Resort at Pelican Hill

My wife and I wanted to have a four-day break in southern CA, and we whittled down our choice to this property or one of the other nearby Marriott upmarket resorts. And, broadly, we were pleased with Pelican. We got an upgrade to an ocean-facing 'bungalow' and the view was lovely as was the room. It was not what I really expected - bungalow conjured up the idea of a self-contained building, but they are a strip of what (in the UK) you might call terraced housing! But, as I say, very lovely. The area is delightful, and we enjoyed excursions to San Juan Capistrano, and several of the beach towns nearby. There are lots of good restaurants an easy drive for lunch/dinner, and lovely walks nearby. We are not into golf, but clearly if you are, this is a great place to be. The downside is that really the place just has no soul or character. It is bland and feels fairly modern. After our first restaurant dinner out, we went to the bar at 9.30pm for a nightcap... and we were the ONLY people there. After that we bought a bottle of Scotch and had our nightcap in our room. And the blandness was evident at breakfast. The menu could have been a hotel anywhere in the USA. Nothing suggested we were not far from Mexico (other than the fact that many staff were Hispanic) - no chilaquiles, for instance, or anything reflecting a more local sense of cuisine. By the time of our fourth and final breakfast, I was so bored. And the breakfast staff were very warm - but found it hard to think remotely outside the box. One day we came for breakfast really quite early. There was ONE other diner in the outside area - a guy on his own. We were seated right next to him. I asked if we could leave him in peace and sit at any other table, and was told they were all booked later in the morning. I said that if we were served well, we'd be done in half an hour and I simply did not believe we could not sit somewhere else. So they seated us elsewhere - and, of course, it was still empty when we left. But that did not stop them putting the next guests (to occupy only the third table in a big place) next to the lone man!! The service in the rooms was superb. Turndown and cleaning at precisely the times we wanted and great texting service to arrange it. All in all - a great place in a great area. Just a bit bland and boring. Breakfast (and a glance at the lunch/dinner menus) put us off eating in the resort (which is overpriced), but it was a great base for us and felt happily indulgent. A lovely time as a one-off.

This was my 4th or 5th stay at Pelican Hill. Truly, there is nothing like it. Feels comfortable and luxurious at the same time. The Coliseum pool is the star of the show. When we started staying here, the pool was ultra posh with white foam pool mats which you could float on and absolutely no pool toys/balls/floaties allowed in the pool. Marriott has taken over and things have changed dramatically. There are tons of kids with balls and toys and floaties. There is a small adult pool for a more peaceful experience. I did not care for most of the pool food. $40 for handful of chips & a cup of guacamole! $24 for soggy, overly cheesy and saucy margarita “flatbread”. I also didn’t enjoy the lackluster and inconsistent service at the Coliseum Grill. And one last suggestion: since Marriott has taken over, having self laundry facilities on site would be a great addition and much appreciated Most Marriott hotels and resorts do offer self laundry on site. I feel like this would make these stay even more comfortable.

A nice one night get away for my 7 year old son and I. The pool is fantastic and the service is outstanding. We received an upgraded room which was so spacious and felt like a real luxury for us. We took the shuttle down to Crystal Cove which was an added bonus.