Holiday Inn Express Encinitas – Cardiff Beach Area

Convenient, clean, quiet, has FREE WiFi, a ‘cuzzi and pool and serves breakfast. I like to stay here as it’s walking distance to a friend’s place and close to a lot of community amenities, the beach, Del Mar race track, etc.

Came inn really late after a trip across the border, the front desk was very accommodating even before i checked in. My room was very clean and did not stink as most hotels would just of the highway. I would recommend this place for a good shower and a good nights rest.

This is my second stay and I like it just as much the second time around. It’s clean, staff is friendly and they have a great price. Two minutes from the beach! Also has a hot tub and swimming pool.

Its a Holiday Inn Exp so the breakfast options are pretty standard and dependable. You know you will not go hungry there. Breakfast is served till 10 and is refilled constantly. Its an older property and you can see that in the furniture and other things like loose door nob and baseboard that was pulled up a bit. Our room had a mini fridge but no microwave. We had a microwave in the HIE was stayed at in NM so I thought it was standard. Our 2^nd floor room has some visible water damage on the ceiling, glad it didnt rain :). Beds were comfortable and clean with plenty of hard and soft pillows. I know that they use good cleaning products because while looking for our baby’s pacifier that she thew under the bed I saw a can of Pledge furniture cleaner :).
Front desk lady at check in didn’t seem too friendly and told me to look inside my key card sleeve rudely when I asked for the wifi password. But the lady at check out was very friendly the next day.
The state beach park is just 5 mins drive down the main street and has paid and street parking. We were there over the Labor day weekend so the beach was busy and had to pay $ 15 for parking 9 in the morning.
Our main reason staying here was because it was so close to Legoland which was the main purpose for our visit.

This had been my 7 or 8^th stay here & as always this place is top notch. Over the years we have stayed at other hotels in the area but none as nice as this. The hotel is spotless, very nice décor & furnishings in line with contemporary + an upscale flair especially the lobby/​front desk areas & the guest rooms. Rooms are always immaculate with very comfortable beds & pillows and nice linens.
The front desk crew is always top notch. Edalie is always happy & makes us feel special through our stay, this one & past stays. Also upon arrival we had the pleasure of having Megan check us in. She was so sweet, very professional & accommodating. Everyone else here incl housekeeping & the staff in the breakfast room are all so polite & can’t seem to do enough for you.
One more thing, As for the negative recent previous review, I have a hard time believing it’s real or I’ll bet there is probably something else going on in the reviewers mind. This is my opinion of course. If you stayed here or read the other reviews here or on tripadvisor you would understand what I mean.
Also you can walk next door to Taco burrito shop. Mostly take out or eat outside on patio. Best burritos in San diego. .99 cent Fish taco’s every day! Open ²⁴⁄₇ Great Carne asada burritos.

Gross and disgusting. Had 3 rooms for 3 nights each. Checking out after night 1.
Room #1: gross mystery stain on the couch. Room smells like mildew
Room #2: similar gross stain on the couch. Lights in shower area were not working and had to chose between showering in the dark or showering with the door open
Room #3: cleaner than the other 2. Sink area had an infestation of small flying bugs. Very hard to brush your teeth while swatting bugs at the same time.
Front desk didn’t seem to care when we told them why we were checking out.

My husband I made a decision to come into town a day early. I started looking for a room on our drive in. I visited many travel sites and found a king size room with a sofa sleeper for $ 199 on Expedia and on the hotels site. I started to boom through the hotel site. By the time I was done booking the price jumped to $ 249. I called. The man on the phone told me that he couldn’t even find the $ 199 price. I said fine but asked for 2 queen beds (was $ 249 on the above sites). I was informed that that room was now $ 269. I kept the room but the prices changes happened literally within minutes of each other for the same room. It’s very disheartening and I’m not sure I would book them again since I’m not sure what price id be charged.
The room itself was clean, and comfortable.

Great location and super staff! Make sure you tip the bfast folks as they work their tails off. If you are anti kids, you might want to choose a diff hotel as it seems to be popular with the legoland goers

Very clean and friendly place to stay! Marlon checked us in, he was fun, happy and friendly. The lady working with him thought I knew he’s name personally, we had a good laugh! Breakfast was delicious and the people working in that area was on point! They kept everything stocked. We will seek to stay at this hotel for our next visit to San Diego County! Great location!

