If you are looking for a base within easy reach of the beach and local shops and restaurants, then this hotel is a really good choice. I stayed there in October 07 with three friends on a three centre Virgin Holiday - San Fransisco, Las Vegas and finally Los Angeles; Santa Monica being the preferred choice for us with it's relaxed beachside atmosphere.

The hotel is less than a 10 minute walk from the beach, slightly longer to 3rd Street Promenade. A bit closer to the hotel is the interesting and quirky Main Street where you'll find boutiques, vegetarian restaurants and cafes (Urth Cafe being worth a visit).

Inside the hotel, you are welcomed by a cool and modern lobby area and really helpful staff, especially the concierge who really went out of her way to research outings for us as well as booking the more standard trips to Universal Studios and Hollywood.

The pool area is great for relaxing after a busy day with the comfortable couches and I loved the chilled out music in the bar. The bar menu serves mainly tapas style dishes and the standard of food was excellent. The rooms were impeccably clean and well equipped and the bed extremely comfortable.

A few negative points - there was no extractor in the bathroon so it ended up like a sauna. Luckily there was a mirror and counter outside the bathroom so you could do your hair and make-up! Be aware of the mini bar and tray of goodies - very expensive, but then they always are. My room was overlooking the road opposite the school, so a bit of a disappointing view but was no more noisy than anywhere else we had stayed.

Overall, we were all very pleased with the choice of hotel. I had consulted Trip Advisor prior to booking the holiday and having seen some of the other choices we could have had in other areas - Hollywood, Marina del Rey and other parts of Santa Monica further away from the beach, this hotel was in a great location and we enjoyed our stay here.

i stayed here for work and the stay was directly paid by the company. however, days later i found that the delfina had also charged my card for a night when i wasn't even in santa monica and getting them to remove the charge has been nearly impossible. stay somewhere where else where your credit cards will be safe!

We stayed at the Sheraton for one night only after getting a good deal on Priceline. On arrival we had to valet park our cars are there is only 8 self-parking spaces available. As the area is a little dodgy parking around the hotel isn't an option. The valet parkers were all very friendly and helped us with our luggage and were patient when we had to get our infant out of the car (along with all his stuff). When you have to pay $28 (without tax) for it then they should be nice!
The people on check-in were friendly and did in fact ask right away if we needed a crib for our room, I was impressed with that. We got a room on the 3rd floor facing Pico Blvd. The noise wasn't too bad, and we were only there for one night. Within 10 minutes we realized that there was no water as it was shut off due to an emergency water leaked on our floor.
There was a horrible burning smell on our floor which we inormed the hotel about right away but apparently it was "serious" .
The room was a good size but had burn marks on the floor and the wallpaper was peeling off in the bathroom, plus the shower drain didn't drain. We did sleep okay but I really don't think we got a room with the special beds that Sheraton advertises.
Check out was easy and there were no hidden charges on our bill.
The worst part was having to call the hotel the next day as we left something in the room. We were transferred to different people at least three times. We finally spoke to a manager and within 10 minutes they called us bad to tell us they had found the item.
All in all an okay stay but would never spend the advertised price there, it isn't worth it!

We received a fairly good deal on Priceline for expensive Santa Monica. I most appreciate having a quiet room, and our room faced a quiet courtyard with little outside noise and there were no sounds of slamming doors in the hallways or neighboring rooms. The beds were comfortable and the bathroom spacious enough. The valet parking fee was out of line compared to other hotels in the LA area; don't try the self parking area in the ramp unless you're expert at parking in tiny spaces. We walked to the 3rd St. Promenade area without difficulty, but a car would probably be better for those who don't want a 10-15 minute walk. The hotel area seemed safe and quiet to us, across from the Santa Monica High School.
Michael D's Restarant is a good, inexpensive place for breakfast a few blocks south on Pico.