As you can see by my list of reviewed properties, I am a frequent hotel guest, and do appreciate staying in more upscale properties such as the Ritz-Carlton.

On a recent stay at the Ritz-Carlton Marina Del Rey, I was somewhat surprised by the staff and their inability to maintain the kind of service that is typical of the brand.

The Rooms:

After receiving a recent $8 Million Dollar renovation, much of this was spent in room upgrades.
Standard Rooms are approximately 250 Sq. Feet in Size, and typically offer either one King or Two Double Beds. For some reason, the rooms seemed much larger than 250 Sq. Feet. Terrace rooms directly facing the marina tend to be slightly smaller given their larger balcony size.
If you are receiving a non-terrace room, try to request a lower room number. IE. 1001 instead of 1021 or 401 instead of 421. Once you check in, you will understand that these lower room numbers are farther away from the main street (which often has more noise)
Bed quality is superb, offering traditional Ritz-Carlton bedding (soft-top mattresses, feather beds, duvets, fine linens etc.)
Each room is equipped with LG plasma televisions. Room decor is "nautical traditional" with hues of blues and gold throughout. Bathrooms feature marble slab countertops. Most rooms have shower/tub combinations with new bathroom hardware.

Service:

This is where we were disappointed. On two occasions, lunch and breakfast were served over an hour later than ordered. Although apologies were eventually offered, and the bill was taken care of- I think there's a link missing in terms of restaurant service. We were later told that our server forgot to place the order altogether.

Furthermore, we were disappointed that the front desk was unwilling to assist us with an issue we had with one of our rooms. At 6am, we informed the front desk staff that our neighbors had kept us up the entire evening with excessive noise and arguing. Although I understand that these issues are often beyond the control of the hotel, we expected some kind of response and perhaps compensation for the inconvenience. Instead, we were given a very simple acknowledgement and apology. This has never been protocol for RC in the past.

Regarding the last point, I believe that the walls in the rooms may be slightly on the thin side.

Parking was also poorly orchestrated. There were several events in-house, making it difficult at times to enter the hotel's valet parking area. One evening in particular, we eventually went ahead of the 30 cars in line, explaining that we were guests. Our response from the staff was that we were to wait in line with everyone else. It is my feeling that guests should take priority, not event attendees.

Location:

The hotel is located approximately 20 minutes from LAX (Los Angeles Intl. Airport) The property is on the Marina, which makes for nice views from several vantage points. Local attractions tend to be somewhat limited. If you're sightseeing in LA, this might not be the place to stay. You will find that almost everything is a drive.

Facilities:

The pool facilities are quite nice, located marina side. The hotel's gym is also updated with great service as well.


In conclusion, I believe that you will be satisfied with the Ritz-Carlton Marina Del Rey. The lobby is well appointed, and nicely updated with a semi cotemporary feel. (Particularly in the bar/restaurant area) I do feel however that they could have done more with the renovation; perhaps $8 million wasn't quite enough. I feel that common areas are still lacking, particularly elevators, some hallways etc. Rooms are very comfortable and well-equipped with five star amenities. Housekeeping could not have been more pleasant.
Service was disappointing overall. I generally find that RC staff are overly accomodating, but I didn't feel that this was the case this time.
If you're attending a conference or just looking for a weekend get-away, you won't find anything better without driving to Beverly Hills and beyond.

I attended a corporate function at the hotel, and was very impressed with my room. The hotel is worth the room rates it charges.

The Sunday brunch was spectacular. One of the very best. Expensive, but, wow!

When I checked out, I unaccountably forgot to pack several items, and was pleasantly surprised indeed when hotel security called me on my cell phone a short time later to tell me of my oversight.

There is much that is very good about this hotel: the staff, (except for one manager) is upbeat, pleasant, helpful, quick. The location, overlooking a marina, is lovely. The terrace bar at the marina is first rate. The valet service was prompt and courteous when getting my car.
The rooms are OK, and have great wide screen TVs, although the first room I was in had a broken door lock and could not be opened after first entry.
Was shifted to another room, where there was no radio, a defective telephone and, one day, where housekeeping failed to replace towels or bath soap. (They said they had no bath soap available but would look for some. They also said taht no bath towels were available at the time I called, which was about 6 PM.)

When I called and spoke to an assistant manager the first time, he was very apologetic and helpful. When I was in the second room and called and got another assistant manager and outlined the problems I had run into, he sarcastically said "You should stay at another hotel as we are so incompetent." Good advice, although I assume the Ritz Carlton corporation might not appreciate that advice.

Not a good start when reception couldn't find our reservation - made by AmEx Centurion service - but once the front desk found out it was their mistake they couldn't have been nicer or better.

Our club level room was a little on the small side but had everything you could want and a really quite nice view out over the water.

The staff in the lounge were very helpful and quite charming and the constant high quality food and drink offerings make the little extra that the concierge rooms cost at Ritz Carlton always worth every penny.

Breakfast on the terrace of the main restaurant was really exceptional and made us all wish we had eaten in the hotel the previous evening rather than traipse out to a very iffy, if celebrated, Santa Monica seafood place.

The only negative was that you could hear absolutely very sound from the rooms on both sides. Surely some sound insulation can't break the bank!