Try to choose an ocean view room; the sound of the harbor seals at night is very soothing. This is the second or third time we've stayed at this property (we live about 5 minutes away!) and this room was the nicest of all. The spa tub faced the outside window with french doors on either side. The toilet was a bit oddly placed adjacent to the tub, but the curtain could be pulled for privacy. The beds are up against the wall facing the ocean, so one could literally see the water sitting upright.

Like many older hotels, the walls are thin and outside noise is common. Also, the decks are nice, but when someone is smoking on one of them, the smoke travels into your room fairly quickly. Other than making the hotel completely smoke free, I'm not sure there is a way to get around that. Inconsiderate guests add to the issue when they smoke, yell, talk loudly at 1:00 a.m. and sing on their balcony, but it's Redondo Beach and you expect some of that.

Baleen is adjacent and they have a nicely done Happy Hour in a beautifully appointed room.

The lobby of the Portofino is wedding worthy. It's a lovely Wedgewood blue with white trim with a large fireplace in the center. It would be wonderful if food were served; I think you can only get drinks after a certain hour in the evening.

Even if you are not staying there, it's a nice place for a quick after work meeting to sit and relax and watch the boats sailing in and out of King Harbor.

My husband and I live about an hour from the beach and look for any opportunity to stay near the Strand. We discovered Portifino hotel about 4 years ago and have stayed on several occassions. If you can, pay a little extra for the ocean views. It sets them apart from the competition. We like parking our car, eating at Baleen and walking to the pier. Baleen is an onsite restaurant that has spectacular food. They are known for their shredded duck appetizer and I abolutely love it and I don't eat duck. It is a nice retreat, the staff is very professional and friendly. This is definately one of my favorite places to stay and we will be returning.

We called ahead because we were going to be getting in late and they staff of the phone was very nice, when we checked in however the new staff member seemed just ast tired as we were after a long day of walking and driving.The rooms in this hotel are huge and very pretty! You can tell this hotel is an older beach side property but they have done some very lovely updates (new paint, carpet, furniture). Very nice shower. I believe our king size bed must have been a California King because it was much bigger than the beds we had stayed in on the rest of our trip. I wish we could have stayed longer to explore the property more and enjoy the pool/beach. They have free bike rental which is pretty amazing. We were on the third floor and had a very good view of the Marina. Booked directly with the hotel, great price! Valet price was similar to what we paid eveywhere else.

We spent a night at Portofino last night as it was my girlfriend's birthday. We needed a place that was close enough to Los Angeles to get back for work in the morning and Portofino worked perfectly.

From the time of reservation through check out, everything was perfect. The staff was friendly and helpful from valet to restaurant to front desk and room service.

Rooms look recently updated and they are very comfortable. We overlooked the ocean side on the 3rd floor and it's definitely worth booking the ocean side. We had seals outside our window so we got to enjoy them, but never heard them with the balcony door closed.

Baleen restaurant is great also. We had dinner overlooking the harbor and our meal was outstanding (try the snapper!). And room service in the morning was quick, hot, and really tasty (this is something that a lot of hotels don't do well).

Most of all, we enjoyed the holiday feel of our trip as the property is decorated really well for the holidays. It got us in the holiday spirit!

Thanks so much to the whole team at Portofino!