We visited Terranea for the first time and rented an adults-only daybed for the day. Overall, the resort itself is beautiful, and we really enjoyed having an adults-only area where we could relax without a lot of noise or children around.
Unfortunately, I don’t feel the daybed experience was worth the $224 we paid, mainly because the pool area appeared to be extremely understaffed.
I want to make it very clear that this is NOT a criticism of the waitress working that day. She was wonderful, apologetic, and clearly working incredibly hard. She even explained that they had several call-outs and were short-staffed. She did the best she could under the circumstances.
The problem was that the experience being advertised wasn’t really available because of the staffing situation.
Since it was our first visit, we initially went to the hotel front desk to check in and were directed downstairs to the pool. When we arrived, we discovered that you need a key card to enter the pool area, but there was no employee stationed there to let us in or direct us. We ended up standing outside until another guest noticed us and kindly opened the door.
Once inside, we weren’t sure where to check in, so we eventually went to the bar. The waitress checked us in and told us to choose a daybed.
We had booked the daybed under the impression that it included poolside service where someone would come by to take our food and drink orders. Unfortunately, that never happened. Anytime we wanted something, we had to leave the daybed and go to the bar ourselves, which was extremely busy. At one point, we waited around 15 minutes just to place an order.
The nachos we ordered were delicious. However, the shrimp ceviche initially arrived in a to-go container with tortilla chips and three very small ramekins of ceviche. For something priced in the $20+ range, the portion and presentation were extremely disappointing and looked nothing like the photos we had seen. We asked about it, and the waitress was very helpful and had it replaced. About 25–30 minutes later, we received the ceviche properly served in a bowl, which was much better.
When the replacement arrived, we asked for Tapatío because the ceviche needed a little more flavor. It never came. We received the food around 2 PM and stayed until approximately 4 PM, and no one ever returned with it.
Again, I completely understand that employees call out and unexpected staffing issues happen. My frustration is with Terranea continuing to charge the full premium price for an experience that they did not have enough staff to provide that day.
At $224 for a daybed, I expected to be able to sit back, relax, order food and drinks from the daybed, and enjoy the experience we paid for. Instead, we repeatedly had to get up, wait at the bar, track down service, and wait extended periods for food and drinks.
The property is beautiful, the adults-only atmosphere was wonderful, and the staff member helping us was great. But based on this experience, I would not pay $224 for the daybed again. If Terranea is going to charge a premium price for this service, they need to make sure they are adequately staffed to actually provide the premium experience being advertised.
