I stayed at the St. Regis for a few days in August. I was there for work, but had time to enjoy the property. Simply put, I thought it was one of the nicest hotels I've ever visited. I say that mainly because of the excellent world-class service -- very friendly without once feeling fake. You really felt like the staff was looking out for you. One example: when I checked out I had to wait a few minutes for them to bring my car around. I assured the guy who brought my luggage out that I could take things from there, so he left, but he came back a few minutes later with two cold bottles of water. "You mentioned that you were driving up to LA, so I thought you could use these," he said as he handed them over. Nice touch.

The setting is beautiful, and so are the pools. The beach was great, and although you have to take a short tram ride to get there, the facilities the hotel has in place (private beach club, folks to set up your chair and towel and bring you drinks) make it worthwhile. The golf was fantastic, and the health club and spa are destinations unto themselves, with the nicest locker room I've ever seen. I actually looked forward to working out.

I only had lunches at the hotel, and they were great. The many dining options looked tempting, but as I wasn't able to try them out I can't comment on them.

The room I had, which I believe was a standard room (2 queen-sized beds), was huge and very nicely appointed. Having said that, I do agree with some of the slightly negative comments in the other reviews. The place is luxurious, but in a kind of Las Vegas cookie cutter way (Not sure how to decorate a big public room? How about putting giant mirrors everywhere (and I do mean everywhere).). So people who like unique style, quirky style, or classic old-world style might be disappointed. As a business conference location it was perfect (the business center took great care of me, for example), and I could definitely see going there for a long romantic weekend, or having a big wedding there. But as a family vacation destination, it might not be quite right (although all the kids I saw seemed to be having a great time, so what do I know?).

I've got two small suggestions for the folks in charge, in case you're reading this. First, although the pools look great, they're way too warm. They must be great when it's cool, but in August one wants a dip in the pool to feel a little colder than a warm bath. Second, the beds are great, but the linens are only so-so. A place as nice as the St. Regis ought to have sheets wtih stratospheric thread counts.

Other than that, I loved the place.

My wife and I stayed at St Regis Morach Beach Aug 1-3. The hotel is located in an upmarket residencial area of south OC some mile or so back from the beach. The location is quite nice in an OC way.

Arrived at around 15.00, hotel was obviously very busy and our room was not ready. We were told check in time was 16.00 and that we would be called on our cellphone when the room was ready. We went to have some lunch on the terrance and 100 bucks later for 2 glasses of wine and some appitizers we found that at 16.30 the room was still not ready.

We had been checked in by a young guy who I am sure was training or helping out due to the busy time, I got the impression he did not really know what he was doing. This was confirmed when after spending another half hour watching newly arriving guests checking in I again returned to the desk to be told by someone who did know what he was doing that our room was ready. The front desk was clearly overwhelmed.

During the rest of our stay we had numerous other poor service experiences. Housekeeping not making the room up until 18.00.
Waiting service in the lobby lounge poor. No availibility in the restaurants. Stonehil Tavern the signature restuarant was good, but noisy and sufferred again from poor service, to many people too few harrased staff.. The crowded tram to the beach. Bell hops unable to cope with valet parking scheme.

The decor in the room was very nice although a bit on the small side and the pubic areas are OK if a bit soulless - this is a big establishment and has an industrial feel to it. I would imagine it is being squarely targeted at conventions and the like rather than the leisure travelleres who were mostly the clients during my stay.

In summary this is not a cheap hotel, room only $600 and with expensive add ons. Well into Four Seasons territory but without any of the FS style or more importantly the FS service ethos.

The St Regis team need to spend a lot of energy to get this hotel back on track. Until this is done I would advise to stay clear.

I have stayed in at least a hundred hotels and this is by far the most amazing one i have stayed at so far!! The service is great, the people treat you like royalty, the views are amazing, the food is to die for, the pool is beautiful, and the beach service is outstanding!! Allthough the prices are high, if you split a meal it's really not that bad- the portions are of a nice size (except the food at Stonehill Tavern). As a matter of fact, the only time I felt somewhat ripped off was during my dining experience at Stonehill Tavern. The portions were rediculosly small, the prices were extremely over-priced, and the food wasn't that great. However, Motif, Pool Bar & Grill (home to the most delicious shrimp spring rolls!!), the Monarch Bay Club (which serves a pretty mean Cuban sandwhich), and Crust (you should definatly try one of their cheese danishes...I am addicted!! haha) all served amazing food at prices that were reasonable if entrees were split amongst two people-even the appetizers were big enough to do this. The St. Regis Monarch Beach is something every hard working person who just wants to relax should visit!! You won't be sorry.

But if your on a budget, don't bring a car with you to the hotel- forced valet parking is $30 a day... I think the hotel has a shuttle that will pick you up at the air port and drop you back off. There really isn't a need for a car since everything you could need is at the Resort or just a few minutes away. In addition, those on a tight budget might be interested to know that my travel companion and I managed to spend less than $100 a day, including the valet charge! Not too bad, so don't let the prices scare you away!! (The only time we went over was the day we at Stonehill Tavern- $90 for two appetizers that were very dissappointing....my advice would be to skip this restraunt because there are many wonderful restraunts around the hotel and the other restraunts the St. Regis has to offer are much better and more resonably priced!!)

My family and I stayed at this property for about a week. I had read the mixed reviews, but my wife insisted that we stay at this property because of its location.

I can summarize our stay in very simple terms - the resort is truly spectacular. The area is charming and beautiful. The room was large and luxurious. The service was lousy. The restaurants were mediocre and outrageously over-priced. For example, they have a "coffee bar" called Crust. Coffee goes for $5.25 per cup - that's for just plain old regular coffee, not a latte of an espresso, just a plain old cup of coffee. The first morning I went down and ordered 2 cups and when they presented me with the slip to sign it was over $11. I started to laugh and told the woman behind the counter that there must be a mistake - it was over $11 for 2 cups of coffee - she didn’t laugh, I didn’t either when I read it again and realized that was the price. The next day I actually drove to Starbucks and got 2 cups of coffee for half the price. That was indicative of the other prices for food and beverages.

The staff is quite reserved to the point of being indifferent. It's hard to describe, but except for the bell staff, all other staff members have a painted on "Stepford Wives" fake smile, like they really don’t like being there yet they know they are supposed to be friendly and helpful, but they are not genuinely helpful or are in any way service oriented. I wasn’t looking for rock star treatment, but at this level of hotel, I also didn’t expect Motel 6 like service either. When I walk in to Burger King to order junk food for my teenage kids, I don’t expect great service, but if I walk in to a 5 star restaurant I DO expect at least good service and hope for great service. This property has 5 star qualities, but the staff has Burger King attitudes. Maybe the owners don’t pay great wages, maybe it's an OC thing, but in any case I was really disappointed in the level of service and lack of caring by the staff at this property. It really doesn’t want you to come back and stay there again which is really a shame since the property itself is really nice.