Riviera Beach & Shores Resort Review – California (2024)
Want to know what it’s like to stay at the Riviera Beach & Shores Resort? We’ve got you covered with everything we experienced on our recent visits!
Riviera Beach & Shores Resort is a Diamond Resorts timeshare right on Capistrano Beach near the southern point of Orange County.
Diamond Resorts was recently bought out by Hilton Grand Vacations, which now owns and operates the resort here.
When you’re booking online, you’ll sometimes see it listed as two different places – Riviera Beach Resort or Riviera Shores Resort, but it’s really all the same.
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Riviera Beach & Shores Resort Review
We love staying at Riviera Beach & Shores Resort for weekend getaways on the beach.
It’s a short walk across the bridge down to the water and it’s a quiet area of the beach that hardly has any other visitors.
Room Types
We’ve stayed in a couple different rooms when we’ve visited.
Most of the rooms are ocean view or ocean front rooms.
We’ve stayed in the “2 bedroom street level ocean facing” and the “1 bedroom ocean view“.
Check out the links above for a full room tour of each room type on our YouTube Channel.
The two rooms we stayed in were pretty different from each other.
Two Bedroom
When you enter the two bedroom, the secondary bedroom, with it’s own bathroom is immediately to the right.
I pulled some snippets from our YouTube video so you can have a better visual of how the rooms look.
2nd Bedroom & Bathroom
This second bedroom is the perfect kids room.
Just to the left out of the picture is a tv and a closet.
What’s nice about the bathroom in this room is that the vanity is separate from the tub and toilet, so two people can get ready at the same time.
It’s great for if you have younger kids that need to be given baths.
Kitchen
From here, as you move through the unit, next up is the kitchen.
We love staying at timeshares because of the full kitchen.
Having a full sized refrigerator and freezer, dishes, utensils, cookware, plenty of counter space, a stove top, a microwave, and a dishwasher, gives me all the amenities I enjoy at home.
Generally when we are staying at timeshares these are work-cations for us, so having access to our own food during the day without having to order in food saves us a lot of time and money.
Dining Room & Living Room
Next up is the open dining room and living room.
Having a full sized dining table that doubles as a work space is really nice.
The set up of the living room is also cozy, so we spend most of our time in that area watching tv while we’re working or watching tv in the evenings.
Primary Bedroom & Bathroom
At the far end of the unit, to the right, is the primary bedroom, which also has it’s own bathroom.
It has a beautiful window with the perfect ocean view.
My only complaint, which is really more of just a disappointment than anything is that the primary bathroom doesn’t have a tub.
I know a ton of people say they never use bath tubs in hotel rooms, but I bring epsom salt with me wherever I travel so I can soak in the tub when I need to.
The resort has a hot tub, so that’s always an option during operating hours, weather permitting, but it’s not the same as having your own.
The vast majority of our timeshares do have nice tubs in the primary bathroom though.
Patio
Now for the patio.
This room was on the ground floor, overlooking the ocean.
The patio has a grill, a couple chairs, and a small side table.
It’s really nice to sit out there and read in the morning when it’s quiet and you just hear the ocean waves rolling in.
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One Bedroom
The other time we stayed at Riviera Beach & Shores Resort was in the 1 bedroom ocean view.
Again, I pulled some snippets from our YouTube video for some visuals on the room layout.
Bedroom
The bedroom is a little bit smaller than in the two bedroom, but not by a whole lot.
One weird thing about the set up in this room is that a bathroom vanity takes up almost a whole wall of the room.
There’s also no windows in this room, so it’s very dark at night, which is good for sleeping, but not for getting up in the morning.
Bathroom
The bathroom is decently sized in this room.
The tub is bigger and deeper than the one in the secondary bedroom of the 2 bedroom.
Kitchen
This kitchen is smaller overall, but it is still a full kitchen with all of the same amenities as the two bedroom.
Living Area
Since this room is smaller than the two bedroom, the dining table is a bit smaller and is included as part of the living room instead of being in it’s own separate space.
Interestingly enough, these are the same couches that are at the Palm Canyon Resort out in Palm Springs, which is another former Diamond Resort, now owned and operated by Hilton Grand Vacations.
The balcony and views are the same as in the two bedroom, with the grill, chairs, and ocean view.
Click Here To Book Your Riviera Beach & Shores Resort Stay Today!
Room Pricing
During our March visit we stayed for 2 nights for 1,124 points in the 2 bedroom.
With what we’ve paid into our timeshare, this is the equivalent of spending $587 for a 2 night stay, or $293 per night.
For a two bedroom on the beach that’s not a horrible price, but it’s way more than what we usually spend for our timeshare stays.
Then in August we stayed for 2 nights for 1,596 points in the 1 bedroom.
With what we’ve paid into our timeshare, this is the equivalent of spending $830 for the total stay, or $415 per night.
That price is INSANE for what these rooms are and they were already discounted, but we only booked it because we had points to spare for the year that we have to use or lose.
Since many of our stays at other Diamond Resorts are only $100-$150 a night, these stays sort of balanced out some of our stays that were a steal.
Like most timeshares, you don’t have to be a timeshare owner to stay here.
You can book directly or through your preferred booking platform.
This resort has studios, 1 bedrooms, and 2 bedrooms that range from $130-$250 on average, so it’s actually cheaper if you don’t use timeshare points here!
Click Here To Book Your Riviera Beach & Shores Resort Stay Today!
Resort Amenities
One place I really like in this resort is the fitness center.
It’s just off the backside of the lobby and every time I went it was empty.
