Funky older hotel right on the boardwalk has a porch with with lots of rocking chairs - very comfy place to watch the world go by or catch a sunrise. Lobby reminds me of a 40/50s night club with sofas, chandeliers, stained glass windows, grand piano and a small bar. Staff is friendly and efficient. Rooms are in need of some upgrades and need more table space in room and counter space in bathroom. TV had full cable service. Two chairs in the so-called "seating area" were small and uncomfortable. All in all, a good place to stay. The porch and rocking chairs were the best.

Adolfo's restaurant is on site with porch seating, a great menu and fun and efficient staff.

We read all of the reviews before booking and finally chose the Beach Plaza based on the "character" we thought it had. First of all, you have to remember that this is a beach hotel - basically, it is what it is. That said, we were quite pleased with our choice! The hotel is older but very nice! The rooms are on the small side but very clean and well-maintained. The staff was awesome to deal with. The ladies who provided maid service were extremely accommodating and do a great job! The rocking chairs on the front porch are awesome also - we ended a few evenings up there. Bathrooms are dated but water pressure in shower was terrific. Only complaint we had there was they could stand to upgrade with the newer curved shower rods. Sheets and towels were higher quality than I expected and that was a nice treat!

All in all, a great place to stay and one we would recommend!! We'll look here again when we return to OC!

We just got back Sunday 9/2/12; stayed 4 nights. Before going, we read some of the reviews and were initially worried, but our stay was nothing like the bad reviews; we loved it. We had two rooms, one in the hotel itself, one in the courtyard; will definitely stay here again. Great location; great Italian restaurant-Adolfo's; beautiful hotel lobby especially at night -- cocktail hour/piano; porch overlooking ocean. Our rooms were clean and nothing was amiss. Doug the manager was very helpful, and check-in staff were great as well; they provided wheel chair for my mother; very accommodating. We recommend this hotel.

We reserved 3 rooms back in March this year for the Labor Day Weekend! We stay here every year but this year was awful.
They lost the reservations for my Daughter and her family and they had to stay in our room for two of the three nights. Then at Checkout they said she had been a "No Show" so they gave it away.
She was in room for the first night but had to move out the next morning.
Worse part of all was the attitude of the staff on check out "no apologies" for the mix up as they said we were responsible for the mix up! Duh - not sure how we did it!

Planning to go some where else next year!