If you’re around the La Jolla area of San Diego, a decent option is the Category 4 Hyatt Regency La Jolla at Aventine, a hotel with a good pool area.

Booking the Hyatt Regency La Jolla

The Hyatt Regency La Jolla at Aventine is a Category 4 hotel under the World of Hyatt program. That means award nights currently cost 12,000 to 18,000 Hyatt points, but the range will expand to 12,000 to 25,000 in May 2026.

As we were visiting Legoland California, we needed a place to stay the night that wasn’t too far away. I wouldn’t normally recommend La Jolla for this purpose, but with an expiring Category 1-4 free night certificate in my Hyatt account, it seemed like a natural choice. This hotel is about a 20-25 minute drive away from Legoland.

If you don’t know the area well, La Jolla is where the UC San Diego campus is located. It’s on the northern end of San Diego (itself a 20 minute drive from San Diego Airport) and not close to the San Diego attractions. While La Jolla is a bit far from the major attractions, it is close to some great nature, including the Torrey Pines State Beach (and golf course). We didn’t get a chance to visit it on this trip, but if you want some nature in your trip to the San Diego area, this is a good base.

Earning Hyatt points

Full disclosure: in this section are refer-a-friend links where I may earn some points for referring. There is no requirement to use the below referral links to apply but note your offer may differ when going directly to the card issuer.

Chase has a couple of cards that earn Ultimate Rewards points that can transfer to Hyatt at a 1:1 rate:

• The Chase Sapphire Preferred card (refer-a-friend link) that offers 75,000 points for spending $5,000 in the first three months.
• There is currently a limited-time offer (refer-a-friend link) on the Chase Ink Business Preferred that gives an excellent 100,000 points for spending $8,000 in the first three months.

The Hyatt personal credit card (not an affiliate link) offers a 30,000 point bonus when spending $3,000 in three months. On top of that, you get 2X earnings during the first six months until you reach $15,000 in spend. At most, this is a 45,000 card for spending $15,000–and most certainly not the 60,000 bonus it claims disingenuously claims. But, on the bright side, if that $15,000 spend happens within the same calendar year, you’ll also get six elite night credits and a Category 1-4 free night certificate.

The small business version of the Hyatt credit card (refer-a-friend link) offers a limited-time 80,000 point bonus when spending $10,000 in three months. The main appeal here is the easier path towards earning elite status (5 elite night credit for every $10,000 in spend per calendar year), but it also gives up to $100 back on Hyatt purchases.

First impressions of the Hyatt Regency La Jolla

We arrived rather late in the evening, after we visited the Legoland California park and had dinner. Thankfully, since we’ve been to this hotel several times before, so we knew where to go. I have a little bit of history with this hotel. It was the first Hyatt hotel I stayed at after I made Diamond status for the first time under the old Hyatt Gold Passport program. Coming back brings back some old memories.

If you parked in their garage, you’ll need to make your way up a set of stairs to get to the lobby.

Once at the lobby, we met a friendly agent who quickly checked us into our room, thanked me for my Globalist status, and let us know where to get breakfast in the morning (more on that later).

The front desk agent noticed I was here with kids, and then kindly brought out a tub of toys for them. Each of the kids were able to pick a little souvenir for themselves. That was awfully kind of them to offer.

The room

We made our way up to the seventh floor to find our room in the corner (701).

Bedroom

For this stay, we booked a single king bed, which could be one of the last times that we can afford to do that. The kids are getting bigger and it’s harder to fit everyone onto the same bed, especially if there is no sofa in the event of emergency (i.e., the kids kick me out of bed).

The bed itself is comfortable enough. We thought the pillows could be a bit more plump, but the mattress was firm enough for us.

Across from the bed is the TV. We appreciate the large bench, which made it easier both to put on shoes and also store our luggage. We found the TV to be plenty large for the size of the room. Yeah, this is one of those odd instances where we did in fact use the TV during our stay.

The desk is nice looking, but it has a problem. There is that glass pane on top that makes it very difficult to use with optical mice. Why do so many hotels get this wrong these days? The running theory is that many were last renovated back when mice still had balls (no, I’m not talking about these cuties).

Next to the bed is a chair and table. The setup works if you’re ordering room service for one, I suppose. We didn’t make much use out of it.

Above the bed was a rather inoperable(?) fire alarm. It looks like it’s going to fall out. No idea if it works as the alarm didn’t sound during our stay but certainly seems like the light wouldn’t work.

The view from the room is of the hotel pool and the I-5 freeway in the distance.

Bathroom

The bathroom is fairly standard setup. This vanity has a single sink, and the decor is pleasant albeit a bit sterile. The wall-mounted hand soap is there when you need it but there’s no body lotion.

The bathroom is a single shower, which is the preferred setup over the shower/tub combo. While we don’t appreciate the controls immediately under the shower head, you can at least turn on the water without getting wet since the door is in the middle of the glass.

Toiletries are by the Hyatt Regency standard (Pharmacopia).

A couple of odd-ball things about this shower. First is the arrow taped onto the handle controlling the temperature and pressure. I guess people need a reminder on how to turn on the faucet.

Water pressure is quite poor, as you can tell from the picture below. The water just seems to fall out of the nozzle. It gets plenty warm enough, so the issue is primarily if you like a lot of pressure (which we do).

