Solaire

This was actually some of the best “hotel” food I’ve ever had! Hands down. Even our picky kids ate. Also great service from everyone. Thanks so much!

Krista Howell

We had a delicious meal with views of the pool on one side and the gorgeous lobby on the other. The food was very good, and the details of the design of the whole place were inspiring. We had refreshing cocktails and thoroughly pleasant experience.

Josiah Kelly

Pleasantly surprised in the best way. The design of the space is absolutely beautiful! Styled, modern, and way more impressive than what I expected from a hotel restaurant and bar. It has the kind of atmosphere you'd expect from a trendy standalone spot, not something tucked inside a hotel. The food and drinks were also incredible. The only reason I’m giving 4 stars for service instead of 5 is because my friends and I had a less than desirable experience with one server during breakfast. Pretty rude and not what you expect in terms of hospitality. That said, I have to shout out Susan (the manager or lead) and Iris (bartender) who were both amazing. Super friendly, welcoming, and really made us feel at home. I work in property development and events/marketing, so I tend to notice the details, and these two really stood out for all the right reasons. All in all, this place far exceeded my expectations. I'd absolutely come back and recommend it whether you're staying at the hotel or just in the area looking for a great spot to eat or grab drinks.

G H

Great restaurant! Great service and food! The design is amazing- so unique! The atmosphere is cozy and authentic 🍸

Jacqueline Kimmey

Absolutely love this place, food and ambiance is incredible ever since the renovation last summer!! The orange salmon and saffron pasta are my regular favorites, but whatever you get, don’t miss out on the pork belly bao buns or tuna wontons (order split in half to accommodate a gluten free guest)! The chef is very understanding and accommodates any dietary restrictions. Sit at the bar with the bartender Rainbow- he is the BEST! Special Valentine’s Day lobster and pomegranate risotto was to die for!

Carl Magnus

Your hotel is fabulous. The food is also fabulous and our server Shirlyn was extremely pleasant and attentive to our needs. She returned to our table several times thru our dinner meal to make sure that we had all that we needed. The best experience that we have had since arriving in California from our home base of New York !

Suzanne Danielle Valenzuela

While lodging at Hotel Paradox, I dined at Solaire and enjoyed the relaxing environment. The Manager (Dan) and wait staff ( Rosie, Sherlin and Matt) are very friendly, patient and accommodating. The menu is delicious comfort food if you have time to sitdown and enjoy but if you are in a rush this is not the best place to dine. I enjoyed ordering the Solaire Breakfast it was my favorite with either Bacon or Brisket. 😋

Shira Coleman

We are locals, but we come here for date night. Love the very beautiful and quirky decor and the food is good but DON’T SKIP DESSERT. The bar staff is great. Kelly made us wonderful mocktails and Shirlyn is a fantastic server with a big smile and always happy to help with special requests.

John Holt

I recently dined at Solaire several times while staying at the Hotel Paradox and truly enjoyed the food and friendly service, particularly Rainbow, a bartender who doubled as a waiter. Both my wife and I are vegetarians, and the vegetable forward dishes were thoughtfully prepared and well plated, complete with edible flowers, from the vegan samosas to the innovative salads, making for a lovely experience, one I hope to repeat again soon.

Joshua Rosario King

The husband and I decided to try something new and different in the area. We got both along with a surprise on how beautiful this place was. You walk in and see a nice sitting area, bookshelves along the hall way and walk way. The entire staff was inviting, welcoming and very pleasant. It was such a great experience. I ordered the eggs Benedict and coffee, he order the solaire breakfast 😋. We both really enjoyed our food, experience and the service. Shout out to our server Lyla she was awesome and made the experience a little more memorable. Great place for family, friends, gatherings , party's, or just a staycation. Thank you for a great experience

Jenn E

I was pleasantly surprised to see the hotel pool bar was open. I guess it's not normally open due to covid. It was open for another private event, but they were still serving hotel and pool guests which was awesome. The cocktails were so tasty! Jeff and Rainbow were awesome, and they made some tasty drinks. I was in town for a funeral, not so great, but they both made me smile. Felt nice to sit in the sunshine with great drinks while talking to the friendly staff. Wayne, the chef, was also outside chatting with them and he too was very kind. When you can only handle so much family stuff, it's super nice to take a break and meet some new people. Appreciate the drinks and the conversations! Thanks for taking great care of me!

adrienne ross

This was actually some of the best “hotel” food I’ve ever had! Hands down. Even our picky kids ate. Also great service from everyone. Thanks so much!

I recently held a privite event at the Solaire Resturante and Paradox Hotel. This is my second event there and they have both be excellent experiences. In both cases the food was way beyond the typical "Hotel Meeting" food. Not only was it very good, but also plentiful. They served perfectly cooked salmon and roasted vegetables with a deliciouls relish. The staff is very helpful and responsive setting up the logistics and the pricing is good, espeically in this new world we live in. Thank you for making our event a sucess.

