A Strand of Paradise

Sorry this is the worst… not very clean… no hot water in shower… the street is so loud even with the windows closed .they come at 6am to suck the rocks off the road… the beach at mission bay is so much nicer and less expensive… yes our reservation was mixed up and we had to find a room last minute…

My husband and I just stayed at this great beachfront property. The location is amazing. WE boogie boarded, rode bikes and ate at some nearby restaurants. And we watched the sunset every night. We even found a yoga class right on the beach. Luann, the manager is very helpful in booking and generally helping out. A great place for a couple or an entire extended family.

AMAZING! Property manager Lou Ann as good as it gets. Accommodating, clean and the view TO DIE FOR! I researched places for my family to come and visit. By far the best price and customer service to the extreme. My sister needed a fan so she could sleep and Lou Ann went to buy her one– that is just the beginning my friends. I have way to much to share. New owner Wendy and her husband super sweet. Did not know these people were in the business anymore. We are booking for next year so you might want to hurry!

Beautiful location, right off the beach with access during low tide (it comes right up to the road at high tide) went with my family and rented all
Of the rooms. Had a blast, boogie boards and beach chairs were available. Cute little rooms with a fridge, kitchenette, dishes, bathroom and bed.
Overall the hotel itself didn’t wow me but it was very worth it for the location. Beautiful to wake up to the water and be walking distance to shops and restaurants and the pier.

I’m giving this 1 star because the only good thing about this place is proximity to the beach, and it’s affordable. I did a lot of research on affordable beach rentals for a small family vacation with husband and two small children. We wanted something close to the water, and although we prefer Carlsbad, we decided to give this place a try. Having a separate bedroom Is a must have when u have a toddler who goes to bed early.
I really wanted to love this place but upon arrival I was put off by its appearance because it didn’t seem that clean. There are inches of dust on pretty much everything. The sofa seems to be like 20 years old, the linens look old as well. Not to mention the old dingy bath mat. Gross. My kids ran around barefoot and seriously five minutes later the bottoms of their feet were BLACK.
My kids of course don’t mind and my husband and I are making the best of it because it was so cheap, and this trip is for the them (note we are in the middle of the trip).
I’ve noticed a few small bugs in the bathroom and thankfully only there because that’s disgusting. I’m constantly wiping everything down with Clorox wipes because I don’t want to attract more bugs.
We’re staying in the 1 bedroom #8. It’s nice in the morning because the sun isn’t directly in your face if u wanna sit out for coffee.
At night while trying to put my son to bed, the street noise is unbearable. We have to leave the windows open for the cool breeze otherwise it’s HOT, but come on! It’s definitely not super kid friendly. The noise dies down as it gets later but not until well past 10 or 11pm. That’s one downside of the 1 bedroom since it’s closest to the street though it does have a great view. Better than the studios.
This place is in need of a complete update and extermination. I would not recommend this place nor would i stay here again.
Alas, my search for the perfect beach rental continues. Next time i’ll find a better place in «nicer» Carlsbad. We’ll have to be willing to pay a little more. In this case though, the saying is true… you get what you pay for.

We loved this hotel! The best vacation we have taken as of yet! We love Oceanside and every time we have come to Oceanside we have stayed with friends at their time share but we had always said one day will stay in a beach front hotel. I came across this place and saw the great reviews and the price was just right considering how close we were to the beach. We were just a few steps away from the beach from our front door. My husband and our two small children stayed in the studio because that is all that was available and the manager assured us that there was plenty of space for a blow up mattress. It was perfect for us. There was plenty of room to move the dinning table to the side at night and put a queen size blow up mattress for our two little ones to sleep in. Then we just put blow mattress away during the day for the space. Room had everything you need. The Manager was on site several times during on stay very nice. The only bad thing is the parking kind of tight and only one space per room. We have a new model Toyota Tundra that fit just fine in their spaces never had a problem there. We will defiantly be back! Already trying to book for our next visit but fully booked :(

Although some people might think lowly of Oceanside. I really think it’s coming up. This strand of paradise is my FAVORITE place to walk my dog or have a nice run. People are always friendly and it’s right on the water and doesn’t get too crowded like a lot of other beach spots around here. Not super fancy but exactly what you need for a nice little beach getaway from crazsy crowds and tourists.

