Carlsbad resorts - opinions?

Of the 3 HGVC resorts in Carlsbad:
Grand Pacific Palisades
Marbrisa
Seapointe

Which would be your order of choice considering the following:

1) My sister needs a 1 BR with full kitchen for her and the 2 kids (6 and 3)
2) "kid" stuff to do
3) Beach and pool

I know one is like right next door to Legoland, but that can be a mixed bag.

Anyway, any advice/suggestions would be good. I've obviously never stayed at any of those resorts.

Thanks in advance

Two are next to LL (Marbrisa above, Palisades below), and for that age I would recommend Palisades, it has an excellent kids play pool. She can take the shuttle to Seapointe and they will probably loan them beach stuff (with a wagon to haul) to cross the street to the beach. There is a new shuttle service between the resorts, similar to Waikoloa.


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Grand Pacific Palisades is the best for kids. Best kids pool, best gameroom, etc.
Karl Strauss offers some room service.

Marbrisa has a very large pool area, but it can be a very long walk depending on if you are in the old buildings or new buildings. It's the only one that will feel like a HGVC resort.

Seapointe is an easy walk to the beach and also has a kid water play/pool area. They are updating their rooms, but depending on which one bedroom you get stuck with, it can be a major disappointment for someone who is used to HGVC quality rooms.

Seapointe is in major construction right now so I would choose one of the others.

presley said:

Grand Pacific Palisades is the best for kids. Best kids pool, best gameroom, etc.
Karl Strauss offers some room service.

Marbrisa has a very large pool area, but it can be a very long walk depending on if you are in the old buildings or new buildings. It's the only one that will feel like a HGVC resort.

Seapointe is an easy walk to the beach and also has a kid water play/pool area. They are updating their rooms, but depending on which one bedroom you get stuck with, it can be a major disappointment for someone who is used to HGVC quality rooms.

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Awesome news, thank you very much.

SmithOp said:

Two are next to LL (Marbrisa above, Palisades below), and for that age I would recommend Palisades, it has an excellent kids play pool. She can take the shuttle to Seapointe and they will probably loan them beach stuff (with a wagon to haul) to cross the street to the beach. There is a new shuttle service between the resorts, similar to Waikoloa.


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Thanks so much. I did not know there was a shuttle service, that would be very nice for her to use.

hurnik said:

Thanks so much. I did not know there was a shuttle service, that would be very nice for her to use.

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Its called the Shared Activities Program.

https://grandpacificresorts.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/GPP-01161.pdf

There is also a rail station near Seapointe, the shuttle will take guests there that want to ride the Coaster to San Diego. Old Town is a nice stop with shops and restaurants, we like Old Town Mexican Cafe, watch the ladies make tortillas in the front window.

presley said:

Grand Pacific Palisades is the best for kids. Best kids pool, best gameroom, etc.
Karl Strauss offers some room service.

Marbrisa has a very large pool area, but it can be a very long walk depending on if you are in the old buildings or new buildings. It's the only one that will feel like a HGVC resort.

Seapointe is an easy walk to the beach and also has a kid water play/pool area. They are updating their rooms, but depending on which one bedroom you get stuck with, it can be a major disappointment for someone who is used to HGVC quality rooms.

Click to expand...

Seems like the points cost for GPP and Marbrisa are about the same. I know the thing to watch out for is getting a GPP room which has the HGVC already (since they can't enroll), any other factors I should consider if purchasing one resort or the other?

Also, why are the price per point so much lower at the two carlsbad properties? Is it due to the risk that at some point they can drop out of HGVC?

thare said:

Seems like the points cost for GPP and Marbrisa are about the same. I know the thing to watch out for is getting a GPP room which has the HGVC already (since they can't enroll), any other factors I should consider if purchasing one resort or the other?

Also, why are the price per point so much lower at the two carlsbad properties? Is it due to the risk that at some point they can drop out of HGVC?

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Marbrisa won't drop out of HGVC. It is now a full fledged HGVC property. I can't imagine GPP dropping out, either.

GPP is better to own if you want day use. It also has better views if you buy an ocean view or "plus" unit.

I don't have my MF bills handy, but I'm pretty sure Marbrisa has higher property tax than GPP, but the normal MF dues are lower than GPP.

If you are just buying for points, you can do better buying in other areas, but since you live in southern California, I think you want the GPR family for using their other resorts. Owning Marbrisa, GPP or Seapointe opens up the door for being able to rent at any of the GPR resorts at some nice prices. GPP and Seapointe also have bonus time, which are nightly rentals. Since Marbrisa is HGVC, you have to use HGVC open season to book at least 2 nights if you want bonus time.

Price per point is lower here because of the high cost of transferring membership. GPP and Seapointe are not up to the normal standards of HGVC. You can still buy either for $1. if they have not been converted to HGVC already.

I wouldn't imagine the affiliates would be dropping off. Seapointe is doing major renovations to the rooms and lobby to bring it up to HGVC standards.

Personally, of those options I would choose Palisades.

But when I was actually shopping I chose Carlsbad Inn because I wanted to be near the beach. I like the other resorts but I felt that CBI suited our needs best. We like that the beach is right there AND you can walk to town. You can stay at CBI without needing a car, which isn't possible at any of the other resorts. To us that's freedom - we can choose if we want to drive or not and if we separate then whoever stays at the resort isn't "stuck" at the resort.

A few other things worth noting...

In addition to the things mentioned already, Palisades has a very nice large adult lap swimming pool.

MarBrisa has a special private entrance to Legoland. It takes you in the back way, through the pirate playground.

Fireworks at Legoland can be disturbing if you're at Palisades or MarBrisa. They do fireworks over 4th of July and Christmas/New Years weeks.

Both Palisades and MarBrisa are very close to Costco, which is convenient for supplies and gas. We also like to eat at the Veggie Grill near Costco in Carlsbad - yummy.

When you buy, be very careful to make sure you're getting what you want because I think some of the contracts at MarBrisa and Palisades aren't going to have day use or they'll be vague about views etc. I have day use at all my resorts and even though we don't live in So Cal we use the day use - it comes in handy

Transportation: GPP has a free local (5 miles) shuttle. We just tipped $5 when we used it. We used it to go to the grocery story and to the near by Poinsettia Train Station, where we took the Coaster Train to San Diego, twice.

The resort shuttle picked us up at the airport.

You don't need transportation to LL - it's right across the street.

My trip report: http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=211743&highlight=grand+pacific+palisades

presley said:

Marbrisa won't drop out of HGVC. It is now a full fledged HGVC property. I can't imagine GPP dropping out, either.

GPP is better to own if you want day use. It also has better views if you buy an ocean view or "plus" unit.

I don't have my MF bills handy, but I'm pretty sure Marbrisa has higher property tax than GPP, but the normal MF dues are lower than GPP.

If you are just buying for points, you can do better buying in other areas, but since you live in southern California, I think you want the GPR family for using their other resorts. Owning Marbrisa, GPP or Seapointe opens up the door for being able to rent at any of the GPR resorts at some nice prices. GPP and Seapointe also have bonus time, which are nightly rentals. Since Marbrisa is HGVC, you have to use HGVC open season to book at least 2 nights if you want bonus time.

Price per point is lower here because of the high cost of transferring membership. GPP and Seapointe are not up to the normal standards of HGVC. You can still buy either for $1. if they have not been converted to HGVC already.

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Thanks for all the info. I think GPP it is! Will have to look out for some deals and jump on it. Definitely want HGVC though.

For the day use, should I ask during negotiation or is there some way to find out earlier?