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The first steps onto Park Hyatt Aviara will instantly redefine what you’ve come to expect from a 5-Diamond property. Namely, the first thing that catches your eye is the view of the Pacific Ocean – not the check-in counter. Featuring high ceilings, marble flooring and a breathtaking array of freshly pruned flowers on display, the Park Hyatt Aviara lobby could be mistaken for a stately home, rather than the entrance to a hotel.
That’s exactly what the team at Hyatt, originally the Four Seasons, dreamed up when they built this vast, ocean-facing complex twenty years earlier. With just 329 rooms, the space feels as if you’re on a luxurious Caribbean island instead of sandwiched between the 5 Highway and California shopping centers - with meeting space that can fit up to 800 people, an adult-only pool, both clay and hard-surface tennis courts, a 10.5 K jogging route and a championship 18-hole golf course designed by Arnold Palmer.
The Suite
Every room in the 200 acre hotel has a view – either of the Pacific Ocean, the Batiquitos Lagoon or California’s illustrious mountain range, the choice is yours. Families are a big priority at the Park Hyatt, with pool views that feature enough space to fit every relation, the rooms are complete with pull-out beds, extra closet space and a second bathroom. On the romantic side, the panoramic suite overlooks the Pacific Ocean, and offers enough room to relax and watch the sunset, attracting couples from as far as Los Angeles or Arizona.
Dining
Every dining space is led by French born and trained chef Pierre Albaladejo, a man familiar with the Hyatt brand. For over eight years Pierre has been serving guests at the Hyatt property, and chose Carlsbad to pursue his goal of cooking with fresh and local ingredients, and for the surf. “The property itself is so versatile in the food and beverage industry. We have five different outlets, so that makes it very attractive to a chef to have several playgrounds,” Albaladejo says, speaking about his work with Vivace, Argyle Steakhouse, California Bistro, Ocean Pool Bar & Grill and the banquet. Don’t be intimated by the predominately family oriented motif of the hotel - Park Hyatt Aviara’s Vivace offers inspired northern Italian cuisine at its best; the AAA Four Diamond hotel restaurant has been hailed as one of San Diego’s best.
The Space
With more than 12,000 square feet of space in the Grand Ballroom alone, corporate events held for annual visitors like American Airlines, Wall Street Journal and locals Callaway are a perfect fit. Grand affairs can seat up to 800 people for dinner, and 1,000 for receptions. Nearly every week in the summer, lovebirds are wed around the grounds, whom take advantage of the various meeting rooms and balconies overlooking the ocean for both reception and ceremonies. As majestic as the Grand Ballroom might be, the Avalon room and terrace connects to an outdoor balcony, fountain and fire pit.
The Spa
The Spa at Park Hyatt Aviara introduced the original Bespoke treatment last month, a concept conceived by Park Hyatt Aviara’s Spa Director Kyra Johnson. Involved in the design from concept to completion, Johnson was inspired by customized treatments parallel to those wealthy businessmen who employ bespoke tailors to design customized, tailored suits. In the Park Hyatt Aviara Spa, the Bespoke massage fashions customized wellness treatments to achieve the most optimal experience. Beginning from the ground up, literally, guests are asked about everything from their feet to their neck to provide a holistic experience that focuses an internal awareness onto the body. The intention invigorates other spa experiences with aromatherapy oils that charge both the emotional and physical ailments of each guest holistically through the generous and affectionate propositions of Aviara therapists.
The Course
Before anything else, there was Aviara’s golf course. A concept resort developed by a team of architects and environmental planners, the golf course was designed by famed golfer Arnold Palmer as one part of the “master plan community” that encompassed 1,000 acres of resort, school and housing development.
The Aviara community wasn’t completed until 1997 when the resort was finished, but in 1991 the golf course had finalized its rolling hills and local topography to introduce international golfers to the par 72. Today, the golf course is renowned for its exceptional design, difficulty and celebrity clientele. Aside from its well known designer, Carlsbad’s lavish Aviara golf course is featured for its significant elevation change, says Rick Ransburg, Direction of Recreation; the first nine holes start at just nine miles above sea level and peak at 280.
The golf course at Aviara has an unprecedented respect for the local topography – something that in its twenty years the team has perfected with more than 60 acres of landscape dedicated to the cuisine of California alone. Adding to the functionality and difficulty of the course is not just the foliage but the rolling hills, a standpoint the team building the course twenty years ago had a little fun with, and the “little bit of randomness” that Rick Ransburg says adds variety to the game.
