My husband and I spent two nights at the Loews in Santa Monica towards the end of our recent roadtrip. The property, while shiny and 'fabulous', lacked some of the personality that we have come to know and love about Loews properties. I did not enjoy been intimidated by the lady who checked us in ("Oh, I see you booked with Expedia.... YAWN") and didn't particularly enjoy having to make our bed the day that housekeeping didn't bother servicing our room.

Having said that, the bell-staff and valet guys were all super, and who doesn't like the triple-sheeting that Loews indulges it's guests in?

The bed was, as per usual with Loews, spectacular and the room was very large. The bathroom had cracked tiles, big areas of enamel missing from the bath tub and could have done with an overhaul but the water was hot, pressure was great and shower excellent.

Location was good - while not on the beach, very close to it and the Santa Monica pier & associated attractions.

On our return stop from our cruise we spent 4 days at the Loews hotel. What a treat! We had researched many hotels on the internet. On trip advisor the reviews are good on some other sites the reviews were not so favourable.

We are so glad we made the choice to stay there. We arrived at about noon and were warmly greeted as we got out of the taxi and promptly helped with our motherload of luggage. We were very early but Cindy at the desk welcomed us and explained that the room was not ready. She did go on to say that if we chose to walk to the beach or go for lunch she would call as as soon as our "free upgraded room" was ready. The ugraded room was a beautiful partial ocean view overlooking the pool and the Santa Monica pier with a mini balcony. Wow! Our room came fully equiped with whatever we needed, a wet bar with near boiling water faucet for tea, nice coffee maker, mini fridge, a reading sofa, double sinks. robes it even had a lcd t.v in the bathroom. The beds are big and comfortable, the rooms clean.

The lobby was spectacular, they have a gift shop, a friendly but expensive jewlery shop a hertz rental counter in the lobby but with limited hours, so if you are on a time restraint when renting your car make sure to verify open hours and lunch hours.

The gym/spa was unlike any that I have seen in a hotel it was incredible, machines, free weights it was a full size gym. The pool and hot tub were clean and there were lots of lounge chairs and tables with chairs to eat outside by the pool if so desired. It is all west facing towards the beach for all us sun lovers. They have natural gas fire pits around the outside patio for the cool evening dinners or drinks. The service on the patio was quick and friendly. Even though you are not right on the beach it sure felt that way but I am sure, as this is a family friendly hotel the walk to the water can be a workout in itself for young families. From the back door of the hotel you need to walk about 50yds to the beach edge but it's a good hike to the waters edge, i guess that is normal with any big beach area. For people with limited mobility you are only a short distance to the walking / bike path. The path takes you to the pier just a few yards north of the hotel or about a 1 mile walk south to Venice beach, all on well kept paved pathways. I wish i would have brought my rollerblades, maybe next time.

The hotel is within a safe walking distance to the third street promenade, a must do in Santa Monica. lots of shops, street entertainers. A good place to pick up snacks as the bottled water is cheaper than the 7$ at the hotel room. For those of you that love cigars there is a cigar shop on the way to the promendae called "lone wolf" the staff and selection is great. They also have the only "CROCS" store in Cali, if you are a crocs fan this is the place and the only "hear music" Starbucks in the state. For younger families there is a Mcdonalds on the promenade as well.

The pier is right next to the hotel they have bubba gumps shrimp factory which we found as a very enjoyable all around experience. we also ate at the mexican restaurant on the pier but we were not overly impressed. expected better I guess. Once again a must do is the pier. Rides for the kids(in all of us) snack shops, sovenir shops, entertainers and of course fishermen trying their luck. We had heard that the homeless were making some folks feel uncomfortable with their approach, even though we did see homeless They in now way were scary or aggresive, they didn't even ask for money, they just did their thing just as we did ours. I don't know if that changes in busy season but no problem for us at all. Quite the police presence on the pier at night so i am sure that helped.

The concierge desk was more than helpful with everything we had asked for. Very knowledgable staff.

As we left on our last day we were seen off with a handshake and a smile by the head doorman, Fernando, who has been there for 18 years......that shows you what type of all around place this is......AWESOME

I am actually quite surprised how highly this hotel is rated on Tripadvisor. My experience was just disappointing - from the room overlloking the parking lot which is advertised as 'ocean view' (if you can strain your neck to look around the corner and in the distance) to the surly attitude offered by the check in desk.
I asked for an international electrical adaptor (under the Loews 'just ask' policy) and sfter holding on the phone for 10 minutes was advied that THE adaptor (ie they only had one) was currently being used..!! And this is a 5* hotel?
As a Brit I quietly expressed my disappointment whilst loud New Yorkers (the hotel is a favourite with the New Jersey Sopranos set) complained loudly most of the day at front desk..
Next time I will try Shutters or the Viceory..
A

I stayed here on the first night of my honeymoon for two nights and found the hotel to be very pleasant. We were given a complimentary upgrade to an ocean view and given a bottle of wine. The room was fine and the bathroom well kitted out. The service was ok, the concierge was very knowledgable, but the bar prices quite steep.

The gym was ok, quite busy but really handy for jogging along the beach.

The only niggling problem was a loud air-con type noise outside, possibly coming from a neighbouring block, but hey, the view was beautiful.

All-in-all not a bad place, but there probably are better hotels if you look around.