We are staying at the hotel, and enjoying some meals here. I especially enjoyed the chicken of the woods dinner entree. Server Shirlyn (evening) was very helpful and knowledgeable and Rosie (breakfast) was really super too!

Solaire review My wife and I started dining at Solaire restaurant located in the Paradox hotel in Santa Cruz, California from its original opening in 2012. I gave a 5 star review back then. At first, we were very pleased with the high-quality of the food and the service. However in later years both deteriorated and we stopped dining there over two years ago. Yesterday, we were looking for a restaurant that we hadn’t been for a while and decided to check out this restaurant at the hotel after looking at the new menu. It seemed to be completely revamped and had lots of choices. So, last night we ate dinner there. The lobby and the restaurant was completely renovated with a whole new look. The restaurant had inside and outside sections. The outside section was mostly indoors with the pool side area completely open to the outside. It had infrared ceiling heaters. Very nice. We chose to eat on the inside, where the tables were on both sides of a new large center bar which also juts in to the outside area. We found the food to be excellent and at somewhat reasonable prices in comparison to the old Solaire restaurant. My wife had the tomato basil bisque, and I had the French onion soup. My wife loved the bisque and I thought the onion soup was very good. It had loads of cheese and the onions and had a delicious flavor - not too salty. For our courses, my wife ordered the fresh catch with risotto. The catch was miso black cod , and the risotto had mushrooms and other veggies. She loved it! I had the flat iron steak with fries and herb butter. It was very tender and delicious. The service was outstanding. Our server, whose name is Shirlyn, was terrific! She was very knowledgeable of the dishes and guided us to the ones that we chose. She was pleasant, efficient and had a very positive attitude. The food was served in a prompt manner. And we were attended with water, drinks, and whatever we ask for quickly. You may see some of the old reviews with not such stellar comments. However, if you haven’t been there in a while since the remodel which occurred about two years ago, I recommend you give it a try.

Myron Brody

Solaire review My wife and I started dining at Solaire restaurant located in the Paradox hotel in Santa Cruz, California from its original opening in 2012. I gave a 5 star review back then. At first, we were very pleased with the high-quality of the food and the service. However in later years both deteriorated and we stopped dining there over two years ago. Yesterday, we were looking for a restaurant that we hadn’t been for a while and decided to check out this restaurant at the hotel after looking at the new menu. It seemed to be completely revamped and had lots of choices. So, last night we ate dinner there. The lobby and the restaurant was completely renovated with a whole new look. The restaurant had inside and outside sections. The outside section was mostly indoors with the pool side area completely open to the outside. It had infrared ceiling heaters. Very nice. We chose to eat on the inside, where the tables were on both sides of a new large center bar which also juts in to the outside area. We found the food to be excellent and at somewhat reasonable prices in comparison to the old Solaire restaurant. My wife had the tomato basil bisque, and I had the French onion soup. My wife loved the bisque and I thought the onion soup was very good. It had loads of cheese and the onions and had a delicious flavor - not too salty. For our courses, my wife ordered the fresh catch with risotto. The catch was miso black cod , and the risotto had mushrooms and other veggies. She loved it! I had the flat iron steak with fries and herb butter. It was very tender and delicious. The service was outstanding. Our server, whose name is Shirlyn, was terrific! She was very knowledgeable of the dishes and guided us to the ones that we chose. She was pleasant, efficient and had a very positive attitude. The food was served in a prompt manner. And we were attended with water, drinks, and whatever we ask for quickly. You may see some of the old reviews with not such stellar comments. However, if you haven’t been there in a while since the remodel which occurred about two years ago, I recommend you give it a try.

Doreen O'Donovan

I recently held a privite event at the Solaire Resturante and Paradox Hotel. This is my second event there and they have both be excellent experiences. In both cases the food was way beyond the typical "Hotel Meeting" food. Not only was it very good, but also plentiful. They served perfectly cooked salmon and roasted vegetables with a deliciouls relish. The staff is very helpful and responsive setting up the logistics and the pricing is good, espeically in this new world we live in. Thank you for making our event a sucess.

Lydia Gregoret

We are staying at the hotel, and enjoying some meals here. I especially enjoyed the chicken of the woods dinner entree. Server Shirlyn (evening) was very helpful and knowledgeable and Rosie (breakfast) was really super too!

Our server Renee was great. The burger did not dissapoint! Thoughtful and fun decor.

Had a few breakfasts here, food was pretty good.

I wish the menu indicated that the Ahi nachos were spicy. Waited so long for water at breakfast that we got up to get it ourselves.

Jackie Just

Our server Renee was great. The burger did not dissapoint! Thoughtful and fun decor.

