Grande Colonial

I was surprised at how comfortable and beautiful my room was and how attentive the staff was to me, my wedding party, and my guests. A perfect place to stay in La Jolla...

I had my wedding ceremony and stayed at the Grande Colonial for 4 nights during Labor Day weekend - as a 'destination' wedding in La Jolla. I have mixed/bittersweet feelings, which is a shame given it was such a big weekend for me. Pros: Beautiful hotel in the perfect location on the main road of the village. We stayed in one of the garden suites, which was a good size with plenty of light. The breakfast in the Nine Ten restaurant was excellent, with great service, and not overpriced. Cons: Brides beware! I experienced the worst service and lack of flexibility than I ever could've imagined from a 4 diamond hotel with the Sales & Catering dept, from shortly after signing the contract to up until post-wedding. The Grande Colonial website says they 'specialize' in small weddings, which I mistakenly read as being accommodating and customer service oriented to any sized group, when in actuality it seems like they were more comfortable in dealing with those just with a standard wedding package. There were a few hiccups at first, that I was just going to chalk up as miscommunication or issues that can come up in any group/event planning, such as being told we could not do a sampling of the food from the wedding/banquet menu (we can only try things off the Nine Ten restaurant menu and then assume the food will be similar); that we couldn't merge hotel reservations (that is, until I spoke to someone in reservations directly who was able to help me); and finally, having to reiterate over and over again what I wanted in terms of scheduling/dinner package (we wanted just a sit-down dinner to follow the ceremony, vs. the 'wedding package' that the staff sells more). The issue that put me over the edge was when they mentioned they weren't going to be able to serve alcohol during dinner without a bar setup upcharge (new news until the week before the wedding, so they actually ended up making an exception for us) and when our flowers were shipped a day earlier and they said they couldn't help us open the box and air them out, stating the 'lack of resources' and liability issues (luckily, my friend staying at the hotel at that point found someone in Reservations who was kind enough to help us- so don't worry, we ended up having BEAUTIFUL flowers for our wedding! :). The frustration & disappointment continued until the days after the wedding, when we got the bill showing us we did not meet the food/beverage minimum, which we explicitly asked that night - then were told that there was a mistake and we did. Also, the food definitely did *not* meet expectations - and since our tasting was of a different meal, we wouldn't have known. All throughout the process, I never once felt the banquet director was on my side - and, instead of truly listening and coming back with an apology or 'i don't know, let me check', she basically sugarcoated a 'no' and disregarded my issues/requests. In summary, I would recommend the hotel to anyone looking for a wonderful, relaxing stay in La Jolla in a convenient location, but I would *not* recommend it to anyone looking to plan a wedding or group event there, expecting good customer service or help outside of the standard package. For the same banquet prices and beautiful courtyard scenery, you'd be better off booking with the La Valencia, or even George's, who can probably truly deliver on service. Note: After a complaint to the General Manager, we received a hotel certificate, so feel a bit a