Hotel Spotlight: Pacific Terrace Hotel

Perched upon a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the aptly named Pacific Terrace Hotel offers extraordinary ocean views and an intimate guest experience that’s earned a devout following of loyal guests.

You don’t have to take our word for it.

On TripAdvisor, Pacific Terrace is the #1-rated hotel in San Diego.

Pacific Terrace Hotel - Trip Advisor - Hotel Spotlight

How does Pacific Terrace earn rave reviews from guests?

A beautiful location certainly helps. If there’s a prettier balcony view in San Diego, we have yet to see it.

Wonderful hotel with exceptional service

This cozy hotel has excellent staff, beautiful ocean view rooms with balcony and direct access to beach. It’s about 3/4 of a mile from the pier so it’s quiet at night. We stayed here for our honeymoon and loved it! We will go back again!

Fantastic Ocean Front Hotel

We loved everything about this hotel. Beautiful rooms and views, great breakfasts (not included), fast and dependable internet, great security, easy parking, friendly and helpful staff, immaculately clean.

Perfect Place to Stay

Perfect location, friendly/helpful staff, Parkin was easy and we felt safe!!! Centrally located…easy to get to the Zoo, Coronado Island, Torrey Pines, Balboa Park, La Jolla, Del Mar, Little Italy and Sea Pointe Village (USS Midway).

Great location and hotel – amazing staff.

Hotel rooms extremely comfortable, kid friendly and loved the heated pool – amazing for kids. Staff incredibly helpful and nice, go above and beyond! Perfect location where you can walk straight out onto the pathway to the beach – would stay again.

Amazing stay at Pacific Terrace Hotel

We had an amazing week-long stay at the Pacific Terrace Hotel. The attention to detail was outstanding. The location is fantastic. The staff were incredibly friendly and helpful. The views are spectacular! Would highly recommend The Pacific Terrace Hotel to everyone!

But it’s not only the gorgeous ocean views that keep guests coming back. Pacific Terrace takes pride in delivering exceptional guest service that’s tailored to the needs of each guest.

We spoke with Lloyd Walton, the Director of Guest Services at Pacific Terrace, to uncover the secrets behind their success.

“Our guest service is the cream of the crop. We don’t have ‘no’ in our vocabulary. We can work individually with every single guest to make their stay the best it can be. Our guest service sets us apart from everybody else and keeps us number one on TripAdvisor.”

– Lloyd Walton, Director of Guest Services
Pacific Terrace Hotel

Joyful Vibes

When guests arrive at Pacific Terrace, they’re greeted by friendly Bellmen who have the congeniality you’d expect from a California surf town. The rest of the staff shares in the joyfulness, from the Guest Service Agents to the Room Attendants.

The hotel has a knack for hiring staff that work well together, not only in Guest Services, but also in Housekeeping, Food and Beverage, and Maintenance. You get the sense that the employees at Pacific Terrace genuinely enjoy working at the property and with each other; they exude a fun, family dynamic that the guests can feel and feed off of. It’s frequently mentioned in TripAdvisor reviews.

Pacific Terrace Hotel comes highly recommended for its exceptional service, with guests frequently lauding the staff’s friendliness and professionalism. The hotel’s atmosphere is praised for its inviting vibe, and cleanliness is a standout feature, with both rooms and common areas meticulously maintained.

Review summary written by TripAdvisor.

Pride in Presentation

Guest Service Agents present the room keys in a key folder, which Lloyd prefers over paper key sleeves.

A young female college student holds out an access card to demonstrate how key cards keep college campuses safe.

“Given the way we treat our guests and the standards that we hold ourselves to, we can’t just slap keys on the desk and tell you where to go.

“We make sure the room keys are meticulously placed in the key packet and we present it to the guest. We open it and say, ‘Here’s your keys, here’s your room number, here’s some really good information to know about the property.’ It’s like when you go to a high-end store, and they wrap your items in tissue before putting it in the bag.”

- Lloyd

The key folders are a simple product, but Lloyd says they make a substantial impression on guests.

“I think the key folders resonate with our guests because it’s not what they’re used to getting.

“I was at Hilton when they went from a folded key packet to a paper sleeve. I noticed the difference, even at a corporate Hilton that was 80% business travelers. It just didn’t make me feel as prideful handing off the keys. It diminished the value of our product, and our product is the guest rooms.”

