Great fun. Bee issue closing the main bar made our server go to a bar way further away. Ultimately they stop serving open alcohol drinks due to bees at the bar (though the cabana 2 down kept getting drinks...hmmm). Katelynn was a gem and did the best she could..
Liveslocally
Katelynn was fabulous and very attentive to our needs. Food was good but would have liked different wing flavor options. Slow day but it was perfect weather and we enjoyed having the side pool mostly to ourselves.
Pete T.
We were enjoying a staycation at Sycuan Casino and resort. We were excited to spend a day enjoying the Retreat Pool and Cabanas. Specifically we were looking forward to spending a lazy day floating on the lazy river.We checked it out on Sunday, our first day there, but just for an hour or two. For the following day we reserved a day bed. The day bed was awesome.There are two giant pools, one with an very large hot tub and swim-up bar. We stuck to the lazy river which we loved. Grab a tube (you cannot bring your own) and just float. It takes 7-8 minutes or so to complete a lap. It is totally cool. The music was all Ooomcha! Ooomcha! Techno club music and it was loud. After a while you'll be desensitized if that's not your thing.Five stars for the lazy river.Here's how the day bed works. The day bed was $200 (I think $300 Fri - Sun) for the day - 10 AM - 5 PM. The $200 is a tab. A dedicated server is assigned and you get $200 worth of food and drinks. You're on the hook if you go over, if you're under, well it's still $200. Food and drinks are expensive, it is not difficult to get to $200.We were a little under and got some food to go to get to the $200.Please note that you are assigned a random day bed (cabana too, I presume). When we arrived the nice young woman who ushered to our bed led us to one by the pool. We wanted one by the lazy river. She had an opening and was able to relocate us to our desired location. We know now to call and ask for a specific location.Mia was our server and she was great. She was very attentive and came around often to check on us. She was very polite and cheerful. Of course, cute too.For food we started with the Baja Nachos ($19) and added ground beef (an $8 upcharge!). Pico de gallo, zesty chips, cheese sauce, jalapeños,guacamole, sour cream, roasted jalapeño.They were just okay. Typical gooey cheese poured over mediocre tortilla chips. The ground beef had zero seasoning. It was bland as hell. The chips were not "zesty". The one roasted jalapeño was excellent. One...Shrimp Tacos ($18) grilled rock shrimp, crispy shell, pineapple coleslaw,chipotle aioli.These were really good. Three street sized tacos filled with delicious shrimp. The pineapple slaw was great, and refreshing. I was skeptical about the "crispy shell" but loved it as did Becky.Chicken Tenders ($18) sweet chili sauce, lime, carrots, celery, radish. Served on a bed of French fries.We took these with us. They heated up nicely in our air fryer at home. They were just okay. Tasted like something off of a kids' menu. Our dog T.J. loved the fries.Jamaican Spiced Wings ($17) half dozen Caribbean green sauce.These we also took with us. Didn't like them at all. Way too salty,I will say, we regretted not ordering sliders or a burger. They looked incredible.Draft beers were $8. White Claw cans $9.Pro Tips:1) An 18% gratuity is added. They do not tell you this up front. There is still a line on the receipt to add a tip. Don't do what I did. I didn't realize it and gave Mia a generous cash tip on top of the 18%. She thanked me, but made no mention of the 18%.2) No outside food or drink permitted, BUT you can bring an empty Yeti (or similar) tumbler which we did. Kept our drinks nice and cold.3) The towels provided are shitty. We brought own.
April
Second time renting a cabana. Highly recommend! Kayla was our server and she was fantastic. Always checking on us to see if we needed anything and super friendly. Request Kayla as your server!
JavierP
Great staff! Marissa was our server & was awesome. Always passed bye & asked if we needed anything. I believe Jose was in charge of whole complex, even put on nfl game for us. All staff very friendly & you can tell, love working together. This is why this is the best resort in Southern California. Thanks
It was a ton of fun and great service, clean pools. I would call to get more info about Industry Mondays and they would just be very vague with the info, wish they would have had more info for us because when we got there the server then told us all of the sweet deals for industry peeps that we spent money on since we weren't really informed, even after calling and inquiring more about it.
VictorS
Service took a while, I also got my foot punctured by nail from cabana furniture. Our stay was short do to the storm evendo their was no rain or vloud coverage.....so we didn't fully enjoy our time.
WORST experience ever. Customer service wasn't just lacking, it was absolutely nonexistent that day. Service was absurdly slow and we were kicked out early without any notice, with a security guard threatening us that if we didn't get out in 20 minutes, we were really going to have a problem. I will never do my birthday there again. The only reason it wasn't ruined was because of the good friends I was with.
