2/10 Rating
Stay away! Owner is only interested in making money, not guest comfort! Apparently he owns the whole block with all the restaurants, and pushes early guests out into the street because there is NO LOBBY!
We arrived early, and had to drive around the block twice to find the place. It's NOT ON THE MAIN ROAD, but on a closed street, which is very confusing for Lyft and Uber drivers. Our rooms weren't ready, which is understandable at our 9:30 am arrival. Front Since NO LOBBY was offered and all the restaurants were closed at that time, we had to wander the streets for hours.
Our friends arrived at 2pm, and again NO LOBBY was offered, instead , we had to sit outside on the El Paseo Hotel owners little Monopoly of restaurants spending money to sit there.
After checking in, and signing off to a myriad of hidden charges (35 day for valet parking although WE DID NOT HAVE A CAR,) Finally the room were ready and at that time, we were told about the "Wine Hour" up in the "Library".
Imagine our surprise when we went to the "library" upstairs, to discover a cozy room, with bookshelves, a coffee maker and a nice veranda that overlooked the very restaurants we'd be forced to sit at ALL AFTERNOON.
NO ELEVATOR. We lugged our suitcases up to the 2nd floor, to discover a small CRAMPED DARK ROOM located in the BACK OF THE HOTEL. It was a cross between a hospital room and military' barracks.
The view of a parking lot and an overgrown palm tree.
NO DRESSER OR DRAWERS TO UNPACK. ONLY NARROW BOOK SHELVES.
When we asked for a room with a view (after checking the website for availability, which they had) we were told, NO. We said we would like a view, since the price is the same, and were told it would be noisy if we got a balcony. We understood that but only wanted a decent window view instead of a dark "courtyard".!
OUR KEYCARDS DIDN'T WORK! Yet another fiasco. I had booked the two rooms and they told us all the key cards were for one room, not the other? Who does that? The key cards in our folder should have been set to the room were were in, not the other room our friends were in.
Our friends flew in from Denver, leaving at midnight, and arrived at 2, exhausted. They had to stay outside too until the rooms were ready. When they finally got into their room, the landscapers were having a great time yelling over the leaf blowers, which was directly outside the small window.
I said we didn't have a car, so I do not want to get charged for the $35/day valet parking, so we shall see if I was charged when we check out.
Haven't tried the beach yet, this should be another disappointing experience based on what has transpired so far.
Complaining did nothing, asking for a room change did nothing, being nice did nothing, getting angry did nothing. THEY SIMPLY DON'T CARE ABOUT THE COMFORT OF THEIR GUESTS.
NEVER STAY HERE! RUN AWAY TO BETTER HOTELS WITH A VIEW!