- Lloyd

Guests often arrive before check-in time. If the room isn’t prepared yet, the hotel offers to store luggage and provides the guest with access keys so they can use the hotel amenities, which include a pool, cafe, fitness center, and parking garage.

The key folder makes for the perfect place to store luggage tags and access keys while waiting to be given room access.

Efficiency is Key

For room keys and access cards, Pacific Terrace uses RFID.

RFID key cards can be programmed in just seconds, which keeps the check-in process moving swiftly. In the morning, Guest Service Agents create access cards for the day and can program 50 cards in just about a minute.

A staff member unlocks the pool area gate with an RFID access card.

Larger hotel chains are incorporating digital keys, which allow guests to check in and access their rooms using their smartphones. Pacific Terrace hasn’t bought into the hype.

“I experienced digital keys with Hilton and the MGM resorts,” says Lloyd. “It’s finicky, to say the least. I do not think that technology is anywhere near where it has to be to really trust it.

“There’s so many extra steps—another app you have to download, another account you have to sign up for. And most of our guests are too old for that; they sometimes have difficulty connecting to WiFi. They’re not going to be able to get into their room with their phone, nor will they want to.

“I think RFID keys will continue to be the best technology for years to come.”

- Lloyd

There’s very little downtime in the hotel world, even at a smaller property like Pacific Terrace. With so much work to do on a daily basis, Lloyd appreciates how easy it is to order supplies from Front Desk Supply.

“What sets Front Desk Supply apart is the ordering portal.

“Most hoteliers are busy doing so many things. Going back and forth with a sales rep can cause things to get lost, and now I don’t have the product that I need. So, being able to pop in and order stuff from the website with one click really makes the process so seamless and very easy.

“When I do need to contact or speak to anybody at Front Desk Supply, they’re always very quick at getting back to us.”

- Lloyd

Pacific Terrace room key (Top) and day access card (Bottom). On the access card, the hotel promotes its sister properties and rewards program.

Playing To Their Strengths

Pacific Terrace customized their keys with a beautiful photo that showcases the oceanfront location.

Unsurprisingly, guests frequently take home their room keys as a souvenir of their stay.

“That’s our claim to fame: our location.

“It shows how close we are to the beach. How wonderful and quaint our small property is. How you can be in the pool looking directly out at the ocean.”

- Lloyd

The Terrace Cafe at Pacific Terrace Hotel.

A Safe & Exclusive Atmosphere

The location is not always blue skies and sunshine.

Sometimes the beach poses unique challenges for Pacific Terrace. The neighborhood—Pacific Beach—is well-known for weekend crowds and energetic nightlife.

Most of the guests who stay at Pacific Terrace prefer a quieter, family-friendly environment. To maintain this sort of atmosphere on property, the hotel secures the parking garage, entrances, and pool area by using key card access. It’s very difficult for neighborhood party-goers to sneak inside.

The pool area allows direct access to the boardwalk, but key cards are required for both entry and exit.

The hotel has a good system in place, but they’re always looking for ways to improve. This summer, they’ll be completing a redesign of the entire property with modernized decor and a brighter color palette.

“We’ve been able to work with the designer and other managers at the hotel to come up with a happy medium that keeps PT what it is, but it will lighten and modernize the rooms in an appropriate way for what our guests and staff want.”

- Lloyd

A redesigned guest room at Pacific Terrace.

Little Details Make a Big Difference

We can’t take credit for the hotel’s incredible guest service, but we’re happy to see how much mileage a property can get with the right custom hotel supplies. This hotel seems to make all the right hospitality choices, from staffing to supply management. It’s no wonder that Pacific Terrace is able to keep their guests coming back again and again.

“Welcome your guests home is a marketing ploy that so many big companies put into their core beliefs. But it’s not really sincere. You don’t have to mean it, but you say it. You’re checking a box.

“Here at Pacific Terrace Hotel, we truly welcome our guests home to this property when they’re staying here, and we mean it.”

- Lloyd

“We’re excited to see our guests come back here. We’re excited to be a part of their vacation, their holiday, or whatever they’re here for. And I don’t think that happens at many other hotels.”