What a great little gem we found. Located right on the beach. We loved how close we were and how quiet our part of the beach was. It was like a private beach.
The area between the ocean and the wall to the road is small at times. Especially in the late afternoon early evening. The water comes all the way up to the wall at times so be aware of that if you are sitting on the beach.
We laughed because at our own house we would never think of leaving items sitting out in plain view over night but we felt very safe in leaving all of our beach chairs outside our door with no issues.
A few negatives that caused me to not give this a 5 star review…
We were told if we needed anything (toilet paper, paper towels, etc) to ask the housekeeper. Well we ran out of paper towels (and even had brought some with is too) and when we asked the housekeeper she told us we needed to provide our own and gave us what seemed to be half a roll. I get they don’t want to leave multiple items that could be taken by renters but when the owner tells us to just ask and we are denied it’s frustrating.
We stayed in the large condo that slept 12. It was perfect for our group but a little maintainence is needed. The fan blades are coated with a thick layer of dust. So god knows how much dust is being thrown around when the fans are on. The ceiling above one of the fans seemed to have little dead bugs stuck to the ceiling. The shower curtain had gray stains at the bottom of it. And the tub doesn’t drain properly.
When we checked in the refrigerator had a very strong smell of bleach. We figured it was because the housekeeper just finished cleaning it. So we wiped it down which then we discovered the refrigerator smelled of fish which was being covered up by the bleach smell. So I’m guessing the previous renters either left fish in there or something because for the entire week we were there the fridge reeked of fish.
Also the refrigerator struggled to keep items chilled. It took easily 24 hours for items that weren’t cold (like water bottles and soda) to become cold.
So overall I would recommend this place totally! All the tenants are really nice and it’s in a great location. It’s old and a little run down cosmetically but that’s what makes beach houses in my opinion. But I feel the owners should keep up on other things like the above items I listed. I can deal with rusted chairs and calcium build up on faucets but layers of dust and stinky fridges should not be an issue in my opinion.

When choosing a hotel for my husband’s birthday, I was initially excited to find A Strand of Paradise. The idea of staying in a smaller, more personalized facility directly across from the ocean was appealing. In the end however, our stay went from paradise to a truly unpleasant ordeal.
Immediately upon arrival, we were unable to access the room. This property uses a key-​code system on each door. Though there were instructions stating that the doors could potentially become stuck due to the moist ocean air, the solution of pulling the door forward while pressing the code just didn’t work. After several phone calls where we were told «just try it again», we learned that she failed to put the correct code into the system, therefore we became locked out of the system when we entered the code given to us. We eventually gained access after she reprogrammed the correct code.
We thought this would be the end of our problems — nope! Upon arriving back at the hotel after going out to dinner, we came back to find that our parking space was taken by another resident. During the call to the property manager, we realized that she was already aware of the problem hours before, but failed to follow-​through to make sure that the other occupants left our space available. In a regular hotel, parking is not an issue however, A Strand of Paradise only has one space per occupant, and the city of Oceanside does not allow overnight parking in their public parking areas. We waited quite some time for a call-​back from Luanne, but no dice and no resolution. We ended up parking about a mile up the street in a rather seedy neighborhood near a bar. After hiking back down to the hotel, another resident informed us that a space was available due to the phone calls the manager had made, but hiking a mile back uphill in our dress clothes that late at night was unrealistic.
The next day we arrived back at the hotel after a long day out. When my husband got up from the bed, I saw something moving out of the corner of my eye. When I pushed the sheet down, I saw a huge cockroach crawling around in our bed! Small black dots followed the creature where it had defecated on the bed. We did not want to sleep with roaches or risk them coming home with us in our bags. The experience was so disgusting that we decided to leave immediately. We were completely unable to find another hotel to stay for the evening, so we were forced to drive 2 hours back home late at night.
All in all, our experience at A Strand of Paradise made me realize why the rates on an ocean front hotel like this were so inexpensive. After calling the property manager, Luanne about the roach, she failed to call back for some time. Once my husband managed to catch her, she began accusing us of trying to get a free stay! Then she became absolutely hysterical, and started telling my husband that the hotel finances were in the red, and that they did not need this kind of trouble. Once we realized how unfair and difficult she was being, we contacted the owner Tyler Mock several times. It’s been a little over a month now, and we have received no call back.
If you choose to stay at this establishment, you may have a great time as some of the comments below have stated. However, if you run into trouble, the property manager and the owner will pretty much dismiss you, lie about your character and treat you like trash. My husband and I are hard-​working professionals that stay at hotels all over the country, and have no reason to want a freebie trip. We did not even receive an apology. Hopefully, this hotel, which could be a real gem, will eventually fall into the hands of owners and managers that actually care about their occupants. Stay here at your own risk.

Awesome place. I have been reluctant to write a review on Unilocal so I can keep A Strand of Paradise a secret. You are right on the water! Walk out your door in the morning and all you see is the Pacific Ocean. It’s quiet, safe, very clean and just so comfortable you will start calling it home as soon as you walk in the door. Close to everything and you have a kitchen so you can do whatever you need to do in the kitchen and get right back to the beach. Anything you need, all you have to do is ask. I will keep coming back here any time of the year!