Carl O'Neil

Had a few breakfasts here, food was pretty good.

Madison Sites

I wish the menu indicated that the Ahi nachos were spicy. Waited so long for water at breakfast that we got up to get it ourselves.

I was only taking out food, Shirlyn helped me out with her friendly and attentive attitude. Firstly she made sure that I was ok with todays Manhattan style clam chowder, and she even helped with my request to add more vegetables in my sandwiches. Shirlyn was just so delightful!

Jefferson Lee

I was only taking out food, Shirlyn helped me out with her friendly and attentive attitude. Firstly she made sure that I was ok with todays Manhattan style clam chowder, and she even helped with my request to add more vegetables in my sandwiches. Shirlyn was just so delightful!

This was, by far, the worst experience I've ever had at any restaurant in my lifetime. Other reviews indicate that the experience here can be hit or miss. When my family and I came here on Christmas Day, we were met with systemic disorganization and frankly some of the most abhorrent attitude any of us have ever seen. We arrived at 6:30pm for a 6:45pm reservation through OpenTable, and were told that it would be a thirty minute wait, regardless of the reservation. No problem, we took some seats at the bar as instructed by the host and began to wait. As the attached photo suggests, nobody approached to seat us nor to take an order for food *or* drinks. Rather, we were ignored by the bartender until 6:56pm, when he finally offered us some drinks at a bar that we had been sitting at for, again, an entire half hour. Of course, it became clear after yet another half an hour of sipping/waiting (and many other patrons leaving) that the restaurant was in complete disarray and that the staff was unable to service our reservation. I was literally forced to leave my seat at the bar and walk about ten feet to the adjacent well to get our bartender's attention, where I said, "Hey, boss, would you mind closing me out?" To which he replied, "Sure, just give me a minute." I watched him approach, take, and make, three entire different orders from start to finish while I stood at the end of the bar waiting for him. Now, Chris P., I'm going to speak directly to you now in the hopes that either you read this or perhaps management passes this review along to you. I also have many years in the service industry, albeit as a barista rather than a bartender. Your attitude today was completely unacceptable, and markedly spineless, too. I gathered from your mumblings and grumblings today that you and your coworkers were understaffed, and possibly that your bar manager did not show up today. I understand that this kind of situation, especially on Christmas Day, is not one that you want to be in. This does not, in any capacity, give you the right to treat me or your coworkers in the manner that you did today. Our party was able to discern that things were not working as intended, and I attempted to do you a favor by politely asking for the check so that we could get out of your hair as soon as possible. Instead of meeting me halfway, you made me stand there like a dunce for nearly fifteen minutes while the other patrons watched on, possibly because you saw in my eyes a younger individual who was sympathetic to your situation. Notwithstanding this behavior, the mistake you made that will probably stick with you for years is the fact that you chose to treat me like this in front of my father, who then proceeded to stand up and yell at you to force you to close me out. I think the most valuable point of learning here is that not one of the other customers at the bar stood up for you like normal people would have done for a berated service worker on Christmas Day. If not from my words here, then from their reactions - I want you to understand that how you treated me was actually really, really mean, dude. But really, that's not the real lesson I think is worth learning. Rather, it's within the way you spoke of and to your coworkers. I watched you reply to their questions with snide remarks, poor attitude, and an unwillingness to collaborate during what was also one of the most frustrating days in their professional lives. You answered customers' questions as if the restaurant's disorganization was their fault, and that you had no idea what was going on. Your tone was that of, "Not my fault, don't ask me, I won't help you." As service workers, treating customers fairly is one thing, but what I watched you do today on shift was nothing short of complete abandonment of your own fellow service workers when they needed you most. When things go sideways in the absence of effective leadership, you should step up, take initiative, and help out. Instead, you checked out, and that was infinitely more painful to watch than how you treated me.