Don’t expect an ocean view, but for a good nights sleep it’s a very good place to stay. My wife and I stayed here for one night as my wife had an early appointment nearby and we decided the cost of a hotel was worth not having to hit early morning traffic. So we weren’t looking for anything with a great view of ocean or vacation ambiance in this seaside community, just a quite clean place at a reasonable rate to spend a restful night and this hotel provided all that.
The room we stayed in had a comfortable king bed and a sofa, was nicely sized, and the furniture fairly modern, functional, and clean. Not a large bathroom area, but the size expected in a hotel with Express in their name, with the toilet and combo tub/​shower in a door accessed room and the sink outside in the small hall leading to it. The free WiFi was quick and the TV was a nice size flat screen and good reception and a nice selection of channels. In the morning I went down for the included breakfast and had a nice meal with a good selection of items. Quality was of the morning fast-​food restaurant variety — not bad for a quick meal but not a reason by itself to stay here.
The only complaint we had was with the air conditioning unit, which worked very well in cooling the room, the low fan setting was too high, providing a noise level that if left on during the night would have kept both of us awake. With the fan off, the room got stuffy. These AC units really need a third «very low» setting to allow keeping the air moving, but without making you feel you’re sleeping in front of a jet engine.

I want to give t his hotel 5 stars, but last night, Sunday 5/​24, at 12:30a the fire alarm goes off. So we get up, put on clothes and walk out to the hallway towards the office to find out what is going on. As we get out there, some people are starting to come outside of their rooms and go outside.
The local Fire department arrives with TWO (2) firemen, one dressed and ready to go, the other was obviously the driver. We are talking about a holiday weekend, full capacity hotel where the fire alarm goes off and 2 people show up? Ok that is problem #1. Problem #2 the only staff member with Holiday Inn is on the phone trying to figure out what is wrong, how to turn off the alarm and answer everyone’s questions.
The firemen could not tell us what was wrong and why the alarm was going off. One of them said that someone pulled the alarm by accident. If that were the case, it could have been easily reset and everyone could have gone back to bed. But more and more people were showing up from their rooms into the parking lot. Still no answers 30 minutes later, then the fire department left with no explanation while the alarm keeps going off.
The clerk got the alarm off and told everyone to go back to bed. Propped open all of the «fire» doors and went about his business. When we got up the next morning, we noticed the door were still propped open. Does this mean that the alarm was deactivated and there was no alarm system in place last night while we slept?
Hmmmm…
As for the hotel itself, nice a clean, easy to get to, reasonable price. The door to the bathroom was a bit awkward, either the door to the shower /​toilet had to be closed, if it were open, you could not use the sink.
Great stay otherwise… BTW, same hotel 4 miles down the street towards Carlsbad was $ 50 more a night probably without the early morning wake up call at 12:30a…

As long as you go in with realistic expectations, this place is a an awesome find. We booked a room for $ 75 a night on Hotwire and were thrilled with our value.
Check in was easy — no line and the gentleman was very friendly. We had our dog with us and has no issues — $ 25/​night for a pet fee is pretty reasonable as pet fees go. Breakfast in the morning was decent — I avoided the hot foods as they were definitely not made on site. However, between the oatmeal and fruit, I was content. Check out was just as simple — I was provided a receipt and sent on my way quickly.
We were in a handicap accessible room, so our bathroom was quite large. Could things have been updated? Yes. But the bed was clean, our room didn’t smell any different than any other hotel room did, and it was surprisingly large. In room fridge was a plus too.
The location isn’t awesome, but it is right off the 5. Not somewhere I would want to relax by the pool all day but if you had kids, it would for sure work. It met our purposes since we were bouncing all over North County to different beaches. My recommendation if a clean bed and a hot breakfast is all you need!

Not impressed. Pretty mediocre all around.
Stayed here one night for work. The rates are somewhat reasonable but then again North county is alot cheaper than San Diego proper. The hotel is located on the east side of the freeway, so it’s not near the beach, it’s about a 5 – 10 min drive to Encinitas cliffs.
The check-​in process was easy, there are tables right next to lobby with microwave, so you can heat up food if need be. My first room, the curtain rod collapsed when I tried to close the curtains. Not good. I went back to the front desk and they switched me to a different room with a functioning curtain. Both rooms were muggy and damp all over. The carpet was not very clean at all and the couches look dated.
Next am, breakfast was good, a few options.

