Fun, Friendly, & Fantastic!!! I have been hanging out at The Ocean View Hotel for a while now, and it just gets better with time. Great People, an Incredible Location, and Wonderful Pricing, with Excellent Service. Nothing in the area comes close to the Nostalgic and the "Old School" feeling of the Ocean View Hotel. It reminds me of what Santa Monica was like before Corporate America came in and changed our quiet little sea side community. I enjoy every stay at The Ocean View Hotel, and I am certain you will to. So give them a try, I am sure you will be back in no time at all enjoying The Cool Breeze Of The Ocean View Hotel In Santa Monica, California.

I have to admit that after reading other reviews of this hotel, I was more than a little bit concerned about our choice to stay here but with a family of 5 and a few weeks of travelling ahead of us, we needed to stay in a place that suited our budget and it is hard to find a reasonably-priced hotel in Santa Monica, in a good location. The good news is that we were really surprised and very happy. Let me outline our stay in point form:

LOCATION: To start with, you would be hard pressed to find a better location in Santa Monica. It literally is across from the beach and the world famous pier and just a quick walk to the 3rd street promenade and shops and whilst our room did not have an ocean view, this was not a concern as when we travel, we do not hang around in our room, preferring to see the sights of our chosen travel destination.

They are also close to bus stops and really easy to get to/from.

SERVICE: The staff, in particular Joy, could not have been more helpful. We arrived very early after a horrible flight and she made sure that we had an early check-in and were accommodated ASAP. Joy also went out of her way to help us with other travel arrangements that we needed, ensuring that everything ran smoothly and organised some great discounts for us.

ACCOMMODATION: We had a double queen room on the second floor and I have to say that the beds were really, really comfortable and the room was clean and a decent size. Everything worked.

The only issue we had was on our last night when we had a very noisy person above us who was thumping around. Please note that noise issues also happened to us at a Sheraton hotel as well, so it is not a real reflection on this particular hotel but thought that I should mention it to provide a complete and fair review. After mentioning it to Joy the following day, she said that all we needed to do was to call reception should it happen again and they would sort it out. I was happy with that response.

All in all, after considering other options, this place provided great value for money with fabulous service in one of the best locations in Santa Monica. Thankyou Joy for making our stay seamless and happy. We have fond memories of our stay in Santa Monica.

Everyone needs a weekend at the beach. Done. This place. Stayed here with my teen son.

Easy check-in. Secure elevator. Upper floor room with million dollar view of pier and beach and ocean and sunset. Big, clean room, small, sweet balcony with two chairs and table. This view is better than anything you can see on television.

We grabbed a convertible and cruised PCH to Malibu. Fun! Heading back, we found the The Ocean View's garage fee reasonable.

Thanks to the nice, professional staff. This is a busy location, right on the beach, and the front desk handles things very well. Guests come from across the globe. Hotel has security, since there are two nightclubs on the block that get kinda, uh, drinky. And loud on the weekend until about two a.m. Just part of the fun of a beach weekend.

Stayed in late December 2012 as part of our honeymoon... at $1024 for 3 nights we expected much more …

Positives: View is great (even from the first floor) wonderful sunsets; location - close to Santa Monica Pier; 3rd Street Promenade and tour departures (across street).

Now for the rest:
No concierge – had to ask the driver to wait while we went inside and got the trolley ourselves (lot of luggage due to extended trip). Did the same in reverse on checkout. Staff just stood around, watched us struggling with bags and trying to get the trolley through the door.

Bed was comfortable but the sheets smelled very strongly of bleach.
Walls are paper-thin and you can easily hear next door’s television and talking..
Curtains were completely crushed and not ironed.
Television was archaic with picture tube obviously failing (approx. one third of the screen at the top was just distorted lines). Doesn’t management carry out these simple routine checks?

Housekeeping wasn’t done properly – no coffee or cup replacement.
No restaurant at this hotel at all –.even had to buy water. (All other hotels we stayed in USA had complimentary bottled water in the rooms). Drink machine on first floor was empty for the 4 days we were there - no one bothered to refill it.

Housekeeping staff unlocked the door and opened the window to our balcony while we were out which we felt was a security risk as we were only on the first floor. Rooms and (especially) hallways smelled of stale tobacco, mould and damp.

The most disconcerting thing we discovered was the sign (see photo) on the front door to the hotel advising of the toxic chemicals within that cause birth defects, cancer and other reproductive harm. (Odd that the Manager, Michael Torres responded to another reviewer and said smoking is not permitted despite the sign advising otherwise).

We would never stay here again. It was one of the most expensive places per night and we would rate it at less than 2 star.