We have stayed at the classy Miramar more than a dozen times; it only gets better.

The service is superb, the rooms are well appointed and the food at its restaurant is world class. It is so convenient to 3rd Str promenade, the Santa Monica pier and the Ocean yet hidden in its 5 acre lush gardens, it is an oasis.

Highly recommend the Bungalow rooms; they don't have much oceanviews, but you feel like in your own home, no public elevators or corridors. Nice fragrant flowers in the garden. They are great for a hide-out as well, so private noone except the Bungalow concierge knows you are there. They can be pricey at $500+ but Santa Monica is not cheap. Even the 3 star hip/cool pretentious hotels with tiny rooms can be $300-$400.

We heard that they are adding a Spa which should make it a great urban resort experience.

Also, don't forget - if you have a hybrid car they park for free. If you book a restaurant or activity through their concierge, the hotel has its own car/driver to take you within Santa Monica proper, so no need for a rental car. they took us to our dinner in a Maserati and picked us up. We just tipped the driver.

Generally good. Have stayed here for work a couple of times and have been happy. Rooms are expensive but i wasn't paying!!
Hairdryer didn't work in my room but this was sorted by the staff promptly.

This is an excellent choice for a stay in the Los Angeles area. It is right on the ocean and next to the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica. Easy drive to downtown via I-10. Easy walk to the Santa Monica pier.

Our room was clean and extremely well maintained. We were in the Palisades building which offers larger rooms, but no oceanview. We had our children with us so the room was more important. It had a little kitchen/bar area,a table and two chairs, and a walk in closet. The bungalows looked really great too.

The lobby and public areas were beautiful. When you drive up you feel like you are entering an oasis out of the busy streets, with the courtyard entrance and the big tree. Concierge and hotel staff were all so friendly and helpful. It only ever took a minute or two to get our car from the valet.

We stayed at the Fairmont for three nights right after Christmas, and all in all it was a very nice stay.
I thought our ocean tower room was a reasonable size, the bed was very comfortable, and there was good water pressure in the shower. That's a good start.
The web site warned us that the ocean views were partially blocked by palm trees, so that was fine. It was still a good view.
I asked in advance so I knew that valet parking was an obscene $28 a day -- not to mention 10% tax and a tip.
However, the web site also said there were coffee makers in the room. There wasn't one in ours. When I asked, I was told they had been removed and the web site needed to be updated. OK. That's fair. Then the next morning, I saw a coffee-making kit on the maid's cart. I asked again, and I was told that the hotel is upgrading its image and in the process of removing all of the coffee makers. How long does that take, I wondered, and, since I obviously wanted a coffee maker, and they were still in some rooms, why not offer me one.
Also during our stay, we wanted to fill our ice bucket. The hotel services booklet in the room said there were ice machines on each floor. When I asked at the front desk about this, I was told the ice machines had been removed but the books in the rooms hadn't been updated. We could get ice from room service. Out of curiousity, I went looking on our floor to see where the ice machine had been. I found a supply room at the end of the floor with an unlocked door and went in and what did I find -- coffee makers.