I LOVE this hotel! The price was great and the staff was very accommodating. The room was clean, spacious and comfortable. The continental breakfast had a wide selection of items to choose from — eggs, waffles, cinnamon buns, fruit, cereal, yogurt (chobani and yoplait), oatmeal, and bagels. The pool is small, but worked out great for my family. The refrigerator in the room is also a great convenience. My only complaint is that the AC wouldn’t stay on consistently, but the window opened which was a plus, and there was no luggage stand. After staying at this property, my husband and I have decided to look first at Holiday In Express’ when going out of town. We will definitely be staying here again on our next visit to the San Diego area.

I loved this hotel — fast, clean, and conveniently located off the 5.
Free wi-​fi and parking! Huge plus.
However, my room was next to a family with a baby — and I was awakened at 4 AM with crying — lasting over an hour. I was not thrilled.
I can’t imagine why they would book me next to a baby — as the hotel didn’t seem full at all…
I did mention it to the front desk at check out and the young lady was very nice and apologized — which I appreciated. I would definitely stay here again — but that baby incident was not cool.

Great hotel, clean, comfortable bed. The staff here is among the best I’ve encountered!

Stayed with ihg rewards. We picked this place by location/​points needed per stay. Close enough to legoland, short drive and right off the freeway. Front desk was friendly, gave us our reward option treats or points. Room was Clean and appropriate location for 2adults 3kids. End room with only one neighbor. Called for a crib, quickly brought to our room. Pool was open late enough to enjoy after a long day at legoland. Front desk provided plenty of towels. Great breakfast included, fresh pancakes, bacon and eggs. Mexican food down the street is good.

I came for the price I paid for! A good nice room for a nice good small vacay with a few friends. Even though we didn’t get to explore so much of the Inn itself, I was there for 2 nights with 2 other people (2 queen bedroom), and everything was pretty much not a nightmare at all, which is all I need.
A comfortable, clean, good service hotel.

I was really happy with the rate we got and our 8 day stay in beautiful Cardiff-​by-​the-​Sea.
The hotel is about 2 miles from the beach and right next door to a gas station with great beer selection and a Mexican place that is open non-​stop. And yes, you know you’re in San Diego when the local Valero has a better beer selection than your specialized liquor store in NorCal. Plenty of parking (stay straight and turn left if it looks busy), free reliable wi-​fi, pool, free breakfast was what brought us here.
We had a room on the second floor, opposite and overlooking someone’s residence so we could see the gardening in progress every day. Joke aside, the room was clean and relatively spacious, with a fridge, 32″ LCD with HD cable, and a microwave. The bed was comfy, with two sets of soft and firm pillows. Above all, the walls are rock solid and we never had any disruptions. Might help that most of the guests were not rowdy college students but business travelers and families like ourselves.
The hotel offers free breakfast every morning from 6 – 10 and while not gourmet it is certainly better than your ‘continental’ options most other brands give you. You get eggs, bacon or sausage, bagels, cereal, oatmeal, fruit, yogurt, bagels, pancakes and so much more. Definitely a great deal if you have hungry kids. Since we stayed for the whole week we could see the pattern of sausage one day and bacon the next so a little more variety there wouldn’t hurt, but this cannot be a complaint since it’s free.
The gym is located right next to the dining hall on the first floor and consists of only 1 treadmill and 1 stationary bicycle. If there is one thing this HIE could do better, it is here. Maybe add few weights and ensure the towels are stocked. On the other hand, the gym was almost never busy and a great place to fill the water bottle before heading out.
The pool is located opposite of the main entrance and did the job to cool us down as it was unusually hot and humid in North County during the week of our stay. Again, not the fanciest pool but does what it needs.
Holiday Inn Express in Cardiff is a great choice for families or anyone looking for a nice, clean, and comfortable place to stay without spending a ton of money. If you’re expecting luxury, this surely ain’t the place, but for our home base for the week we spent in North SD County it was perfect.
I already look forward coming back next time.

Stayed here after legoland since I was going to Safari Park this morning.
Choose to stay here because of rate on hotel for the rating.
Checked in and believe I was helped by I Justin, very nice guy and was very good with kids, checked into my room was very clean, updated, mini fridge, flat screen tv, and comfortable beds.
Woke up in the morning to try out the breakfast and was very impressed with the selection provided and the cleanness of the area.
Would definitely suggest staying here as I had no complaints and well worth the money. Only doubt I had was that the rooms didn’t seem to have blackout curtains.