SanDiegoJohn
First up, Hannah was amazing. She provided excellent service to our cabana while also helping other guests. She even managed to get me drinks while I floated around the river. Aces and Five Stars to her. Next, the food. The presentation is greatly upgraded since last year. It looked great and tasted even better. We loved the many options for the poolside dining, too. Overall, it was a wonderful experience and we will definitely be back for our fourth visit and cabana rental. Nearly everything was great. If I had to offer feedback, I would talk about the music. It was some sort of Chill Vibe playlist, and it was okay. But after several hours in the river, I made the joke to my friends, "it sounds like one long song has been playing the whole time we have been in here."
Heather C.
I've been to the pool during the day a few times and it's always been a great time. My review is for the Night Swim. It's advertised that it's open from 6-11. And that there's a DJ playing until 11pm. We got there and were informed the lazy river closes at 6pm. No where do they tell you this on their website. The poolside bar was also closed. The DJ stopped playing at 8pm. He literally just walked out and none of the staff knew why. Then we were told they would be Ian early because there weren't enough people there. It wasn't very crowded but now I can see why. Why would I pay regular price ($40) when everything is closed and we only were able to stay for 4 hours?? Also the bar service was terrible. We were the only ones at the bar several times and were ignored. We had the flag the bar tender down to get a drink and even then they'd grab one of our orders and then walk away. I understand when it's really busy but the place was dead. There was no excuse to ignore us. When you go during the day you have access to all the amenities and it's open much longer and you pay the same price. We had someone visiting from out of state and I was pretty bummed that we waisted our time and money on this place. I'll never come back for the night swim it's basically just an over priced pool with crappy service.
First time here & I have to say, the pool service is lacking. There's no obvious place to order potteries I would have done that but there's servers walking around and don't think for a second that they ask for help, your trying to flag them down. They need more training and help, otherwise I may never come back. The whole point to your strict rules of no food and drink that Sycuan doesn't allow us fine but then step up your damn service so I can get a drink and food! If your going to offer poolside drinks and food, don't you want your patrons happy? Guess not...
KristinH
Industry Monday's have changed and aren't as worth it as they used to be! There's almost no point in going on a Monday, actually. The drinks are all too sweet. The food was good!
NicoleL
Servers were great but you were down a bartender so they took a long time. I like sweet drinks but over 10 people complained that they were too sweet and I agree. Need to offer more sandwiches or wraps. It was too hot for so much warm food.
MelissaP
I always love coming to Sycuan! It was the perfect way for us teachers to end the summer! All we could talk about when was the next time we were going to go! Our server Riley was wonderful! Everything about the day was just perfect.
LaurenL
Awful experience it took an hour to get drinks. They did not have decorations as I requested and confirm the day before we sat around and waited for our table that we paid for I was embarrassed.
Great fun. Bee issue closing the main bar made our server go to a bar way further away. Ultimately they stop serving open alcohol drinks due to bees at the bar (though the cabana 2 down kept getting drinks...hmmm). Katelynn was a gem and did the best she could..
Katelynn was fabulous and very attentive to our needs. Food was good but would have liked different wing flavor options. Slow day but it was perfect weather and we enjoyed having the side pool mostly to ourselves.
We were enjoying a staycation at Sycuan Casino and resort. We were excited to spend a day enjoying the Retreat Pool and Cabanas. Specifically we were looking forward to spending a lazy day floating on the lazy river.We checked it out on Sunday, our first day there, but just for an hour or two. For the following day we reserved a day bed. The day bed was awesome.There are two giant pools, one with an very large hot tub and swim-up bar. We stuck to the lazy river which we loved. Grab a tube (you cannot bring your own) and just float. It takes 7-8 minutes or so to complete a lap. It is totally cool. The music was all Ooomcha! Ooomcha! Techno club music and it was loud. After a while you'll be desensitized if that's not your thing.Five stars for the lazy river.Here's how the day bed works. The day bed was $200 (I think $300 Fri - Sun) for the day - 10 AM - 5 PM. The $200 is a tab. A dedicated server is assigned and you get $200 worth of food and drinks. You're on the hook if you go over, if you're under, well it's still $200. Food and drinks are expensive, it is not difficult to get to $200.We were a little under and got some food to go to get to the $200.Please note that you are assigned a random day bed (cabana too, I presume). When we arrived the nice young woman who ushered to our bed led us to one by the pool. We wanted one by the lazy river. She had an opening and was able to relocate us to our desired location. We know now to call and ask for a specific location.Mia was our server and she was great. She was very attentive and came around often to check on us. She was very polite and cheerful. Of course, cute too.For food we started with the Baja Nachos ($19) and added ground beef (an $8 upcharge!). Pico de gallo, zesty chips, cheese sauce, jalapeños,guacamole, sour cream, roasted jalapeño.They were just okay. Typical gooey cheese poured over mediocre tortilla chips. The ground beef had zero seasoning. It was bland as hell. The chips were not "zesty". The one roasted jalapeño was excellent. One...Shrimp Tacos ($18) grilled rock shrimp, crispy shell, pineapple coleslaw,chipotle aioli.These were really good. Three street sized tacos filled with delicious shrimp. The pineapple slaw was great, and refreshing. I was skeptical about the "crispy shell" but loved it as did Becky.Chicken Tenders ($18) sweet chili sauce, lime, carrots, celery, radish. Served on a bed of French fries.We took these with us. They heated up nicely in our air fryer at home. They were just okay. Tasted like something off of a kids' menu. Our dog T.J. loved the fries.Jamaican Spiced Wings ($17) half dozen Caribbean green sauce.These we also took with us. Didn't like them at all. Way too salty,I will say, we regretted not ordering sliders or a burger. They looked incredible.Draft beers were $8. White Claw cans $9.Pro Tips:1) An 18% gratuity is added. They do not tell you this up front. There is still a line on the receipt to add a tip. Don't do what I did. I didn't realize it and gave Mia a generous cash tip on top of the 18%. She thanked me, but made no mention of the 18%.2) No outside food or drink permitted, BUT you can bring an empty Yeti (or similar) tumbler which we did. Kept our drinks nice and cold.3) The towels provided are shitty. We brought own.
