Grand Pacific Palisades Resort & Hotel
Vacation package waste of time.
Purchased a “vacation package” to preview Hilton’s other property the MarBrisa.
Do not recommend the Hilton Vacation “preview” unless you have LOTS of time to waste with bothersome phone calls from Hilton “concierge” staff, and want to stay in a mediocre hotel to get a few perks this is the place for you.
The package was for two-night stay (with LATE check-in), free theme park tickets, $100 certificate for a Hilton property which must be used in six months.
This property per the Hilton Vacation Club sales people is not a “Hilton”, but a Hilton affiliate property. I have no idea how they include the word “RESORT”. Grand Pacific Palisades GPP, It’s just a large, inconvenient hotel. Large because it’s in several big buildings, and inconvenient because during PEAK season they were very short staffed. Resorts usually have a nice bar/restaurant by the pool so you can get a glass of wine, beer, drinks and small bites to eat. Not this place.
The main pool is for adults only. A pool with chairs and that’s it. Resorts usually have towels placed by the pool. Not this place (you had to stand in line at CHECK-IN) just to get a towel! I was wondering why the people in line were getting so annoyed. Because the check-in process was slow and you had to wait 15-20 minutes just to get a towel. Zero other poolside amenities other than having a pool. In fact, almost no amenities I could readily discern. Lots of hotels have multiple pools. Definitely does not make this place special.
Because I bought a vacation package, check in was at 5pm so that was inconvenient because I had a cooler with food. Directions to the other building were confusing, so I asked a housekeeper who said she had no idea where our room was and couldn’t or didn’t want to call for someone to help us. No help with bags or our car, but you pay a resort fee and parking at this property.
Finally, find our room in the other building and it appears nice until I start unpacking the food. I see the cabinets peeling. I took a second look and I guess to make it look nicer they covered them in a thick Contact Paper which was peeling all over. It was well stocked in terms of dishes, pots, utensils, etc. Bathrooms were outdated.
The room had a nice view of the parking lot. Otherwise, it was fine except comparing it to other resort properties I’ve stayed at. They text you to make any request to housekeeping which I thought was cool except they had not as of 24 hours later responded to my request for shampoo and conditioner.
The presentation: Because it was peak season the best they could do was give me a 2pm time slot. I arrived a bit early. Long story short, I was there for 2 hours 50 minutes, received a really quick tour of the property (maybe 10 minutes) and was asked if I wanted to buy. You pay an annual maintenance fee, you pay property taxes and insurance, you pay to book your reservation, you pay to make changes, if you want peak times you have booked a year ahead and better not have a change in plans or you will lose your spot, you pay for the vacation property which they recommended for me would be $17,000 plus the annual fees mentioned above for another $1,200+
I said no to purchasing because I really disliked the property I was staying in (I told him it was a maximum 2 star property in terms of services). John the sales guy told me a lot of people had the same things to say about the Grand Palisades. Very mediocre hotel. Number 2 guy steps in, and I complain that I’m going on three hours. He ignores me and keeps talking and talking. I also tell him the property is mediocre and he says a lot of people say that. I got the feeling they were frustrated with Hilton guests being put up in the Grand Pacific because no one wanted to buy.
I say I want to leave and he says fine. They send me downstairs to person number 3 who tries to sell me some other kind of package for $1,800. She kept insisting I sit down, but I wanted to leave so I could take my daughter to Legoland and it was now 5pm. Around 5-7 minutes later she finally gave me the $100 voucher for the hotel of my choice, and my daughter and I got to go to Legoland for a few hours. The best part of the tour was they let me go in the back entrance to Legoland so we didn’t have to drive.
It’s not a bad place to stay. It’s just not up to my typical resort standards.
The property manager called and left a message saying he wanted to speak to me (I think his name was Sean). I called him back three times and he never returned my calls so I surmise they are not concerned with their guests’ issues.