First problems after staying here for 10+ years
I've stayed at this resort for quite a while and have always been impressed at how beautiful the grounds are, at the location and just how fantastic it is at creating the feeling you are really far away on some tropical island. Fireworks from the bay, great location and a classic feel to it make it a wonderful getaway. It's and older resort and does have some magic to it for sure but this last visit has got me thinking about choosing a new place to stay in San Diego. 
I arrived as usual and had great service getting checked in, help with bags all of that was great. Then getting to the room I requested it seemed to just sort of fall apart. The heater didn't work, and our three and six year olds were miserable after all of us came back from the beach and of course kids are looking forward to getting back to the room and getting warm and cozy but instead we all froze, the whole trip. We called for service and they worked on it until late that evening, which meant the poor repair guy was crawling around in our ceiling until way after eleven o'clock that night. 
We decided to watch tv to get the kids minds off the cold but it was broken as well. The hotel replaced it within a few minutes. Looking forward to a hot shower in the morning after freezing all night (I dont get cold easily so I know my family was miserable if I was cold) I hopped in the shower only to find the water temperature to oscillate between freezing cold and burning hot about every sixty seconds or so. Really annoying. 
I had booked a few nights early on and then decided to add a couple more just before we arrived and for what ever reason that counted as two reservations and the front desk just couldn't seem to work that out. So of course, again after being at Sea World all day which ended in a great rainstorm, we were all laughing our heads off running to the car but the kids were soaked and as any parent will know you are riding a fine line between having fun after a long day at a theme park and we were looking forward to getting back to the hotel and warming up before things turned sour only to find we were locked out of our own room. 
So now my family is standing around outside in the rain while I run to the front desk to sort it all out. After about forty minutes of getting totally pissed off waiting in line I finally got the front desk only to be asked to explain things for the third time. Honestly, I dont want to know all the details of the reservations, just make it work. The manager behind the desk at the time was not helpful at all either, for a four star resort I was taken back at how little he seemed to care. 
After this we has several other small issues that added to the sadness. Clogged drains, leaking shower head so that every shower soaked the entire bathroom and also for some reason the bar tender did not know that a Mojito tastes bad with tonic water and no matter how many times I asked refused to use club soda. Not sure what to even think about that... 
This is really the first negative thing I've ever said about this resort and have recommended it to lots of other couples over the years. It feels a little sad to me but something has changed at this place in the last year, for the worse. Its such as great hotel I hate to see it going downhill with all the positives it has going for it. 
Another thing I've noticed is the change in clientele here, it seems to be moving from a top notch family resort to a college, holes in the wall, yell all night, destroy the place crowd. Not sure who is steering the ship for the resort but seems it may be a bit off course.