Booked a 2-room suite for $279 through the hotel website. We had 6 people staying and figured splitting the larger room would justify the cost. Got up to the room and quickly saw several flaws I would not expect for the price we paid: the carpet was frayed in several locations, there were holes in the undersides of the couch cushions, and the faux-fireplace had scuff marks all over it. Our view was of the Santa Monica High baseball field.

The location of this hotel is clearly superior (it is about a 5 minute walk to the beach/pier), but the quality of the rooms is not what you would expect for the price paid (also beware of the $18/day parking). The front desk was very nice when I explained we were checking out due to dissatisfaction with the room. We booked at the Renaissance Montura (Marriott) by LAX for $119 and LOVED it.

We stayed here in June. We knew that we wanted to stay in the Santa Monica area and we wanted a more spacious room being with our 2 daughters.
We were very happy with the service from all of the staff. Very friendly and helpful. Our rooms were very clean. THe only complaint that we had was the air conditioning in the bedroom wasn't very cool.
THe restaurant was excellent and having Starbucks in the lobby was quite handy.
THere was a bit of a walk to the beach, but it wasn't too bad. I liked having the parking garage right there, as well.
We are from the east coast and I have to say that the hotels are much cheaper there and the rooms are more spacious for the amount of money that you will spend on a room. But we would definately recomend this hotel and would stay there again. Just having the extra space in the room is well worth the money.

The Doubletree in Santa Monica has a very nice, spacious feel to it. The decor is is nice and clean and while it's got a definite California vibe to it, there's also a hint of art deco.

The main lobby is very large and it contains the restaurant, which served up a pretty good breakfast. There's also Cafe Pronto's in the lobby that served mostly Starbuck's, but this unfortunately wasn't open until late, so I didn't get much of a chance to get my coffee on when working late nights. There is a sports/jazz (I know...) bar kinda thing on the second floor, which was a good place to chill out.

The pool area was very sparse, it just feels like an afterthought and I got the impression nobody really chooses this hotel for the pool. It was all clean and there was plenty of sunbeds, but with all the concrete, it's not the most inviting of pool areas. Still, the pool's sizeable, so you can definitely swim and not just dip in. The pool area is accessed via the gym, which looked like it had all the requisite machines in it.

I stayed in a double room and it was awesome. There's two rooms. One room is the bedroom with plenty of closets, a tv and also access to the spacious bathroom/toilet. The living room has a massive work desk, work chair and a couch with a small table. There's also a large minibar and desk with a water tap, so it's definitely the kind of room you can party in!

The staff were very friendly and the hotel just had a nice, relaxed vibe and there was plenty of light everywhere. I know that's an odd comment to make, but a lot of the times I stay in hotels that have dark corridors etc and the Doubletree Santa Monica was the opposite. It just felt nice and relaxed everywhere in the hotel.

I loved the fact the hotel had it's own small coffee shop and a pretty good store that had the usual gift items and beverages etc, for a quick fix so you dont have to trek down to the 3rd street promenade. You gotta walk a few blocks to get to the main shopping/chillout area of Santa Monica beach and over a bridge, but the area's relatively quiet and safe.

We stayed here as the last stop of our holiday & even though it was the most expensive by a lot it was the poorest of all the hotels we stayed in. It's location is pretty good, about 5 mins walk to 3rd Street & the pier, but that's about it. Our room had a view of the freeway & some air vent, which made a horrible noise 24 hours a day, also the air conditioning in the room is very dated & makes a loud buzzing noise all the time - we did mention this to the Front Desk who after 2 days did find us an alternative room but we were only staying for 4 nights & didn't want to waste time moving rooms. The hotel staff 's knowledge of the local area was very poor. Don't use valet parking, it's $4 per night more than self park. The only real good thing about this hotel is it's pool area, whilst it is relatively small it is very clean & pleasant, also the hot choc chip cookie they give you when you check in is lovely! I wouldn't recommend this hotel if you plan on spending any time in the room, but it's pretty handy for the freeway if you plan to be out & about all day & night!