I’ve actually hardly run into anybody at the entire resort both times we were there.
The gym isn’t huge, but it has a little bit of everything.
The resort also has a pool and hot tub out front which overlooks the ocean, but I haven’t personally used it.
You can also rent bikes and buy anything you need for the beach at the rental shop.
Overall Experience
Overall, as nice as staying at this resort is, it is usually not worth the amount of points that our timeshare charges.
It’s a place to go if you want to splurge for the location.
The amenities of the resort and in the room are the same as any other property they have, so really all you’re paying extra for is the ocean view.
There’s not much in terms of shopping, dining, or entertainment in the immediate area of the resort, but you have a beach across the street that is virtually empty every day.
So it’s usually a quiet beach getaway, which could be worth the splurge for you if that’s what you’re looking for.
Our Favorite Diamond Timeshare Resorts
We’ve been timeshare owners for several years now and we’re on a mission to stay at every property at least once.
Diamond Resorts was recently purchased by Hilton Grand Vacations, so the resorts will change in management name only, except for Marquis Villas Resort in Palm Springs, which ended up permanently closing.
These are our favorites so far.
Ka’anapali Beach Club – Maui
Ka’anapali Beach Club is located on Maui and is one of the most coveted of all of Diamond’s properties.
It’s in a great location, just down the road from Lahaina.
Plus, we enjoyed having the full kitchen, jacuzzi tub, and our beautiful ocean view.
Polo Towers – Las Vegas, Nevada
Polo Towers is right on the Las Vegas Strip, across from The Cosmopolitan.
We love the central location of this resort, as well as having a full kitchen because most Vegas hotels today have their fridge full of drinks that have insane mark ups, making them un-useable for yourself.
We’ve stayed in a variety of room types here over the years including a Two Bedroom, Studio Efficiency, and 1 Bedroom Accessible Room.
San Luis Bay Inn – Avila Beach, CA
San Luis Bay Inn is situated just above Avila Beach on a hill top along the central coast of California.
It’s in walking distance to this quiet beach town and it’s boardwalk of shops and restaurants.
Grande Villas Resort – Orlando, Florida
Grande Villas is just outside of Disney Springs, so it is conveniently located to all things Disney!
There is an on-site pizza & deli restaurant, full bar, and Starbucks coffee too.
The tub is really the highlight of the room though.
Cypress Pointe – Orlando
Cypress Pointe is another Hilton resort and it is actually right across the street from the Grande Villas resort!
The studio rooms here are unique in that they are more like a honeymoon suite and they are so affordable considering they are right outside of Disney Springs.
Bell Rock Inn – Sedona, Arizona
Bell Rock Inn is a timeshare resort just South of the city center of Sedona.
It’s an older, smaller property, but it’s the most effective use of timeshare points.
Our stay was the equivalent of only about $65 a night!
Historic Powhatan Resort – Williamsburg, Virginia
We absolutely loved staying at this resort in Williamsburg.
It was one of our more affordable timeshare visits and the unit had everything we needed.
We had just a One Bedroom, but it was 3 stories and set up like a townhome.
The first floor was the entrance, the second floor had a kitchen, dining room, full bathroom, bedroom with en-suite bathroom, and laundry.
Then the top floor was like a converted loft or attic with a tv, couch, and coffee table.
Varsity Clubs of America – Tucson, Arizona
This resort is the only place we stay in Tucson and we drive through here A LOT on our frequent road trips.
If you book within 30 days of your visit it’s pretty cheap.
We love the pool and hot tub here because it usually stays warm enough in the evenings to enjoy both.
It’s a quieter, no frills place and it’s right in the middle of town, centrally located to everything in Tucson.
The One Bedroom units are perfect with their full kitchen, jacuzzi tub, and dining table.
Palm Canyon Resort – Palm Springs, California
Palm Canyon Resort is the premiere timeshare resort in Palm Springs.
We love staying here for fun stay-cations every so often because it’s always discounted within 30-60 days or less of travel.
They have a great pool with a hot tub and water slides built into the rocks.
Riviera Oaks Resort & Racquet Club – near San Diego
Riviera Oaks is a quiet resort in the town of Ramona, just outside of San Diego.
It’s a perfect getaway for wine tasting in Ramona or visiting the historic gold rush town of Julian.
The Suites at Fall Creek – Branson, Missouri
We love Diamond’s resort in Branson.
It’s set back along a creek, hence the name, so it’s a quite woodsy experience just outside of town.
It’s still close enough to everything too.
What we loved about this room was the counter space in the kitchen, the screened in porch, and the open layout of the room.
The One Bedroom layout here could easily be the equivalent of a real one bedroom apartment.
Mystic Dunes Resort – Orlando, Florida
Mystic Dunes is one of the Diamond timeshares that really has a resort vibe, but the setting of being in Orlando, Florida probably plays a big part in that.
It’s just south of Disney World, with easy access to the parks.
The rooms are spacious and well kept, with just about every amenity when you stay in a one bedroom.
Conclusion: Riviera Beach & Shores Resort Review
Riviera Beach & Shores Resort is a nice beachfront resort in a quiet area of Capistrano Beach, one of the furthest south points of Orange County.
It’s cheaper to pay cash than it is to use timeshare points, even when the timeshare points are discounted.
The convenience of all your at-home amenities during a beach getaway makes this place the perfect spot for a vacation.
If you’re looking for another great timeshare in Orange County, I recommend the Disney Vacation Club Villas at Disneyland Hotel.
Click Here To Book Your Riviera Beach & Shores Resort Stay Today!