Where to get your bottled water

If you are a Hyatt elite member looking for your water bottles, you won’t find them stocked in your room. However, it’s simple enough to go track them down. When you check into the hotel, you’ll get a card that mentions you get 2 free bottles of water from the Market.

The Market is right across from the check-in desk. You might as well stop by there right after checking in unless your hands are full. When we stopped by, the employees just mentioned we can grab two now and then keep the card for future days. The implication is that you should only pick up two bottles of water daily, but I suppose it’s not firmly policed.

You can also order coffee and other to-go items from the Market if you’d like, but we didn’t get a chance to do that.

Breakfast at Shor

Shor is a pop-up restaurant they have in the downstairs foyer. You’d pass by here quite often if you end up parking a car in their garage. During breakfast hours, they turn the section into a restaurant. But later in the day, it’s just a collection of chairs.

Menu

The menu is pretty standard breakfast fare. As a Globalist, you get your choice of one entree + one cold drink + one hot drink per registered guest. Despite the buffet being displayed on the menu, it wasn’t available when we were here on a Thursday morning.

They also have a kid’s menu in case your little ones prefer something off that menu instead.

What we ordered

We started with a seasonal fruit plate for the table to share. Even though the official rules stated that each guest can only order one entree, we bent the rules a bit and ordered a little something extra for ourselves. We had every expectation to pay for the fruit plate if they didn’t cover it, but they covered the cost.

Next up was a kid’s breakfast: one scrambled egg and hashbrowns. Alex wanted to add a side of bacon, and the cost for that was also waived from our bill.

Char wanted some buttermilk pancakes off the kid’s menu, which also came with some sliced fruit on top. The description didn’t list the fruit (which is really why we got the seasonal fruit on the side), but it’s nice they add it in. This is a short stack of pancakes, but big enough for the kids.

Jenn ordered the cage-free eggs, which is your standard two egg breakfast. I’m not sure it’s worth $20, but thankfully we don’t need to worry about that as a Globalist. They certainly don’t give many potatoes!

I ordered the eggs benedict, which came with the same number of potatoes. This meal was a bit more substantial than Jenn’s, so if you’re looking for something more filling, this is a better choice.

Being a Globalist (or a Guest of Honor) is great for getting breakfast fully covered. All I needed to do was sign the check and the system takes off the breakfast charge. I wouldn’t say we quite the value of breakfast here is worth $112 as we wouldn’t have chosen this if we needed to pay. But it’s still a great value. Note the bill explicitly shows a line already for the Globalist tip.

The pool

One of the better features of the hotel is the pool area. It’s an outdoor pool, accessible via room key. There are lanes dedicated to lap swimming and a wider area to just play. The pool is heated, but only Char had the desire to jump in when we were here on a chilly October morning. However, she jumped in the pool before realizing there were no towels available. It took some time for the front desk to track down someone to get us a towel.

There’s also a hot tub off in the corner. It felt a bit grand being surrounded by a semi-circle of fountains. It’s also not a bad place to warm up after cooling off in the pool.

Since we were here on a Thursday morning in October, the pool was fairly quiet. I imagine the place is a bit more bustling in the summer months, especially over the weekend. Nice that there would be a place to grab a bite by the pool.

And, yes, we fully know there is a towel machine in the picture below but it wasn’t operational.

We got a sneak peek at what the cabanas here look like. Some people like renting cabanas but it’s not really our thing.

What did Alex do while Char was in the pool? He checked out the fun games scattered all around the pool. Near the entrance was an axe-throwing area, a giant chess board, and cornhole.

Nearby was a ping pong table with four paddles. Yeah, that’s fake grass in case you didn’t already guess.

In the back of the pool area was a large Connect Four game.

And on one of the tables was a large tower of Jenga blocks.

Free electric vehicle charging

Another thing that’s awesome is the line of free electric vehicle charging stations in their self-park garage. When we first arrived, all the charging stations were taken. I had to come back a bit later in the evening after some cars left. While the stations claim the time limit is strictly enforced, I can’t say that’s my experience.

One important thing to know if you choose to charge here: the parking garage vibrates heavily when cars drive by. And since these chargers are near the entrance to the garage, your car might bounce quite a bit. Our car alarm went off a few times through the night as the car charged. A bit annoying for sure.

Recommendation: It’s not a bad option for your Category 1-4 free night certificates

It’s getting harder to find Hyatt hotels that represent a good use for your Category 1-4 free night certificates. In the San Diego area, your options are limited to the following hotels:

• Hyatt Regency Mission Bay
• Hyatt House San Diego / Sorrento Mesa
• Hyatt Place San Diego / Vista-Carlsbad
• Hyatt Vacation Club at The Welk
• Hyatt Regency La Jolla at Aventine (this one)

If you want a full service hotel, your options fall just to either the Mission Bay or this one. We’re not counting the Hyatt Vacation Club as technically most Globalist / Guest of Honor benefits don’t apply there. Between this property and the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay, we’d prefer this one by far. The Mission Bay property feels a bit dated in comparison, and if given the choice between the properties, we would choose this one every time.

Don’t go out of your way to stay here, especially if your intent is to visit the Gaslamp area. But if you’re planning on being in the northern end of San Diego, it works.

Have you stayed at the Hyatt Regency La Jolla yet?

Suggested reading:

• A Swanky Motel & Resort: Town and Country San Diego
• SeaWorld San Diego: Confused on What It Became
• San Diego with Kids: Something for Everyone