Jared Lyon

This was, by far, the worst experience I've ever had at any restaurant in my lifetime. Other reviews indicate that the experience here can be hit or miss. When my family and I came here on Christmas Day, we were met with systemic disorganization and frankly some of the most abhorrent attitude any of us have ever seen. We arrived at 6:30pm for a 6:45pm reservation through OpenTable, and were told that it would be a thirty minute wait, regardless of the reservation. No problem, we took some seats at the bar as instructed by the host and began to wait. As the attached photo suggests, nobody approached to seat us nor to take an order for food *or* drinks. Rather, we were ignored by the bartender until 6:56pm, when he finally offered us some drinks at a bar that we had been sitting at for, again, an entire half hour. Of course, it became clear after yet another half an hour of sipping/waiting (and many other patrons leaving) that the restaurant was in complete disarray and that the staff was unable to service our reservation. I was literally forced to leave my seat at the bar and walk about ten feet to the adjacent well to get our bartender's attention, where I said, "Hey, boss, would you mind closing me out?" To which he replied, "Sure, just give me a minute." I watched him approach, take, and make, three entire different orders from start to finish while I stood at the end of the bar waiting for him. Now, Chris P., I'm going to speak directly to you now in the hopes that either you read this or perhaps management passes this review along to you. I also have many years in the service industry, albeit as a barista rather than a bartender. Your attitude today was completely unacceptable, and markedly spineless, too. I gathered from your mumblings and grumblings today that you and your coworkers were understaffed, and possibly that your bar manager did not show up today. I understand that this kind of situation, especially on Christmas Day, is not one that you want to be in. This does not, in any capacity, give you the right to treat me or your coworkers in the manner that you did today. Our party was able to discern that things were not working as intended, and I attempted to do you a favor by politely asking for the check so that we could get out of your hair as soon as possible. Instead of meeting me halfway, you made me stand there like a dunce for nearly fifteen minutes while the other patrons watched on, possibly because you saw in my eyes a younger individual who was sympathetic to your situation. Notwithstanding this behavior, the mistake you made that will probably stick with you for years is the fact that you chose to treat me like this in front of my father, who then proceeded to stand up and yell at you to force you to close me out. I think the most valuable point of learning here is that not one of the other customers at the bar stood up for you like normal people would have done for a berated service worker on Christmas Day. If not from my words here, then from their reactions - I want you to understand that how you treated me was actually really, really mean, dude. But really, that's not the real lesson I think is worth learning. Rather, it's within the way you spoke of and to your coworkers. I watched you reply to their questions with snide remarks, poor attitude, and an unwillingness to collaborate during what was also one of the most frustrating days in their professional lives. You answered customers' questions as if the restaurant's disorganization was their fault, and that you had no idea what was going on. Your tone was that of, "Not my fault, don't ask me, I won't help you." As service workers, treating customers fairly is one thing, but what I watched you do today on shift was nothing short of complete abandonment of your own fellow service workers when they needed you most. When things go sideways in the absence of effective leadership, you should step up, take initiative, and help out. Instead, you checked out, and that was infinitely more painful to watch than how you treated me.

Disappointing Experience at Solaire on Christmas Evening My wife and I stayed at the Marriott for a special date night on Christmas evening, but unfortunately, our experience at the Solaire restaurant, which is part of the hotel, was deeply disappointing. I want to emphasize that this review is for the restaurant, not the hotel itself. As a Marriott Gold Elite member, I've always had positive experiences, but this was the first time I've ever encountered such poor service. The website menu was not updated to reflect the reduced menu for Christmas evening, leaving us unprepared for the limited options. Upon arriving at the restaurant, despite many empty tables, we were told we'd have to wait 20 minutes due to "the amount of people." This eventually turned into a one-hour wait, even as the restaurant remained far from full. While waiting, we sat at the bar, where the bartender--visibly uninterested and lacking basic courtesy--refused to make eye contact. After 20 minutes of being ignored, we were finally asked for our drink order, only to be told he could only make one cocktail from the menu. Frustrated, we settled for Pinot Noir, which felt like the easiest option. When we were finally seated, the dining area was still mostly empty. We noticed several other diners experiencing similar delays, making it appear as though the staff were intentionally discouraging guests from staying. This experience completely overshadowed what should have been a special evening. As a loyal Marriott guest, I've come to expect a higher standard of service, but Solaire fell far short of those expectations. I would not recommend dining here, especially for any occasion.

Benoit Brouwers

Disappointing Experience at Solaire on Christmas Evening My wife and I stayed at the Marriott for a special date night on Christmas evening, but unfortunately, our experience at the Solaire restaurant, which is part of the hotel, was deeply disappointing. I want to emphasize that this review is for the restaurant, not the hotel itself. As a Marriott Gold Elite member, I've always had positive experiences, but this was the first time I've ever encountered such poor service. The website menu was not updated to reflect the reduced menu for Christmas evening, leaving us unprepared for the limited options. Upon arriving at the restaurant, despite many empty tables, we were told we'd have to wait 20 minutes due to "the amount of people." This eventually turned into a one-hour wait, even as the restaurant remained far from full. While waiting, we sat at the bar, where the bartender--visibly uninterested and lacking basic courtesy--refused to make eye contact. After 20 minutes of being ignored, we were finally asked for our drink order, only to be told he could only make one cocktail from the menu. Frustrated, we settled for Pinot Noir, which felt like the easiest option. When we were finally seated, the dining area was still mostly empty. We noticed several other diners experiencing similar delays, making it appear as though the staff were intentionally discouraging guests from staying. This experience completely overshadowed what should have been a special evening. As a loyal Marriott guest, I've come to expect a higher standard of service, but Solaire fell far short of those expectations. I would not recommend dining here, especially for any occasion.