A group of friends and I stayed at the hotel while on vacation. Naturally on the drive there Mapquest made sure we got lost. I ended up calling the hotel and someone that barely spoke english answered the phone. I explained where I was and asked for directions and she just said "hold" and then connected me to someone else. He also barely spoke english but I once again explained the situation. He simply said he didn't know where I was and he asked if I could call back in 5 minutes. I thought that was a pretty ridiculous thing to ask so I said no and asked him to find someone that could help me. After a few minutes he finally connected me to someone else (this one spoke english! woohoo!), and she was kind of able to help me (but not completely, we had to stop for directions again later).

When we finally got there it took about 15 minutes to check in even though there was only one person in front of us in line. The front desk clerk then old use that our request of a room with 2 double beds could not be fulfilled but he could give us a room with 1 king bed and a rollaway bed. I told him that was fine as long as we could fit 4 people in the room. He said we could and then gave us our keys. We went to the room and after about an hour we called the front desk to make sure they were going to send us a rollaway. A few hours after that we finally got it. It was the smallest bed I've ever seen and it could barely sleep one person comfortably. We asked for 2 rollaways but he said they couldn't give us another. So that night 3 of us had to sleep on the king bed.

In the morning we called and asked for more towels and it took about an hour to get them. All around the service was friendly, but extremely slow. The location of the hotel is great, but I will never recommend it to anyone. It was not a good experience.

The Manhattan Beach Marriott is a strange hotel in that it does some things really well...and other things are sub-standard.

First of all, the setting is lovely. Although tourists always seem to know that high-rent LA neighborhoods include Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Brentwood, etc., the truth is that Manhattan Beach has quickly risen to the same level in terms of property values...and beauty. So the hotel is popular by virtue of its location.

The lobby is also beautiful: High ceilings and large glass windows that look onto an executive golf course that Marriott owns and operates. It's a great first impression.

When you hit the front desk, however, the charm starts to wear off. At both check-in and check-out, we found the staff to be uptight and unhelpful. (I have experienced this same behavior at the Sacramento Marriott . Could this be part of Marriott's training?) For example, although our Marriott profile specifically requests a king bed, the Manhattan Beach front desk staffer told us that our profile showed no such preference and therefore all kings had been given to other guests. (That information was inaccurate; I verified online within the hour that our Marriott profile does list "king" as our preference -- and, by the way, I alerted the front desk person of her mistake.)

I asked the front desk if any floors were "updated" more than others, and I was told that all rooms are virtually the same.

What you will find: While the rooms are a bit larger than standard hotel rooms, you will also find "cottage cheese" on the ceiling; old, dark doors; and dark hallways. You can tell that the hotel was built circa 1980...and it has not been updated structurally. Marriott has, however, installed new carpeting with bright colors in an effort to freshen up the guest floors.

Bathrooms have new countertops and new shower heads, but the toilets are from the original construction -- a rather odd contrast for people who travel often.

My wife and I heard very little noise, and we slept well both nights in the now-standard Marriott beds that are fabulous.

At breakfast (and lunch and dinner -- we ate all of our meals for two days in the only hotel restaurant), we found the service to be among the worst we have encountered in any hotel. The good news is that, if you have plenty of time to endure the painfully slow service, the food is very good. We enjoyed every meal from a "food" point of view...but the service was extremely poor.

On day #2, we asked the front desk if we could be moved to a room with a king bed. We were told that none were available. I have no way of knowing whether the information was accurate, but I do know that the front desk person was unapologetic. When I pressed to see if I could be put on a waiting list, she agreed to do so (no one ever called me), adding that they had been busy ever since the WNBA had chosen them as their LA "home base" whenever teams were visiting LA. While I am glad for the hotel's new corporate client, the explanation did little to change the fact that my wife and I were sharing separate beds since their double beds were so small.

There is no spa facility at this hotel.

The drive to the beach is about 10 minutes - a straight shot down Rosecrans (the hotel sits one block off of Rosecrans, which is a main street that runs from the freeway to the ocean.) It would be a long walk from the hotel to the beach...but there are cabs available, should you choose to not rent a car. (Please note: We heard European tourists in the elevator lamenting that they had not rented a car. It is difficult to enjoy LA without a car.)

During one of our meals, I sought out the restaurant manager and shared my concerns regarding the service. He explained that he was brand-new to the hotel and that he was still surveying the situation. He was an extremely friendly fellow (Darren was his name), but I did not get the sense that he was terribly concerned about the service issues that I was raising.

At check-out, I voiced my conerns about the restaurant to the front desk staffer. He looked at me rather blankly like, "What do you want me to say?" His reaction was off-putting.

So thus was our visit to the Manhattan Beach Marriott: Nice location; old rooms; good food; and terrible service.

If you want to stay somewhat close to the sand in Manhattan Beach, this is your place. But if your visit to LA is centered on other parts of the city (study your map carefully), I think that I might skip this hotel. My wife and I do not plan to return.

Went on a road trip up the coast of California ending our adventure in Manhattan Beach Marriott. It was a great finale for our trip. It was only 10 minutes from the Los Angeles Airport, but you did not hear or see airplanes.

After being at several hotels on our stay from Holiday Inn to Best Western's, to Ramada Inn as well as a "boutique" motel in Santa Barbara, the Marriott was by far the best for value, cleanliness, amenities etc. My rate was around the same as the other hotel's in some cases a bit more, but what made it really worth it was that it was the only hotel that served a full breakfast, hot/cold, and it was included in the price. I would advise to ask for specials etc. make sure you ask for the breakfast to be included.

I would recommend it 100%

The good:
- Pleasant staff
- Tasteful décor
- Spacious, clean room
- Large, well decorated, well featured lobby
- Well kept grounds
- Nice pool/jacuzzi

The bad:
- Pay parking ($13/nt self park or $18/nt valet)
- Pay for internet ($10/day)
- Poorly ventilated room - most modern hotels have bathroom ventilation to clear bath steam and odors. This hotel does not. The bathrooms do have fans, but these fans simply pull the air through a filter and back into the bathroom - this does not work and the filter in our bathroom had never been replaced. This causes the room window to fog up for several hours after every shower. The Air Conditioning does not clear it up, nor does opening the window (it opens about 6 inches).
- No airport shuttle even though the hotel is only 3 miles from LAX
- Dated hotel guidebook. Inaccurate and incomplete information, including the inclusion of airport shuttle information (there is no shuttle), complete lack of hotel internet information, poor index of services.
- Lack of attention to detail in room. The room was well decorated and clean, but ran into things such as curtains that stuck and/or squealed when you moved them and the bathroom fan filter being filthy (even though the fan says to replace it every 6 mos).
- Our room was next to the ice machine and maid's supply room. We heard the machine until late. The maids would gather and talk about 8:15 AM each day.
- Poor bell hop service. Our luggage sat in the lobby for 25 minutes. I went down to the lobby for another reason and none of the staff was busy, including the bell hop who was visiting with a friend in the lobby. I had to request it be delivered to our room.

Tips:
- Park on the street in front of the hotel - it's free and no further than the parking garage (which costs you $13/nt).
- Ask for a room in the back - you'll have a view of a golf course and residential neighborhood. The front faces a business district and a busy street. If you open a window, it is much quieter in back as well.