Second time renting a cabana. Highly recommend! Kayla was our server and she was fantastic. Always checking on us to see if we needed anything and super friendly. Request Kayla as your server!
Great staff! Marissa was our server & was awesome. Always passed bye & asked if we needed anything. I believe Jose was in charge of whole complex, even put on nfl game for us. All staff very friendly & you can tell, love working together. This is why this is the best resort in Southern California. Thanks
It was a ton of fun and great service, clean pools. I would call to get more info about Industry Mondays and they would just be very vague with the info, wish they would have had more info for us because when we got there the server then told us all of the sweet deals for industry peeps that we spent money on since we weren't really informed, even after calling and inquiring more about it.
Service took a while, I also got my foot punctured by nail from cabana furniture. Our stay was short do to the storm evendo their was no rain or vloud coverage.....so we didn't fully enjoy our time.
WORST experience ever. Customer service wasn't just lacking, it was absolutely nonexistent that day. Service was absurdly slow and we were kicked out early without any notice, with a security guard threatening us that if we didn't get out in 20 minutes, we were really going to have a problem. I will never do my birthday there again. The only reason it wasn't ruined was because of the good friends I was with.
First up, Hannah was amazing. She provided excellent service to our cabana while also helping other guests. She even managed to get me drinks while I floated around the river. Aces and Five Stars to her. Next, the food. The presentation is greatly upgraded since last year. It looked great and tasted even better. We loved the many options for the poolside dining, too. Overall, it was a wonderful experience and we will definitely be back for our fourth visit and cabana rental. Nearly everything was great. If I had to offer feedback, I would talk about the music. It was some sort of Chill Vibe playlist, and it was okay. But after several hours in the river, I made the joke to my friends, "it sounds like one long song has been playing the whole time we have been in here."
I've been to the pool during the day a few times and it's always been a great time. My review is for the Night Swim. It's advertised that it's open from 6-11. And that there's a DJ playing until 11pm. We got there and were informed the lazy river closes at 6pm. No where do they tell you this on their website. The poolside bar was also closed. The DJ stopped playing at 8pm. He literally just walked out and none of the staff knew why. Then we were told they would be Ian early because there weren't enough people there. It wasn't very crowded but now I can see why. Why would I pay regular price ($40) when everything is closed and we only were able to stay for 4 hours?? Also the bar service was terrible. We were the only ones at the bar several times and were ignored. We had the flag the bar tender down to get a drink and even then they'd grab one of our orders and then walk away. I understand when it's really busy but the place was dead. There was no excuse to ignore us. When you go during the day you have access to all the amenities and it's open much longer and you pay the same price. We had someone visiting from out of state and I was pretty bummed that we waisted our time and money on this place. I'll never come back for the night swim it's basically just an over priced pool with crappy service.
Restaurantji Recommends
First time here & I have to say, the pool service is lacking. There's no obvious place to order potteries I would have done that but there's servers walking around and don't think for a second that they ask for help, your trying to flag them down. They need more training and help, otherwise I may never come back. The whole point to your strict rules of no food and drink that Sycuan doesn't allow us fine but then step up your damn service so I can get a drink and food! If your going to offer poolside drinks and food, don't you want your patrons happy? Guess not...
Industry Monday's have changed and aren't as worth it as they used to be! There's almost no point in going on a Monday, actually. The drinks are all too sweet. The food was good!
Servers were great but you were down a bartender so they took a long time. I like sweet drinks but over 10 people complained that they were too sweet and I agree. Need to offer more sandwiches or wraps. It was too hot for so much warm food.
I always love coming to Sycuan! It was the perfect way for us teachers to end the summer! All we could talk about when was the next time we were going to go! Our server Riley was wonderful! Everything about the day was just perfect.
Awful experience it took an hour to get drinks. They did not have decorations as I requested and confirm the day before we sat around and waited for our table that we paid for I was embarrassed.