondly, Not only are you in a de facto hotel room you are marooned far away from hotel amenities, like an ice machine as these villas are spread out all over the Aviara resort. As it turns out, Four Seasons personnel will happily shuttle you to and from the guest house and deliver ice to you upon request; however, who wants to be in a position to provide a gratuity every time one needs something as mundane and essential as ice? Because of these accommodations (or lack thereof), the AmEx FHR booking is not worth the points or dollars if you don’t receive the complimentary upgrade to the larger one-bedroom unit. Without the upgrade, one is better off staying at the Park Hyatt where you have easy access to their amazing pools, spa and services. The Four Seasons units are currently under renovation so there are a number of units currently taken out of the inventory while they are being updated. For this reason the chances of a complementary upgrade through AmEx during the renovation period is slim to none. Unfortunately, you won’t know for sure until you check in. Our room decor was pristine as we had a studio in the freshly updated Building 11.  Bathroom was nice, with an abundance of lighting and ventilation.  The one huge negative about the bathroom is the standard shower/tub combo... oddly out of place at a resort and hella out of place for a primary bath.  This feels like taking a shower in the hall bath of a 1970's starter home! Not luxurious at all.  The expectation is a shower stall and separate soak tub at a resort.  The bare minimum would be a spacious shower only bathroom.  Adding to the oddness is the half shower door.  It looks like the contractor installed the grab bar on the wall where the shower door attaches and when the shower door installers showed up they could not complete the install.  Crazy weird! (Photo below). Would I return? Only for the one bedroom unit or the whole enchilada, the two bedroom.

Awful since not really a Four Seasons experience It has none of the amenities that the Four Seasons Resort had when it was operated by an actual Four Seasons Resort and the maintenance fees kept getting higher and higher and higher, and the value of the place is nowhere near what the maintenance fee even is to stay. It took me several years after I got rid of two of the Gold weeks and I had a platinum week left and then the real order that I ended up using was absolutely awful. She Put in our agreement without notifying me that I was going to be paying the maintenance fee for the new owners in short, all she told me was, they were going to pay the maintenance fee, and then I found out that I had already paid for the time that I owned the maintenance fee and you did not pay the maintenance fee after the fact of the year that you were owned She didn’t really care. She just wanted to get rid of it and get her $2000. we paid $60,000 for that week at least and I receive probably slightly over $3000. It’s not that the staff that are running it or the issue it’s just that the way it was set up. It’s nothing more Than buildings with bedrooms and kitchens and whatever that would be in any low and Motel room with accommodations for someone who couldn’t afford a home but needed a place to live and be able to eat and sleep the basics along with annual real estate taxes, but the outrageous maintenance fee doesn’t make it worth earning it. I used to use my Four Seasons credits and stay at other resorts and my last day. I probably met six couples that just sold for a loss. And while they paid more in fees, they were staying at beautiful resorts with lots of amenities. The Four Seasons in Aviara has nothing worthwhile gone for if you’re used to going to nice resorts which Aviara used to be when the Four Seasons was running it.

This is my 8th Four Seasons stay this year. Mostly international and this one doesn’t seem like a Four Seasons whatsoever. This is a Marriott or Hyatt. Dated. Too spread out. Cheap furnishings for sure! My room is $1200 a night for a one bedroom villa and this is easily a $400 a room. This location REALLY tarnishes the Four Seasons flag! Let Marriott take this over please!

The Aviara is a special place. A great hotel for events, for family get togethers and easy stays. There are a lot of kids. ALOT. It is not quiet - but the families give the hotel a great positive energy. The staff was great, the services were great - and we would definitely stay again if we were in the area.

Amazing stay in Carlsbad!! One of the best Four Season’s we have ever stayed at. This was our first time doing luxury travel with our two kids and let me just say that this FS set the bar extremely high. They made sure our kiddos and us had a great stay throughout our visit. Jessica and Kaitlyn from the guest experience team went above and beyond. Henry from the bell team was fantastic helping us get settled when we checked in. And everyone at the restaurants and pools were very attentive and personable. The only gotcha with this resort is it is a residence property, so it’s a bit spread out and a different vacation experience being in what feels like someone’s unit. With the kids it was great having a kitchen and more room to run around, so we didn’t mind one bit. Just might not be what you expect if you’re used to other FS properties.