We chose this hotel based on name recognition. Reviews of hotels overlooking the ocean suggested it would be kinda noisy.

Not sure why a lot of prior reviews suggest bed bugs. I think these are competitors or just people who have nothing better to do but write made up bad stuff.

We got a king size bed room non-smoking. Place is clean. The carpet at the bathroom entrance was kinda discolored and worn. I walked around that area or had my shoes ready to put on in the bathroom. The bathroom area was clean and roomy for two.

Rooms have AC window unit. I would suggest ear plugs for the light sleepers. But again not terrible noisy. I found it tolerable and I am a light sleeper. Did not have problems with traffic noise.

All in all a nice hotel and found our stay to be fine. The cleaning people are friendly and courteous as is the front office desk.

Parking is kinda tight. I would suggest an economy or compact car. We had a Ford Focus.

They also have 2 computers with internet access at the front office desk. IHOP is across the parkway.

I would definetly stay there again. Alas they are booked for my return trip so I must find another hotel. Time to wade through all the trash reviews again.

Had not stayed at a BW for a long time, and was amazed by this hotel. Staff was very friendly, gave good directions, and very helpful. Bathroom was spacious and very nice, room and bed and fridge were also very nice. Room had a large flatscreen tv, what more could be asked for. Rate was very competitive, and free parking is always a plus. Hotel about 30 min walk/5 min drive from the beach and mall. They have a free shuttle, which picked us up after we had checked out, and let us keep the car in the garage afterwards, also.

I stayed here for a couple of nights. It was very reasonably priced especially for Santa Monica. It's in a very good location. Just a ten minute walk to Main Street in Santa Monica, not a far walk to the Pier and the beach. The only dissapointment I have is with Santa Monica Beach itself. Don't get me wrong it's clean and beautiful, but there are no stalls or shops along the beach. But then again Venice Beach is just a short walk away where you'll find shops, stalls, muscle beach, restaraunts, bars ect. I'm choosing to stay here again when I go back later this year as the hotel staff are very friendly and helpfull. The hotel itself is safe, clean, free internet access in all rooms and has a gym.

We stayed at the Gateway Hotel on the 14th June as a stop over before heading out on a tour of South West USA. We had just flown into LAX from the UK and had been up for 24 hrs. We found the room to be clean, comfortable and well fitted if a little gloomy. The staff were OK but not particularly friendly. The free use of a computer access in the lobby was a big help for e-mailing.The hotel was further from downtown and the beach than we expected, 8 or 9 blocks away, so we didnt venture out that evening.We didnt think much of the iHop restaurant (not part of the hotel) ,an average diner where it was difficult to find anything not fried.(They even had deep fried cheesecake!).
One comment about the hotel, my wife is claustrophobic and only enters lifts if there is absolutley no other way to get between floors- quite happy to use the stairs. In this hotel the only stairs between floors are at the rear linking external landings/balconies. For security reasons the doors to the stairs on the ground floor were locked and so if you wanted to use the stairs you had to go and find a member of staff who was available to come and unlock the door. Quite inconvenient.
We had breakfast in Santa Monica (not included in the room rate) and enjoyed a short visit to the downtown area, pier and beach.